dpm99

I'd have no idea as to how to find that out. What I can say is that it came from TH&H Hardwood in San Diego (http://www.th-h.com/), and everything appears to have been sufficiently kiln dried. They stock expensive stuff too, up to $30-40/board foot. But they sell the Khaya cheap, and the guys there really seem to know their stuff.

You could work the trem with your left leg too! Women would fall at your feet for sure.

I've gotten all my wood at a local lumber store that jm recommended to me. I'm sure I could salvage that neck if I wanted to, as it's actually 5/4 mahogany. So I've got plenty of room to thin it out if I want. Of course, I had that idea while the guy at the lumber store was cutting my new piece of neck wood. Here's a new piece of African mahogany I got for $14 today: I'm not sure I like the color as much as the other one, but I'm going to stain it to almost black anyway, and it's a much better piece of wood. You may be able to see that it's VERY close to quartersawn, and the grain is very straight. If I'm careful, there's enough there for two necks. The end on the right is a little messed up, but I bought 36" so I could just cut it off. I spent an hour looking for that single piece of wood, but it was worth it. -Dave

Really nice work. I hope my first build comes out half that good!

Well, I made a little bit of progress today. I finished my neck template last Sunday, and today I got to play with the router. Here's a very poor picture of the body now: I learned a lot about how to use a router effectively today. One of the most important lessons I learned is that when you're using a fence, it's important to tighten down the screws on it before you start cutting. So there goes seven bucks I spent on neck wood, and in my book, that's a good price for such a valuable lesson. Tomorrow I'll go buy another piece of mahogany for the neck. Oh, and in case anybody's wondering, those extra lines I was routing were for carbon fiber rods. -Dave

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it doesn't look like it has any string trees. These are string trees: http://store.guitarfetish.com/panibuststtr.html They're cheap and easy to install. Their purpose is to hold down the higher strings on one piece necks like the one you have so the strings don't pop out of the nut. Could that be it? -Dave

Ummmm....that's a good idea too. Sandpaper, surforms, and files seem to be my solution for everything. Yes, plane it is. I'm sure the jig would be faster, but then I'd have to build a jig, and find someplace to keep it. Thanks for the help!

Thanks guys. I understand what to do for the router jig. Seems simple enough. Maybe this is a silly question, but if I'm gonna rough cut it and smooth it out, couldn't I just stack it up like this and use a plane with sandpaper on the bottom to sand it? It seems like a simpler solution, and at least as effective as the router jig.

So you more or less made a working guitar in two days? Well, I'm impressed.

Yep, Rick wins. But the bottom curves on mine are different. So I'm still a little original. Exactly. Well said, Xanthus.

I've got a router. I'd have no idea what that jig would look like, but I assume someone's got a picture of one posted somewhere. When you did you miter box, did you build the whole box? My thought is that if you leave off the bottom part, and just have two independent sides that you clamp to a center board, it shouldn't wander much. I've never seen anybody do that before, but I don't know why it wouldn't work, if you line up the two sides correctly with a saw. I'm all for the router jig. If you have plans, I'd love to see what you've got!

I've been thinking about this since last night, and I can't figure out how to do it. I want to make sure I get the angle right for my neck scarf, and I'm working with very minimal tools. Budget is running short, though I fortunately have planned carefully, and already have (or will have) almost everything I need. Anyway, I was thinking that if I improvise a miter box specifically for the neck scarf, I'll be less likely to make a mistake. I don't really even have to build the whole box. If I get the two sides cut correctly, I can clamp them to either side of the neck and start cutting. Here's the problem. There's a guy at Home Depot on Saturdays and Sundays that will do miter cuts for free, but I can't figure out how to cut to a sharp enough angle. If I tell him to cut at 15 degrees, it will look like Figure A below. (That's nowhere near precise. I just threw it together on paint for illustration.) I really need a cut that's...what...75 degrees or something? But he won't be able to cut that for me. I'm not opposed to cutting it myself, but it will be with a hand saw, and I'm worried about not getting it precise. Still, better to have to redo that than to redo the neck. Does anyone know of an easy solution I'm overlooking? Thanks, Dave

I agree. At first mine looked like yours. Then I flattened out the top. Yours is kind of similar (but not identical) to this: I think the general idea is that it's just a classic headstock shape. Everybody brings their own flare to it though. -Dave EDIT: Incidentally, nice guitar!

That first picture is awesome. Looks like an old witch woman in the shower or something.

Yep. If you look at traditional 3X3 headstocks, they're all pretty close. The biggest variation is in what they do with the top part. If you exclude the top, Gibson, Taylor, Guild, old Epiphones, and number of others are pretty much the same. I'm sure somebody's done this before. It's too obvious to turn the middle inch of the top into a straight line. But I think it'll do. Thanks for the help.

Dude, you should build a cello.

Yeah, it's not too far off from Taylor's. It's not Martin, Guild, Washburn, Takamine, Ovation, Gretsch, or Alvarez. I found a Yamaha headstock that looked sort of similar, but their acoustic headstocks are so inconsistent. I don't know. The headstock isn't all that important to me on this. I just want it to look like a traditional angled headstock, and not violate anybody's copyright or anything. I know I'm not gonna get sued, but it's still important to me.

I've been thinking a little about headstock shape, and tonight, after playing around a little, I came up with this: Not groundbreaking, I know. It's a lot like a Gibson headstock, but it looks so familiar that I wonder if it's exactly like something else I've seen. Has anybody seen this shape before? If not, how close do you think I came to ripping off Gibson's design? Thanks, Dave

I think I'm impressed with the books you read as much as anything else.....

I don't have an answer to your question, but I was wondering if you're planning on putting a finish on it?

See, now I really like the controls in a straight row. It reminds me of an Eastwood Airline guitar. Besides, it helps it swim faster. J. Crowhurst, You're gonna get a lot of opinions here. Take them all for what they're worth, but in the end your guitar will come out best if you trust your own decisions. Somebody had to tell me that not too long ago as well. -Dave

The more I look at it, the more I like it. It's got a real nice MIJ vibe going on. It also looks like a Goldfish cracker. Are you going for a vintage sound as well as a vintage look? I definitely vote for a pickguard. Please post more pictures as you progress. And good job. -Dave

I thought of doing something like this myself. I may still. Good job!

I think your guitar is really cool. I especially love how that walnut pickguard looks with the white paint. Well done. -Dave

In martial arts, when you break boards, you always break on the grain. When you're holding a board for someone, if you hold it from the ends of the grain, chances are the martial artist will not be able to break it, and will probably hurt themselves trying. I'm not a neck expert, but I know how to break wood. The reason you make necks with the grain running vertically is because they're much stronger that way. Just a thought. EDIT: Maybe I'm not sure what you're asking. If you're asking whether to do it as if it's quartersawn or flatsawn, that's a different matter. -Dave