orgmorg

Well, go back and look at the link that was posted to David Myka's walnut guitar earlier. I'm sure it turned out ok, or the photos would be a bit more dramatic.

The Gibson bridges, or at least reproductions of them usually turn up on eBay, and Hipshot makes one like a Rickenbacker bass bridge, I believe. Here ya go: http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/bridge_aftermarketgib.htm

The two different building methods being described here produce two very different instruments. They feel and sound different. The decision to build one or the other should really be based on what type of instrument you want, rather than what sort of building method you want to avoid. If you want a guitar like a es335, and you chose to hog out a solid body blank, you may end up with a great guitar, but maybe not quite what you were hoping for. But if you want something more like a tele thinline, that would be the way to go.

Well, 6 if he cant find a better way to sand them.

Cool! Look forward to it, and I might even try something like it myself.

Best to do it on the bandsaw. I would recommend a 1/2" band, 4 or 6 tpi Remember too that it is likely to bow/cup/twist as you are sawing it. You will lose a lot more wood cutting it on the tablesaw, and a 4" thick block of ebony will tend to bind the blade in the cut. Edit: Um.. Yeah, what Rich said!

Ah.. makes sense. Ever think of making a bass, maybe out of a old wooden milk crate?

Love it!! But why only 4 strings for a mando? Just more frugality, or does it work out better that way for a cigar box for some reason?

Racer- sorry if I wasn't clear, we are talking about the workpiece moving, not the router unit. Komodo- sounds like you thought about this already. I suppose making the jig/template bigger and heavier will help.

That's a neat idea, and probably works well for what he is doing with it, but I can't imagine using it with a bigger router for heavier stuff like cavity routing and such. The "pneumatics and whatever" of a pin router make it so you can hold the workpiece while the bit plunges into it. Otherwise, it could easily move in a way you might not want it to.

Well, ideally, we would like to have no gap beneath the fretwire, but since things tend to move around a bit with temperature/humidity changes it is good to have just a hair of space under there to keep the fret from getting pushed up. Also, cutting the slot a hair deeper than the tang ensures that the fret does indeed seat firmly on the fretboard surface, and not bottom out in the slot before fully seating. You are a bit confused on your third question. I assume the info you have is from LMI. What they mean is that if the board is radiused, they set the centerline of the board, which is the high point of the radius, parallel to the fence of their jig, so that the slots end up perpendicular to the centerline. As far as I know, however, they still run them straight across the saw, and the slots will be deeper in the middle- that is, the bottom of the slot is flat, but the fretboard surface is radiused. On a unraduised board, they just set the edge of the board to the fence, and the slots end up perpendicular to that edge. They tell you this so you can draw your centerline correctly when it comes time to taper the board. Clear as mud?

If you are looking for something you can brush on indoors, I would suggest Minwax Polycrylic. It's available at most places that carry Minwax products. It will never look as smooth as a sprayed finish, but I am assuming you brushed the acrylic paint on anyway. The polycrylic should be compatible with the acrylic, but try it on a test piece first, just in case.

That is going to be spectacular, Wez! I love the lizard design, and the silhouette idea is spot on, but I would think it ought to be a tad smaller in scale, to include more of the legs. Snakewood would be a nice choice. Lizards tend to like being camoflaged, so something close in color to the ziricote would be cool. Just a thought.

Well, if that doesn't help Jimboh out, it does help me. The only place I found nearby that has it, only has it in aerosol cans. I tried one out, and it was horrible. The tip got clogged every 5 seconds. Wouldn't have thought to try wallyworld, thanks!

Walnut is only marginally stronger than poplar.

Man, I hate rats! Takes the fun out of opening up a stack of wood, huh? Could be much worse, though. At least no bugs got into it. Nice color in that walnut!

I had a Gibson SG jr. a long time ago, with a poplar body. It sounded just fine.

Ah.. I had a feeling that might be the case. Thanks for the tip on the nickel covers, that's a good idea. I probably have a few kicking around to mess with.

Russ, you mentioned offering pickup covers. Would you be able to do them in copper? If so, I might be interested in humbucker and tele neck pickup covers with some sort of hammered/distressed finish. Depending on how things go, maybe on a regular basis.

Plus, strat and tele saddles/springs,etc are readily available in many different styles.

That one should really have a soapbar pickup, for proper hygiene.

This is some fresh cut yellow poplar: The green is the normal color of the heartwood in yellow poplar. The purple, blue, and black are what is referred to as "mineral streaking" and usually turns up in trees that have sustained some sort of damage. I forgot to mention that in Europe, and the UK, poplar is either white or black poplar, those species being native to south/east Europe and central Asia. They are also widely cultivated throughout Europe, Africa, and Australia, so I would bet that they are what is sold as poplar in Australia. Also, I believe they are the species that most poplar burl comes from. I don't think I have ever seen any real burl in yellow poplar, but I sometimes run into patches of dormant bud cluster. The true poplars in North America do produce some burl, as well.

Also, let's be clear on what we are calling poplar. The "poplar" that is used in guitar manufacture, and what is typically marketed as "poplar" is tulip poplar, also called yellow poplar, Liriodendron Tulipfera. Not in the poplar family at all, yet that is what is generally meant when we refer to poplar, at least in the US. It gets a little less clear the further north you go, as you get into the growing range of the true poplars, like aspen, balsam poplar, etc. The top of the guitar linked to earlier, is of the latter variety, and is much more likely to exhibit figure than yellow poplar. Yellow poplar is a bit denser, and finer grained. Here is a bass I built out of it: This is from a really nice piece, and all heartwood. Most of the stuff on the market is paler, with lots of white sapwood. I happen to like yellow poplar quite well. But again, if you are in Michigan, it is quite possible that aspen will be sold as poplar.

I have a narrow plank of it, about 2bf or so, that turned up at a Habitat for Humanity store. My friend was there looking for tile, and found it labelled "walnut" and bought it for me for $7. He even questioned them about it but they were certain it was walnut. Saving that for something special.

Most likely it is a cost issue. With aluminum, the neck would not have to be solid, and aluminim is expensive. On a wooden guitar neck? they would probably weaken it considerably. All the tone in the world won't make up for that.