thedoctor

I would use 9 clamps but 7 would do it. I avoid spool clamps mostly because I don't have any. I don't think they clamp parallel like a good block clamp does. I wonder if anyone has reservations about over-clamping, as in too tight? Might depend on the glue.

Whoa, that is one HUGE piece of wood! There are parts of it that just SCREAM bolt-on bass! Wow!

I have a couple of new SSL-4 1/4 pounders (not from McDonald's) and I was going to put them to use as Tele bridge pickups. I would think that these monsters should be good in that slanted application but I bet I am overlooking something. The neck pickups will be the Fender Noiseless (sic). I guess I want to know if I am wasting them in this particular case. I got em and they are paid for. Sitting around without a home. Had to edit to clarify the question. I think the contrast between the two pickups would make for a versatile guitar. Never used a 1/4 pounder before so I am clueless. I know the Noiseless is kinda tame. Maybe that Strat bridge pickup would kinda help it along.

I am like a lot of others on this thread. I have not bought a hand plane in 30+ years. The best ones I own are crude woodblock planes with a very touchy blade-clamp setup. If I really can't screw up, I use the older Stanley or Nicholson and touch the edge up on the blade before I start. There is an exception to this. A company called General Tool makes a 6" cast iron steel plane made in China that does a remarkable job on small surfaces if you sharpen the crap out of its knife. You can actually get it to scrape in binding if you use it backwards and roll an edge on the knife. Scary stuff. They cost like $12.00. Don't over-tighten the blade holder. The screw is make of soft cheese. (Monty Python quote)

English ash was a very favored wood in the 19th century for furniture because it was harder and could be worked by the old "spindle-turners" without tearouts on the old steam and water powered machines. I'll bet it is heavy, but I have not been able to find a definative density for it on the net. It is very much different than swamp or American. Use it for sure.

Is this a rear-routed Tele or are you going to make your own control cavity cover?

I think the Grovers would look better in this particular build also but the prevailing opinions seem to say they don't work that well and have issues. I am going to use a set of non-locking Grovers instead. Hey, it's a vintage Tele. They didn't even HAVE lockers available. Except at the bus station. Oh, and the YMCA but let's not go there.

Great diagram! That would take some getting used to fer sure!

Random strikes of genious seldom come with an owner's manual. Or a warrantee.

I am building a total Vintage Tele and these new Grovers would look right and if they lock, so much the better. Anyone used them yet? I guess it would help if I could get the link to work but I can't. It is a new Grover locking machine with no external hardware. Dang! I messed the search up and I have all the answers I need now that I spelled Grover correctly. Sorry for the wasted space.

Bigger the cap, duller the tone. Smaller cap, brighter tone.

It is not a deficiency as much as a misapplication. Lovecraft said it well when he said it is probly the "wide paint brush" of Mesa diodes. Use it for everything even if it is not just right. But that wasn't the problem so I am an idiot. You got a bad tube. Crap, with 12 tubes in the output section you need to buy a tube tester!

Except for the high-pressure points of your trem pivot, brass is a VERY durable metal and will wear with all but the hardest of steels when rubbing on strings. The difference between cast brass and machined bar stock brass is almost nil. The plating will be gone in a hurry, however.

Straightup carnuba is fine but I would wait a week before I tried it. The tung actually goes through a gelling/solidifying stage for a few days. The good liquid/paste car waxes made of carnuba are fine as long as they have no silicone or petroleum additives.

If you are talking about the Accusonics, SonicMasters or any of the other butt-of-guitar mounted tailpieces, I think they would be great string anchors since you have given up any trem-piece. The extra string length would limit your scale length if string availability is an issue. A roller bridge might also be nice because tuning would put a more dynamic requirement on the behind-the-bridge length of string. Epiphone used them on a few, Casino and maybe Riviera but they were, as you said, archtops. I don't know how the bridge is gonna like it the way you want to apply one.

You can tell a skeptic a mile away. When you are right in front of you, ya can't tell em a damn thing.

Naw, it's simpler than that. Die-cast is a metal mold that is pressure-filled with molten aluminum, zinc or "pot-metal", a blend. Cast is where a high-temp mold is prepared for gravity or pressure-fed alum., steel or other alloy. Forged is where a mold is made that can handle the pressure of hot-stamping an alloy by compression to a denser version of the original alloy. Forgings rule but they are expensive to make the compression molds for. Die-cast is a very cheap, fast way to make a lot of parts in an alloy that lends itself to lower-temp casting; zinc, tin, alum. Die-cast can make a very accurate part at high production rates but the material is always of the softer variety. Forgings are used for higher-strength alloys but almost always require post-machining. Real cast iron is done with the sand-mold made from a copy of the part made of foam or wax or steel that is removed before the "pour" is done. If you want a simple, though not completly accurate, test of die-cast or forged/cast, put a magnet to it. Die-cast is not magnetic as no steel(ferrites) are involved. Oh, crap! How many IMHOs do I have to put in now?

I believe that. It is those big-ass frets and the slight left-hand twist in the neck. And I mean SLIGHT! This thing has it some frets! Gripper likes him some wide frets. I think I should let a good-playing axe stay as is and forget asthetics. No, I don't mean asthetics. I mean, oh heck I don't know what I mean. Godin, that was my next step because I know where you are coming from on the nut. Its action from first to 19th fret is PERFECT, specially for an old Jackson. I just need to leave well enough alone. Gripper is kinda getting pissed at me because he wants his axe back, not that I am stopping him. He just wants me to send him away with a smile. I can fake a smile. My wife does it all the time.

No, Greg, I know about all the intonation-stuff for most guitars. I don't even have an issue with the playability or action of this thing. I got that all right. I just have never seen a bridge set so strange to get there. I think the pics will help explain. I am not trying to set intonation from a picture. I use a digital scope and a strobe. Using the scope on this one.

That scanned sheet from Kramer is the first one I got. Tough to read but it is usable. To be honest, it just looks wrong. Plays well, good action but the intonation stagger makes no sense to me. I will try to get a couple pics up. Thanks, all.

It has the three it came with but the plate is nice and level, moves well in both directions and has no issues I can find. I am just beginning to think that the pivot points might be too high. If the pivot points were lower I would have to raise each saddle to compensate. How could they make a production guitar with the pivot points too high? Lowering them will be very ugly so maybe I should just leave it. The only good way to lower them would be to reangle the neck or route pockets for the pivot. Yuchhh!

Been there, done that. I can't get the bridge-hiegth down to where the intonation gets into a normal stagger. Can't say that it has a bad action at all because it is nice and low and easy-bending. It makes no sense at all to me but this is the first FR I have ever had my hands on. The neck is straight, unbowed and a dream to grip. Maybe I should just quit and leave it as is? That just seems SO wrong. Should I lock the nut BEFORE I set intonation? That also makes no sense at all to me. Oh, and before you think the bridge-hiegth is the issue, I probly explained that part wrong. The action is cool all up and down the neck. I am just used to setting up guitars where the bridge-hiegth is a major issue. Not this one.

Only certain models started being made in asia, at first. It is probly a Strat. Oops, or Jazzmaster. As a pre-NAFTA move, the production of more models was allowed to happen in southern north america. Someone on this forum will know the exact timing of the production changes but I am sure the early asian models were a real piece of work! Also, if an axe works for you, don't screw with it or question its heritage.

Nice guitar. I got one about 8 years newer. Glad you figured out the "string-recycling" thing. I got more split-sets sitting around than I will ever figure out what to do with. If I were more organized, I would have them all sorted by gauge and construction like the big boys do. NOT!!! BTW, if done correctly, you are the only one that will see the back of the headstock.

Mixing EMG actives with ANY passive is a real booger, although it can be done. It ain't sompthin I would look forward to, if a customer is involved. The passive preamps that you put in the guitar's control cavity to make the output similar to a fully active pickup are quite nice but most are very fussy to setup the way the player would want them. And, they are pricey. IMHO