DrummerDude

Hmmm, I still don't see anything but low action on the paused frame you posted, Mr. Rhoads. I see that you're judging the action by the distance between the strings and the shadows that they cast onto the frets. This is a mistake since the main light sources are placed on Alexi's rear-top. Check the photo below. ^^^ And with that kind of lighting the strings may as well cast a shadow 5 meters forward of their real situation. I hope you understand what I mean because my English is beyond bad. Just watch the strings barely move while he is playing and you'd know that the action is pretty low. To me it looks like it is 1mm or under at the last fret. I got what you meant by a "buffer". Yes, he has a wristh band - it is used to tighten your wrist and to make it "slide" over the top of the guitar. Without it the sweat would make your wrist sticky and thius would hurdle your playing. At first I thought that you meant something like a buffing device ala-Michael Angelo Batio. I agree on what you said about the floating bridge - yes, it does help, but no, it's not absolutely necessary. The fact that I have no problem doing string bends with my tremolo fixed makes me believe so. I remember reading that Alexi uses a Tremsetter. Will try to find the link to that. Anyway, I don't want to argue anymore. If you say that Alexi's action is rather high - OK, I have no problem with that. I found the answer for myself and I'll just focus on making a low action guitar. I have a question about neck relief. If no-neck-relief is one of the keys to low action, then how to achieve this with a pre-made neck that already has neck relief? Problem is that I will be (hopefully) using a pre-made neck from a Squier. I believe that those necks have a neck relief. I will use the truss rod to even the neck out and try to make it dead straight with the strings on. But when I remove the strings and the neck from the body, it will bend backwards and I won't be able to level the frets. What's the secret here? Start leveling the frets immediately after I remove the straightened neck and not give it a chance to bend backwards? Thanks!

Hmmm, it seems that everybody who watched the video (myself included) must have missed that part... The string action looks pretty damn low to me. Can't find a frame where the low string is twice its width far from the fretboard. Can you show us a screenshot? So what you're saying is that low action is not a problem when you're playing metal? This is what I am saying too. Just for the record: Alexi ain't using any buffers. Again - seems that low action is not of any problem for doing string bends? Well, I hear what you're sayng - seems that you believe that a floating bridge is necessary to raise the action while you're doing the bend. This is not a bad thing because you still have low action in the moment you're fretting the sting. Another thing is that most live performers are using a Tremsetter - a device that does not allow the floating bridge to lean forward while you are doing string bendings and keeps the rest of the strings in tune. Yet another example: the action on my Ibanez is 1,2mm at 12th fret - that's not too low but still on the lower side. I can do string bends with my FloydRose fixed and not floating. And it was not a "nice try" because I 'm not "trying", I'm just showing. To the guys who argue about whether COB is a heavier DT clone - read about Alexi's influences. Here is a quotation from Wikipedia: In April of 2005 Alexi generated a considerable amount of unrest in the metal guitar community when, in an interview with Guitar World magazine, he referred to popular prog metal act Dream Theater as "super lame" going on to say "It's not even music; it's sports." The magazine also referred to Dream Theater as Laiho's "favorite whipping boys." In January 2006 issue of the same magazine, reader Brad Bailey asked "Why did you make those lame comments about Dream Theater in GW? You're a fine player, but comments like those just make people lose respect for you. Did you know it caused a big stir?" to which Laiho responded "F*ck. Well, apparently it did. First of all, I think it's really funny that people trash bands and musicians every day on the internet, and nobody gives a ****. But once you say something like that - which wasn't even too bad - in a magazine, all of a sudden you're the biggest dick on the earth. But truthfully, I don't know why I said that. I was having a bad day or something. Obviously, John Petrucci is a better player than I am, and it's not my place to talk **** about him."

Yeah, the whole video stuff was kind of offtopic, I must admit. It's just that I haven't been on the board for quite a few months and when I got back a month or so ago, whado I see - the whole thread had turned into one huge "possible" vs "impossible" conversation. Well, there's the video - it is possible to have super low action and still play your guitar without any problems. Watch Laiho, watch Angelo, watch metal shredders in general - they all use low action axes. I took your totally-no-neck-relief advice and if things are going good for me, i.e. if I manage to get a good pre-made neck (which is yet another horror story), soon I will be posting photos of my work.

It was just a joke. Here's what I do to level freshly inlaid frets: I take a piece of fine sandpaper, glue it on a long piece of glass (long enough to cover the whole fretboard), put double sticking tape on the bottom of the glass, lay the glass on the table (sandpaper up) and start sanding the frets to even them out. I like to color the top of the frets with a permanent marker.

soapbarstrat, this is cool. I like it. What is it? :D marksound, I do play the guitar. Try to find that Live DVD and watch the strumming part on full screen and in Stereo - you'd know that he's not just "barely touching the strings". That guy plays with power and aggresion. Just like most Metal guitarists. No feather strumming here, believe me.

Ben, I need your guitar, man. It is not BS at all - after I saw that Children of Bodom concert DVD I know that it's completely possible. I dream of having an axe with 1 mm action at the last fret. Like yours and Like Alexi's. @marksound, just have a look at the begining of the second part (it starts at 01:23) - you will nottice that he is strumming full force on the strings. You call this a "light touch"?

Hi guys, I just put a video together (to make the things that are going in this thread even worse. ) The guy on that video is Alexi Laiho and he is using an absolutely ultra-freaking low action on his guitar - maybe 1 milimeter of action at the 24th fret (this is not a joke - check out the video). I tried to give examples of harsh palm muted chugga chugga playing (some people clim it's not OK to do that on low action guitars), harsh string strumming, serious string bending (also a popular belief that you cannot string bend with low action) etc... Watch the video to the end - it is in three sections with separate examples. And here is the VIDEO For those of you who are not familiar with YouTube - you just click on the link above and wait for the video to load in the small window on the page. PS: Alexi Laiho has a signature ESP that is being sold in the stores but I don't think I would spend such amount of money on one guitar (yeah, I'm cheap) AND I seriously doubt it that the commercial version of his signature ESP model has anything to do with the guitar he uses.

Alright, thanks.

Yeah, but there is that guy (mentioned about him in the first post) who swears that Showmasters have a thicker neck. The Squier company is making diferent repros of vintage Fenders and the neck thickness and profile varies from model to model. Even ont he new series. I hope that I will get the Showmaster measurements from the Squier forum. Thanks.

Now that IS a useful link. Thank you! I should have Googled for a Squier forum but the drummer in me made me post here first. To answer your statement: well, it is more likely that I will enjoy the neck's feel if it is slim and fast than if it is a thick piece of wood. I'd like to use any slim, C-shaped neck. If it turns out that the neck is too thick (and that's why I need the measurements in advance) I sure as hell will not buy the thing. Hope you get the idea. Thank you for your help.

biliousfrog, you're probably right. Let's just hope that this guy will sell me the Showmaster neck because at the moment he is looking for a standard Squier neck to replace his Shoqmaster reversed headstock neck with. If he can't find a standard neck, he will keep the original and I'd be screwed anyway.

Mickguard, yes, I am an asshole, but it deffinitely is not not my attitude, man. And I am not putting it on everyone else. It is just that no one seems to read what I am asking for and people keep giving me offtopic smartass advices that do not relate to my question. Once again: this is a thread dedicated to Squier necks. SQUIER NECKS. Not Warmoth necks, not home-built DIY necks, not even cheapo paddle headstock necks but Squier necks. And Squier Showmaster necks in particular. Read the thread's title, for Christ's sake. I am looking for people who have a Squier and can give me some measurements. And that's it.

It's VERY simple and VERY obvious - I just thought that there were people on this board who have Squiers in their collection and who could simply give me some figures. Is it that hard to measure the neck thickness of your Squier (if you have one) and post the measurements here? This is all I need. Oh, I see, you don't have a Squier and you can't help me... Then why the heck are you posting? And why don't you leave it to the guys who actually *DO* have Squiers and *COULD* give me any answers that make sense? Why do you think that "no one anywhere" can answer my question? You really think that using calipers is that hard? I hope you've noticed that I put this thread in the "Player's corner", not in the "Solid body chat". Ever wondered why? Do you play a Squier? Can you give me any measurements? In case that you can't: Would you stop posting BS?

If you are going to do that, you might as well just build the entire neck. The fretboard/fret work for me is by far the most difficult part of the whole neck building process. Since you can't just "extend" the fretboard, you would have to replace the entire fretboard. I guess I could extend the fretboard a little bit without having to re-build a whole new neck or fretboard but then you are right that even the smallest fret job would be too much trouble. Especially for a lazy guy like myself. I think I'll just skip that part and leave the fretboard the way it is.

Thanks weezerboy. A neck that is a tiny bit wider is just OK with me. Actually it would fit my hand very well. I've checked the neck width specs on Squier's website and there is some variation indeed. This is because they are making repros of old Stratocasters with different neck profiles and all. It really sucks that they didn't say anything about neck thickness... I mean, what the heck - neck thickness is often what makes a neck feel "vintage" or modern. I guess I will just have to buy that Squier Showmaster neck and hope that it won't be too thick for my liking. I'm also considering the idea of making the fretboard a bit longer and installing a few more frets. This would suck because I hate to do any neck work. I also don't know if this is a common practice or if it would work at all.

Nah, my friend, I think you're the drumemr here. I tend to ask the same question simply because no body is answering it. I will try to give you more details, even though it's the same information from my very first post. Here we go: I don't want to do any neck-related work. I DO NOT. (I thought that this was obvious from my first post where I clearly stated that I need a pre-made neck) Do you read me? A PRE-MADE neck. A readily built, fretted and shaped neck that I could just fit into a piece of wood named a guitar body. And obviously I am going to build just the body minding the neck and bridge measurements. I am not ignoring your responce. I'm simply not getting any response that relates to my question. And the question is NOT whether I could or I could not make a thick neck more thin. The question is: "Is a Squier Showmaster neck thicker than a Squier Fat Strat® or a Squier Affinity neck"? You either know the answer or you don't. I didn't see any answers so far, so, obviously, I will have to keep asking and keep "ignoring" bullshit responses until somebody who actually knows the answer replies. So, thanks again you for your advice, but it simply does not answer my question. I hope you do understand why I have to ask it over and over again. @marksound, I thought of doing this but it turned out that there are no any Squiers in the local store. They are selling almost anything but Squiers. Yeah, it's a f*cked up situation, I know. That's why I need your help, guys.

Even if it does, it's easy enough to reshape the neck to your liking. Yes, I could re-shape the neck to make it just a *little bit* more thin but this is exactly the thing I am trying to avoid. I just need the right pre-made neck to use with my project and I don't want to mess with any neck work. Normally it all ends up with a warped neck. been there, done that. Anyway, i don't care about making my own neck or repairing a pre-made neck, so my question remains open: Does the Squier Showmaster have a thicker neck than the rest of the Squier models? Any online references that could help me out with this issue? Any Squier neck measurements online, neck profile diagrams, etc... ? I already tried Google without any luck which is kind of strange because Squiers are quite popular and there should be a lot of info on these guitars out there.

Hi guys, I want to buy a pre-made neck for my future project. I was offered a neck from a Squier Showmaster NLT HSS (it has a reversed headstock and I like it because of this). The guy who is selling it lives in another city and I don't have access to the neck. Some other guy adviced me not to buy this neck - he claims that Showmaster necks are too thick. Thicker than the necks of the rest of the Squier guitars. Is this true? Do Showmasters really have thicker necks than the other Squiers? Thanks.

I can't buy glues from the Titebond brand because they are not imported where I live. No one has ever heard of this brand here. If the kind of glue used is not that important (at least this is what I got from this thread), I'll just buy any wood glue and use it. Thanks

OK, guys. I will just go tot he store and grab the first wood glue from the shelf.

The point of that article was not to comment on glue versus direct contact. It was bad glue (that leaves a barrier) versus good glue (that absorns itself and "solders" the two wood pieces leaving nothing inbetween them). I am jut trying to find the right glue because I read a lot of forum threads and many people talked about colored visible joints. Which, in turn, means that they used glues that leave a thin film (still thick enough to be visible) in between the joined surfaces. In other words: what brand of glue creates that "mesh" of wood fibers and does NOT leave any film, guys? Any wood glue? Epoxy-based wood glue? Hide glue? Tite-something? (I like titties ) Thanks.

You really think you could notice a difference in sound between different glues?? I just read an article (or was it a forum topic? ...can't remember). The guy claimed that using the right glue is essential for good tone. Too bad that he never mentioned any brand names. Actually, I think it was a strange article about bolt ons being superior to set necks because of the direct wood-to-wood contact. The author pointed that there are modern glues that dissolve the wood and practically make the set neck joint same as wood-to-wood without any glue barrier to kill the sustain.

What particular type and brand of wood glue does that? This would be my choice. I don't think I have access to the Titebond brand where I live but we have may other wood glues and they are all different - some are gummy and leave a rubber like resonance dumpening film, others are PVA and leave a thin nylon-like film inbetween the joined surfaces that also messes up resonance, others, like epoxy glues, leave a hard as glass film (not sure if this is a good a or a bad thing)... I sure as hell know that any kind and brand of wood glue can join two wood pieces together. I am asking which one of the millions of glues out there will be most suitable for joining guitar pieces without killing the resonance. Why do people use that Titebond brand? Because it is strong and durable OR because it is good for musical instruments? Is it a glue that is especially developed for use on musical instruments? Just looking for the right answer because I am a nit picker and I need the right kind of glue on my guitar. Thanks, guys.

Yes, no carbon stuff in there, just wood.

What glues are best for joining the laminated neck and the body wings on a neck-thru guitar? I mean, yes, there are millions of options, but I read that the glue must absorb itself and not leave a film between the two joined surfaces. It must somehow "melt" and "solder" the two wood blanks leaving nothing between them. It must not serve as a buffer and must not stop resonance. Seems that gummy elastic glues or latex glues are not sutable here because they will dampen resonanse. So, what glues absorb into the wood an dleave no film? PS: I think that somebody said that epoxy glues are OK for neck thru jobs but I think they leave a film, don't they?