brian d

Mike, I have been thinking about a similar process for compound radius. At first I started making a jig to fit around my small belt sander and then I found this planing bit. I figure the radius of the guide needs to be 1/4" greater than the desired radius with the bit 1/4" above the table. Do multiple passes starting with the bit a hair above the table, and gradually increase each pass until you get to the 1/4". I intend to put slots in the guides with bolts holding them to the horizontal board to allow for different fretboard thicknesses, and to allow swapping different guides. It would be pretty easy to make any radius guide you wanted for any compound radius or even any cylindrical radius (using the same size guide on each end). I would like to get that excel spreadsheet Mike, to work out the desired radius at the -1 and 28 fret positions, as that is where the guides will actually be. Could you PM me with it? Cheers, Brian.

Here's my first: More pics when it was entered in GOTM. It's the guitar I play most.(that should change when I finish my next electric)

Carve the top, then cut and bind the F-holes, then glue the top on.

Nice guitar RDub. I particularly liked the juxtaposition in the photo with the skull and crossbones guitar and the Ballet Classics vo. 1 and 2 in the backround :-) Looking forward to another great GOTM comp - you've given it a good start

how about purfling? Using a purfling cutter to cut the channel may be a bit time consuming, but will leave a uniform channel. I like the idea of carving a bevel to show both woods, but it's hard to be sure that the line showing will be even. Great looking work though. I reckon this'll be one of those opportunities that only looks like a mistake for now, but will end up as a design feature you can be proud of.

Stu (Oztradie) had a great tutorial to get a radiused bar (wood, not metal) as long as you want with a Safe-T-Planer. It works brilliantly. http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...c=25182&hl=

Scale length is double the distance from the fingerboard edge of the nut to the 12th fret x 2. Compensation for is added for the bridge position (in the realms of 1-3mm or therabout). If you move the saddles relative to the nut, the scale length will change and the frets you have will not intonate. 24th fret will always be at 3/4 the scale length. That said, the position of the pickup at the "2nd octave node" is only true for open strings. As soon as you fret the note, the node positions change accordingly. On a metal guitar, I don't know how often open strings will be played, and I doubt that it makes a difference anyway. Does a guitar's tone sound so different if you play an open string compared to a fretted note? I'd just build it 24 frets (if you want 24 frets) and not worry about pickup position in relation to nodes. Hope this helps.

Sorry to hear of your loss, Daniel. Brian.

Thanks for the reply, Stu. It's good to be back....just getting my workshop set up after all being in storage for months while we were rennovating. Can't wait to make some sawdust again. Thanks to your help last time, I actually know how to set things up now! Cheers, Brian.

Hi, I got the LMI silicone bending blanket for 240 volts. I need some sort of controller. Does anyone have circuit diagram for a controller to set the temperature? Preferably one that has a thermocouple or similar to actually measure the temperature to control it. Thanks. Brian D.

Check out nibbler to tang nipper thread . I have done the mod demonstrated to a nibbler and initial experiments with it look promising, however in another thread Phil notes that his didn't keep working well for long. Much cheaper than the Stewmac version - especially if you have to add postage to Oz. Cheers, Brian.

FWIW, I've heard of using old mouse mats cut to shape for that. Brian.

Jon, this may be a case where going "lo-tech" may be the answer. Something like a Sloane purfling cutter may take longer to actually cut the binding channels, but I imaginge the time saved designing and building a complex jig to route them would more than make up for it. Cheers, Brian.

Another great month for the GOTM. SwedishLuthier - beautiful clean work as always. I love the way you matched the pickup tops to the pickguard. The guitar sounds great, too. I think the headstock looks a little bare - needs a logo? awilcox - another superb guitar. lots of detailed work. beautiful truss rod cover. I think the all the binding really frames the guitar nicely. I didn't like the cavity cover - I prefer the cover to blend in with the back, but that's just me. Well done on the burst. WezV - like Ben, I generally don't go for strat-like body shapes. However, that spalt top is superb and your treatment of the guitar fits with it so artistically. The work is clean, but it looks oh so dirty. Got my vote this month. argytar - that guitar is mind-boggling. I can't quite get my head around how you carved all of that, especially the chambers. With that sort of skill with a sharp instrument, are you considering becoming a surgeon? The inlay isn't my taste, but works well with the guitar (which somehow is my taste). DigThemLows - a superb bass. Beautiful wood, great execution and mojo that will stay with the guitar and with your son. I'm looking forward to the time my 7 year old boy is can help me build. I commend you on matching the cavity cover to the back, and I like the hint of the body wood peeking out over the forearm carve. I'm not a fan of the body shape, and would have preferred to see more of the top wood rather than the lams of the neck through. That said, the heel transition of the neck-through is graceful and sexy....definitely the best neck transition I've seen for a while. Thanks to all the entrants for another great month. Brian.

Thanks for the help. I'll definitly drill a pilot hole, Mattia - great advice. ProfDrum, those pics will be a great help getting all the pieces in place. Regards, Brian.

Thanks to all for the advice. I'm still deciding whether to do this or just use a strat plate - I would prefer this, but I need to get my head around it first. After drilling out the hole on the drill press, how do you mount the jack? Do you need any re-inforcement on the wood? How do you get a spanner into hole to screw the jack in? Thanks, Brian.

Anyone know how to do the Ibanez style jack input like on this guitar ? It's like a strat plate, without the plate. I know I've seen it somewhere, but can't find it in the search function. Diagrams of how it's installed would be great. Regards, Brian.

Any tips for bevelling the fret slots on bound boards without nicking the binding? Thanks, Brian.

Click on Dan Erlewine "PRS" finish for a step-by-step guide. Cheers, Brian.

G'day Mingus, You can get Hot Stuff CA glues in different viscosities in Oz from Carbatec (www.carbatec.com.au). Where in Oz are you? Cheers, Brian.

Thanks for the compliments Drak. I have entered it in the GOTM, so now I should get at least 1 vote. Cheers, Brian.

It's been a while since I posted on this one.... I sanded the repair and refinished the area with tru-oil, and I've been playing the guitar for about a month. I'm really happy with how it turned out, with a few eternal reminders of what I've learned from the experience. After having the it at full string tension for a month with heavyish strings (12-52 flatwounds) without the headstock repair opening up, I'm finally feel the confidence to say it's done! I've put it in for November GOTM and more photos of the final result and links to audio clips are posted there. Some things I would do differently on future iterations of this design: 1) Build the neck from scratch. Having built a couple of necks since this one, I know that it's easier to build it from scratch than to piss-fart around with a ready made neck and make it how I want it. The neck I got was actually a really good buy - well made, nice straight grain in the fretboard, the only real problem with it as a standard Strat replacement was the cheap plastic nut. But it was a Strat neck, not a Lahav neck, and it took a lot of effort to turn it from one to the other. 2) I wouldn't use a neck plate again. I would go for neck ferrules and an AANJ type heel. 3) I would get the Roland internal GK kit rather than try to internalise the GK2A. I'm also toying with the idea of not having a magnetic pickup at all, to show off the body wood more. Of course that limits the player to using VG units. 4) carve the top of the guitar with a smooth rounded shape, make it like a teardrop. 5) redesign the headstock so the tuners would be on the right hand side. - I think the look of this headstock works beautifully, but I'd prefer to have less "dead string" on the treble strings so bends can be made with less deflection. 6) Possibly bring the neck further into the body (and of course move the bridge accordingly). Access to the upper frets is incredibly easy anyway. I'd have to draw the new setup out and see how I like it. 7) I prefer not to paint or dye the wood. I did it in this case as the maple of the neck didn't match the flame maple of the top or the sapwood of the padouk. Dying/painting was a way to make the neck colour fit with the rest of the guitar via the hardware, and it worked well - but next time (going back to point 1) I would choose neck wood that works well with the body from the start. That about wraps it up. I'd love to get feedback about it from you guys and girls. Cheers, Brian.

The Lahav: A bit out of the ordinary specs: padouk body, flame maple veneer top. 35mm thick GFS Fat PAF pickup/Roland GK2A pickup rear adjustment screws for HB, with padouk inlays over HB ear routes 1 volume control with coil tap. GuitarFetish hardtail bridge and kluson style tuners. bone nut 12-52 flatwound strings neck - extensively "hand interpreted" e-bay neck - maple/rosewood headstock extensively and repeatedly reshaped and reworked, dyed and painted. padouk bound with ivoroid inlay finsihed with multiple coats of Tru-Oil. Matching padouk plectrum and padouk and maple string winder more about the build with more photos here Sits nicely on your lap. Easy to hold your arm over in a relaxed position and even tilt the body back a little for a really laid back playing experience. It has a nice warm, clear sound with the humbucker - very jazzy. A bit of twang with the coil split. Here's a quick example of how she sounds - it's all her apart from the drums, turn the speakers up for full effect. http://www.zshare.net/audio/437188087edd32/ bass line - humbucker, direct into the computer soundcard, no effects rhythm guitar - split coil, direct into the computer soundcard, no effects first lead - humbucker, direct into the computer soundcard, no effects second lead - split coil, direct into the computer soundcard, no effects, third lead - humbucker through 2W microcube amp with Marshall stack simulation The GK pickup gives the option of increasing the pallette with a VG unit like these quick and nasty examples of VG-88 sounds . This is signal processing so there's no MIDI delay, and the sounds respond very naturally to normal guitar dynamic techniques (palm muting, harmonic playing etc.) You can also plug it through a MIDI converter to play synths and samplers to get any instrument sound you want. This just goes to show that whatever sound you're looking for..... All you need is Lahav.

12" is the standard for LP's. You can do something different if you prefer a different fretboard radius, but then you'll need to adjust the saddles of the TOM bridge as they are set for 12" radius as standard. I beleive you can deepen the notches where required to get a different radius, just as you would slot a nut. Brian.

Is this router planing jig the kind of thing you're looking for? This one is the same kind of thing, but more detail. Hope this helps. Brian.