Crusader

That's very informative. I understand the issue of "grab" that you mention, but If the glue uses the air in the timber to dry then would it dry slower or faster once its locked-in? Wouldn't there be less air once inside there? For the record the idea when gluing guitars is to apply the glue then get the cramps on ASAP, there's no time or need for adding extra glue or anything. The Maple cap is glued together first then put through a thicknesser before gluing to the body. I put glue on both surfaces before cramping and and I left the clamps on this for almost 24 hours Epoxy would be strong but not best for making musical instruments When gluing musical instruments any glue joint will hinder transfer of vibrations which is important with accoustic instruments but people do the same with solid body guitars. The traditional glue used is Hide Glue which I think gives the best transfer of vibrations but I'm not sure about the drying time. Franklins Titebond is used to get good transfer of vibrations, has faster drying time and doesn't creep. Ordinary white PVA is okay to use but takes longer to dry and joints can creep

So here we go it all looks good I got the binding off except for some mahogany tearing away right in the worst spot but the "test core" reveals no problems with glue being too thick. Maybe its a testament to those C-clamps, they get a lot of pressure on. I don't really know how long it took to get them all on but it seemed like an eternity at the time Now I just hope that hole is actually in the right spot!

Thanks for your replies Yes I wasn't sure how Titebond responds to humid conditions. The time when I had issues before it wasn't Titebond but another type of yellow glue, it was bitterly cold and I didn't have as many clamps. On this occasion the weather was hot, I was using Titebond and tons of glue squeezed out which I saw as a good sign but on the other hand did I lay it on too thick? Lesson learnt - I didn't do a 'dry run' I think Elmers is equivalent to Selley's Adquadhere that we have in Australia which is a your basic water-based PVA glue. I have used that on occasions and had no problems. I think its got a lot to do with good clamping. I don't think I would venture near the Microwave any time soon but thanks for the suggestions! By the way you may wonder why I used Maple seeing as I don't like it much. At the time I wanted to stick to the usual timbers for a LP but now I don't care so much about that. I've done a lot of sound testing since then and want to steer towards a warmer tone. I paid a lot of money for this piece of Mahogany and won't be able to get any more. So now I have this issue of binding I see it as an opportunity to make the switch before I go any further with the project. I have already done initial shaping of the cap so a lot of time spent already which makes the decision really tough What I will do is drill a test core with a hole-saw in one of the pickup areas and and check the joint

I glued a Maple cap on a LP body a while back and I'm concerned that I took too long to get the clamps on (I've done this before and there was film of glue between the pieces of wood) I also did a really bodgy job of the binding and I'm trying to come up with ideas on how to deal with that. The Maple is nothing special so I'm considering just buzzing or cutting it off somehow and going with a Mahogany or Queensland Maple top because I'm not all that fond of Rock Maple I don't have much time to work on guitars these days and it was March 2015 when I did the gluing. I don't remember exactly how long it took but it might have been about 30 minutes or even more to get the clamps on. It was a hot humid day with a bit of rain and once the clamps went on, they went on tight as I possibly could. Here's a couple of photos of it being clamped and where they were clamped Any ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated, cheers Edit: The glue bottle in the photo is Adquadhere but its got Franklins Titebond in it LOL

Yes good points, all agreed I was thinking about all this today and wanted to mention about my experience. I compare guitars back to back in my room with a few different amps and they all sound a bit different each with their strong points. And I realise that is a bit overboard and you don't do that when playing to an audience. You just play and as long as the guitar has a good tonal range all is well (ie an all maple guitar is quite extreme) In any case is the audience going to say "that guy's guitar sounds crap" and get up and leave? Also just to mention I made a Les Paul a while back and in my humble opinion it sounds nicer than my Gibson LP Studio and I sourced the timber from the same place as a reputable Perth guitar maker that is on here sometimes Cheers and thanks for your replies!

My experience is different and I find the guitar comes through regardless of strings, pickups and amp. The amp of course plays a huge roll but I think its pretty hard to quantify just how much each component contributes to the over-all resulting sound I think that's going a bit off-topic though and the question I have asked is a bit hard to answer because you would have to compare an all-Maple guitar with other all-Maple guitars and very few guitars are made entirely of Maple I made one guitar entirely of Maple and I won't be doing that again. I also made other guitars with too much Maple and it seems like any guitar I make that has the slightest bit of Maple sounds like Maple LOL

Hi everyone, maybe a bit of a silly question but how much does Rock Maple vary in tone? We all know that two pieces of wood from the same tree can sound quite different but it occurs to me that Maple is so hard and bright that it might not vary that much I have some Maple but its just regular lumber and wondering, would be better off buying timber that is intended for musical instruments?

Yes exactly, with a relatively rapid decay However I think some people just use adjectives or a phrase they've heard and it doesn't accurately describe what they're talking about. Here's one of the discussions I found on the topic. Half way down there's a video clip someone has given as an example of what they think "woody pickups" sound like. I'm not sure I agree but I really dig the clip! http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pickups/369327-ok-what-does-mean-pickups-sound-woody.html

Thats what people do don't they? When you describe something you just "make it up" as you talk.....?

...prefer old worn out strings Thats interesting because I think it has appeal. Its a different sound, a variation, has character There are discussions around the net where people describe what they mean by "woody" and I can't follow what they mean. If you pick up a piece of wood (e.g. a length of 2x1) and hold it (in the right place) with one hand and tap with the other - that's the sound that I'm talking about, simple as that

A while ago I commented to someone that my guitar sounds "woody" in the bass notes and I thought why did I use that term? What is it that made me think it sounded woody? Then I changed the strings and realised its just that the strings were dead It wasn't exactly a bad sound, sort of sounded like a Glockenspiel or Xylophone. Like the "clomp clomp clomp" of someone wearing clogs - as opposed to a Vibraphone which sounds more metallic Tonight I Googled the topic and no-one made the same observation as I did. So what do other people on this forum think "woody" means?

So many people have made good points here and I've lately been battling with this exact argument I've recently had the opportunity to compare a $2000 LP Studio with a $9000 '59 LP reissue. Neither of them have high output pickups but the same thing applies. When played acoustically the '59 really shines but plugged-in the difference becomes less. So I agree with the premiss that higher the gain pickup, the less the wood is involved, but I believe its always there It depends on the listener. There are so many factors involved in the listening My father played drums in a band and he said sometimes you play like crap but people come up and comment how well you're playing. While other times you think you're playing really well and nobody says "boo" Some people have a good ear for sound and on top of that sometimes a person is just tired or irritable and just doesn't care Getting back to my belief that the wood is always there, along with neck joint, frets, tuning pegs and bridge etc - For numerous reasons a person can hear the difference or they can't... and getting the point I want to make is this If you have a guitar made of balsa wood and yet has that fabulous high-gain pickup, you will get the attention of a lot of people. But there might be a percentage that can tell it doesn't sound right On the other hand, if you have good wood and all the rest of it, you should get all the people all the time And another point If playing live you can get away with a lot but if you are recording, its there for people to listen to over and over again and its a lot more critical

Thankyou Curtisa for reminding me that the pickup makes the rock and roll. Thankyou all for chiming in, no offence but you made my first comments to be true to form LOL. However reading what you've all said and doing some homework I believe I have it worked out The Indians send signals from the rocks above the pass and Davey Crocket rides around and says its Cool For Cats.....(ha ha) The Volume Control depending on its position sends the signal to amp or to ground, or somewhere in-between. But there's always some goes to ground, so a regular pot when on 10 is not a by-pass.......(unless you have a very high resistant pot) And I have read numerous times that the lower the pot value, the more highs go to ground And if you think about it, If there was no resistance, all would go to ground

Thanks for your reply but sorry, its still over my head LOL I'm not sure what you mean by two resistors and I'm completely lost when you're talking about amp input and output However looking at a Pot's inner parts and thinking about what you've said, I might be getting the idea Tell me if I've got it right Power goes to the middle lug, then some to pickup AND some to ground The position of the Vol Control determines how much goes to pickup and how much to ground So when the Vol Control is on 10, there is still some current going to ground

After all these years I still don't understand (exactly) how Vol Pots work. Whenever I read an explanation there's still something missing and I don't get it My main question is When the Vol is at 10 how/why does it matter what the Pot value is? Doesn't it by-pass the resistance? I understand a resistor in a circuit. There's a wire, a resistor, then a wire. But a Vol Pot has 3 lugs. Ground, Hot, Pickup, and I think my understanding is lost somewhere in all that. Why the need for Ground? The Pickup goes to ground, isn't that enough?

Thanks for your reply SwedishLuthier The only thing I could imagine was strength of the magnet. They say "Alnico 2" and "Alnico 5" but surely there is something in-between. Thicker insulation is something you wouldn't think of

Gibson 490R vs 57 Classic Humbucker Hi everyone I'm wondering what the difference is between these pickups, from a technical aspect and personal point of view. They have about the same output and both have Alnico 2 magnets So what is it that makes them different? Are they actually different? P.S. I'm not concerned about 2 conductor and 4 conductor wiring. I'm thinking along the lines of output, gauge of wire, output etc Thanks for any comments

Ooh Corvettes and Ferrari's I would be happy with just a new van! Well here's a few more pics of the guitar showing the nice little bit of flame which is just the way I like it. Btw photography is another interest of mine but its really hard to take a shot that does the Maple top justice. I think I took about 200 photos and picked the best few. Hope you all like Green grass seems to be a nice background LPC1 in the sun And staying with the tradition of never finishing anything here's the back in need of covers Another shot to try capture that subtle flame