guitar101

Since my build project has hit a snag, and since I've been getting into thumpin' raggedy delta blues-like playing lately, I've started hankering for a semi...

Just wondering what people have here, what you can recommend?

I really like the look of the Gibson ES-135 --I prefer the single-cut look to the ES-335 style, but that's not a big deal. I'm mostly looking for playabilty. The Gibson is at the upper end of my budget for this one.

I've always really liked the Gretsch vibe --a 'real' Gretsch is out of my league, though. There's the new Electromatic semis, but I don't really trust the build quality.

I'm also looking at a couple of Epiphone models --I like the Wildkat, but I'm not sure if that's really a semi? I like the Casino too --that's probably closer to what I'm looking for. Another thing I like about these Epiphones is that they're not copies of Gibsons, they're 'true' Epiphones.

But maybe there are other brands I should be looking at?

I don't mind Korean or Japanese built...I want to avoid a Chinese-made guitar though, I'm looking for higher quality than that.

My guitar teacher has an Aria Pro II ES-335...has a bolt on neck...but it's an amazing guitar-- excellent neck, fits my hand really well, and has this awesome woody tone. It's pretty old though, don't think I'd be able to scout one up.

Yamaha makes a couple of hollow bodies that are discontinued the AEX-520 and AEX-502. the 520 is a humbucker and the 502 sports P90's. They are very well built and you can get them cheaply on E-bay from time to time. Harmony Central has reviews on them.

Tony..

Id recommend that you dont use the minwax poly, the gloss atleast. I used it on my last build as I didnt have my spray equipment at school and I wanted the guitar done. The problem with the poly is that it is extremely soft, it scratches really easy, and on top of that it shrinks really badly. That doesnt include all the buff thrus that I had. With that being said, the satin poly works wonders on necks where your only putting one or two coats on.

MzI

Thanks a lot for your help. I will do a search for the two part epoxy and be sure to make the base nice and smooth.

That is a VERY cool article.

It would be cool just to hold it. It's a fantastic concept building something that has it's own history before it's even finished.

I am finishing a guitar body with a Mango wood cap on Alder. I tried nitro but I got poor results. I first used brush on Deft and then I used Watco spray (rattle can). I ended up sanding throug the finish and I had to chemically strip and sand the whole body. I am going to get it finished with Automotive clear after I restain the body with analine dye. Can I have the clear sprayed right over the dye or do I have to put some kind of sealer over it first? Any help is appreciated. How many coats of clear shoud I have applied to the body. I was thinking of two.

Tony..

http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pag...p;lid=today+box

http://www.colinjames.com/index_sub.cfm?pg...30_metro_ottowa

Pot 16mm 250 kOhm SG/Lin ( 200mW 200VDC Spline 18 Teeth

Pot 16mm 250 kOhm SG/Log (A) 100mW 150VDC Spline 18 Teeth

This the description of the pots I could buy from Dick Smith (An aussie store)

I thought guitar wiring was AC not DC?!

Am I just confusing myself? Can someone verify if the above pots would work fin for tone/vol on a strat.

The VDC rating is the voltage that you can safely apply to the pot without the voltage arcing inside the pot.They are giving the value in DC volts. The output of the pickups is in Millivolts AC.

They will work.

I purchased a Warmoth body routed for a VS-100. Does anyone know if a VS-50 tremolo will work in its place?

I am going to be changing the pickups in my strat for the first time and I know almost nothing about soldering irons (althought I do have some limited soldering experience), so I have a few questions. I am trying to decide which soldering iron to buy, but I've been recommended different wattages and am a little overwhelmed at the options. I have decided to go with Weller and I've narrowed it down to a few different irons.

First, what is the difference between modular, temp-controlled and non-temp controlled irons? I was told to get a soldering iron between 10 and 30 watts to do the pickup work, but there are quick a few in that range. I've chosen a few Wellers that meet those specs, if someone could please help me narrow it down to a specific iron for this job because I really have no idea what to get. Here's the narrowed down list:

WP25 and WP25D 25 watt (anyone know the difference between the two?)

WM120 12 watt pencil type

SL325 23 watt

Anyone help or advice that anyone can offer would be very much appreciated. Thanks,

The wp25d looks to be wired for 220 volt power so it's out.

The 12 watt iron is too small.

So I would go with the WP25 or the SL325. I've used the WP30 at work and it is a solid well made iron so the WP25 should be fine. I believe it is temp controlled but I don't know about the SL325.

Tony...

So as you may well know i have been trying to learn the ways of guitar electronics. Yesterday i spent some time rewiring the neck pickups of the epiphone the to the volume knob. After plugging the guitar into the amplifier i was reassured of my work with some lovely buzz free tones. So i put the epiphone aside and whipped out the tele for a whirl. Then i awake this morning and to my utter disgust i find that my epiphone is refusing to work. To this moment still i put it down to shoddy workmanship on my behalf.

Everywhere i look for help all i see is "making a good soldering joint is a skill that is easily mastered". and every time i read it it enrages me further.

Yesterday i spent hours trying to master this soldering buisness and all i have to show for it is a broken down guitar, melted wires, a few sinister marks on the carpet and some thrid degree burns! What am i doing wrong?

Okay so i dont have any desoldering bulbs so i cant take any of the old tin off and its gotten a bit of a mess in the control cavity there. But my main problem is burning stuff. Desoldering in the tight pickups selector cavity seems to always lead to the burning and fraying of wires.

Can any of you give me any tips. They would be much appreciated.

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Keep the tip of the iron clean with a damp sponge.

Always make sure there is fresh solder on the tip before soldering. Touch the solder to the tip to wet it. Heat transfers much better if the iron is "wet".

Really, consider getting a soldering bulb or solder wick to get rid of exess solder.

If you don't want to remove the pots etc. then consider cutting the wires close to the connection leaving enough to grab with a set of needle nose pliers. This will make removal easier. Removing or loosening the parts first makes desoldering alot easier because you can work from different angles.

Good Luck

my First Guitar was a Yamaha se 203 strat style, my brother is using it now as his first, but that was almost 20 years agoe, i dont know about the cheaper ibanez guitars but i have a Jackson JS1 now, i paid too much for it but i think its probably the nicest playin guitar ive ever had(sad yes i know, lol) and i see them on ebay going for 100-150 US.

Yeah I sold mine to my sister and like I said it was really solid. Also the stock pickups sounded great.

How about using a binding as a seperator between the two stains?

Try this link.

http://www.deftfinishes.com/wood/where.htm

Also Watco lacquer is nitro. You can go to rustoleum.ca and enter your address. Good luck.

The definative nitro cure time answers is _______ ?

I finished a korina jem with Deft lacquer. I applied 3 full cans. I wet sanded after 1 week and buffed with no problems. The nitro continued to cure after I wet sanded and so it settlled into the grain.

Had I waited a month, I'm sure that the nitro would have stayed smoother but I actually like the nitro to settle in the grain like that.

If you want an absolutely smooth finish, use grain filler.

Next time, I'll wait 30 days instead of just 5; that way, it will be easier to buff because it should be harder.

F.M.

I only used one can (quart) of Deft brushing lacquer on my Strat body. This is the first time I've finished a guitar. Should I use more? Or are you using rattle cans.

I recieved my Mighty Mite neck a few week ago for my Warmoth body. Fits perfectly, nice and snug. The neck has a nice feel to it. I used a sanding pad that electricians use to burnish relay contacts and smoothed the ends of the frets. I did a quick check on the level of the frets and they seem OK. I will do a more thorough check to see if I have to order a levelling block from Stew Mac.

I am trying to cut some costs in assembling my strat clone from parts. I am considering the Wilkinson Ez-Loc tuners for several reasons. The simplicity of no moving parts, it's staggered and low cost. Also I am looking for a VS-100 tremolo and I came across the MM version. Has anyone used either of these parts. Any comments.

Tony..

Has anyone got any suggestions? I'm just looking to get this last little bit of paint off of the guitar before i finish it, and I don't want to have to live with it.

I am no expert I am staining my first guitar now but what if you dyed the rest black and sanded again. Use the black as a grain accent and then stain a brighter colur over. Finsh with clear. Might work.

I needed to buy some more lacquer and Watco is only available locally. I noticed after searching this board that some people thought that it is acrylic. I E-mailed Watco and was informed that it is indeed nitro.

Tony

Anyone here use the Wilkinson VS-100 tremolo. Specifically the Mighty Mite version. What is the quality etc. versus the ones from WD music Warmoth All Parts. I noticed a huge price difference.

Tony..

I looked at Stew Mac afterwards and realized the slot is for a nut lol, I think thats why i'm going to use on my next build i'm going to build my own neck. My first which i'm still working on I got from soulmate guitars Doug.

Stewmac necks are made by Mighty Mite.

What did you replace it with?

There are many good guitars on E-bay that you can get for a fair price. I bought my son a Yamah Pacifica 821R that was painted over but structurally sound for $150 dollars. It has a fast 24 fret neck and a Floyd Rose tremolo which can be a pain to tune when changing strings.

I bought myself a Yamaha RGZ620Z brand new for $225.

I picked up a Yamaha AEX520 for $250 dollars without a mark on it. I am a Yamaha fan since they make great guitars at at a reasonable price.

I bought a Yamaha SE203 strat clone (older model) for $89 which I sold to my sister. That had a great tone and really solid build quality but the neck was too narrow for me.

I am learning to play at age 56 and my fingers aren't very nimble. My son flies up and down the fretboard and I am stuck in the upper frets. I don't care really it is a great way to release some stress and I like the sound of the guitars.

Their Pacifica lines, pacifica 112 and up are great values. Go to harmony-central.com then guitars and then product review database ..guitar.

Guitar owners rate their instruments and you can get some idea of the quality of their models. Don't buy a cheap guitar to start out. Buy a good used one. You are taking a bit of a risk but if the seller has good feedback you should be OK. The two things I ask the seller about is the condition of the frets and the width of the nut. You could try out several guitars and get a feel for what width neck you like.

myrareguitars.com has a new Tokai Goldstar Strat clone for $399 which is approaching a USA Strat in quality. I almost bought it but I am assembling a guitar by purchasing parts and finishing it myself. Which I am finding out is a lot more expensive.

There is alot out there if you spend some time looking.

Have a good day and enjoy looking.

Tony...

I recently purchased a body from Warmoth on sale and I am about half way finishing it. Needs lacquer which I ordered a brushing lacquer made by Deft. Anyway I measured the pocket on the body and noticed that it appears to be 2-5/32 not 2-3/16 across, 1/32 undersized. Is this a concern? If it is a tight fit does the heel of the neck have to be lacquered? I also came across Mighty Mite necks on the Internet. They look good and they are advertised as higher quality over the older MM necks. Anyone have experience with these latest MM necks? They are liscenced by Fender but I gather that liscenced by Fender applies only to the shape of the headstock from reading posts on the Internet. I browsed the posts here but I don't know if the MM comments apply to this new line of the MM necks. The comments mostly center on the finishing of the ends of the frets which I figure I can do myself and a couple comments about the neck heel being slightly oversized, which wouldn't be good with a undersized neck pocket. I can buy a basic Warmoth neck but the MM necks have more features for the money and I am on a budget (first time assembler). Also if the neck pocket is wrong on the Warmoth body I certantly won't buy from them again. I just ordered a set of L-280s pickups from Bill Lawrence, the Bill Lawrence in California not the Bill Lawrence company. I am going with a Wilkinson VS-100 tremolo and probably locking tuning machines. I plan on buying a MM pickguard loaded and sell off the single coils on E-bay.

In regards to the brushing lacquer can it be done indoors in my workshop in the house? I didn't want to get into spraying since I have no equipment. Of course after I ordered the lacquer I came across the Preval sprayer so I could have sprayed outside once the snow goes away but it looks like I will be brushing and sanding. I decided today to put the body away untill the lacquer comes in because I am constantly fussing with it and getting small marks on it that I have to sand out or restain. I can see where this hobby can become addicting and expensive. I guess I should also learn how to play. My son is the guitar player I just plug in and bang away when I want to relax. Anyway have a good day.

Tony..

thanks... interesting and different. looks pretty nice with the dye. do u know if this type of wood required grain filling?

It has varied grain some parts open and some tight. . I used a pre stain wood conditioner first and then dyed it red with a wood dye I found at a local hardware store made by La Maison Saman. Raspberry stain. Unfortunately as it turned out it is used for Tole painting. I looked terrible so I washed it and sanded it off. I then used a penetrating wood stain (Moores Golden Oak) and stained the whole body. It turned out better than I expected but a pro would probably get better results. Here is a picture of the body wetted down with water to bring out the grain.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e82/bugla/Mango3.jpg

thanks... interesting and different. looks pretty nice with the dye. do u know if this type of wood required grain filling?

I just purchased a Mango capped Alder body that Warmpth had on sale. I wetted down the body with water to see what the grain would look like. The water didn't soak into the Mangoas as fast the alder. If that means anything. I also called Stewmac about buying water based brushing varnish and they told me if I applied sanding sealer and the wood doesn't require it it would simply sand out and no harm done. But I am no expert on woodworking.

I am probably going call Warmoth and ask them.

Well I did. I was told to dye the top and then grain fill the whole guitar. Then spray the back with a translucent tinted varnish. And then apply the coating. He also said that was the first Mango capped body that he can recall being sold. He suggested Guitar ReRanch as a source of info.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge of finshing will respond because I am a newbe.

I will post a picture of the body for you in a couple of days.

Tony..

i know mango wood has been used on ukulele's, however, have any of you ever used it for building an electric guitar? if so, does it need grain filling? is it an easy wood to work with? what is your opinion on the tone. searching has yielded very little.

Here is a picture of a mango capped guitar.

http://www.rrow2.freeserve.co.uk/guitars/n...r/N4_guitar.htm

Looks great.