Mender

A flat scraper may be the easiest way to remove the finish, followed by very gentle sanding with 400/600 grit paper, sanding with the grain. Then you will be able to tell what the rosette is actually made of. If you are very lucky, it may be a proper inlay, in which case you shouldn't need to remove it. If it is a sticker, then naptha or something similar should help to remove it without too much difficulty.

You could try an oil finish if you don't want to mess around with toxic fumes

A problem I can see is that the upper horn is likely to snap off when the guitar is hanging on a strap because the grain runs straight across the narrowest bit of the horn as shown in the picture. Pine isn't known for strength along the grain

never follow me around ( unless you wanna be lost too ) but I made an Explorer out of pine and I used a Poplar neck.

The neck is still in use , still plays good and *is* reinforced with CF bars.

I've also used flea market carvings and various other sources for wood. Furniture for example.

Wood is wood. Some is better than others, but with care , it can pretty much all be used.

I have made a total of eleven necks out of poplar with dual action truss rods and rosewood fretboards. I've never had one twist or bend. This one for instance, (once I had finished it) has been gigged four or five nights a week since I sold it last January, and had proved reliable and very stable. So much so, in fact, that the second guitarist in the band it is played in has commissioned me to make a guitar made completely in poplar, but with a different shaped body

...The fingerboard feels a little dry/scratchy. What would remedy that, save for de-fretting and sanding/etc?

If it only feels dry and scratchy, but it isn't actually rough, get some lemon oil and soak the fretboard with it. Put plenty on and let it soak right into the wood. Then apply some more and let that soak in. If it feels better, then level, crown, and polish the frets if they need it, and apply another couple of coats of lemon oil, and buff the whole thing up.

I have to admit that I'm not normally a lover of Les Paul shape guitars, but that one is looking really good

So the "volume" pot in "modern wiring" scheme is just a variable resistor instead of a real volume control? Sorry if it's a dumb question, I'm a Fender/Ibanez/Parker guy trying to learn about Gibson wiring...

A volume control is a variable resistor whatever guitar it is fitted in.

1/8th inch thick for a fretboard isn't thick enough to let you radius it. You'll be into the neck wood with the fret slots

Are you the guy that everyone keeps talking about who could build a guitar with a sharpened spoon?

He cheats! He uses his fingernails as well

That's an incredible finish, just like a mirror

With all the hand sawing you've been doing on this one, you must have arm muscles like Hercules

It's certainly coming on well

What's the safest way to do a larger round over on a router table? Let's say you wanted a 1/2" roundover, would you use the 1/2 bit straightaway and start with it lowered and raise it to it's final height with multiple passes or would you start with a smaller bit, say 3/16" and work your way up to 1/2" with multiple bits in between?

I go with the final roundover size bit lowered. For a half inch roundover on most woods, I take three bites at it. On highly figured or spalted, perhaps four or five passes would be needed to avoid tearout. It all depends on the wood.

I'm skilled so thats why I use this. you need to step up your game.

I have seen your builds hatchet man... very fitting tool for you!

I've made all my guitars with this

I'm thinking of getting a piece of sandpaper in the near future

I've sprayed 3 more black coats and noticed the grain getting less pronounced. If I use enough clear to level it out, will the grain still show since it's showing in the black?

I take it you are actually sanding each coat flat before you apply the next coat? That is the secret of getting rid of the grain pattern.

I'll take a pic in my wife's tights and underware next time.

I can't wait

Thanks for the videos. Some interesting techniques

Found the problem, it's the power supply unit, for some reason it causes interference with the pedal

Was it a "switching" type power supply? Those use an IC chip which can inject a whining noise into your audio system via the power supply.

It's one where you can select the voltages from 1 to 12

Ah. That is your problem. It is more than likely the power supply is not regulated. Most of the switchable 1.5 to 12 volt ones are simple designs with no rectification or smoothing at all. If you set it to 9 volts and without it being plugged into anything, check the voltage with a meter, I can pretty well guarantee the voltage will be up around 16 volts or even higher. If you check the output with a scope, you will see horrendous ripples and spikes. I would never use one of those types of power supply without putting a regulator circuit with smoothing capacitors between the supply and the equipment.

You are supposed to mix equal amounts of resin and hardener and it is supposed to be forgiving enough to mix by eye. Since my last batch was soft I mixed a small batch with a bit more hardener than resin. It came out soft and slightly sticky. So I mixed up a batch with more resin and less hardener. This came out rock hard. That seems counter-intuitive to me. Has anyone else come across this phenomena as well?

Yes, this is quite common with all brands and types of epoxy I've used, including epoxy adhesives.

Some epoxies even have that stated in the instructions

That is gorgeous! Is it a one off, or are you running a production line?

I've never seen one like that before, but I have seen a chambered electric guitar with a flat woven bamboo drop top. That sounded sweet, and your archtop must sound amazing

HA! I didn't have a shop when I first started building, and did most of my work in what I like to call "Japanese woodworking" style; sitting on the floor. Even now, with a shop, I find it's easiest for me to carve a neck sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding the heel with my feet, and the headstock in my belly. I've tried clamping the neck up to shape, but it doesn't feel as right to me...

Um... ok. I am too old to get up after sitting down on the concrete floor. I needed the neck to be at a height so I didn't have to bend too much.

I could easily carve a neck whilst sitting on the floor, but then I'd have to stay there until someone came along to lift me up again

my new design going to have a figured camphor top with a tiger myrtle 35" thick body and is ganna have a zebra wood neck, i have scribbled out a pic to show lol. let me know what you think

My first thought is that a 35 inch thick body may be a tad heavy and difficult to play

Yes is the answer, but there is a but (isn't there always? )

You will need to thin the paint for it to work. How much you need to thin it depends on the type and brand (and sometimes even the batch) of paint. It will be a case of thin it a little and try it. If it doesn't spray evenly, thin a little more, until you get an even spray pattern without spatter, and without runs, but still keeping a good depth of colour.

I've used my HVLP gravity feed gun and 4 cu/ft/min compressor with good results with oil based gloss household paint, as well as the various types of emulsions available. You just have to get the correct viscosity

Sorry this is a bit late, just got back from vacation.

The best way I have found to determine a probable suitable scale length for a child is get the child to stand upright with one arm straight out sideways at 90 degrees from the body, with fingers straight out in line with the arm. Now measure the distance from the belly button to the "v" where the thumb meets the hand. Deduct 4 inches from this measurement and the result should be a suitable scale length. This is likely to be the maximum scale length the child will be able to handle comfortably straight away, but it will ensure that the guitar will still be playable by the child up to two years later.

Next, you should check that it is suitable, so get some cardboard and draw the guitar on it with the nut and bridge set at the scale length and hold it against the child, then make any fine adjustments that may be required

With concentric pots, the smallest knob (inner) uses the lugs on the very bottom of the assembly, so of course, the outer knob uses the lugs closest to the middle of the assembly. 500/500 would be the best value due to having two humbuckers.

The momentary push switch should be normally on if it is marked on, so pushing it will be off, therefore it seems to be the correct switch for a killswitch.

Aspen is a member of the poplar family, with most of the same characteristics. It is a light weight hardwood, easily worked (and easily dented), and doesn't blunt tools any more than poplar. It is easy to put a finish on it, being very tight grained, and doesn't really need grain filling. The biggest difference between aspen and poplar is that aspen normally isn't afflicted by the green/grey/purple mineral stain that you often see in poplar. It can split at the ends whilst drying, but that applies to many woods.

I think I know why it is believed to blunt tools quickly, it is because one of its constituents is salicin, which some people have interpreted/misread as silicon, but the two words are not related.

So, it should be good to build a complete guitar body for a light weight guitar

Wot Muzz said It's much easier to draw things out accurately first than measuring things in bits and pieces, as there is less chance of errors creeping in