mistahj

get off your high horse,and don't be a punk. i have used soft maple and hard maple.i would not use soft maple for a thin neck that is supposed to last a lifetime. the object of this site is to let people know of potential drawbacks to their ideas.my post does exactly that. hard maple and soft maple are almost the same price where i buy it.maybe where you are the soft maple is more plentiful.but even at the price YOU give,you are only talking about a difference of about $12 vs $5.10 for a neck blank...and alot of that depends on bolt on or set neck vs neck through. and if you get intimidated by words on your computer,then i submit that you are probably scared of your own shadow as well. so in conclusion.just state your opinion and move on.i don't need you trying to guess my motives. because on this forum there is always some punk trying to contradict for no other reason than to make themselves feel important,especially by contradicting a v.i.p. or a mod. ← I'm sorry, I thought the object of this site was to share what we all know, not what we fear is possible, nor our tempers. And you know, I don't think I'll put up with that kind of blowhard nonsense. It's bullies like you who arrogantly spray your opinion without bothering to support it with fact that ruin places like this where the point is learning and growing, not feeling like you've got the biggest on the block. Now, if you had said, "You know, I've built this and that, and noticed this and that. This is why I wouldn't do that, and this is why I do this now.", that would have shown some manners at least. Some small nod towards courtesy and honesty. But no, you didn't. You just blasted your opinion out from your log and civilized society be damned. You didn't even bother to support your statement with any evidence. Congratulations, you are the new Rush of Luthiery! And, don't call me cheap. For a lot of people, $5 makes a difference. And by the way, when I buy wood, which I, like others, only get to do on special occasions, I buy the board, not only the one peice with which to make my one neck. Alas, to be so charmed, that the world, and even nature itself will turn on a dime for you!

Actually, I don't see how this goes back to the "old pine" argument. Or, "what works for you, works for you". Soft maple works, has better figure, and in an electric instrument, makes very little contribution to tone if it's discernable at all, of which I am unconvinced. Of course, I haven't spent ten grand on my amps so how would I know? As for the larger companies, I don't really see how their choices in wood selection for production guitars are of that much importance. They are geared for an entirely different kind of building where time is of greatest import, not like say, a guy working in his shop on his own guitar. The fact is, and I'm sorry to say, figured maple only comes from soft maple. If someone has tried to sell you curly hard maple, I'm afraid you've been taken. Hard maple burl exists, but not curly or pommele hard maple. Only the soft maple varieties exhibit figure. Sycamore LOOKS like curly soft maple, and is hard, but again, sorry, it's sycamore, not hard maple. And as to price, like anyone on this site, I'm trying to learn, and the best way to learn is to do. I've used both hard and soft maple and don't see the point in donating more money than I have to in wood to my cousin, my neighbor's kid, etc. etc. I already spend over 100 hours on every guitar I put together, and too much in hardware. So, in short, don't call me cheap. It's very rude. And I'm sorry, but I don't believe that soft maple will be too weak when I know for a fact that it isn't. It is simply more prone to dings and dents. I think that's a fair tradeoff for superior workability.

Laquer cracks where there is movement or an unfinished edge where it's being exposed to the open air. I don't know if it'd be a problem or not, but understanding why it happens is a clue to what's going on inside that guitar. It may be something as simple as they didn't wait for the glue to completely cure before finishing it. The moisture from the glue would cause the laquer to crack. However, most major houses use component poly I think, not sure. If it's poly, it may be a different story completely, and most like a stress fracture. Stress fractures are most definately from movement within the neck joint. A bad sign indeed. Hope this helps.

Actually, hard maple is double what soft maple is. I can get 1WF for $2.60 a bf, compared to $6 for hard maple. I consider that cost difference to be significant. Sorry if you don't. Personally, I've made three necks, all with soft maple, one with curly figure. All seem to respond very well. I did, however, use 1/16" stripes opposite a curly core on one of them, split and reversed the grain on another, and used a padauk skunk stripe opposite maple sides for another, and used one slab. I've only had trouble with the slab, and even that not much so. It twisted as it dried out after I rough cut it, so I joined the top and situated the twist so that it would pull away from the bass side. Problem solved. As far as thickness is concerned. All my necks are reasonably thin. Thin enough to safely use a standard one way truss rod (.480" thinnest). I haven't had any problems at all. If you have had problems, I'd like to hear about it. If not, stop trying to intimidate newbies into using their checkbook instead of their brains. Why not give tips on wood selection instead? Straight grain, no knots or picks, is what you're looking for. Quartersawn is preferable but not required. If you're concerned about stability at all (if it has any figure to it, or burl) slice your blank in half, reverse one side to make the grain run opposite, and glue up. This will keep any tendency to warp or twist in check, because the board will be pulling against itself, keeping it in place.

For cheap kits (but not too cheap) try Grizzly.com. They've got a fairly cheap strat kit, I think. Comes with all the hardware. I haven't ordered it and have no experience with the kit itself, however, Grizzly is a great distributor. The very few times I've had problems with an order, they've always gone above and beyond. And, do yourself a favor while you're at Grizzly.com. GET A FREE CATALOG! You'll hate yourself for it, because there's so much to buy, but it's great bathroom reading nonetheless.

Soft maple is actually rather hard, and lighter than hard maple. If it has a figure to it, I'd recommend a skunk stripe, or just a couple of lines of veneer sandwiched in between. Looks really good that way too. If it doesn't have a figure to it, it shouldn't be a problem. Soft maple is actually harder than mahogany, and much easier to carve imho. It's easier to see grain reversals in maple than in mahogany. I really can't see how using soft maple would be a problem.

Hey. Name is Steve Jones, and I'm 30. Been a professional painter for 14 years. I've dabbled in carpentry on the side whenever jobs required it. Just recently I've become insterested in building guitars. To be honest, my cousin's in a band and needed a second guitar for gigs. I looked around at what was available and decided that I could either spend the money in the budget on electronics and good tuners, or spend the money on a cheapo axe that wouldn't do half what he wanted. Didn't know what I was in for, to be completely honest, but I did get the first electric together, although I made some mistakes along the way. Have a second electric and an acoustic in the works. I'm more interested in the acoustic really, and have some half-formed plans for a from scratch banjo. I don't usually post much, except when I'm in a particularly masochistic mood.

You can get headless allen screws in most lengths at some Ace Hardware stores. Depends on the management, but most still sell specialty hardware.

These are the plans that I used. I changed a few things as I went but the basic design is there. http://orange-grove.com/arts/rbaseplan1.jpg http://orange-grove.com/arts/rbasse2.jpg I included a 1" piece of ruler for scale if you want to print them out.

Didn't use a tap. I just cut the lip off the plastic collar and used that to fasten it to the center base. It's fairly secure, but I wouldn't want to drop it or anything. Depth adjustment is a little bit of a pain. Simply moving the bit in and out of the collet until you get the right depth. But I designed it to allow a maximum of adjustment, up to 5/16" depth. I'll post the plans I used when I get them scanned.

Ok, I'm cheap. I didn't want to pay the $25 for the cheesy dremel router base, nor the $60+ for the stew mac router base, although a smoothe plunge base would be nice. And so I spent a day in the shop just farting around with some scrap, and this is what I came up with. http://www.geocities.com/digital.valium@sb...et/P1010042.JPG The bottom and centerplate are 1/8" hardboard with maple supports and handles, attached with #4 countersunk screws. The handles are attached with 2" drywall screws (all I haed on hand at the moment). Going to work on putting a hardwood edge-guide with a brass bushing for cutting bindings soon.

I've tried a couple of side sets so far, and a couple of different methods. A propane torch and 2" ID pipe, my wife's curling iron (hehehe), and I'm working on building a monkey copy of a Fox side bender. So far, the propane torch was too hot. Burned my set of maple sides (a friend of mine had some rock maple 6/4 scrap). The scorch marks are too deep to dig out with sandpaper. The curling iron worked a little better overall. I had some fir scraps I shaped into the right thickness the hard way (block/smoothing plane and sandpaper) to .110 thick. It worked, it was just really really really slow. I'll post my ideas on a fox bender when I get it built. I'm also working on an idea for a heating element pipe bender. The idea is simple. Use a heating element from a dryer/stove/iron etc. inside a steel pipe to heat the pipe, and run the current through a regular 110v wall potentiameter. My first idea was to take apart a regular clothes iron, since all the electronics are there on it already, and you can pick up a used one for $5 US or a new one for $15, but after a little investigation, most of them come with security head screws on them (triangular or slot curled)! Can't open it without breaking the heck out of it, and risking losing what you paid for (damn). Going to look at water heater elements next I think. See how I can make them work. From my research, and practical experience (a little) you don't want your iron too hot. Right around 400 deg F is just about right. A torch will give you upwards of 600. I think the heating element/pot combo is going to be the answer. Versatility and quick setup, with less risk of fire hazard to boot. I still want to try a fox side bending jig, for more figured woods. All my attempts on scrap have ended badly with tiger maple.