deadmike

ooo you bloody thief! thats MY headstock on my annihilator. i cut my encore neck just the same as that this very day!

.... im being watched....

that axe head immediately reminded me of Jerry Only's old bass's . he used to have incredibly large weapon like headstocks, check them out sometime if youve never seen them.

i think that headstock is pretty cool. perhaps not inkeeping with the guitar but save it for another project

dream guitar:

doyle wolfgang von frankenstein's annihilator. through graphite neck, rosewood body, id use a motherbucker instead of dean markley pickups, no volume or tone pots (why bother?). all in matt black with chemical black hardware.

the ultimate in horror punk/metal guitars.

ive been using double sided sticky tape whenever ive been measuring it up and looking at positions for the bridge, i had indeed considered just moving the whole thing down an inch or two.

the overall damage that moving the neck down was too great. the tips of the wings would end up really far along the neck making it difficult to play. also the bridge just really looks better where doyle has his and i want to replicate that.

this idea of using a block might not work, but it wont hurt to try. if it fails i can then use the your idea of moving it down afterwards. but im sure id need to trim those wings!

progress may very well be going backwards!

http://deadmike.150m.com/page_5.htm

if you dont mind me asking, what did you use for the plates, just thin steel? they look really good, especially the batman jack socket. i think i might try making a skull shaped one for my punk guitar.

a tidly update.

http://deadmike.150m.com/page_4.htm

just filled in the old holes with wood filler. i considered using dowels, but most of the info i read on that consisted of drilling the existing holes BIGGER to fit in the dowel. didnt fancy that.

matt. youve done it again!!

the jack socket and back plates are amazing!!!!! i never would of thought of doing something like that. great touches to an awesome looking axe.

i couldnt do that with my back plate as its pretty thick and id need something industrial to cut through it. but perhaps on another guitar i might pinch that jack socket idea and slip a thin plate of shaped metal under the bolt that holds it together, and maybe some under the pots as well.

im completely inspired!

it must of come out because i was able to push it back in..

as long as it doesnt warp, if thats nonsense, then ive still got a very good looking playable guitar with (hopefully) some life left in it.

cheers guys.

thats the thing... when i bought the guitar it played absolutely fine. then exactly one month later the buzzing started and has been that way ever since.

on no occasion did i bang it, knock it, leave it next to the radiator or drop it on the floor. so how it happened i dont know.

i just wish there was some way to determine its condition without the fretboard popping!

the truss rod bolt is still stiff, but dont know what that tells you, i cant see far enough down to tell if the whole thing is loose. theres also no rattle when i tap or shake it.

as some of you may know, im a complete amatuer at guitar builing and repair. my knowledge doesnt extend past changing the strings really so...

i took one of my guitars (an epiphone gibson SG) to my friend who has a lot of experience with guitars/repairs/customising and the like.

its been bugging me for a long time that theres a buzzing on the bottom string and ive always raised the bridge to compensate. but recently i decided enough was enough, it was a cheap guitar and looks very good but id rather have it in tip top condition rather than make do with a quick fix. so i let him see it.

he looked it over and said everything looked fine, no frets out of place or any problems with the nut or saddles. so we checked the relief on the neck... and there was practally none.

i let him go ahead and muck about with the truss rod. silly i know. but i didnt care, ive got other guitars so i was wiling to take the chance.

we adjusted the truss rod.... nothing.... more .... nothing..... we left it over night.... nothing. (no more than a quarter turn in total)

then as i pulled out the allen key, i could of sworn the truss rod came out a little.... so i pushed it back in!

so it looks like the truss rod is sitting loose in the neck, he says its a drastic repair but im not prepared to fork out on a repair of biblical proportions for what is still a very playable guitar. yet i would like this fixed. hes raised some issues with the neck warping by not having a properly set truss rod and of course that demands attention.

he says its knackered, but ive done some reading and read similar situations where glue can be injected in to fix the problem.

possible? nonsense? expensive?

any advice is greatly appreciated as usual.

not sure matt, ive got my plate that my dad made, its pretty thick but its solid. it doesnt have screwholes in it yet so my options are still open.

its all been ignored over the last week or so, i had a quick look at how i could fill the holes with dowles and re-use the same area of the neck, but im not sure how strong that would be. need to read up a little more before i dicide what to do.

little update on the progress of the neck join

http://deadmike.150m.com/page_4.htm

also fixed the uneveness of the wing tips, but i dont know if you can make that out in those pictures. changed web providers too!

im making my first guitar out of pine. the local timber merchants refused to sell me any hardwood becasuse it was such a small order and couldnt be bothered (great customer care skills at work there). so i could only get pine.

i ended using two cabinet doors glued together that had a tiny hardwood veneer.

before i chose to use them i read up on pine and the conclusions were it was a satisfactory wood to use as cheap alternative to hardwoods.

im hoping i can mask any lack of "tone" from the body with tons of effects pedals and overdrive. so who cares if its not hardwood, who will know? i just have to be very careful i dont drop it!

even if it turns out to be a heap of rubbish, i'll have still learned a lot and its been loads of fun building it.

"in memory of dick and fancy, may their passion live on"

i reckon that would look nifty on the back of a guitar!

cant steal from my local dump, theres guys all over it! and no wonder, one of the bin men found plasma screen tv once! i kid you not, some other guy was given a car because someone just wanted rid of it. a perfectly good car?!!!

bin raking has its rewards.

cant speak for the rest of the world, but in britain its actually theft to take something from a skip without permission, i think its the same rules from a dump.

i was looking around for a neck plate as im trying to save a bit cash on what is really a piece of metal. couldnt find anything, then as i was walking along the local pond, i spotted a park bench with a memorial plate on it... just about the right size me thinks...

this guitar could very well end up having begged, borrowed, stolen and scavanged parts on it. the perfect punk guitar id say

cheers man, who knows... i might want a rumage in that box in the near future...

one mans trash is definitly my treasure!

slightly off topic yet related, i was thinking of going to my local dump. ive been measuring dining and coffee tables... there about the right size... i was all set to go for a rumage but my partner told me to stop being such a tink and just buy some wood

matt your offer has been incredibly generous and it pains me to say i cant except the body.

to be truthful i dont think i could do it justice. its a fabulous body but i really have no idea about padding it out and i feel it could be of better use to someone else.

i know theres a few folk on here baying for your stuff coz its that good! i think it would be better in the hands of someone who could really turn it into a killer axe.

i wont forget your very kind offer and if theres anything i can do for you just give me a shout. but if your still feeling generous towards me you can always give me some help with the annihilator. im going to need some tips when it comes to doing the paint work and the installing the electrics!

geez your tempting me with loads of ideas.

to honest i just dont know. the body looks fantastic and i bloomin well want it! but i dont know if i could get anything to pad it out and it kind of defeats the point if i send you cash to build it, sure id get a really **** hot guitar, but no fun in building it myself.

let me have a think today matt and i'll get back to you.

...!!!!!!

im totally agog!!!

id love to have one of those wing style guitars youve made matt, and yeah i will work on it. im already having ideas as im typing.

holy mother of pearl!

promise if you send it, i'll work on it after my annihilator is finished. that neck idea you sent me would look pretty good with that. double humbucker and a good bridge... ohh yeah!

one question, how thick is it? i really like my guitars quite thin and as you say its not thick enough to be guitar, i might have problems getting a good hardwood to pad it out.

my annihilator is only 35mm and i really like that.

blimey.... im totally stunned. thats a very generous offer matt and i certainly wouldnt say no to it.

i cut my pocket again today and it was a total success!!

yesterday i just went for it and traced round my neck with a pencil, i then used my router nibble away staying a couple of millimetres away from the pencil lines and then used a very sharp chisel on each side until the neck slotted in nice and tight.

first time i tried it, it wasnt deep enough then the second time it was perfect, the fit is so tight im very proud of the work and glad i took my time on it

mat... can i have geetar out of your junk box??? i'll pay the shipping

bloody nora, that axe is mondo coolo...

that guitar looks incredible. id only change one thing.... id make it symetrical, thats just me, i like my guitars that way.

other than that, it has my blessing... go forth and destroy the eardrums of the innocent.

thanks jeremy, i looked at the paddle headstocks as a serious option, but i couldnt find one for less than $150 before P&P, the encore neck was £15 !

anything i was going to use was getting cut into a triangle so it really didnt matter what it was.

im putting all my efforts into the bridge neck just now. as everyone says, "thats what makes a guitar".