ShadesOfGrey

true, but I feel it's mostly playing to the confusion and insecurity that comes with the voodoo that is (re)finishing. So much options and brands and conflicting information, I guess a lot of people just feel a little more reassured buying something that implies it's suitable. That shouldnt cost an extra 10 bucks a can. Rattlecan finishing is already expensive enough as it is.

That's a good thing. Where will you put the adjusment cavity(s) though? If in the headstock, dont forget that the cavities will weaken the area between the headstock and neck depending on how big the cavity will be. Again with increased string tension to keep in mind, that might not be what you want. You wont have that issue if you put it at the body end offcoarse, but no one wants to adjust the rod with the neck removed. But if you want to be able to adjust with the neck attached and stringed, you would need to route a bit behind the neck. This however might cause some structural design issues for the neck to body join, neck side pickup, limit the size of your fretboard and is only realy for a bolt-on neck. Also, you'd need a pickguard and that might not be what you planned cosmetically. In the end, adjusment cavity at the headstock end might be best usually. That is a pretty cool idea. I dont have much knowledge about 12 strings, so dunno if other designs like that exist. But the thing about 12 stringers I dislike is the massive headstock they always seem to come with.. look so aesthetically unpleasing. Only problem with that might be that having to switch between bridge and headstock for tuning might be a bit of a hassle. 7 piece! It's going to look like a rainbow if you use laminate it with different woods A guy I knew once claimed a double neck flying V should be called a flying X, since it's two 5's so that makes a 10

Hmm, I stand corrected on the amp feeding the current part. Put my multimeter on a few humbucker I had lying around. Waving a screwdriver in the magnetic field most decidedly results in a current. Actualy, you can see the difference between how 'hot' a pickup is.. the Seymour Duncan Invader gives a lot more juice than the SD Jazz I tried before that. But I really thought the pickups were part of a closed circuit with a current travelling *through* it, and the string vibration would modulate the magnetic field and therefore modulate the circuit. Thinking about it, it doesnt make sense though.. because that would probably mean that the signal should result in more loudness if you dont play. Also, it should result in a more powerfull magnetic field if you plug it in, which is bollocks. And where the hell does the remainder energy go? Not as mechanical action, heat & light seems off, and I cant see it resulting in radiation. But yeah, most I know about electrickery was from a few lessons on the subject in highschool physics. And could then hardly tell my capacitors from my resistors. At least I know the difference between volts and amps

There isnt a lot I can tell you myself. I never owned or even played a 12-string (but I plan on it!) However, one obvious thing would be the fact that string tension is quite higher than a normal 6 stringer, so thickness and width of the neck *may* need to adjust for this if. Also, in Melvyn Hisckock's almost famous book, I believe he tells that if you are going to get an angled headstock, the angle should be a bit smaller than you would on a 6 string as the headstock would be longer, and therefore the end of the headstock would also be further away vertically in relation to the neck, meaning that it would be more fragile in the case of falling. Also, considering how most doubleneck V will be built.. shouldnt it be called a Flying W?

I think the kind of people paying so much $$$ for screws and pickguards are also the kind of people who would never actualy *drive* a vintage car. Collectors basically, putting that guitar in a glass cage.

Well, that depends from what type of engineers eye's you look at it. From a audio engineer or amp builders viewpoint, the audio 'signal' exits the guitar from the jack to be fed into the amp. From an (general) electricians viewpoint, current *enters* the jack to the humbuckers (where it's modulated) Remember that it's the amp supplying the electricity! So you can either see the jack as transporting an audio signal, or as transporting current to the guitar.

I've never been able to find RED cheddar just aged yellow.... dunno how this will take a finish tho'..... (sounds like a bit of a salad to me..... cherry, walnut & cheddar!) oh sorry - you meant CEDAR... hah! When a language isn't your first one, you'll make some hilarious mistakes.. walnut, cherry and cheddar.. that indeed sounds like a salad ! maybe I should make a food themed guitar with spaghetti as strings?

Ohyeah, that is also an option. Glue in a toothpick (as much as neccesary) and screw in again. But it quite depends on the size of the screw, and how clean you want your repair to be.

Glue a dowel into the hole and screw into that. That is the usual way of repairing screw holes. You might have some trouble not damaging the finish though. Woodfiller / repair putty might work, but it depends on the putty how much stress it can take. They usualy state on the packaging that it is stronger than wood, but sometimes the stuff is a bit brittle and doesnt take screws very elegantly. So if you go for that option, try some scrap wood first. Getting a clean looking repair might also be quite difficult. Another option that came to my mind.. and I dont know the proper English term for it (not a native speaker here).. but they have these metal screw 'sockets' with wire on both the inside and outside. Basicly, you screw / insert the socket in the old screwhole, and the result is a new screw 'shaft' with the right size. Kinda like the sockets you put tune-o-matic mounting screws in? The difficulty lies in getting the right lenght, gauge and wire 'pattern'. Also, if you screw it up (pun intended) it's quite difficult to remove / repair, so I'd only try something like that as a last option. Seems like a dowel might be the best idea still. Could you maybe post a pic or two?

well it depends, ive got a lot of guitars, and i dont wanna ruin (or alter) this guitar (its an old strat) because its got tall saddle screws, i just avoid them : ) if the OP's guitar isnt important or original then its not much fuss to cut the screws down a bit. Going by the OP's post, the guitar is either a new build or he already altered the guitar by installing a new bridge Still, I dont see how altering / changing a few screws could be seen as altering or ruining an instrument. Unless it's a vintage instrument offcoarse.. (what was that site with $1000 screws and $10000 pickguards? )

From the links posted, I've seen some intreresting builds. Those pine guitars have some fascinating grain pattern. I don't realy like the colour of the wood though..

Isn't that stuff for making boats? Isn't maple for syrup? Isn't mahagony for making desks and doors? Funnily enough, I was reading into non-standard tonewoods. A local lumber importer / shop here carries mahagony and maple luckily enough but a lot of other hardwoods. There's a few shops in my country that sell wood as tonewood, but it's amazingly expensive for just the cosmetics, and not realy easy for me to get there and transport the wood. Getting blanks is an option, but again very expensive for what is just the service of glue and sawing. The shop also has stuff like Cherry, Walnut and Red Cheddar to try out.

I had something similar yesterday when I installed two new humbuckers in my mockingbird knockoff. No output except for static / hum when I touched anything ground related, like the knobs or the jackplate. Found out my hot-wire was broken off from the jack, with the ground-wire still remaining. But yeah, seems it's ground related. If the ground didnt fit somewhere in the equation, touching the strings shouldt result in static. So my guess is that the ground wiring 'bleeds' into the hot somewhere. The volume pot seems a good start to look, but might just be a sepperate issue with a dirty pot. Check that you have no broken wires, spilled bits of solder, bad joins or exposed wire touching things they shouldnt. If you cant find the problem, try elimination of the problem by rewiring it without the volume pot to see if the problem persists. If so, just replace that. EDIT: I hadnt thought about that. That could actualy be the cause.

"THOU SHALT NOT USE CAR PRODUCTS ON THE GREATEST INSTRUMENT OF ALL TIME! YE SHALL BE PUNISHED!" *Combusts into flames. But lets be serious now, why is this illegal? Or is merely the sale of guitars with Bondo illegal? Aww crap! So that is *why* my guitar fell? But between you and me (and everyone else on the interwebs).. I think this 'spraypaint for GUITAR!!!' thing is a ripoff. If the type is suitable, it's suitable. Nitro-Cellulose and acrylic is nitro and acrylic. No sense paying two or three times as much per can just because someone slappen 'guitar laquer' on the bottle.

oops, my bad.. I was a bit too eager to reply I guess

I second those suggestions. Either get shorter screws or shorten the ones you already have. Sandpaper seems a bit more work than neccesary to me. I'd start with cutting of some length with a good cutting plier or other cutting tool and file down the remainer / sharp bits. Offcoarse, you need good cutters that work for metal / steel, otherwise you'd just dull / chip your tools.

Yeah, I think some combination of coloured grainfiller, dye and a maybe some layers of tinted laquer on top of that to deepen the colour?

ah, I understand now. I dont live in the US or Britain, so when brand names get thrown around it's confusing. Related to living at my locale & brands, it's pretty frustrating to find certain stuff. Nobody carries tru-oil here, and I was lucky enough to find a place that imports Danish Oil and Titebond. and no.. there are no comparable brands for stuff like that here. So how does that insulteth ye holy guitare Gods? Does it screw with the tone or something or destroy the finish over time?

Thanks for your replies. I was wrapping my head around the last few days figuring out how to get the joining area of the neck right, but I guess that should be fine. As far as oiling the neck pocket goes.. I guess I can try oiling that too. But I wonder why it's called a 'no finish zone' so often and manufacturers keep it unfinished? Or is this one of those 'skimping on stuff almost nobody sees to save a few dimes' ?

Greetings! Time for me to again post a finish related question.. I have just done the last clearcoat of acrylic on my body and the front of the headstock. I gather that before buffing / polishing, you need to let it cure two weeks minimum (or rather, as long as it takes). Laying around here somewhere is a bottle of Rustin's Danish Oil, which I plan to use for the neck and back/sides of the headstock. Two or more week is a hell of a lot of waiting while I want to anxiously get it to playing condition, so I wonder if it's okay if I apply the oil a little bit earlier like say a week from now? Another kinda related question.. it's recomended that the neck-pocket and the area of the neck sitting in the pocket be raw wood. Masking tape took care of the neckpocket while I was spraying, but how do you keep the finish from the area on the neck the best way? Assemble the neck&body and finish the neck that way? Tape of? Or maybe just estimate how how far the neck inserts in the pocket and roughly apply the oil to that point? Maybe these are silly questions, but I'm quite the noob at building / finishing and I had enough beginners errors so far that I'd rather ask stupid questions then make (more) stupid mistakes.

What wood is the fretboard? Rosewood? Maple? something else?

what the hell is bondo, and why would that be illegal on a guitar?

Put another coat over it.. the area where it chipped away will never quite look nice, maybe not so bad but still. Now I had a bit of a stroke of inspiration.. maybe I could mask the area doing something a bit material finish style? Basicly, the tip of the wing could be covered with some kind of plastic foil. In my mind, that actualy looks pretty cool, but I'm not sure how workable that is..

Man, cant wait for the future with flying cars and gravity damping fields But one invests so much time, money, effort, emotions.. love into making even a simple guitar. And love.. well, if something goes amiss, I guess it's just like romantic love where your partner cheats.. Got everything glued and will sand smooth the breaks where the pieces join in a few moments.. actual damage is beyond total repair, but some good spraying will make it at least not so noticable.

nevermind, emotions made me think unlcearly. Took another look and damage isnt as bad as I thought. I need to glue two small chips and with a bit of luck and a few coats it wont be (too) noticable.