dpm99

Well, my wife ended up grabbing a gallon of house paint. Some brown coffee color or something. As it turns out, it was an artist's studio. He was opening a restaurant, and just wanted the stuff out of his way. He was a really nice guy, and we'd already driven about a mile and a half out of our way to get there, so I figured I'd help him out and haul some of this stuff away. It was free, after all. Here's most of what I brought home this evening. Most of these cans are full, by the way. A little bit of finish: Some dyes (And paints? Not sure what that PTC stuff is yet. Anybody know?): A miscellaneous assortment: Here's most of the haul. It includes seventeen hardwood cabinet doors. Most of it is Alder, Ash, Birch, Maple, and the like. My wife will probably turn most of it into art projects, but I'll pick a few things out of there as well. I also got some little pieces of walnut and cherry, a beautiful piece of what I believe is Cedar (about 30" x 10" x 3/4") and a quarter sheet of 1/2" birch ply. Oh, and my wife got some shelves for the baby's room. I figure I can put some of this stuff to use. What do you think?

Ok. Thanks guys. Like I said, I know almost nothing about paint. I'll save this stuff for jigs and other projects.

I'm sure it is house paint. I've read somewhere that any paint will work on guitars with a good finish, but as I remember, the conventional wisdom is to use stuff of the caliber they use on cars. Tim, I'm sure you know a lot more than me about this. Regardless, I think it's worth stopping by. It's likely they'll have some scrap material I can use for jigs, and even if I can just pick up a couple of cans of house paint, I'm sure I'll find a use for them. I always do.

I know zip about paint, and only a little about finish. Tomorrow night I'm going to this: http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/zip/2659102073.html I get that free is free, but as it relates to what we do, is there anything in particular I should keep an eye out for? I'm gonna get there a little early, and see if I can get first pick, or close to it. Thanks!

When you say you like to keep it oiled, what oil are you using typically? For an ebony fretboard, I'd suggest no more than an oil finish anyway, or nothing, as ebony has natural oils already.

Shoot fire, son! Out here in Texas, that's walking distance!

500k will work fine. Conventional wisdom would be to go with a .022uf cap. Personally, I'd go with the .047uf, but I'm weird that way. Good luck!

I'm not positive about the wiring colors for Fralin P90's, but your directions should tell you. The one I have as green is what is referred to as "hot" or "lead," or...not ground. Black on the schematic is ground. Again, make sure it's the same on your pickup by looking at the instructions. Have you chosen your cap and pot values yet?

A mandolin would be an excellent first project. Ideally, I'd recommend starting with one of the StewMac kits, and buy the instructional DVD that shows you how to do it. http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/5148 http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/5370 http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/5160

Basstastic!

Not knowing what specific pickups you're using, I can't put together a wiring diagram for you. But it's basically the same as this: The main difference is that the humbuckers have five wires. In the diagram above, the black wires are leads, the green and bare wires are grounds (You'll probably just have one, and who knows what color it will be), and the red and white you can ignore entirely.

orgmorg likes to finish guitars by leaving them out in the rain. Incidentally, my criticism is simply a channel for my envy of your skill.

My Xavierre LP has them on it and they work very well.No slop in them at all. Oh, good point. I guess I've tried them too then.

Make sure you give reviews on all that GFS hardware. I'm especially curious about the tuners. I'm afraid to try them.

Wrong again, RAD. All the best luthiers know that the rarer a wood is, and the further away it comes from, the BETTER the tone.

I would think the ultimate solution would be Indian Rosewood. That being said, I wouldn't do it. It's expensive, and getting more rare. Limba sounds a lot like what you're looking for, but none of the choices you mention are bad. I say you use what's available, and adjust your sound with EQ.

Indeed! Around the last week of July, put it out on your back porch. Then, around the third week of August, resaw it, thickness it, and quickly bend it around a metal fence post in direct sunlight until it starts looking like a Dreadnought! (I'm kidding, but at this same time suspicious that it might actually work. It is West Texas.)

Hey, bass players thrive on steady work.

I'd be looking at Breedloves in that price range. I got a Taylor 710CE about twelve years ago, and love it, but they were only slightly over $1000 at that point. These days, I think about half the money goes for the guitar, and half the money goes for the headstock. In an even cheaper price range, I'm really big on the Seagull guitars, made by Godin. They seem to spend their time and money on sound, rather than appearance.

From what I've read, Mesquite is about as stable as it gets. I'm thinking it might be awesome for neck laminates.

I wish someone would have told me this when I started doing this. At least I have a lot of interesting exotic scraps. And while this is not by any means universal, there seem to be a trend among new builders toward very exotic woods, whereas many experienced builders migrate toward more common, domestic, or even local wood. I think I might just ask for a chainsaw for Christmas this year. With all due respect...what exactly could go wrong if the entire guitar is made of parts that have been CNC'd? I've disassembled all of my guitars to get an idea of the dimensions of every tiny detail, which I'm then putting into my CAD model. Heck, I even have the arm and back contours on my model (and I actually used to geometry to design them, as opposed to simply eye-balling the stuff)! Although I'm still struggling to figure out the design of the neck (especially in regards to it's eventual construction, as the concept of my guitar necessitates a strong structural system in the neck), I'm sure that, in the end, I'll win! Honestly...the only reason I'm going down this route is because I know of no custom builders who can build the guitar for me for under $10k. Or atleast ones who rely heavily on CNCs. There might be ones who may be willing to hand-build my guitar; but I don't think I'd ever be satisfied knowing that my custom guitar is only 98% of what I envisioned it to be due to the fact that it was hand-built by a human, who's level of accuracy will ALWAYS be inferior to that of a computer-controlled machine. I want my guitar to be built EXACTLY the way I design it. It sounds like you have a very good chance of being successful. And when the Terminator Armageddon comes, please put in a good word for me. Likewise, if spokeshaves ever turn on mankind, I'll tell them you're alright.

That's some really nice bookmatching, Andy.

You're both right, but the one he's talking about is 22.7". Duff, you have the right idea of how to do this.

Well, yeah, but you wouldn't like it. Is it really that big of a deal? I have two recommendations for you: 1. Leave it as it is, and just get used to Stephen Carpenter's signature there. 2. Take it to a qualified luthier, tell him you want the inlay gone, even if it means replacing the fretboard, and be prepared to shell out some $$$. I don't think this is gonna be a DIY job unless you have a good bit of experience.