jmrentis

Nice, glad to hear you were able to pick up some decent wood for a decent price. Definitely a smart buy as it will make for a nice guitar, won't break the bank and if something happened making it unusable for a guitar, you won't be broke and upset. Its cool you have some tools on the way as well, a router is very important and will do much of what you need, as long as it has the power and capabilities. Anyhow, sounds like you're on your way and off to a decent start. Glad its working out and keep us posted on progress. J As for router bits-I've grabbed them from numerous places. Rockler has them for sale, I think a few different brands now, though you might find better deals and much bigger selections online at places like Routerbits.com or MLCS woodworking where I grabbed my last lot from, they were all decent bits that are still nice and sharp. Many swear by Whiteside bits and routerbits.com sells mainly whiteside I believe. MCLS bits have worked great for me and I find their prices decent, I believe you can get free shipping most of the time as well, so thats a plus. Best of luck. J

Frets.com amber lacquer tint There are a few binding fixes he does on his site where he utilizes this stuff to match color of aged binding. I would assume you can do the same to match the white binding to the cream binding. At least it an idea to look at. Check out the rest of the site, especially all his binding fixes as he has to match the new white bindings with older bindings that are cream or just very aged. Best of luck. J

Also, not certain but from experience with a friend trying to get me some nice flatsawn coco, even with it dried, after sanding it to thickness it twisted and warped something fierce. In other words you might be more likely to run into twists and warps due to stored tension with flatsawn vs. quartered. Ebony probably doesn't really have that risk much, but I heard this with cocobolo a bit. Just something that I've run into in trying to get some nice flatsawn coco fretboards. J

Don't worry about the nut Kenny, if you mess up I've got a couple dozen on hand and if need be you could grab a couple if they are long enough blanks for your guitar. They are bleached bone. I also have a few buffalo horn nuts(which are black), but I only grabbed a couple of those, though I might pickup some more because they are cool. J

Good point Todd, I completely agree, its definitely not worth driving way out of the way for the price of a single builds worth of wood, especially with gas prices where they are at. If I'm looking for a specific wood or figure, I try to start with the least expensive places and if I don't find what I want, then check the others, thankfully the cheaper places are mostly closer than the expensive ones. Frost, TH&H, and Rockler are all in the same general area, so any of them would be a worth a look. Rockler carries wood, though I generally don't find a lot of 8/4 in the different woods, so I don't really think to check Rockler for wood, unless for laminations or the like.If you need some other supplies though, you may as well check Rockler. They used to always suggest Frost for wood, then as TH&H came up, they switched to recommending them to customers. Any of those places will more than likley have what you need, if not you know there are other places to check near by. Best of luck. J Edit:Call and see what the TH&H charges as they might be a tad cheaper and most is surfaced on both sides with one straight edge. With Frost and TH&H close by I would call and check their prices per Board Foot. Generally though wood can be pricey, even for just one guitars worth. I think I paid just over $100 for the zebrawood and I still added a maple top on top of that. What I learned right away is that building is expensive, I would never suggest building a guitar for any other reason than the enjoyment of it. Building your own won't be cheaper than buying one generally. One time, when I was broke of course, I found a post in Craigslist of a guy getting rid of a bunch of mahogany for pretty dang cheap. I only wish I had the cash at the time. J I just checked Frosts website, they have a PDF file of all the prices, click the link and then download the retailsellersprice list and you'll find all the prices per board foot. You can get 4 Boardfeet of Honduran Mahogany for about $55, there is also African mahogany for less, about $34 for 4 board feet. You'll have to search around to find what the comparisons between the types are, I don't really know personally. I'm sure others will know better. I think it should be fine.

I didn't see you lose it at any point and aside from that I think you ended up creating a great discussion. As posts later in the subject started to suggest all throughout building people have had opinions that end up being wrong or evolving into something else, just because someone says its wrong or bad, doesn't always make it so, even if they have been doing it that way for 20 years. I always find dicussions like that extremely informative because it makes those long time builders fully explain and provide reasons for their methods and that gives us beginners a lot to learn from. There are a few great finishing threads that that Rick Turner contributed to, that are similar to your thread, where an idea was tossed out and then debated over. OLF is a super chill place of great guys, which makes debates no big deal. Anyhow, there isn't much discussion on the subject you asked anywhere, so I don't think it was a poor choice in question to begin with and it ended with a good debate/discussion, so I think it was a good thing. Plus, it saved me askin'!

Frost is decent, but more pricey than some. There are a few others around I would check also, the one that seems most recommended and has better pricing is TH&H. They have a site I believe, Hardwoods and Hardware or something like that. Obviously, finding low prices is great, but I tend to check multiple places because you never know what you will come across. I've actually found a lot of nice pieces at a place called Cut and Dried in Solana Beach. nice wood, organized well, prices are a bit more than average though. Another place that is the first place I'll check for my exotics wood is Tropical Exotic Hardwoods of Latin America which is up in Carlsbad, huge inventory of exotics, again can be pricey, but what they have is amazing and they have deals sometimes where you can get like 10 cocobolo fretboards for $50 and sales like that. Frost is worth a check also. The one place I get a lot of my materials is Rockler in Kearny Mesa. Very helpful people, though none really do any instrument work that I know of. They have most of the supplies you'll want like tools, glues, epoxies, stains, finishes, and much more. Sign up for a membership as you can earn discounts, plus when they have sales they will email you and mail you letters letting you know whats on sale, much of the stuff is a tad pricey, so its very helpful to watch for the sales. Those are basically all of the local places that I use, the rest is from internet sites like LMI and Stewart MacDonald, along with some parts companies like Allparts and GuitarPartsDepot as they sale their parts cheaper than the other places generally. Grizzly is another great place to find tools and guitar parts(under luthier supplies) and Los Alamos Composites if you want or need any Carbon Fiber rods. Hopefully that will help you get started in finding what you need and not break the bank completely. There are some other places locally, but those are at least my favorites. Best of luck with everything. Jason

Cool, yeah I have a different wraparound that I'm using and am about to order the tone pros locking studs, didn't have the cash at the time I got the bridge, but knew I would before needing to drill the holes. I wish all bridges had that locking feature, it seems like such a good concept. Anyhow, cool build and am looking forward to some more pics! J

Its funny how people can be allergic to one thing and not another. What little work I've done with Cocobolo has not bothered me, though it has been minimal work. The wood that has bothered me most is strangely Bubinga. I don't know that I've heard anyone complain about that wood, which is why it seems strange to me. If I sand a bit and any of the dust gets on my skin, it immediately turns into a bunch of small blisters, even when I use gloves I end up with quite a few of them. It blows my mind how fast it occurs, so far it hasn't caused my asthma to kick up, though it does bother my nose some. I wear a mask, but I find it to be quite fine dust, so I end up getting dosed with it when working in the garage. I think its only the dust that bothers me, in other words, I think a bare fretboard would be fine, but I plan on putting something on the fretboard. Other than that nothing else has bugged me much, other than say the splinters from purpleheart, somehow it always finds a way to get me. J

I'm lovin' it! Seriously it much reminds me of the first guitar I ever had, except well this one is nice and mine wasn't. I actually really dig the pups and bridge combo, not to mention ziricote, you can never go wrong using that wood. I had a similar idea on the nice figured bubinga fretboard I'm using, I wanted some inlays, but really didn't want to cover up the wood, so I went with some tiny ones, though maybe bare would have been a better choice. How do you like that bridge, I had stared at that one when shopping for a bridge for a long time. I think it looks great, though somewhat reminds me of the grill of a mac truck somehow. Anyhow, just curious on what you think of it? Again, I think this is a killer project, very nice stuff Wez!!!! J

I was just looking at them the other day. I always hear Mattia and other guys talk about how much they like hand made rasps and how well they work. I'm definitely looking to grab some prior to the next neck I build. In looking at a rasp it seems so strange that the difference could be that noticeable, however, I trust the words of those who have said so. So, I will likely grab some new rasps, probably those dragon rasps, does it seem helpful to have both course and fine rasps? Do you feel you could get away with one course? Thanks for the heads up Rick, its funny timing as I was probably looking at the them last night or the night prior, more or less dreaming I had some extra money on hand. I'm still trying to buy those locking TOM posts from tonepros and some fretfiles.

As something rich reminded me of the other day, you could also tint the clear. This would really take away any uneven splotchiness that the wood might create. Thinking back to one of Perry's he did a wipe on stain, but also did a tinted clear layer to give it an almost burst look with the same color. Worth a shot if you aren't finding what you are looking for. Best of luck. J

Very nice work Perry! I always enjoying seeing what new concepts and creative ideas you can think up. Whether using crumbled MOP for wicked lightning inlays or your new scallop concept, always a treat to see. Keep those pics coming! Jason

Just wishin' you a happy Bday! Hope its a good one, with many more to follow! J

What is your thoughts on limba Rick or anyone? You're working with some now aren't you? Is is closed enough grain to be easy to tru-oil up nice and slick? I'm not very familiar with all the properties of limba(black or white) and if it could be considered as a good replacement in this situation. It always seemed like something between mahogany and maple from what I've heard about it, just wanted to throw that idea out there, to get analzyed. Best of luck. J

I'm with WAK here, definitely on the pickguard! Which is funny because I also despise them. And I also like the pup rings as is. Either way, just an extraordinary instrument! Well done. J

I thought about the screwing in from the top, but the cover was cut straight from the body so he could have the grain match. So, I don't really think that is an option, the other little cavity has holes for screws in the top, which I would imagine is like you were saying, screwed into the top. As for the other, I think the only way would be some kind of bracket setup, which if it is would not be as easy being that its all glued up, I would imagine. I dunno, I just couldn't figure it out and was curious, I'm always keen on seeing methods I haven't seen before and figured I'd ask. I'm going with your second guess for my uneducated guess. J

Congrats on your first build! I gotta say I really like that fretboard and inlays, plus the walnut is also very nice. I know what you mean about the original design. I wanted to make my own design and did, but honestly I went through maybe a 100 or more tweaks on the original design that I came up with. What really helped me the most was once I came up with one I really liked, I would buy a big sheet of contruction paper and draw it out to scale so I could see and feel what it would truly be like. Heck, I even had little paper pickups, bridges, and knobs I would place on the paper template to get a feel for the design. There were many designs that looked great when drawn small on paper, but looked and felt terrible draw out full size. Even after that step I would make a mdf template of the shape and get a further look and feel for the design before commiting. Either way, I think its great you got through your first build and are looking forward to the next challenge. You really end up learning so much with each step you take and I find I learn even more with each mistake or problem I run into. It is important to know how to do each step and any tricks and tips to ensure it goes well, I am constantly researching for extra help and ideas. Again, congrats on the build, bet it'll sound great and look forward to seeing what your next one. Jason

I vote for keeping the color you have, it looks wicked. After seeing the initial coloring I was going to post mentioning the slight splotchiness of the sanded black dye, wasn't bad but I figured it would have bothered you after the finish. It looks great now, all of it. I did have one question though, I went back and glanced to see if you explained it, but didn't see an answer. So, how is the cavity cover going to be attached, as it looks there is no ledge for it to sit on? I just wasn't sure what your plans for this were and was curious. Oh yeah, also, I fell over laughing at that video, don't know why, but it killed me! Best of luck. J

I think most of the talk was intended to disprove the initial statement that option 2 is the only way to create a quality scarf. The people who contributed and disagreed with that statement said they've never had issues with either and both work fine, as in no failures. I think the pros and cons were mentioned for those rare situations that a joint may be put to the test, such as Mattia said left in a hot car. Also to add to what you were saying about adding 50% to the amount of glue joint for option 2, you're right as the fretboard holds it in much like a wedge. Though on the other hand, when doing option 1 many people prefer to have both caps front and back which seems to add even more strength and hold than the fretboard does in option 2, just for the sake of argument. As I said, I think most of what was brought up was in defense of option 1 as it was stated that option 2 was the only way to go. I definitely have the desire to try option 2 on an upcoming neck, especially with some contrasting veneers, I think it looks great. To me if you're going to have the scarf showing so obviously, might as well make it a feature, if not with option 1 you can completely hide the scarf which is cool as well, either way works. J

Now you just gotta make like a strawberry and jam!

I can't wait to see this thread! I thoroughly enjoy cool stuff like this. Everytime I find a thread for bringing a guitar back to life, my eyes get glued to the screen, plus I find that more often I can pick up more ideas and creativity from a repair or restoration by a skilled builder than I would from a general build by a skilled builder. I like that you arne't going back to an exact original, though the only thing that stands out to me is the upper horn, I would have never imagined such a small difference being visable, it doesn't look bad at all, though I really like how the original looks as well as the schecter. Plus I think that horn graft would make for a cool project portion. Best of luck on your project, I know this is gonna make for a killer end result, it just has so much potential. Keep us posted!!

That did come out nice, good job! Will you be capping or backstraping it? When I did I had some issues bending until I went with a homemade bending iron, with that method I had no issues bending the figured bubinga for my backstrap, with that and a caul sanded to fit the headstock+volute it worked out fine. You got a good match on the scarf, meaning it lined up nicely, but the color/grain show difference which is why I asked about capping it. Anyhow, nice work, hope your month improves! J

+1 I recently checked a link I had for it as I wanted to check something and couldn't bring it up, I was bummed. That'd be great if you could bring it back into circulation. J

I guess I'd call them Mule chambers Aka smuggling resonators