Our Souls inc.

9" at the first fret to 12" at the 22nd/24th fret ? That would be a 9" nut radius and a 12" bridge radius.

Back in the day when I played 2-3 times a week I always used a strip of duct tape on the mic stands , rolled inside out so it stuck to the stand , and he outer side stuck to the pics. We'd have each mic stand w/ 5 or 6 picks on it. I'd do the same to my Headstock , roll up a small strip of duct tape , stick it to the HS and stick the pics to that. The residue always wiped right off after the gig and duct tape is plentiful when you're gigging on the regular. Also - try practicing WITHOUT your pic. Was more than one occasion that I dropped a pic in the heat of battle and was too far away from the mic stand to grab one and too busy playing to reach up to the HS for one. I discovered that the middle-finger-side of your index finger makes a good pick. Keep pinching your hand like you're holding a pick and use the edge of your finger. If I can pull off Slayer's Chemical Warfare sans pic - anybody can. Ask Mark Knopffler from the Dire Straights. He never uses a pic. Best of luck !

Use Chapstick. Take the chapstick and put it on the posts/knife edges of the trem. Your flat when diving,sharp when pulling is due to the posts binding on the knife edge. Putting the chapstick in there makes a nice contact between them without being oily. Give it a shot , it only costs a buck or two. Let me know how it goes. PGFH

I recently "carved" two 1 piece teak bodies using a belt sander w/50 grit paper. They were both quite different in design and it worked fine on both. I finished up the detailing with 80 grit and a variety of sanding blocks - my finger ( s ) , a ratchet handle , foam and solid blocks, depending on which part I was on. Best of luck on your carve ! PGFH

Here's a pic and a link to the other pics. This is the super strat. Pics of the others soon ....

here's some update pics....... This is the super strat. I did some sanding on the jug today... pics soon. PGFH

Yep , as long as the heel is the right(ish) size,(and shape) you can use just about any 22 fret, 25.5"SL neck. My current craziest set is a 22 fret 24.75" neck that I replaced with a 24 fret 25.5" . It required a new bridge location ,( only the teensiest widdle bit) and a minor set-in on the neck , but it plays like a champ , and it's intonated , which is the whole goal when swapping parts. I'm with the guy above , body or no body ? , but I figger you meant neck . anyhoo - git-r-done.

Bubinga ? I'm using Teak . Talk 'bout heavy .... anyways - I've got a newbie question for you , if you don't mind: How big/what dimensions should a truss rod channel be ? I'm building my first neck and I'm semi-clueless about that aspect. Thanks in advance - PGFH

Hi there. I'm sorry to say , but it won't work without modifying the body. Here's the key to scale length / body / bridge placement. 25.5" scale will be 12.75" from the nut to the crown of the 12th fret . It also has to be 12.75" from the bridge. when you put on a neck with two more frets , it would need to sit 2 frets worth farther into the body so that the nut is the right distance from the bridge. I've successfully used bodies/necks that didn't necessarily go together , but not without body mods / bridge moving to accomodate the scale length. So in short - No. You can't use the different neck/body without some modification.

Hey man , Thanks for the link !! I have found almost no reference to the tone of a teak guitar until now. Again , Thank you ! I'm really excited to get this one finished. It's a cross between a Les Paul and a Telecaster. It's my design , but that's what it reminds me of. I'll post some pics soon - PGFH

Wow ! Now that's what I'm talking about !! Thanks so much for all the replies. ( especially the epoxy Vs. waterbased glue thing !! ) Here's what I've discovered so far................ Teak is definitely oily. It's not all THAT heavy , but it does weigh . I saw sparks coming off of the wood as I belt sanded it w/120 grit. How sandpaper can make something spark is beyond me. ? / ? but I did see a dozen sparks along the way so ........ It's hard on cutting tools ( it'll turn baldes blue real quick !! ) . It has nice grain when sanded. And a strange odor compared to most sawdust....... Oh , I also discovered the best webforum/classroom going !! Right here. and Thanks !! looking forward to completing these with y'alls help , Mike the PGFH

Here's step by step instructions on how to rod your wah-wah pedal into a haw-wah pedal . All you need is a wah pedal , a guitar tremolo spring , a 1/16th drill bit for steel and a phillips head screwdriver . Step one is to bend the tremolo spring 'hoop end' backwards to accomodate the screw that holds the 'foot' on your wah pedal.Use vise grips to squeeze the ring a bit more closed than it came from the factory. Step two is to drill a hole in the corner of the toe pad on your wah pedal ( please note :in the pic the spring is already attached into the hole to demo the location. To some it looks like I'm drilling into the body of the wah pedal - I'M NOT- please don't ) Step 3 is to remove the foot on the wah pedal , attach the spring into the hole , attach the ring end to the foot location by sticking the screw through the ring ( don't forget the rubber foot ) . You're done ! Now with the wah at rest , you can put your toes on the heel section and instead of "wah-ing" it'll be "haw-ing" lol the spring returns it to full open when you let off. You can do some wild stuff with this mod. Easy cheap and fun. What more can you ask for ????? I hope this is posted in the right section. If it works for anyone , please testify !! Y'all be good - PGFH

My $.02 .... The pitch of the string changes as you pick , highest right next to the bridge , lowest out around the 12th fret . try it on an acoustic. strum a chord close to the bridge ,it's very sharp sounding . Strum it out around the 12th and it's all mellow and smooth-like. "Sweet spot" will change along the scale length depending on the fretted note ( think pinch harmonics ) I have discovered that by turning the bridge pup tone knob back to 6ish ,it sounds exactly the same as my neck pup with the tone knob on 10 . I vote 'voodoo' , but will admit that there are 'good /better/best' spots to mount the pups on any instrument. you don't want them too close together unless the magnets are reversed and too close to the bridge can be harsh and unyielding in tone. I'll shut up now.

Hi folks. I have some Padouk that I sliced into nice sized inlay pieces. I think the contrast of the reddish wood will look great inlayed into ebony. anyone ever try this combo ? will the woods wear out at different rates ?? Thanks in advance - PGFH

I'm a noob here and I'm attempting to erase my "modifier" status and move up to "Builder" . I've customized a few dozen guitars and made my own bodies , but this is my first attempt at a neck build. I'm actually making two - one's a neck through , the other is a bolt on. Both are teak. Here's some pics: That's my Padouk double V and a Teak body I'm calling "The Jug" . That's the teak body with the teak neck. That's the Teak/Maple ML clone. Teak neck through . StewMac goodies. A Maple FB , an Ebony FB , Titebond and two FB's that I sliced myself out of Maple. the thickness is pretty close , mine to theirs. I just have to radius mine. My questions have more to do with truss rod placement and do y'all think this will work ????? Should I route under the FB , or should I route it from the back of the neck and skunk stripe it ? Also I'm using jumbo SS fretwire. Does anyone know wher to get some tools made of unobtainium ? This stuff is like trying to file down the Eiffel tower using 120 grit . It takes awhile...... any tips on easier filing ? Thanks to all who read, respond or help.

I think the one I used was a Seymore Duncan Hotrail , but it was a few years back. I think DiMarzio makes one too. Guitarheads.net has some excellent prices on theirs and the tone is fantastic. Try fitting a regular single coil in there and check for neck position. who knows - it just might work ! Best of luck !! PGFH

Glad to be here. Ranman - have you considered just using a single coil in the neck position to give you the room you need to get the neck right ? You could even use a single sized blade bucker. Just some food for thought.

Ranman , don't take it personal. We say "building" a house because we have to cut and assemble many , many parts. A guitar "build" consists of cutting and routing your own body and neck. Assembly/customization leaves us a notch below the title of "builder" . I'm currently working on my first build , but I'm ignoring most of the rules. There's the right way , the wrong way , and then there's my way lol poolguyfromhell

Nice lookin project so far ! Hey Ranman106 : I know where you got your neck from lol

Thanks guys. The double V weighs in @ 10.5 presently ( ) but due to some mods I'll be making it'll ring in at 8 or so when I'm done. The wood I found has been curing for 20+ years , some of it for 25 . It has a sweet red color when cut and hopefully when sanded. I'll be sure to post progress pics as I go. Today wouldve been a good day to do it , but I had a garden to fence in for the wife. Maybe 'morrow ........

Howdy all. I'm currently building several guitars. I scored some decent hardwood on CL and that inspired me to build these. There's a teak "Les Paul-ecaster" that I'm calling "The Jug" . A Padouk custom "double-colliding-flying-V's" that I'm calling "The H.C." and a maple and teak Dean ML clone . There may be others as well , but that's all I've cut up so far. Here's some pics of the raw material and some of the rough cut blanks. and just so's you know..... I'm only using a skil-saw , a jig-saw , a drill , a router and a belt sander to do these. I lack the funds for any sort of table saws cnc stuff or even a decent bandsaw. But that aint stoppin' me.

Thanks,I hope not !! The unrouted blank and the neck weigh in at 7.8 Lbs. I'm guessing a finished weight of 8 , maybe 8.5 . Fingers crossed.

Please don't B&D me !! The name "Our Souls , inc." is the name of my solo music project. I have a myspace page but I won't advertise here. I'm building a Teak git-fiddle , a Padouk gitfiddle and a teak/birdseye gitfiddle. I have made a few bodies in the past and "customized" a few dozen. I have a strong knowledge of guitar electronics , soldering , amplifier/speaker configuration and recording/studio stuff too. I'm looking to share my brain and pick others. I'm definitely a real person , and I'll try to follow all the rules. Hoping you'll spare me, Mike the {poolguyfromhell] ( my username on the dean guitars forum )

Howdy all. I'm new to PG forum and hope to meet lots of other woodworkers out there. I stumbled upon the forum while looking for advice on a Teak guitar that I'm building. I decided to join because y'all seem pretty friendly and knowledgeable. We'll chat more later - Mike the poolguyfromhell -