Batfink

Two totally different things (like all things in life) unless you buy it green and in bulk (and i mean serious bd/ft) and dry it yourself. You can be lucky but wood is like anything else - cheap is cheap and good is not cheap. Saying this a good clean properly dried 2pc body blank from Dyke's for example in say Basswood or Alder could only run you £35-40 and i re-iterate that the wood (unless your looking at graded figured or exotics) is a small fraction of the total guitar's cost. If you are that tight i suggest looking around a few reclaim yards, you can be lucky and pick up odd bits of bar top's or the like in Mahogany quite reasonably priced although chances are you'll spend more money in fuel running around looking for a suitable candidate than if you just bit the bullet and shoved your hand in your pocket a bit deeper. Jem

Inlay is basically making a cavity in a material to fit in an object to the same height (not the best explanation in the world but you get my drift) - take a look around the house, coins, washers, old bits of jewellery, scraps of metal, wood or whatever, it's all good practice and the whole technique soon becomes quite clear. As for tools - take a look at Setch's (or could be Sambo's) home made router base if you're short of money or get the Stew Mac one if you're feeling a bit flush (don't get the Dremel one, it's not really that well made). For router bits i know a lot of people use, as i do, downcut bits designed for PCB (printed circuit board) work or ask your dentist for some of his 'blunt' bits as these are more than sharp enough for cutting wood. Apart from that the only other essential is a jewellers piercing saw and these can be had for $10-15 from jewellers suppliers or probably your local continents Ebay. Larry Robinsons 'Art of Inlay' is a nice book to have as an inclusive starting point or Grit Laskin's 'Guitar makers canvas' if you really want to dedicate your life to inlay (take a peek inside and you'll see what i mean !) Jem.

Lots of companies in the late 80's / early 90's started to screw them from the front - using a 1/2" approx wood screw not the bloody great allen screw that they use for rear mounting - mainly after complaints about broken headstocks. Jem

Terrible news, my thoughts to those close. Jem

Yes....not that i've ever tried (enamel's really not an instrument finish) but i think the nitro will try to burn into the enamel and you'll be left with a gooey mess. Jem

NO.............................

'ThreeStar' guitars apparently come out of Korea and will probably carry a 'locally' made Floyd copy. Before you think of replacing the whole trem firstly check if it's modelled on the Original Floyd Rose or the Floyd II/Schaller. Very basically OFR's were used on non reccessed guitars and Floyd II/Schaller were used on reccessed guitars. You could use a Floyd II on either but you'll find OFR's string lock screws are too far back to use in a reccessed situation. As far as intonnation, truss rod adjustments etc: these will not cure your overall tuning problems if the thing won't stay in tune in the firstplace. If you think about it Floyds are not rocket science and really shouldn't present a vast amount of tuning to work properly and aren't the great pain that some think they are - for example, if i break a string i'm up and running in half the time it takes my other Les Paul equipped guitarists to re-string. I think at the end of the day your problem looks like it could be down to nothing more than a Floyd copy that's of cheap manufacture with dubious tollerances - as someone mentioned, hardware is THE easiest way to bring down the overall unit cost of a guitar's manufacture and here we see the concequences. Jem.

Yeah, i re-sharpen mine if they're just a little worn and the edge's are just a little burred over but they're a bit like teeth - you can't grind them down forever ! Jem

Well there's a number of thing's to take into account especially as it's not a true double locking system - some of the early Floyd Rose II's were like this but they quickly saw the error of their ways. Firstly make sure the strings are stretched to f**k as it'll never stay in tune if there's still some give in them. (some people say that this is unneccessary but i suspect they play like pansies !) Then, take it to tune and see how it is....you wouldn't believe how many times i've done this for people and it's cured the problem at a stroke on anything ranging from a bottom line Ibanez right up to my singers PRS Custom 22 ! Next make sure that the lock nut is holding the strings tight - you DO NOT have to do the lock nuts up F.T. and you may find that the problem is that a previous owner HAS done them up too tight and stripped a thread hence it won't hold a particular string tight which will effect the tuning of ALL the strings. Next check the trem posts that it actually pivots on, if they're notched and/or worn replace them. Last, and by no means least as this could be the expensive cause of your problem, check the knife edges that the trem pivots on. If they're hardened inserts and blunt then CAREFULLY sharpen them with a small fine file / emery paper to see if you can restore the edges making sure that you keep the radius of the insert as perfect as possible. If it hasn't got inserts and just rides on a sharpened edge of the baseplate itself do yourself a favour and replace either the baseplate (if you can determine the manufacturer and actually get hold of a new one) or junk the whole trem as you'll NEVER get the bugger to tune up. Jem.

In the past i tried heating the bare baseplate and then tried to pull them - no luck, it's almost like the knife edges are larger than the aperture they stick out of. I suppose one day it might be an idea to hack one apart to find out but i'm loathed to do that just in case i need one in an emergency. Would be interested to see if anyone's managed to get them out and the new one's back in or does everybody just junk 'em and get new baseplates - i've got 15 or so guitars with Schaller Floyds on them so i'm more than interested to find out ? Jem.

Dremel here too - using a 2mm downcut bit and a straight edge clamped. Jem

A Scarab II in Red/Black Zulu - a very cool steal for $350, the HFC's favorite price ! Oh, and the Krokus reference is a bit confusing to me as i thought that Fernando von Arb always used Chapparal's ? Anyways, cool score best get yourself over to the HFC and let the madness begin. Jem

It looks perfectly acceptable and yes, you always feel you can do better...i know i do. Another thing is it's the only shiny thing on the board at the moment, once it's fretted you'll find it'll blend even better. Jem.

David Dyke's had 4 or 5 Basswood 1pc blanks on the shelf 3 or 4 weeks ago and a ton of Alder if you don't mind 2pc as i think i took the last 1pc although Wayne showed me a stock of slabbed Alder that was at that time un-cut. Jem

Marksound's right, i've been pulling container loads of alloy wheels out of Asia for over 15 years with everything being built to order and you must stress what, where and when EVERYTIME you order...as he said, never assume ANYTHING. Jem

You may just about be able to put some 'small' block inlays in, a fiddly proccess that is hard to finish in a satisfactory way, but as for the DM's - not a chance matey, it's tricky enough doing it on a blank flat'ish board let alone a fully radiused and fretted one. I'm afraid everyone's right - a fret pull is the only proper way to do it. Jem

Well, for a start a slight indication on where in the world you are would help. Also, i pressume that you've taken the time to look through the suppliers section, you have haven't you

How cool is all this stuff then Jem

True but didn't someone graft a human ear to the back of one - i'm sure it was in the Sunday Sport so it must be true

WD are traditionally expensive for a lot of what they sell. The one difference i can see from the pages you posted is that WD states that their kit contains CTS pots whereas the other one makes no mention of make. CTS are sort of industry standard for many major manufacturers - perhaps ask Crazytrain if their pots are CTS which i doubt. Jem.

To be honest i wouldn't know about brushing it on, i've never tried but would be cautious that it'll be a bit 'heavy' so to speak - hmmmmm, one of those things i suppose you've got to bite the bullet over and just go for it (or not) and hope for the best. Anyone have any 'brushing' experience out there Jem

Nitro cellulose should not present any compatibilty problems - although it's always an idea to try a small section (heel or under the truss rod cover) just to check. You don't have to spray it, just spray a tiny little amount into the paint cap and apply with brush / cotton bud / finger or whatever just to be safe. Do heed Alex's point about dust coats, this is a very good point and if you go straight ahead with a heavy coat first you will either have the ink run as Alex said or the transfer can shrivel up as the clear try's to evaporate. jem

My thoughts to Jennifer and the family...so obviously such a great loss of such a loved one to many.

Well there's no such thing as a Fender licensed dealer who could "make" you one in the UK - well not as far as i'm aware, mind you not that i've ever looked ! If you want a 7 string FMI licensed neck try Allparts who i know carry them (around the £150 mark - not sure if they shelve them for lock nuts or not so you may have to bugger around a little bit) or i think WD may do M/Mite licensed one's. Jem

if you're really intent on spending no money just look around the house - you can inlay just about anything, we're only talking really about making a hole in one material to put another material in to it....i'm presuming you've got a Dremel or something to hog out your cavity, or at the very least a small SHARP chisel ? Old jewellery, plastic containers, odd bits of metal could all be used in some way or other - how they look and how they last is another matter. Remember, a jewellers saw can be had for less than a tenner and an ounce of M.O.P can be had for less than twenty quid so it's not that expensive to try it properly. Jem