Buter

Please replace the word 'little' with the word 'lot'. Truing up a piece with a properly tuned plane is a great feeling but it does take a while to get the hang of it. I've been known to throw one across the shop after completely f'ing up a piece. Cheers Buter

You're right, rods are slightly stiffer than tubes, but, again IMHO, not enough to make any real difference. A tube is a very stiff structure and, when applied correctly, nearly as strong as a solid rod of the same material. One of the down sides to carbon/carbon fibre is that it is relatively heavy. The reason people tend to associate carbon/carbon fibre with lightweight products is that it is so stiff that little of it is needed to make a specific part or product. If you can use half the carbon of a rod to make a tube and still end up with nearly the same stiffness, that's the winner in my book. If Erik's math is correct in that thread you reference, the carbon tubes are still 3x as stiff as the equivelant mass/volume of maple. How much stiffer do you really want your neck? If you were making a skinny neck, 36" bass yeah, maybe you wanna get some square bar to reinforce your neck. For a thick neck, 24.5 scale 21 fret single cut any carbon reinforcement would be overkill (having said that, Wez claims that the carbon bars eliminate 'dead spots' on a guitars neck). I've got a neck trhough double cut out in the workshop that has three layers of carbon fibre running down the middle of the neck (mahog/cf/maple/cf/maple/cf/mahog) and I can tell you that it's as stiff as a sailor in a stip club. I am avoiding working on it due to the fact that it is killing my tools (as I suspected would happen and even state in the thread that you reference). I'll probably post a pic of it when I get around to finishing it (but I'll be finishing every other project I have first!!). All the above just my opinion and I'm always happy to be proven wrong, just ask my wife. Cheers Buter

IMHO tubes would be preferable. Cheers B

Nice one! I'm stoked to see you and your dad come up with ways to use the tools you have to get the job done. I pretty much have the proper tools for each job now, but I kinda miss the 'how the hell am I gonna pull this off?" moments. Most ended great, some ended in tears. Take care when aligning your scarf joint - with the contrasting lams in the neck, even if you're off by a fraction of a mil, it will be very noticeable. There was a whole thread on scarf joints not too long ago if you wanna troll back through a few pages. Look forward to more progress. Cheers Buter Found it for you: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...c=42233&hl=

Try East Coast Fibreglass Any company you buy from that is not strictly a composite company would have purchased rods in bulk from a company like ecf, marked up the price and sold it on to you. No need to pay the middle man, really. Cheers Buter Just looked at your links - can't really see anything wrong with them

Not into triple digits? I'm sure you've posted a pic of hundreds of bodies stacked up and ready for necks! Buter

In one of Dan Erleweine's fretting videos, he fixes a neck/fretboard that was all over the place. My suggestion would be to get a copy of the video and at least see what you would be up against, then decide if it was within your abilities. Dave knows which video I'm talking about so maybe he'll pipe up here and let you know which one it was. Good luck. Buter

Aaahhh, now I understand your comment on the other thread. FWIW, I don't think I've ever ordered all the parts for anything in one go! Your build is lookin great, man. Nice thread as well. Cheers Buter

Thanks All good points. I'll be using twin carbon rods on the 12 string neck to offset the higher tension Six of the tuners will be on the body so the headstock will be the same size as the six string. The necks will be 7 piece lams so no fragility issues there. I think you've got an excellent point re the flying W! Cheers B

Hey fellas (and fellettes) I got a commission back in Jan for a twin neck V and I have been putting it off until I was a bit happier with my work. I'm ready to start on it now but I've never built or played a 12-string, which will be the top neck. The guitar design is completely done and my friend is totally stoked with the design. Having said that, I am going to build a 12-string for myself first just to make sure there isn't something I've overlooked. I've learned lots from my mistakes so I'd like to take a break from that and learn from someone else's for a while. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. What are some differences between 12 stringers and six stringers that I might not be aware of? Info like string spacing between the main and drone (octave) strings, common nut widths, pickup differences if there are any. You sorta get the point. Cheers Buter

Just buy more cut off discs than you think you can possibly use... then buy a couple more!

Hi Ken Martin's site Melvyn's book Project Guitar tutorials forum Acquaint yourself with the above and you should have very few basic questions left. There are some amazing builders on here who can answer your tougher questions or provide clarification to anything you're struggling with. Guitar building isn't that difficult and it's great fun, enjoy! Welcome to the forum. Cheers Buter

My personal opinion is that tapering the entire neck to match the taper of the fretboard looks much more natural to the eye and a damn site better, IMHO. I have done as you have suggested, leave as much of the neck blank as possible, in the past but I won't do it again now that I have tried tapering the neck through the body. Just take your time and think about what you are doing. I have ruined more projects than I have completed simply due to my impatience. I am actively seeking help for this. Cheers Buter

Well, there ain't a cloud in the sky above Uppsala so I bet you got your spraying done!

Hey Wez FWIW - I have to agree with Chris, the Oceanburst does not excite me on this. Also, the bass bridge looks too close to what Alembic would call their 'Omega' cutout. To make this feature look right takes one hell of a roundover, around 18mm from the 2d plan drawing I'd guess (I'd go measure mine but I'm sitting in the lounge at the Budapest Intercontinental swigging Champers and checking out the scenery down by the Danube ). The finish is just an opinion and, knowing how carefully you design your guitars, I'm sure you've considered the bridge/roundover thing so I look forward to being told to get stuffed! Looking forward to progress on this. Cheers Buter

Hi Pros Can't help you with your question but I immediately had another question that you'll have to answer - How are you gonna ground the strings? If you're using a metal tailpiece, no worries. If using string through or a bone/wood tailpiece it's gonna take some creativity. Maybe run a small grounding wire to a zero fret? If you've already figured this out just tell me to Foxtrot Oscar. Cheers B

huh-huh, huh-huh, huh-huh... Dude... You said 'tit'... huh-huh...

Good call, Bananaman. I love that little guy! B

Hey Option 4 just for the reasons already stated. IMHO, a nice little touch is to have the center stripe follow the taper of the fretboard. It just looks 'righter'. Looking forward to this one. Cheers Buter

Hey Ola Bigger roundover, difinitely. Yeah, the learning curve with a router can be a bit of a bastard. I've created a fair bit of firewood with mine - to include the guitar I was originally going to use your bridges on! I still have the odd 'dumba$$' moment. I'm in town on the 25th and 26th of April. I've got something to show you, plus it would be cool to see your workshop. Let me know what you're up to. Cheers Buter

As said above. This is effectively how I make my 'hippie sandwich' bodies, just using different woods. My humble suggestion would be to laminate each side so that you have two thick 'blocks', then joint the edges and glue together just as you would if you had started with two thicker pieces of wood. Simples! I would also suggest doing the laminating in a vacuum bag if you can swing it. If you plan on doing a few builds, a vacuum system in invaluable for laminating work. There are systems out there starting at about $50 US and you can, of course, spend a couple grand setting up a complex vacuum system if you are going to make a living out of it! If you are only doing one body, probably no need to invest in a vacuum system. With a bit of care you can easily do your laminations with clamps, weights.... Just don't glue your workpiece to your workbench Good luck Cheers Buter

Just in case I was ambiguous, I was saying that CH was giving good service Still won't use those t/r's again, though. Buter

I've never had to pad a trussrod, Wez. Whatya recommend? I've heard silicone banded about and Wes seems to like cling film.

In fact...

Would they be the ones from CH something-or-other Wez? Just sitting down to email the fella due to one of the 5 rods I just ordered not being welded on one side. Also, the metal 'backbone' is about 5mm, so there's play in the slot, not cool. The 'nut' end of the thing is about 8mm so you have to widen the slot where the nut needs to sit.. Assuming, of course, that you're using a 6mm bit. Buter