jmrentis

I've used several bits from MLCS for a long while now and they are still very sharp and do a great job. I have bits from several other places and out of them the MLCS are my favorites. Sharp, strong, good prices, clean cuts. No problems with them for me. They also have several types now like the Katana's and the triple fluted bits which I've been wanting to give a try, but I've had no issues with the straight bits, sheer bits, I even have an upcut spiral for truss rods that works great and was cheap. A flush trim and a pattern bit that have treated me well. I know that many people go strictly with Whiteside bits from places like Routerbits.com and I was going to as well, until I found MLCS which was slightly cheaper and had free shipping in the US, so I tried those bits to see how they were and they've really treated me well and are still sharp even after using at least one of those bits as a planer on some very hard woods. So, I think you'd be fine with Whiteside of MLCS bits. J

That's terrible Russ, man those are some of the most impressive works you've done as you said, plus you're first. Definitely the three you don't want to get stolen or lost. That rising sun tang top was such a killer rig and that acoustic was just amazing. I remember when you posted that, so many cool features on it. I really hope you are able to recover them somehow, just keep up the hope because it does happen, seen it at OLF where a bunch of stuff was stolen and they got them back eventually. As suggested already ebay, pawn shops, but also check your local Craigslist, even though it'd be dumb because it'd be a local sale, sometimes they try that method and don't use a picture or even do. Definitely worth it to keep an eye there if you can as well. Keep us posted on any news or progress in your search and good to see you around my friend. Talk with you later. Jason

Same here guitarplayer, this is the type of jig I use most often. I do not own a wagner planer yet, but I've wanted one for a while, though I probably won't use it much. I've used the router jig thing for everything from leveling bodies, cleaning up headstocks, making laminates/veneers for cavity covers and more. I also use a 3/4" straight bit when using the jig and the same router, lol, except with the fixed base on instead, love that router. As a jig it works wonders, quick, easy, leaves a decent surface. J

I think this is an important tip for several applications. Especially for smaller bench models and people using them for fret pressing and such. Its just a good idea to support the table in case. It takes all of 2 seconds to setup and you alleviate any stress put on the table. This is more important for those using the drill press for fretting, since you'd be repeatedly apply this excessive force in a way that the press never would normally see. Most cases as you said, you probably don't need as much pressure as might be expected, but many people do that just in case, I mean you'd rather have a fret seat fully and not have any problems and guesstimating the exact pressure without going over isn't reasonable, so it seems its just better to be safe than sorry. I have a 12" Delta that's quite a bit bigger than most any benchtop model and feels extremely strong, but I'd support it just in case. Takes the stress off the table, the bolts and sleeve holding the table and yada yada. Glad you mentioned supporting the table, its a good idea for sure in certain cases. Jason

I have a couple of the stewmac blocks and so far have been pleased with them. I did look around before buying and felt the stewmac one was the way to go, but cost wise the LMI one is a bargin, but personally I wouldn't want poplar. I got a neck support caul from Stewmac that was poplar and when gluing up a fingerboard on a shaped neck the thing busted and shredded something terrible. It definitely wasn't meant for any clamping or anything obviously, but I do like using the radius blocks and such for glue ups so actually the stewmac would make a better price for me since it has multiple uses, even if only one radius. As you I coated, I had some unused west systems epoxy and just threw it on there and actually I love it because it gives me an ever better grip and looks like this nice gloss finish, lol. Anyhow the reason for my post was a block that I didn't get to try, but I was curious about. At OLF they have an auction site that people often sell stuff at like radius dishes and such. Here and there a person sells radius blocks and I believe they are much closer to the size of the LMI block, but made of hard maple. The price wasn't too bad either if I recall correctly. I didn't need one at the time so I didn't get one, but I may in the future, as long as the person still sells them. There is none posted now, but if anyone has tried one of these or has heard anything I'd be curious. As I said, they are longer than the stewmac by quite a bit I believe and wider and made of hard maple. Not sure if the person does a double sided deal or not, but its possible. Anyhow, just a heads-up on that block. Thanks for another great review. Quick question: I know you mentioned stick and peel paper, I've just used some adhesive spray like 3M special 77 or something similar with my normal sandpaper and never had any problems, but I was curious if there is a reason to choose one method over the other, such as any possible problems or anything? Thanks for the help. J

It's definitely good to mention as already stated you can buy the arbor press outside of Stewmac for cheap. I believe I got mine for under $30 at Harbor Freight and it's totally solid. The only adjust needed to make it work is to drill the post of the arbor press to accept the arbor from stewmac. The way the shank is designed on the stewmac arbor allows you to also drill a second hole to add a set screw to hold the arbor in place. It was a fairly painless process, just drilled out the metal post, which took a little bit of effort, then the set screw hole, tapped that and put it all together, works flawlessly and saved a good $90+ or something ridiculous especially when you add in shipping. Just make sure you have a decent drill press with a moveable and rotatable table so you can drill the arbor press' post to accept the arbor or take it to someone who can. Either way you'll save a good amount of money. Plus with a decent drill press you can use the tool on set necks and neck throughs as pointed out above, unless you fret first, then it doesn't matter. PS: Good review and definitely a good tool to have.

Similar. Dougs seems toned down a bit and is more symmetrical, as Jeremy's lower horn and bottom scoop are reversed and the proportions are noticeably different. As cool as I've always thought Jeremy's design is, I think I'm more a fan of this one by Doug, looks pretty nice, though I wouldn't be opposed to having Jeremy paint it, lol. It seems nearly impossible these days to do something that doesn't resemble something else. I thought I had done one that wouldn't have one too close, but a few months later I saw one that had quite a bit in common with it. At least Doug there was wood underneath your mistake, if it was just a pocket or chamber, then you'd probably have to scrap it or do a serious repair job of some sort. Anyhow, looks good, and great job matching that scarf, wow. I think I would have gotten frustrated and just capped top and bottom, lol. Keep the pics coming. J

What do you feel is a good length to go with if your sole use will be solid bodies and acoustics? I did quite a bit of research on straight edges trying to determine what to buy, I checked reviews on each of those listed here minus the notched straight from Stewmac and I came to clear choice of the Starrett, it took me a long time to find enough info to even get to that choice and still thats just based on reviews and my own personal feelings. Home Depot has the 18" version of the Starrett for around $57 which sounded like a great deal to me, but that has no measurements and no beveled edge. The ones with the beveled edge are more expensive, same for the one with the etched ruler and same for the one with both those features. I like the idea of having one beveled edge on there, but I don't know if I want to pay for it. Anyhow, I just couldn't decide on what size. 18" seems big enough to ensure I get nice flat fretboards and frets, same for blank glue ups and so on. Jumping up to 24" would ensure it reaches across the entire fretboard, but it still wouldn't reach from the nut to the bridge for certain measurements. I feel like I could get away going with 18", but I want to make sure I'm not missing an obvious use for the 24" or bigger that would be important. Anyhow, great review, thanks for all that info, it really breaks it down well and enables the reader to determine which edge would suit their needs. From all the reading and reviews that I found, I would say that your break down comes to a very similar conclusion. Thanks again, great help. J

Not yet, but I will. I'm just terribly slow so I figured I'd wait til I was nearly done to throw up a thread. I just have to finish the small carves inside the horns, then I can start finishing and on the neck I am just about to fret and I still am working out a headstock inlay. Thanks though and I'll get a thread going soon here I'm sure, I made sure to take loads of pics and that wasn't a very current pic but it showed the bevel well. J

Yea, I dig bevels too, especially extreme bevels. I think they fit straight edged designs especially well. Bevels were really the only carve I felt worked with the design that I did. My bevel. It was amazing how much more comfortable the guitar was once the bevels were thrown on there, as I had been concerned it'd never feel comfortable. That Jackson does look amazing. J

Sperzels! Even more so now after my friend ran into tuner issues with a bass and ended up dealing with Sperzel directly, great people, great service, great product. I believe you can just order directly from them now, that is what the owner told my friend. Their number is probably on their site. J

You could try using a heat gun and a razor blade or small pin. Get it hot enough to soften or release the glue and just pry it out carefully. Or do a combo, like do what Wez said first, like drill a small hole then apply some heat as that hole will give you some leverage. You could try a soldering iron even, but I'm not sure how well it'd transfer throughout the shell, haven't tried it on shell. I had great luck with a soldering iron though when I did my fretboard glue up as I left in the set pins I used for placement and they were extremely well epoxied in, however I just touched the soldering iron to the pin for a couple seconds and slid out with no effort at all. Heat guns have worked for me for inlay removals, but its nice to have more direct application of heat sometimes, especially if you had this problem on an already fretted board or something, so trying the soldering iron is something that came to mind. Best of luck. J

I figured some areas would have very few guns shops and some wouldn't have any, but I never it see it mentioned as a place to find the stuff really, so I figured I'd mention it since technically its where you are supposed to find it. I recall someone linked the actual site itself Birchwood and Casey and it was very well priced. If I used more of the stuff their bulk order was super cheap compared to buying small bottles. It'd probably last longer in a larger volume also. You'd have to check their shipping policies, hopefully they do world wide shipping, but I do not know. I would guess they would, but you never know these days. If they didn't I could always get the order and resend it down to you, being in San Diego, I'm fairly close, wouldn't be too bad I wouldn't imagine. I have a few different cans and sprays of different finishes and I believe I have some of that minwax quick dry poly in a can somewhere that I wanted to try for the heck of it, but have yet to try it. Since buying it I've heard different results from different people, some people have had issues, some have shown great results, I think most any finish can work, provided you find the right method for it and do not combine it with any products that are not compatible or use some barrier coats of shellac between non compatible finishes. I test everything before using it, so I'll get around to trying it soon enough. J

I've never seen it at Home depot or any hardware store around here. There was a Walmart that carried it, but they stopped. Luckily I have several gun stores around me and they all pretty much carry every Birchwood Casey product practically. They have aerosols, small and big bottles, sealers, and so on. Since its meant for use on gun stocks, might as well go to the source if you have a local gun shop. I really like the stuff as well, easy to use and looks good. J

As for the scarfs looks I agree, but there are ways to hide 99% of the joint. Just by doing the scarf the normal way, adding a headstock cap top and bottom pretty much removes all sign of the joint, then you can even further hide with some binding on the head stock, it ends up nearly invisible. The other idea is something that I am keen on and that is the way Daniel often does it by doing that reverse scarf and laminating contrasting colors and making the joint a feature of the guitar. Either way looks pretty good. But again I do agree a standard scarf without any headstock caps bugs me too, even with a perfect joint the color and grain just never match perfect enough. By the way, I am a 13 degree person myself. Don't recall exactly how I got there, some voodoo, some BS, asking the magic 8 ball, some averaging of numbers and because its a lucky number for me. I doubt I'll do anything otherwise, it seemed about perfect for me. J

Yes, I meant orbital action, don't know why I mixed that up. As for whether to use it or not, just use your best judgement, most saws like the hitachi I mentioned have multiple settings, that one has 4 different levels of orbital action. It depends on the wood and how you plan on cutting it as well. Some hardwoods, you're best bet is to either make a load of relief cuts or drills holes all around it. If you're making many relief cuts, you might as well use the orbital action, but if you drill holes and follow the curves then see if you can get through without it. Just take your time and see how it goes.

Thats a great point J and it also makes it much more apparent to whether or not your saw is up to the task and how suited the blade is as well. If the only way you can get a cut is by force then something is wrong. I think the oscillating feature on jigsaws now will go a long way to increase the saws ability, especially for things like rough cutting a blank and the like.

If you check out Shark inlay I believe Cliff even has a picture in the fretboard inlay section where he did the inlay with frets in place and the inlay was one that spanned across the frets, which is obviously tough. As Bluesy said there should be no problems using the fret tops as a surface, I've tested my dremel router base across fret tops and it was perfectly stable enough to work with. The only part you must think over is whether you can route with the radius or whether you need to have a flat route. For large single piece inlays like blocks and the like, I'd prefer having the flat route so I can accurately measure the depth as I go. However for smaller inlays like dots, stars, etc. you can just use the fret tops as your plane, the radius makes no difference with smaller inlays really. Also if you did require a flat route, just set up your neck so it sat flat, using a neck caul or something of the like, then place a couple blocks on either side of the neck that the router will sit on. I agree 10000% with what John mentioned about outlining the inlay with a razor knife. I had tiny inlays that were very difficult little shapes and without doing this step I know the routing job would not have turned out well at all. Personally I don't like using a chisel for inlays because its easy with certain woods to chip from the inlay route to the fret slot/fret, especially with the grain orientation of most fretboards. It definitely works and plenty of people have done this, but I find the dremel with router base or something similar to be less risky. Although if you don't outline the route with the razorknife a dremel can be risky as well, doing a nice deep cut around the outline of the inlay helps when routing because when you get close to the edge of the route it actually chips away at that razor cut so you don't even need to route all the way to the edge which is very helpful especially on more intricate shapes. One more idea that helped me a ton is to practice, just grab a small piece of scrap, take your inlay, outline it on your scrap, cut the outline with the razor knife, then route and see how the inlay fits, this will let you perfect your technique before getting to your actual fingerboard. Anyhow, best of luck to you, as John mentioned it can take some time, even with the dremel router it took me a long time to inlay, its important to take your time, outline, cut the outline, route slowly and cautiously, test fit and CA or epoxy in. Once you have the inlays in, try using a nice single cut file to take down the inlay even with the wood. The file takes pearl down well, but does not do much of anything to wood, so long as your careful its a very useful way to even things up. Best of luck. J

The blade stays pretty well vertical, haven't had any problems with that, but I haven't cut anything near 8/4 stock yet with it. Mainly just thinner MDF and such like 1/2" and 3/4" and some maple I believe. I just looked up the Bosch and it does look like an excellent machine. Features wise I think its the same as the Hitachi, though the Bosch has a bit more in ampage, I think like 6.4 vs. 5.8. Not a huge difference, but a difference none the less. It depends on what you wanna spend and what it's use will be. In your position I know it'd be important to get one of these higher quality saws that'll take care of most of your cutting needs in luthierie and one that will last. I didn't compare weight of the saws, but thats something that always crosses my mind and I'd imagine the Hitachi to weigh less, but not certain if it would be a difference worth any concern. Here is another link I just ran across, I didn't read through it yet really, but it looked like it had some quality info on there, so maybe worth a look. Jigsaws. I think you'd be plenty happy with the Hitachi, but if you find that the prices are close enough, might be worth it to get the Bosch. They seem to make great products. I did a lot of research when looking at routers and the Bosch was right at the top of the list along with the Hitachi and DeWalt I think was the other one. The newer PC looked like crap so that was out. Anyhow, I ended up with the Hitachi for certain reasons and was extremely pleased with everything about it and have had zero problems with either jigsaw or router. Definitely look around to see if either the Hitachi or Bosch have had any notorious problems come up with them, thats what I did with the routers. Found out certain routers like the Bosch has crummy switches that would end up busting real quick, I also think the Bosch or one of them would come not centered and they did not have the tool to center them in the box or sold at the store, so you had to call the company to get it and so on. I'd imagine someone has to have that Bosch, hopefully you can get some first hand info related to guitar building. Again, if you want to borrow the Hitachi for a bit to see what you think, you're welcome to take her for a test drive. See what you think. That Bosch does look really nice if you can find it for a decent price. Best of luck. J

I found the newer Hitachi on sale for I think $80 or $90 and I can say, that jigsaw is awesome. It was one of a few that had all the features I wanted. I had to go buy it after my B&D burnt out cutting templates. That hitachi can cut over 4inches in thickness in wood, its insane. Has a light, a blower which is a huge benefit, oscillating and all that good stuff. I also like the base of the tool, very flat and sturdy. I highly recommend that jigsaw if you can swing it, it'll cut nearly anything you need with no problem. Also it has super quick change for blades, you just pull a lever it drops out, you throw in the new one and bam. Great stuff. I have their router combo set as you've seen and it's also great stuff, I've been extremely pleased with their equipment. If you find that jigsaw on sale somewhere or used from someone who didn't use it much, I think it'd be a great purchase. As always you're more than welcome to borrow it for a while. I got mine from Lowes, they had some cheaper jigsaws from $40-$60 I think that were oscillating as well, but I doubt they had the power to have a thickness ability of 4 inches +, nor did they have little blowers on them I don't think and I find that one of the more useful little features on a jigsaw, makes following lines worlds easier. I'm sure you'll find a good one and let me know if you need to borrow mine while you shop around, no worries. J This is the Jigsaw that I have, again I got it on sale for a bit cheaper than the listed price, I think it was a bit over $80 as I just saw the receipt when I was packing up to move. Great tool, looks alien, but works excellent. Hitachi Jigsaw

The only thing soap said was to those who would like to save some money the grooved bearings are pointless and in having a woodenspoke bender that I got from him a while back I can attest to the same thing, not necessary. Yes, if you want to spend more money on the tool your are more than welcome, but for those who don't like pissing money away, it was sound advice. J

Ottovola- Neat flame job on that guitar and really like the effort in getting the pickups involved as well. Really a great job on the refinish, keep those project rolling. Andyt-This is one of two I struggled with for my final vote. It is truly inspiration and has had a tremendous response from so many. Just looking at the thread kicked off hundreds of ideas in my head right away, I think it was the clear and black swirl that I find the most interesting. No doubt the foil as a base is awesome, but just the idea to use that foil base and use a clear and black swirl just blew me away, such a cool idea with so many potential combinations. This didn't end up getting my vote in the end, but it was just a coin flip essentially, I don't feel this was any less than the one I voted for. I'm not even a fan of the shape or carve personally, but the whole finishing process was exceptional, great work. Lil Petrucci- Looks very nice, but its just tough to get a good overall feel for the project. From the pics I see it looks great, it would have been possibly better to have a few pics that show the entire front and back. The detailed photos look great though, looks like a very nice instrument and I love what you did with the ash, very nice result there. All in all great build, look forward to seeing more. Swedish-Very nice project here, really diggin' the color and design of the project. The fretboard and inlays work great here and I really like the upper and lower horns. The only thing that I wasn't big on, on a personal level, is the length of the guitar. I have no idea how well this particular design would work if you shortened it, but it just seemed a tad long for my tastes, but I love the design, so its trade off and again I don't know if you could shorten it without altering the design too much anyway, but as I said I really dig this build. I'd say it was in my top 3. The carve, the binding, and knob placement are all beautiful. Great project, look forward to seeing more. Low End Fuzz- What has been said already is how I feel really. I really do like the project and the little inlay thing you did, but its just a bit too busy and clashes with itself a bit too much. I think its super neat and looks like something that would be fun to build. Also, I feel the work put in was top quality, some of the ways you put it together are tricky and you did a great job of this. Much appreciation on the worksmanship and congrats on an excellent build. KPcrash-Nice build, its one of those as said that probably looks so much better in person. Its not easy to get photos sometimes and certain types don't come across all that well. I believe one of the ones Wez won with was a darker finish somewhat similar to this and I felt on that one that it would look better in real life as well. I like the shape and size of that bass as well, it looks like a great player, a guitar you could really jam on. I bet if you continued with the tru-oil and did a glossier finish it would look amazing, though I feel that the end of the fretboard really needs a thicker piece of binding because it just looks off right there. Maybe its the pics, but it looks like that piece is much thinner than the rest of the binding. Either way congrats, very nice build. RDiquartto- Well this is the build that snagged my vote and in seeing the numbers up already of the 30 voters so far I was truly surpised that I was only the second person to vote for this instrument. It really is a beautiful piece. The burst on the top is just beautiful, so it the wood, I really like the interesting figure on this one, a bit different from the norm. I really like how the carve and burst match up so well and I just loved the color scheme all around. Very well done. I would have liked to see more of a shiny ebony board, just to really bring it altogether, but honestly, it works great as is. I always have liked that inlay set as well. Good choice on bridge, gotta get those locking studs!, and like the pups. The only thing that I wasn't a fan of was the lower knob placement. I kinda felt it should have remained on a flat plane like the first knob. The switch is fine being on the angle like that, but the bottom knob would have looked better moved up an inch or two onto the flat plane, again though this is just a personal preference. Regardless, this one got my vote, just an exceptional build that not only portrays quality worksmanship, but it looks beautiful as well. great build. Hydrogeoman- Very nice tele! I don't even like tele's a bit, but every so often someone builds one that changes my mind a bit and this is one of those. It looks great, a guitar that I'd be extremely proud to display and a guitar that I'd love to play. I really like the use of walnut with the white/pearloid binding and pickguard, it really works well. Not to mention the who scheme works well like the curly maple neck with the walnut body. It just looks great and its an instrument that I'd love to have in my personal arsenal to see what differences in sounds I could find, I haven't played any walnut instruments and greatly look forward to having one of my own. This guitar really pushes me toward some walnut, a couple local places have some decent stock of the stuff as well. Nice guitar! Kenny- Very nice looking guitar here. It just looks so comfortable and easy on the eyes. A very natural looking guitar, carve and all. I like the bridge design as always. The design and headstock look good as well. Really like the natural top and finish. I also liked what you did with the fret ends, the only thing is I'd prefer to see the outer strings in more from the edge of the fretboard, they are a tad close for my taste, a recut on the nut would probably do it, though if it was still close at the end of the fretboard I'd look at the overall taper of the board, I'm sure it's a bit trickier with making your own bridge because you have to base everything on how they bridge comes out, I think its well worth it for those bridges, they are super neat looking. Is it tough to get thickness down, do you require much of a neck angle with those handmade bridges, I don't require what Erik did in that respect either. If it was too think it'd need to go through and into the top, too thick and you have to use a significant neck angle. Just curious on what route you go. Good stuff either way. I keep looking at the pole pieces on the bridge pup and can't think of any way to get a better match without changing to normal bridges. I don't think SD has any wider pole piece spacing pup do they. In doing your own bridge like what you do, its tough because general products don't always match I'd bet. No big deal really, I'm sure it has little if any effect, just something I've noticed on instruments where individual saddles are used, like basses and what not. Anyhow, truly a beautiful instrument. I look forward to seeing what you have up your sleeve for the next one, no doubt it'll be nice. Boggs-Hehe, I like your post in the GOTM. Your guitars are the type that I know I'd love once I got my hands on them. The style isn't one I'd consider in my taste, but really when it comes down to it, I'm not the type of person who would base buying or not buying on looks. Just like that guy you spoke about I'm sure once I got my hands on one I'd fall in love with it. I prefer a small bodies comfortable guitar that I can really work around. In normal sized guitars I'm fine so long as they are carved smoothly, but I'm sure that guitar would suit me well. Plus its chambered which always makes things more interesting. I did a belly carve on my project that was chambered, but it was close and risky thing to do. I think in the future I may stick to this path, but just do slightly less depth of the chamber and further in from the edge so I can carve, I think it'd be something worth trying in your design as well, might come out pretty cool. Anyhow, as always nice worksmanship, interesting guitar that I'm sure plays like a dream. Best of luck in getting your work out there, I think what your doing is the right way to go, getting people to play them is what works best, so good job and congrats. Jer7440-Nice rig! Hehe in messing around with guitar hero world tour tonight, I played around with the design of my instrument and it came out real close to what you have there, of course with out the neat inlays and that good stuff, but the color scheme and everything. Its very cool looking burst and the maple board with rosewood binding, inlays, headcap, and knob, somehow really blends in well. In other words it all fits together very well. I also like the design you used on your bridge ferrules, not sure if I've seen that specific design much if at all on any other personal instrument. Did you find that somewhere and like it or just decide upon it on your own or what? It works really well, especially for that design. I think it'd work great for any single cut and any roundish double cut. Very nice instrument, look forward to seeing your next. Another great month. Man this place is getting out of control, it used to be easy to choose or there would be two or three that were real contenders, now it seems every month that nearly every single instrument up there is a worthy of the win. The craftsmanship is through the roof around here, which is great, I really enjoy seeing all these amazing instruments and I'm sure it helps push others here to step up their work. Really a great forum we have here I think, I'm very proud just to be a member. Well, nice instruments everyone, I'd love to own each and everyone. Congrats. Jason

+1 on that bump. My friend and I just our Ziricote fretboards done and they look absolutely amazing and I can't wait to get them on an instrument. One bass board will be a replacement for a friends Peavey that I'm fixing and the other guitar scale will be for my next build. Very nice stuff, will post some pics at some point. Really excellent work, will be sending off for another board more than likely soon as I'm planning my friends wife's guitar, body is already on the way, so gotta get a fretboard going soon here. Anyhow, Erik does great work, far and away my first choice. Jason

LOL, yeah as you saw with my cavity plate it takes someone who works out to get that thing off, lol. I think in an instrument with bigger volume like an acoustic or hybrid like this that'll have wood cavity plates you'll want the strength in magnets to hold the plates on well so you don't end up with some vibration or rattling from it. I hadn't realized how strong the magnet setup I used would be and it really wasn't needed on my project, but I think for this one, you'd be better off using that setup. I can't tell you how neat I think the removeable sound hole idea is, it leaves room for permanent experimentation on your guitar, that's very neat. There are few ways to really accurately compare instruments because even with the same plan you end up with different cuts of wood, strength in joints, etc. With those holes you'll be able to record some bars with the holes in place and some without and see how it differs which will of course greatly affect future plans, though honestly, I'd try to keep that as your signature feature. Well, plan is looking great, can't wait to see how it comes out. Best of luck with everything! J

Yeah, my pops had a compound miter saw like that, though not as nice and I tried several different ways to get a 15 degree angle for a scarf and couldn't get there. With a sliding one you could technically, but you'd still need to build a fence somehow that was perpendicular to the existing fence because that is how you'd need to set up the neck to cut it and doing that wouldn't be easy by any means. I ended up just cutting the scarf by hand with a japanese handsaw that had no backbone which would allow me to cut all the way through unhindered, worked well but took a while cutting through maple and jatoba. Cleaned it up with a plane and it worked out perfect. I still would have rather used a machine. J