mbaker

I am building a strat style guitar with a top mount Floyd Rose (no bridge routering). To the best of my knowledge I can not get acceptable action with out either raising the neck with a shim or angling the neck (with an angled shim or adding and angle to the neck pocket). I would rather add a flat shim to the neck pocket as this seems to be the easiest and quickest but I am concerned about a loss of sustain and poor appearance? Angling the neck pocket or creating an angled shim seems to be very difficult to do and I can not think of an accurate way to accomplish this? So my question, is what is the best way and how?

From reading through various posts and researching on-line, this is what I beleive to be the best way to cut your own pickguard from a blank? 1. Attach pickguard material to 1/8 thick board with double sided tape 2. trace template shape onto the pickguard material. 2. Cut shape out with a saw (hand saw or sabre saw) 3. Use router to bevel the edge 4. take pickguard off the board 5. Use file then sand paper as required (i.e. 220, 400, 800 .... - 1500) to get a nice edge. 6. Then buff to high gloss with compound. Is this correct or did I miss anything?

I am attempting to router out the bridge for a Floyd Rose. I'm going to do it on a Fender Strat Style body that is already finished. I'm concerned that when I do it I will not a get a clean cut and I will leave a jagged edge or crack the paint. I thought that if before I router, I should score the edge of the route with a knife (right along the edge of the template), that it might prevent the paint from chipping on the edge. Any suggestions/comments?

Thanks for the info. The neck and the body do have finish. And the neck is a 22 fret. I appreciate the help.

I just bought a jackson style guitar body from TNT Custom guitar and a stewmac birseye maple neck. Both are spec'd to becompatible with the standard 2 - 3/16th inch neck pocket. However the neck appears to be slighly smaller and tapers in so it is 2 - 3/32 by the end of the neck pocket? This causes a neck joint that is very loose - by about 1/16 - 2/16th. Really....it just doesn't fit. This poses several questions to me? -Where can I get a fender style neck that will fit the jackson body?... -or is there something wrong with my stew mac neck?. -I know the floyd rose bridge is slightly larger than a standard Fender bridge so this seems as if I would need a neck that is slightly wider? -Even though my stemac neck does not fit the jackson will it fit nice an tight into a fender style body???? As you can see I have many questions about neck pockets relative to fender necks and jackson style bodies. Can someone answer these questions or share some information on this subject?

How would I go about applying Behlen blush eraser? Just quickly spray the affected area? Is over spray on other areas OK or should I create a stencil to limit the over spray on other areas? Also, do you think this can cause any other damage or problems? I am a little nervous to do this as the problem is not severe and is only visible when the light is reflecting just right on the finish; I do not want to make things any worse? I suppose I test it on the back of the guitar? FYI - I sanded 2 areas with wet 2000 paper and the problem occurred. I just sanded another section with same paper and no water, and the problem did not occur? Does this make sense.... I'm surprised the finish is so susceptible to water damage from sanding?

I had some scratches and nicks on a body that had already been finished. I filled the scratches and nicks with clear coat touch up from auto-store (just like I always had). I used 600 and 2000 grit wet paper to sand down the clear coat touch-ups flush to the original finish. Then used buffing compound on a wrag to buff out the scratches. However this time, I noticed a light solid haze where I had wet sanded. It is light and can be seen when you look at the guitar with the reflection of your light source just next the haze on the guitar. It doesn't seem to be swirl marks as I have tried to use buffing compound and Stew Macs swirl remover with no luck???? The haze appears to have taken the shape of the water from wet sanding. (i.e. some potions that were not sanded but had water on it have this haze). Is this some kind of water stain or reaction with the clear coat I used to fill the nicks. Any suggestions on how to correct his would be appreciated?