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So, the neck is bowed back? I had assumed that since you were trying to tighten the trussrod, that the neck was bowed forward. If it is bowed back, then yes, wait till the strings are on. If it is still bowed back, try heavier guage strings. The trussrod will not take out a back bow. It makes a back bow to counteract the string tension. That is probably why the nut was backed all the way off.

OOPS! I just looked at that old P-bass neck, as well as one from a '66 Coronado. Neither one have a skunk stripe. I really pictured them in my head as having it. Ah well... Sorry for the confusion. The real problem would be getting the super thin fretboard off. Like Shimmy says, the original fret slots come within 1/64" from the bottom of the board- all the way across. Another thing you could look into, for the neck bow, is what is called "compression fretting", where you use wire with a thicker tang. When it is pressed or hammered into the slots, it makes the neck bend back a little. If the slots are already wide, or have been buggered up by pulling the old frets out, the slots can be filled with epoxy or (maybe?) CA glue, and recut. Stew mac/Dan Erlewine has a real good book on fretting techniques, I have it somewhere.. If I find it, I'll post the title. Or you can probably find it on their website. It includes a bunch of vintage refret jobs.

And if the trussrod is not under the fretboard?

I tried this as a last resort on a '70 P-bass neck, and the board started cracking down the middle. Is the problem that the nut is not turning on the threads? If so, yes try taking the nut off and put a couple drops of WD-40 on the threads, and put the nut back on. Work it back and forth until it frees up. If it is just that the rod can't put enough tension on the neck, well... I think there is a way to lightly clamp the neck for a period of time ( days maybe ) against a jig with shims to pull a bow out of it, but you would have to do some research on that. As for the fret slots, shop around and see if you can find a fretwire with a shorter tang. Probably someone makes one just for this purpose.

The old fender necks from the '60's had a fretboard that was like 3/32" thick, and was laminated to the neck AFTER the top of the neck was radiused, so the board is the 3/32 all the way across. And, I believe the trussrod is also installed from the back, with a "skunk stripe" filler. Also, Fender used to push the frets in from the side, rather than the top, so they need to be driven out with a small drift from the side of the neck to avoid tearout. Often a Fender neck just takes on a bow or twist that the trussrod simply can't correct.

So, are these strips going between the maple and lacewood? If so, I think the ebony would look best. If they are going between the lacewood and the purpleheart, I would say padauk- that would give it a real sweet color transition. Is the oak going to be the top? Do you have pics of it?

Yes, if you use two breakers on the same bus bar, it won't work. The two bus bars are 180deg. out of phase with each other, creating a voltage difference of 220volts between them. Try to find two that are right next to each other, they will be on different bars.

Xylophiles Anonymous

Drak, have you read " Soul of a tree ", by George Nakashima? If not, do so, you would enjoy it a lot! Personally, I can't stand oak. If I never had to run another stick of it thru my saw, I would be content. Just seen too much of it, I guess. But, now that you mention it, I think it would look real nice with the lacewood.

look at the ground block. There should be a wire from it to the motor case or frame, or the block itself should be bolted to the case and not insulated from it.

GND is ground, all the way to the right. The two ~ are the hot. 8 is not ground, that would be bad.

Well, I sure hope so! I've been waiting for more on this project! Oh, er, and, cause it would be good for you to get your shop together, too, yeah!

Yeh, I run 220 whenever I can, too. But mostly so I can run 2 things at the same time on one circuit. Back on topic, though, Delta has a 18" saw for $1250 that looks nice. I've been looking out for a bigger saw, myself. I've got the Delta 14" w/riser. I'd really like to find a good, old 20" Delta.

Erik, do not put a larger breaker in. If it is a 15 amp breaker, it is on a circuit wired with 14ga. wire. 15 amps is the most it is rated for. 20 amps needs 12ga. wire, 30 amps requires 10ga. 30 amps thru a 14ga. wire will get real hot! Motors will run fine on either 110, or 220 ( if they are wound for both ) I read somewhere that it is a myth that they run more efficiently on 220. The main reason for using the higher voltage is that you are pulling half the amps. Definitely run a new 220 line. If you can put it right next to the breaker box, you won't have to bust up too much wall. Then, if you need to you can get or fabricate a 10ga. extension cord.

OK, I changed my mind, a 3+3 would look quite nice, especially if it is that one! I think it will be real sweet with that body, and the darker wood tones you are using.

Isn't that hard to find?

Wow! That is a freakish thing indeed! I love it!

"Split phase" motors are single phase.

Woodworker's supply has a good range of colors: http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=846-171

That is going to look fantastic! I'm not so sure about the 3+3 head, though, unless you did it like a Gibson flying V headstock. That could be nice. Otherwise, I would go with either a standard tele, or the large pattern strat headstock.

That's a cool idea. It should be noted, though, that once the wood reaches the other half of the fence ( the one that is flush with the bit ) that it should be guided along that fence, regardless of what the other half is doing, just like on a jointer. BTW, the term "joiner" is often (mistakenly) used for "jointer", which is the correct name of the machine. Are you going to use purpleheart stripes in the neck too? That would look really cool, being the same color layout as the body, but on a different scale.

In other words, the top surface of the neck blank becomes the plane of the fingerboard, and both the body part and the head part are cut to their respective angles. Clear as mud?

Walnut bark is dark looking, and deeply furrowed. Elm is lighter colored, grey-green, furrowed, but more like overlapping plates. If you cut into the end, walnut heartwood will be green, then changing fairly quickly to brown.

Hi, welcome to the forum. You say oak seems to have "good weight". I guess you like a heavy guitar. If so, oak will get you there for sure. I imagine it would have a fairly bright tone, as well.

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