GuitarGuy

I often find it comical how people refer to tone. I would say 90% of the tone of an electric guitar is the pickups. The other 10% is pure voodoo. That being said the real tone idea is in density. The denser a piece of wood the less it will vibrate and the more sustain you will get. (because the string's energy is not being lost to the vibrating body) The lighter or less dense the wood is the more it will vibrate and the "warmer" the tone becomes (and conversely sustain goes out the window). But on an electric the only person that "feels" this is the player. Because the subtle vibration differances are "felt" and not heard.(argue this if you want but its my take from a physics standpoint) Now the real funny part is these vibrations are transfered through glue and wood to the guitar strings then from the strings, then are magnetically picked up by a coil then amplified and reproduced by a paper cone. Now how much of the initial tone is reproduced faithfully? Try this experiment Listen to a conversation/music through a wall or door using a coffee mug to the wall. Now listen to the same thing using a plastic cup. The difference may be semi-noticable. now lets do the same experiment only this time record it using a microphone and then play it back. Blindfolded you would be hard pressed to tell the two apart. Just my take on it, you don't have to agree.

I recalled from another post. (I got the memory of an elephant) I'm in the New Glasgow area. If you are looking for a tele style body I may be able to hook you up. I'm building Tele right now and have the template to make others. Just send me an email at info@airos-guitars.com

I dont know if this is what you are referring to. But when shaping necks i use an automotive pnumatic die grinder with an aluminum cutting bit. The Aluminum bit wont fill up and does not get dull. I use it mainly for roughing and then clean up with the regular rotory rasp bit. If you go that route be careful. The deep flutes in the alum bit can really knarl your fingers if you're not careful. (got that T-shirt a while ago)

BMX if im not mistaken you're from Nova Scotia right?

I hafta agree with Gregp on this one. If its made with a scarf and an angled headstock. It should be plenty strong enough. Ever try to break a piece of would that has been glued? It breakes the wood and not the glue. So by that thought your neck should be stronger than most.

Ok, seeing as how everyone is harping that the inexperienced users of this site may try this, I say Kids, Don't try this at home! And while were on the topic of safety. I think we should talk about tools. You are more likely to loose a finger in a jointer so maybe we shouldnt use those either. Table saws....The most dangerous tools in the shop somehow dont get mentioned.

could be many things, first the obvious. volume, gain etc on the amp should be up. just for testing purposes turn evey dial on the amp so that it points to the middle of its range of motion. then make sure the guitar has the volume turned up. Also make sure the cord is plugged into the right inlet on the amp. A lot have a headphone and a effect loop send and recieve if you plug into one of them by accident you will get unpredictable results. after doing all this If it has a pickup selector check to see if it makes sound in any different positions. Take it from here and post if this dosent fix it.

Heres one I made from a bit of leather left over from doing belts. strap 1 Strap2 strap3 Strap 4

Thanks for the vote of confidence, and in hindsight i see where you guys are coming from with people having less experience. All I can say to that is painting with urethanes (spelled it right ) is not soming to jump into. One point I have to make though is how many people spray lacquers and urethanes in their garage? The answer is a LOT! And this is in the same room as furnaces, compressors, power tools etc etc etc. And again I ask how many explosions do you hear of? Very few! A lot of the codes surrounding paint booths fall into the "protect me im stupid category". Think before you do and everything will be fine. And your right about the spark, I've seen it myself. The proper procedure for "baking" a finsh would be to heat the room to approx 90 F. Remove the heaters and start painting. If the room is insulated enough it will keep the heat regardless of the air movement. Electrics dont usally spark in the on or off position it's the tranzition between the two that does it. So turn the exaust fan on and leave it on, turn the heater on and then remove it after reaching temperature. Dont turn the lights on and off ....you see the drill. I was thinking of making a video and I will post it when im done. To see actually how much atomized paint it would take to ignite. I'm curious now.

Yeah, Rome wasn't built in a day. My pictures are coming, I have one going to paint by the end of the week. The site has only been up for less than a month. I didn't mean to imply that your images are not real. The mockups are cool but a picture would be nicer. (Just constructive critisim, nothing more) I was sincere when I said you do nice work, I'm very impressed. It seems this has become a little personal. You probably know as well as I that posts can be misconstrued at times. No Hard feelings.

Spelling was never a strong point, and how does that enter into my knowledge? You grossly over estimate the explosive power of sovents. Consider the volume of spray you are spraying, (most of it will be hitting your project) and the volume of air thats moving through the booth there is little or no potential for problems. This is the heater I was referring to, it is the oil-filled varietySee it here and yes the walls will be sheetmetal. You do nice work (although it would be nice to see some real pictures in your web gallery instead of computer generated ones) however this doesn't make you a booth expert. And another note to point out to others reading this thread, if you are at all concerned with explosions. You can add lighting by making a sealed clear section of the walls and just put a light of choice up to it. And leave out the heater of course.

Oh yeah and in the same shop there is a wood stove 15 feet away. Just dont let fumes build up and you're laughin.

kaboom? hmm, if your referring to urathanes being flamable then you dont know what you're talking about. You dont bake a finsh untill you STOP SPRAYING! Making sure to remove the heater prior to painting and as long as its venting properly then you have a pretty good booth. Im a 3rd generation autobody man. Since about 1948 we have had the same motor in our old garage that has been an exaust vent for everything from lacquers to Uros it is made from an old blower motor. The only thing protecting it from fumes is a cone shaped shrowd covering the end. The thing to think about when building a booth is CFM. You want a ton of air moving in and out and properly filtered. Look up on the net and see how may boot explosions you can find.... prob about 5 give or take. And pretty much every one is atributed to a negleted filter slowing air flow. I've be painting cars in a real booth for 5+ yrs, I just don't have much access to one since my old man retired from autobody.

I've been thinking of building a booth myself. My thought is to make one from a baby barn. Its not too expensive and all you have to add is the fan system. Also they sit on joists that have gaps. This would be excellent for creating a downdraft booth. (just like automotive ones) That will keep overspray to a minimum. You could even add a space heater that could aide in curing (with urathanes)

If you have a spray gun you may want to look up AutoAir paint. Its a waterbased paint that is compatable with urathane clear. It is used by airbrush artists and comes in small amounts. And u guessed it they have inteference colors. check it out. Autoair by dixie

yeah theres no real point in stripping a finish as long as the two items are non reactive. For instance 2 part urathane can be sprayed over lacquers. I just depends on what is underneath. Ive had bad experiences painting violins that have a shellac pinish (or at leas i think thats what it was. The finish bled through my base coat right into the clear. Bout all i can say is test it in a contol cavity first.

This is a very similar type of finish in a base clear system. You spray the substrate and then put plastic wrap on it, mush it around a bit and pull off the plastic wrap.Crazer