Ripthorn

If you check normal lumber supply places, some of them will sell it by the board foot, and you could probably get a 4" width as long as you want it. It will probably cost you like 30 bucks a board foot or more, but you could check someplace like exoticlumberinc or something.

You can use the existing bridge plate as long as the spacing on it is the same as the spacing on the new one and as long as the saddles are compatible. On vintage trems, the saddle width is different than on more modern ones. I have seen where one guy was having problems because he bought modern saddles for his vintage bridge and the saddles were too wide and he had to use his old saddles again. Just make sure spacing is right and you should be fine.

A standard neck blank is usually about 2 1/2 to 3" wide, about an inch thick (give or take a little) and about 27 or 29 inches long (roughly). Also, the fingerboard blank is the same width, about 3/8 thick (maybe 5/16) and roughly 21 or 22 inches long.

As far as I understand it, there isn't a huge difference between flatsawn or quartersawn. I imagine that quartersawn would be slightly less prone to warpage depending on the species, but most neck blanks I have seen are flatsawn.

I think they actually make bushing removal tools. The only way I have ever gotten them out (I'm too cheap to get the tool) is to take a flathead screwdriver and put it through the opposite end of the hole, put the tip on the end of bushing (it makes a little "ledge" inside) and tap with a hammer. Sometimes it requires a little more than a tap, but those ferrules are made to stay in well.

For a compressor, the main concern is going to be the cfm figure. You need enough to provide at least what the hvlp system requires. You can shop around some, but I have found that a 4 gallon compressor can usually power most things without interrupting the air delivery to compress more air (unless you have some ridiculous cfm at high psi). Again, look around. If you want high quality that will last for a long time, I would shy away from harbor freight. Great place for "disposable" tools, but not the best for high quality stuff.

Why not just use maple and get the reverse dark/light thing going on too? If you are worried about too much in the highs, you could use soft maple. I have a solid maple guitar and I don't think it is overly bright, even though it does have a tone that will cut through a mix like butter.

If I'm not mistaken, you can get completely self-contained hvlp systems that have the compressor, can and gun all in one box. If space is a premium, you might think about one of those as it would be easy to put away in a small space when not in use.

As long as you get them from a reputable source (stew-mac, mouser, whatever) then you will be fine. Genuine Fender usually means "huge markup".

For wicking it into the lacquer, i would think either thin or medium (probably thin). You want it to get into small areas, so you don't want the gel stuff. Think of picking up a syringe to go with it.

For versatility, I actually like PRS pickups. The dragon II series are very nice. The only downside is that they are pricey. I guess my question is do you want to use what you have or buy something to acheive your general purpose-ness? Also, if you want lots of versatility, you might consider putting in a third pickup. It all depends on what you want to do. Usually a hot pickup will give you very crisp tones (at least in my experience) as opposed to a mellower one. I just don't think crisp for jazz so much, I think mellow.

The only thing you need to be careful of is to make sure that the pickups aren't too close to the strings. Other than that, it shouldn't be a problem.

Those are the DC resistances of the coils. The higher the number, the more windings there typically are. A higher value will indicate a higher output due to the greater number of windings. The bridge one above would be considered hot while the other would not be so much. Hope that helps.

I'll second the superglue. You could also do burn-in sticks, but they are more expensive and usually aren't available locally. Go with the glue.

Paul, what are the benefits of that fancy wire? I am just curious.

You could check someplace like mouser or digikey, but another option is you could just use another three way switch and make the third position be something like neck coil tapped or neck out of phase. That would give you even more options if you wanted it.

That's a good looking shellac finish. Was that padded or sprayed or what? I really like tru-oil, personally. It will darken things up a fair bit, so be aware of that. I would think maybe just a good straight clear like nitro or poly would really give that baby a nice shine.

On my neck thru guitar, i just did a separate bore to the control cavity for each pickup. Use a really long drill bit and don't push it too hard, otherwise it will flex and walk on you. Just make sure the angle from the pickup cavity to control cavity is such that the drill doesn't come out the back. Works great.

You're going to want to fill them first. You can use clear epoxy or CA, but with CA you have to be careful about the fumes getting in your eyes and mucus membranes. If you go the lacquer route, it will take a lot more material and time to get a level surface.

I just put on a color coat a couple hours ago, so I will let it sit a bit before sanding and here hoping for the best. Thanks for the comments and advice.

I am using acrylic lacquer for the color. I was thinking I should sand it good and flat, but what grit should I be using? KP, were you saying 400 at the highest or lowest?

I have just put down my color coats and there is some orange peel going on. I am wondering how much I have to sand my color coats before clear coating. Do I need to level sand and then polish some so that it still shines after the clear is on or is that not so important? Thanks.

Edit: there is also a small sag or two, how should I deal with those? Grit suggestions?

If it is a transparent finish, I would go with CA and wood dust (you could use CA to fill the pores on your center lam there too). You could use dark dust to try to match the coloration of the knot or you could go lighter for contrast, it's up to you. Structurally, that knot won't matter.

Depends on the size of the knot and the location. If it is a small surface knot in the body, just fill it with whatever to get a level surface and leave it at that. If it is a larger knot or in the neck, you would want to stabilize. I think there exists some kind of resin hardener, but I can't think of exactly what it is. I know people have stabilized with CA also, but I think it is very situation dependent. If you post a pic, I am sure you could get some more useful feedback.

It looks to me like those places with coloration still have a little sealer left on there. I had a similar problem with a refin I did a few weeks ago, the sealer was laid on so thick that it took a good while to sand it off. You could still definitely try chemicals though.

As far as the grain matching goes, I personally don't think it is that great, but not terrible. You could clear it if you want, but I personally would probably do an opaque finish. I just did on a solid maple guitar that I have been refinishing. I love the look of maple, but the grain matching was an abomination, so I painted it. Just my opinion, however.

You could keep sanding if you want, but just remember that you can never put more wood back on, you can always take more off. I would probably go chemical, personally, just for the sake of not taking off more material than necessary. Of course, I haven't seen the pics, so this is me just speculating.