IbanezDudeCK

I just started restringing and installing a bridge truss on my 12 string that I bought used a couple months ago. When I tried taking the old strings off, the old pins WOULD NOT come out. It took some humidifying, a lot of pushing and a lot of wiggling with a pair of pliers to get most of them out where my good acoustic generally takes a slight push from the inside or gentle tug to remove. Even worse, I got brass pins to put in and they sit about 5mm above the top of the bridge. I'm pretty sure it's not a good idea to muscle a piece of tapered brass into the bridge so I'm assuming it needs a little modification. I know you can carefully us a round file or regular reamer in place of a bridge pin reamer, but how tight should the holes be and should there be a slight gap between the bottom of the pin head and the top of the bridge or should it fit flush against with a slightly snug fit around the edges? The pins are the round, flat top ones instead of the regular 'ball' top ones.

That's pretty cool. Is the neck still pretty solid with that fancy neck joint angle thingy? I like the looks of the wraparound with the wood plate better. Would look really cool with a Dean Soltero style carve on the part where you're forearm rests. Did you find a way to wire it with quick connect pickup connections to change from the bridge HB to SC pickup when switching the bridge?

That's one huge plastic backplate and a ton of controls for a 2 pickup guitar. That neck joint is pretty sick looking though. I love Sycamore guitars. Would've bought a flame sycamore acoustic but the acoustics were extremely outdated. Sounded great unplugged though. How much did this thing cost?

Interesting guitar to say the least. Good idea for getting the top radiused. How much is it going to weigh? Looks heavy.

Simply amazing. I'm jealous. It must take skill to take 'junk' and turn it into something awesome. The textured front and the headstock are the key features for me. Not a big fan of the pickguard (or pickguards in general), but everything else is great. The fretboard/neck will look amazing once the finish starts wearing off and you get all that grime and fading on it. Makes me want to go out to my Uncle's ranch and steal some of the wood from the old homesteads on the land.

That's a very valid point. I hate a lot of pawn shops. They'll never admit to something being stolen or broken when they sell it to you. Wish they'd just man up about it.

Haven't seen them but I'd recommend putting an add like this on any of the Craigslist sites for your area if you haven't already. That and the pawn shop are the two easiest places for someone to get rid of them and make money. I've seen it happen before and I say a guy get one back through Craigslist help ads. Best of luck

Not sure about the convenience of the locations on the side, but I've seen it done. I believe RKS and that dude that made guitars that look like motorcycle fuel tanks both did that. I like the looks of that hand grip cutout, but I think it'd be weird having the knobs in an unusual spot like that.

I don't really have nearly the tools (or cash for tools) that I need right now for building properly and was thinking of ordering (or scrapping guitars) for necks for a while to avoid paying for all the fretting tools and everything needed for a neck, but by the time you buy a Warmoth or Carvin 7 string neck, you might as well have bought the tools. 7 string necks are especially hard to find so I can see you having a market in 7 string necks. If you could make a fairly completed (minus the heel portion and headstock) 7 string neck for under $150, I would definitely consider buying.

It's ALMOST done. everything is pretty much in place. the neck pocket is made, the neck heel has been adjusted, the front and back plates are on and the logo is inlayed. The frets are all in, leveled, crowned, and rounded. The body has the rounds around the edges. Still need the backplate for the control panel, some headstock shaping, tuner holes, and the holes for the bridges screws. Still need to add my fancy headstock taper/ledge/color change thing. Right now, everything is being 120 grit sanded. The rounds and neck have been cleaned up since the pictures I took last night. Neck Pocket: Neck Heel: Headstock side: Headstock inlay logo: Body: Body back:

Looks a bit like these guitars I remember seeing in Guitar Player for a few years. Can't remember the brand, but they were usually red and held by some creepy goth looking girls. Yours looks a lot classier though with the curved edges and the ornate fingerboard/bridge. Is that an extra fret slot at the end of the board though?

Interesting. I like that single coil/humbucker idea with the dual neck pickups. Like a metal HSH and a classic strat in one. I can see why you'd need some colors to help you with all that pickup stuff. I almost always stick to the bridge (I also just use 2 channel amps- I have one for metal, one for other stuff. I guess I like my tone and don't want to change it) so I probably wouldn't need anything as fancy as that. That's also why I'm thinking of putting a Sustainer in one of my extra guitars- I don't use the neck position. It definitely looks like you enjoy having millions of tones from your guitar and that huge Line 6 Vetta. Do you know if there's a way to simplify the lighting system to just stay one color and have a on/off switch to conserve battery? Also, can't wait to see the next few. I wonder what crazy ideas you have for those, a fretboard that has scrolling LED light messages maybe?

That's pretty cool. Did you wire the 2 neck pickups together or something to create a mega-pickup or something? The only thing you didn't put in was a Fernandes Sustainer. I like the looks of the wenge strips that you did. How long/expensive was the whole inlay w/fiberoptics process? I've kinda wanted a guitar with the big light up dot inlays but it looks like too much work for a little 'visual improvement'.

I did where a full face shield when routing around the body if that makes you happier. Anyways, I have posted an pics or any progress, but it's now fretted and has a headstock backplate that was just glued on last time. The neck joint is roughly drawn out and the neck is 120 grit sanded. Here's a pic of the neck before frets and backplate. And the headstock 'logo' inlay is cut, needs a bit of filing. I've got the headplate piece and need to cut it to the right shape and glue it on then put in the inlay.

Interesting. You're last one was so traditional now its super modern. Not the most comfortable looking shape but neither is the Halo Reaper that I want to base my next one off of. Are you just doing a natural clear finish on the whole thing or are you going to do an aged brown look like the last one?