alteredtunings

Yes, dental burrs are the best to use for inlaying guitars. My mom is a dental assistant. I have her bring back new burrs for me whenever she can get a chance.

This looks sweet. What kind of material are you going to use?

I think you did the right thing. I hate it when my guitar buzzes. I like to fine tune and adjust the action so it is as low as it can go without buzzing. Your fret buzzing was most likely caused by a slight back-bow in the neck. Raising the bridge might have fixed the fret buzzing, but it would have also raised the action quite a bit. You did the right thing by adjusting the truss rod.

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but Heritage Guitars out of Kalamazoo, MI have tours. If you are unfamiliar with Heritage Guitars, it is a company that was started out of Gibson leaving MI. When Gibson closed their Kalamazoo plant, some of the workers decided to stay and start their own company. Heritage purchased their machines and everything from Gibson. It's a real cool place and piece of history. Check it out.

[url="http://www.heritageguitar.com/history.html"]http://www.heritageguitar.com/history.html[/url]

Essentially, Naptha and lighter fluid are the same thing. I don't know that it really matters whether you use actual naptha or lighter fluid to clean unfinished guitars. It shouldn't matter what brand of lighter fluid you use either. The main thing that you are looking for in any kind of cleaning agent is something that will evaporate quickly, remove oil, and not leave residue. Both naptha and ordinary lighter fluid serve all of these purposes.

Personally, I would stay away from acetone cleaners altogether. I know they were suggested, but they can cause all kinds of problems with finish and celluloid binding. In theory, you can't hurt the finish of your guitar if you are using acetone to clean it before it is finished. However, the cleaner could cause finish problems if the wood is not dried properly before finishing. This is kind of a long shot, but there is no reason to chance it. I would just use naptha or lighter fluid.

It looks like you are off to a good start. I remember the first electric guitar that I built. It was a tele replica. Then I moved on to PRS styled bodies and semi-hollow carved tops. I think it is a good idea to go with a flat top at first. This will get you used to all the construction and different tools. Here are a few tips on your last post

Truss rod channel:

Don't worry about the channel. It will be easy enough to route in at this point. You will just want to clamp your neck down and put fences down both sides of the neck, so your bit can't stray off course. Then set your bit partially down and make a pass with the router. Then set the bit to the full depth of the channel and make another pass. Nothing to it.

Shaping the Neck:

Personally, I don't like to use a router or anything when I make my necks. I like to do everything by hand. It is really easy to shape a neck by hand and it's a ton of fun. After you have the truss rod glued in place and you have the fretboard glued in place, simply use a course rasp and rough out the shape that you want and bring the sides of the neck in close to the sides of the fretboard. When you use the rasp, run the length of the neck and vary your start and stop points. You don't want to file in one spot too long and create a dip. Then you can take a course file and smooth out the rasp marks and fine tune your shape. Then take a fine file and do the same thing. Then take some fine sand paper, 320 and 600, and "shoe polish" it. Now you have a sweet neck profile.

This is an interesting topic. I have often wondered about small shop builders buying a CNC machine and cutting out Fenders or a popular choice is the Ibanez Jem. It seems like eBay is littered with Jem "replacement bodies" and necks. Most of the necks even go so far as to inlay the Steve Vai vine inlay on the fretboard. Do you think these people could get in trouble for reproducing these?

As far as the major companies go, most courts have upheld that companies, like Fender, can't patent or copyright their specific body design because it is too vague. Look at the Peavey case. I guess theoretically Fender could probably patent or copyright their exact dimensions, but as soon as a copying company slightly altered those dimensions, they would not be infringing on Fenders' property. Plus, think about it; most electric guitars are based off of two main designs in one way or another: Fender Strat and Gibson Les Paul. The solid body electric guitar industry is a copy of these two original designs for the most part.

I agree. You want to stay away from epoxy. It is a pain to work with if you ever have to remove the neck. I also agree with what Chops said about the tenon length. It does not have to be very long to get a good solid neck joint. The main thing that you have to look for is a tight fitting neck pocket. If the neck pocket is tight, your glue will be just as strong as the bolts.

Look at some of the companies that have set neck guitars like PRS. Most PRS guitars' tenons are barely longer than the Fender tenon. I would say that you are in good shape as long as your neck pocket is tight. Let us know how it goes.