x189player

I've been thinking about glass fretboards. If you have a kiln, you can stick a chunk of glass into a mold and melt it into whatever shape you want- they make slumped sinks that way. Another way would involve fusing rods on as fret- makes lot sof sense to me, but I've never done torchwork. I do have a kiln however, so I've been thinking a lot about glass fingerboards. What was that fretboard shaped like a stairstep- that seems like a really good way to do it.

Can anyone point me to a list of standard strat trem spacings? The ones I find are: 2 1/16" Mexican (or 'economy') 2 3/16" US-standard 2 7/32" vintage I know these are probably all over the map- I found at least two major bridge makers who offered other spacings. I've also run across people called 2 1/8" US standard. Is there any standard nomenclature about this at all? Is there a standard 'import spec' like there is with US & import pot shaft splines? And all that's for strat trems. What about tele spacing and the world of hardtails? And then we get into the world of Gibson, and everything with a fixed-post tuneomatic? If we're talking acoustic guitars, does that bring us into the land of terms like 000 and stuff? You see why I asked if there were a reference. It seems like something somebody would have put in a chart already... if not, I'll gather what I can and post it for reference. This issue comes up for those of us who aren't refinishing as much as restoring- i.e. reconstructing, 'fixing up', 'bringing back from the dead' etc. For vintage import stuff especially, there's a lot of variation, and any idea of what standard somebody was imitating would be a beacon in the soup. Many thanks, Paul

People age differently. Some grow faster than others. Some people stagnate at teh same issues they did when they were seventeen, while others graduate to harder challenges. Sounds like you and the guitarist might want to cut loose and do your own thing for a while. Then maybe find some new people wh are more on your track.

blend pots are great! I'll never go back to 3-ways (if I can help it). BIG improvement, the more so if the two pickups are different sounding. here's a diagram: http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/i-4137.html

nice! I really like your original body shape. nice to see somebody thinking for themself rather than imitating a known shape. nice the way you're trimming the headstock down to match the body, too!

Yup. The dry film thickness of a coat of nitro is .003". The dry film thickness of poly is .030"- ten times thicker. And sure, you might use more than one coat- with nitro people use at least 9 coats but as much as 30 coats... but that's still the equivalent of only 3 coats of poly. If you want a thin finish, nitro is definitely the way to go. It's also the reason you have to use grain filler with open grain wood and nitro, because it has so little capacity to fill.

use nitro. nitro lacquer is very thin, which is why we like it (and it looks and feels great). Poly is thick, ugly,a nd, well, plastic. i recommend highly the guitar-formulated lacquers at the Guitar Reranch: http://reranch.august.net/ their refinishing forum is excellent too: http://reranch.august.net/phpBB-2.0.4/phpBB2/

I like the idea of NO GUITAR PARTS. I mean, if you're going to use existing guitar tuners and fretwire, you can pretty well make a guitar out of anything without too much trouble... 2x4's or whatever. the real challenge is doing without those things. To me that's the fun of a cigar box guitar.

jehle

Yeah, dangit, I got busy too and so mine's not ready yet. The neck and body are good but I still have to get to the tuners and frets... I know, the hard part... Maybe we can have a 'second running' contest for all of us who get ours done late?

How about a blend pot? At either extreme you have the two separate channels, and then you can dial in a mix inbetween. Here's a schematic for blend pots: http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/i-4137.html

whoosh, the clock is ticking with hours to go! I finally got my neck sanded and slappin' that ol' nitro on it now. There's definitely some interesting technical challenges to this!

Fabulous, I can't wait to try it! And thanks for the links to this tutorial and the sound clips. Do you have a link to whatever preamp circuit you're currently recommending? I think I saw you mention that the Felzer/Ruby preamp wasn't effective for the harmonic mode, what's working best? Or is it jsut any old preamp? thanks, Paul

For graphic design stuff in general, check out the book "The Graphic Artist's Guild Handook of Ethical Pricing Guidelines". It will not only tell you typical hourly rates, but typical total charges for different jobs- not guitars per se, but it's mighty similar to other decorative arts, illustration, airbrush, auto custom, etc. Generally jobs like this involve two seperate charges- one for the mechanical craft of executing the design on the object- i.e. painting it on. The other is for the actual planning of the design- if it's something simple you might give them this part for free ("I want a big 01 like the General Lee") but if they want something complicated, and need to have their hand held as you lead them through the design process, giving them options ("I want something hip that I can also use as the logo for my business") then the extra time that will take gets billed seperately. It's vital to separate the charges this way, because if you don't, and you skip the design process (as fine artists are prone to do- they think their first version will be accepted as 'finished') then you get into the region of hell known as 'design by assasination'- where you do the work, the client rejects it, you do it over, he rejects it, etc etc. Since we're talking about design process, I'd heartily recommend following something like this: First meeting: Gather data, find out what they want, they decide if they like you. Sketches Meeting: Show them 6-20 sketches of possible different concepts. The sketches should not be refined at all, just indicators of different ideas. The client's job is to pick which idea. Drafts Meeting: Show them a worked-up but not final version of the design. Now is the time to do any fine-tuning, make color choices, etc etc. Often this will mean showing color test swatches, etc. Go over each detail with the client and get their decision/agreement whcih way it should be. Final Delivery: you deliver the finished work, and they love it. Better yet, they love you: "It's so easy to work with you, I didn't even know what I wanted and you helped me get it." And that's where the word of mouth starts spreading. Your customers are not jsut satisfied, but ecstatic, and they tell all their friends, and you get more work. If you follow the above process, you'll do well. Note that the process not only helps you do good work that makes the client happy, it also protects you. If the client comes back at the last minute and changes their mind, you say "OK, that will cost extra" and you bill them extra for any work you have to do over as a result. This is a VITAL factor in ensuring you get paid fairly for your work, and a key point in your contract.. BTW, the Graphic Artists' Guild Hbk mentioned above has not only pricing, but sample contracts you can use, or adapt the wording to your own. When the customer is ordering standardized stuff, a simple order form will suffice ("one Mary Kaye strat body in alder please") but when it comes to doing design work you really need a proper contract- and your client will understand that it protects them as well- and makes you look good. (FWIW, I've worked as a professional designer of all kinds for nearly twenty years, and I teach design at the Art Institute of Seattle, so I'm not just making this stuff up. I've used this process countless times with success, and so have my students, on everything from business cars to custom motorcycles. If I can help with specific details on the business of design, let me know)

All right, I'm in too! I just spent an hour on the porch whittling a neck, surprising how much fun!