doug

If you play now, then you probably already have a favorite scale length. Start there. The rest is open territory. Maybe stop by your local music store and look at a bunch of guitars to analyze how they are constructed. Pick out what you like or don't like, then incorporate that in your design. Take note of things like the bridge being used, if the neck is angled with respects the bridge, pickup location, type of nut, maybe even control location. Just little things, but they'll help you get an idea of what goes into building one. Many of us take things for granted and don't view the things around us from a "I want to make one" perspective. So going on a mission to figure out how something is made can be tedious at first, then it all makes sense after a while. Drawing a full scale plan will really pull it all together. Even if you don't build the guitar from the plan, it will help you to visualize how to build one. A key element is the neck. It has to be right. Even of the body has flaws or aspects you deem "not perfect", if the neck is done right it should be playable. Besides, if you make "a mistake" it'll give you an excuse to make another... Thing is, we learn from the experience. Have fun! -Doug

The nice thing about the lines is it will help you see where the irregularities are in your back shape as you progress making it easier to correct. Nice work! I like the fact that you used those two darker laminates to match the top. Should all be nice in the end. -Doug

Well I did assume the tyvek suit, nitrile gloves, respirator, goggles, ventilation, etc. would be employed.... so my mind just drifted to the end of the chapter where it's all cured. I'd say keep the neck you have and make another some time with carbon fiber stiffeners in it. -Doug

People are allergic to just about everything from kleenex to dinner plates.... Has anyone ever heard of a person being allergic to their PRS or Les Paul? I imagine it's possible. However, polyester resins in general are inert once cured. That's why paint stripper, acetone, dye, alcohol, lacquer thinner, ketone etc. has no effect at all on the surface after a few days. If you sand it though... the dust is not good for you. -Doug

Thanks! That one was really hard to part with... -Doug

It's common for guitar companies to use polyester. I do too. (sprayed on though) It's basically fiberglass resin without the matting. If you insist on adding the matting too, get the thin stuff. As for potential added stiffness, it's possible (but I'm no engineer). It's all a bit messy though... sorta like coating a wooden canoe. -Doug

Here is an example of a modified tung oil finish on my Model 07LTD. Feels and looks exactly like the bare wood (padauk) itself. So sweet! Unless you're up close it's pretty hard to tell that there was anything at all on the wood. Opinion time...:o) the Utopian tung oil finish is one that can not be seen or felt. Evidence of it is noted by the subtle warmth color and grain presence exhibited by the treated surface. Body sanded to 1200, which on padauk is glass smooth. Rubbed with 0000 steel wool. My blend of oils applied, then wiped dry. Blend applied 3 or 4 more times for good measure, taking care to wipe and rub to shine after each. -Doug

Some of your troubles with uneven application on your first kit may have been due to a couple issues. 1) There may have been a light sealer on / in the wood 2) Alder sometimes does not take stains and dyes evenly. Test on scrap first, but the mahogany "should" be easier to get an even color on. Absolutely test it first! If the dye doesn't take evenly it's an indication of something on the wood. Dye is meant to color the wood fibers. If the dye can't get to the fibers then it won't take. (ex. fake binding on PRS guitars) This is exacerbated if the surface is rubbed (like a wiping finish). -Doug

Is that assuming you don't wipe it dry after a few minutes? Pore/fiber sealing happens with the first application. Once the fibers harden they are sealed and will no longer absorb oil. The reason for multiple treatments is to be sure none was missed and all the wood fibers exposed to the surface are sealed. Yes, Minwax is "cooked" and is not 100% tung oil. Varnish is great for surface building and predated polyurethane. 100% tung oil almost never dries (well after many years it might sort of). We could go on for weeks about tung oils.... so I'll reserve further comment on which blend or method works or doesn't. We all have our 'ways' I guess you could say. I respect them all. -Doug To be honest I have never used it. It's a little ironic that this topic came up because I had just finished a bunch of reading to learn more about oil finishes. If I remember correctly to get a build with any of the wiping varnishes, you applied them and did not wipe off the excess. But I would have to go back a verify that. I only read throug the info once so far, so it has not quite sunk in yet. A little off topic for Doug: You said that you have done a lot of work with tung oil, so maybe you can answer this for me. From my research I have gathered that 100% tung oil does not fully dry, do not build a film, does not protect from scratches or dents or scuffs, and only offers minimal resistance to moisture changes. So why exactly would you want to use tung oil if it does not offer much protection to the wood. In all of my reading, I did not really find anything that really said what benefits it provided. While I would like to try an oil finish it seems that straight oil does not do much of anything for protection and that you need to use one the wiping varnishes or Danish oil or similar. I can't imagine why someone would choose this type of oil for a guitar. Cutting boards, and other misc. wood projects maybe, but not a guitar. Yes, your reading is spot on. I've never liked any finish that doesn't provide protection. Waterlox is my out of the can preference. Minwax is easier to get and does a very nice job. Honestly, Minwax does not exhibit the same properties as true varnish so I would caution thick applications. Tests I've done demonstrated it stays gummy for quite a while. One issue with the "tung oil" subject as a whole is that there are so many varieties. I will only use processed blends because it does stiffens the wood fibers and protects from mild abrasion. I use the tung oil blends when I want to feel the wood surface. Hope that helps. -Doug

+1 for that! You should be able to come up with a pretty good idea of how it goes together just by drawing out a side profile. Locating the body for neck angle isn't rocket science so I'm sure you'll be fine if you at least start with a drawing. Draw it like you might build it. By that I mean, draw a mock neck then locate the body in relation to it. People ask: Doug can you make a left handed neck? With trepidation I answer, yes. Why hesitate? The hardest thing about making a left handed neck is REMEMBERING to build it backwards... LOL! So, the moral of the story is you'll need to remember to put all your wire chases in PRIOR to gluing the body wings on... -Doug

bubinga/maple/bub/maple/bub looks amazing. I'm just finishing a 7 stringer for a customer right now and I'm just taken back by how stunning it looks. I topped it with a very very black ebony fingerboard too which really makes it. What does "add a little wood to the headstock" mean? My opinion of set neck vs. through neck is a set neck is less cumbersome in the shop because you don't have the whole neck there with you all the time. With a set neck you can do all the preliminary work on the body including sealer/dye then glue the neck in just before clear coating the entire guitar. You'll likely hear a lot about the tonal differences between a set neck and through neck, but that's all subjective. So do your research and draw your own conclusion. -Doug

Interesting article that was. Thanks. I like to know what other people do... alway have. Whew, that made me tired just reading it... So I wonder, if all he was trying to do is make a shiny drum from a hundred coats of tung oil, why didn't he just use urethane or full fledged varnish? Urethane = 3 or 4 coats. Varnish maybe ten, but only a couple sandings. -Doug

Is that assuming you don't wipe it dry after a few minutes? Pore/fiber sealing happens with the first application. Once the fibers harden they are sealed and will no longer absorb oil. The reason for multiple treatments is to be sure none was missed and all the wood fibers exposed to the surface are sealed. Yes, Minwax is "cooked" and is not 100% tung oil. Varnish is great for surface building and predated polyurethane. 100% tung oil almost never dries (well after many years it might sort of). We could go on for weeks about tung oils.... so I'll reserve further comment on which blend or method works or doesn't. We all have our 'ways' I guess you could say. I respect them all. Anyway, about the dye part of the question: I mix with denatured alcohol and spray. Sometimes I use water instead and apply wet. It produces different results. Alcohol solution makes for more vibrant color (usually). It can also darken dark colors. Once dye is applied, I seal. Mix dye with your oil should push it deeper into the wood pores. You could have fun with this one I think. Tung oil is a good medium for colors. -Doug

I'm curious about the wet sanding part... Since tung oil (in general) is meant to soak into wood and not on it, what purpose does wet sanding serve? There should be nothing on top to sand. Since you mentioned Minwax, right on the can it says to let it soak for a few minutes then wipe dry(polish). The first wet coat soaks into the wood, and seals the pores once it hardens. Subsequent applications just give it some luster. Tung oil has been a staple in my shop for the past 25 years. I've used it on everything from 7 foot grandfather clocks to guitars. It produces a wonderful natural finish. If applied evenly and wiped off after each application the final finish will be flawless. I usually follow-up the last coat with 0000 steel wool just for good measure. I know other's have their ways, but I'm old school sometimes. Yes, I also have my own formulation. Nonetheless, drying oils basically work the same way. -Doug

A typical nut is 1-11/16" so 1-5/8" is only 1/16" narrower... not much really. Therefore, you'd only have to adjust the width of your headstock at the nut just a little bit. No big deal. -Doug

I've never has an issue returning stuff to Stewmac that was defective. I just sent an email and they responded with what to do. Maybe a buzzing nut might be more difficult to prove because of all the possible contributing factors involved. It's interesting though, because Gotoh makes some really nice stuff. -Doug

This is exactly the reason I stopped posting any of my work on Ebay quite a while ago. Some sellers have really made picking a quality component out of the flood of junk nearly impossible. It's too bad that these types of issues have to happen. Just sorta ruins a persons day. One day some time ago, just for the heck of it, I ordered Strat and Tele neck template from a seller with a lot of feedback. Mostly, I just wanted to compare their relative size etc. to my known good templates. Well, I was absolutely dumbfounded at the complete piece of junk they sent me!! WOW oh WOW!! There was a full 1/8" bow down the low E taper, then the taper ended just before the heel area! The neck pocket would have had to be rectangular not a trapezoid for the neck to fit! Not to mention the low E string would hang off the fingerboard about the 10th fret! So I called him on it. He sent me a new set. These were off in other ways by a mile!! Sent them back got a refund, end of story. I truly felt sorry for anyone who innocently happened on these templates, put good money into body and neck woods, only to realized it will not work! It's a crying shame. I don't want to be a party to that. Be careful, be picky, know EXACTLY what you need. Saving money is not always worth the gamble. Rant over.... -Doug

That's only if he gets the wrong neck.... with the correct neck he'd only be learning to use a screwdriver.... -Doug

If it's a double action rod then it needs some tension in order to be secured to stop rattling. Not all of them are the same though. You could adjust the nut to put some tension on the rod and see what happens. Another thing to note is that banging then neck around(slapping it into your hand, putting on work bench, moving it and setting it down less than gently, etc.) will cause the truss rod to make noises now and then. Also, power tools will cause abnormal vibrations. The truss rod channel itself is usually slightly larger than the active rod. Because of the "wiggle room" the truss rod will "wiggle" until it's under some stress. In short, you most likely need to have some tension on it first. -Doug

It's already been noted, but I can't help but stress how important good sharp bits are! Start with a small hole and go larger. Also, use a pilot bit to chamfer the holes BEFORE putting screws in. It's more likely that the screw will damage the finish than the bit. It's also helpful to make the start of the hole the same size as the screw so the threads don't dig in right there. -Doug

Somehow years ago I acquired one of those cardboard decimal to fraction charts. For the longest time I hung on to it, brushed aside on a shelf collecting dust... One day I wanted to make a conversion (who knows why anymore) so I blew the dust off and realized what a gem I had. Now I keep it posted to the wall. Fortunately for you and the rest of us, bridges have adjustments. So, 'real close' is good enough. Now all I need is one that converts mm to the nearest whole fraction. -Doug

Thanks!

Basswood is great for prototypes. There's little to no grain or density differences all the way through so it's easy to carve or whatever. -Doug

Ahhh, Drak, you may be on to something... Oh god... some things I just take for granted. People have so many opinions of what makes a guitar sound good that I assumed that is what was meant. -Doug

Okay, so I've been building for quite a while yet I find this comment intriguing. Question: Why would the scale length, other than personal preference, matter so much? Basic example, I prefer 24-5/8" but my 18 year old son likes 25" scale. I have short fingers, he has long ones. Scale length I pick has no influence over the choice of pickups, bridge, tuners, wood, nut, fret size, and whatever else. Theoretically though if I built 2 guitars with the same woods and hardware (one longer scale, one shorter) there should be some tonal differences. I get more excited over that perfect top or body and neck woods than anything else. When I find amazing and special top wood, or fingerboard, or body blank I just get inspired. Yes, I have built whole guitars around just a fingerboard. So in the end, for me (a serious woodworker) I get my inspiration almost entirely from a simple single wooden element of a guitar than any other aspect of it. Hence, my original question. Does scale length matter... to 'me'? - not at all. Do I have a preference? Yes, of course. Therefore, I would be inclined to slot the fingerboard to my preference unless the guitar was for a customer who specified their 'preference'. my 2 cents... -Doug