jmrentis

True but there are cons to think about as well. You have to source larger sized woods, you eliminate most types of exotics, unless you feel like tossing loads of money in the toliet carving a one piece neck from a solid hunk of expensive wood. Any mishaps in the fretting or inlay process makes the neck for the trash instead of just the fingerboard. Same for refrets and such. And many more reasons. Plus adding one strong piece in the center of a neck doesn't necessarily mean much, yes the bowing may not occur, but twisting can still happen. Using two CF rods on top of the truss rods helps prevent twisting and bow. So even with a piece of wood that is not extremely stable you offer yourself protection for both short and long term. Its tough these days because there are so very few ideas that haven't been mulled over, guitar have been in production for long enough that you must expect ideas like these to have been tried and tested. I think the glue joint of the fretboard offers more pros than cons, even in production value, but thats just how I evaluate it, others may have much more insight on this. One more con I just realized that might make the idea moot is what material do you plan on using for necks, if you are thinking of something common and known to be decent like Maple, you end up with a maple fingerboard which will require some type of finish on it. That will take additional work of its own as you have to finish a fretted board which is never all that easy. So add that to the other cons and it doesn't seem worth it in the end in my eyes, again, I'm sure others will have a much better mind for this stuff. Either way, its good to research the ideas and why they would or would not work. I wish you the best. Good luck. J

Glad you found all the information you needed, I'd have to agree with all the points made, its not the most pleasant stuff to work with. It does have a tendancy to color woods around it, it even "stained the hard maple I was using a bit and that is very non-porous wood, it took a while to fix the issue. Once you start sanding or planing it also tends to cling when in small particles and can end up everywhere. Personally, I don't even like having to cut the stuff, I just buy it through Los Alamos and they make guitar sized rods and I just drop them in. Some places might be cheaper, but for a perfect sized rod I'll gladly pay the $9 to avoid messing with that stuff. Plus I like the size of that rod. The cool thing about that place is for a $1 they will bend the last inch of the rod at 15 degrees to add extra support to headstock joint areas. It'd be a great idea if didn't like volutes and wanted a bit more support. Anyhow, what was the intent in having the graphite skunk stripe? Aside from using some dark woods like some ebony or wenge you might be able to find some black dyed woods to use, I doubt in the end the look would be much different. I would still keep the truss rod because they give yuo adjustability, even with two CF rods you can still adjust the truss rod, they just are another preventative measure. Anyhow, best of luck, I'm sure you'll figure something out that looks just as good and you can still add in a couple CF rods for extra support if you so choose. J

Agreed. I think you are perfectly fine with those. The rods I had used were 1/8" X 3/8" X 18" from Los Alamos Composites. 1/8= .125 and 5/32= .15625, so yours are even thicker than mine or Wes' I believe. Just install them on the tall side, meaning route a 5/32" wide channel that is 3/8" deep, that will give you the most strength from that style rod. I actually prefer this size of rod because you keep the channel nice and thin and don't have to worry so much about carving into the CF channel when carving the neck, though make sure you measure everything out and keep an eye out anyway. FWIW I installed them so they followed the taper of the neck. I've seen it done both ways, where they are parallel to center line and where they follow the taper. When they follow the taper you are safer at the nut from carving into the channel because you can keep them closer to the center, whereas with the centerline style you're more likely to position them closer to the edge. Anyhow, best of luck, they should work out great for you. J

What are the dimensions on the board? I'm just thinking of different ways to get two bodies from it, like splitting it down the middle and then taking each piece cutting in different proportions and slip matching it, but with LP sized bodies that wouldn't really work because they are quite symmetrical in dimensions. Another idea that ran through my mind was pushing one body all the way to the bottom left of the board, then rotate the template upside down and push it up into the upper right hand corner. This way you can decrease the height by slightly interlocking the lower horns. This would maintain vertical grain and doesn't need as much height. Is it close enough for two LP blanks? Best of luck and nice wood. J

Yeah, once you cut it down I doubt you'll notice any much of a difference. Aside from shaping, you'll also be drilling out holes for the tuners and that'll drop some weight from it as well. I'm just finishing a 3 piece neck of jatoba and hard maple, jatoba being the center stripe, pretty wide center stripe. I also used it as apart of the the 3 ply laminate I made for the cavity cover. I wanted to make it sturdy, so I add a layer of jatoba as the center layer. Personally I wouldn't ever want to use that stuff for anything other than a thin strip or layer because it is so dang heavy and dense, but small bits shouldn't make too drastic of weight difference. Sound, no idea. Probably is some effect, but I doubt I'd hear it so I try not to worry about it. Anyhow, best of luck to you. J

+1 I also prefer them a bit thinner! Sounds like a great plan Brian, looking forward to seeing it. Best of luck. Jason

You could make a quicky router jig, they are easy to make, you can even make one out of all MDF, buzz off a 1/2" in a few passes with a fat straight or spiral bit and then sand it flat by using a smoothing plane or jack plane as a sanding block. Then glue up the walnut. Heck of lot more work really, but you'll end up with the same finished product and wouldn't have to worry about renting tools. Of course if you don't have some of the tools mentioned it may be cheaper to rent the planer, though I have no idea on prices for renting a tool like that. How heavy is the bloodwood, a lot heavier than purpleheart? The PH I have is pretty damn heavy and from all the bloodwood I've seen and picked up they seem similar in certain ways. The other body you spoke about is it a combo of Wenge and Zebrawood? Because that sounds like a WICKED combo that should look killer. When I was out look for some nice Ziricote for fingerboards, I ran by some beautiful Wenge and really fell in love with that wood. It never piqued my interest really here at PG for some reason and I saw quite a few projects from all you guys, only once I saw and felt it in person did I really come to appreciate it as a wood. Beautiful stuff really. Either way, sounds like another cool looking project, look forward to checking it out. Best of luck. Jason

Hornbeam I love this site because it usually shows multiple pictures for each type of wood and sometimes a brief description. The link I posted is linked right to the hornbeam page and it only has a couple pics and nothing of much consequence, though it seems to be on par for the average hornbeam. Sounds like some wood worth trying instead of warming the house with. That site above is pretty neat if you can make your way back to the list of woods, its interesting to see how different pieces of woods can vary within a species. Best of luck. Jason

I'm going to ask around my local guitar building buddys here in San Diego and see if anyone wants to go in on an order. I remember probably a year ago I grabbed a couple dozen bone nuts and a couple of the buffalo horn nuts. The bone blanks were nice and the buffalo horn was absolutely beautiful! I was so surprised with that product, it shines up to this silky blackness that looks so nice and even feels cool. Quite hard material too, but not hard to shape. More than likely I will grab some more of that buffalo horn just to keep a stock of it because I liked it so much, plus I've been working on a few necks for friends and its a cool option to give them as an upgrade or replacement nut. Anyhow, these prices are amazing, when I first bought stuff to build I bought a shaped nut from Stewmac for like almost $9 which is insane, even a blank is over $4 for gibson size, which is over $3 cheaper here than stewmac and times that by 25 gibson nuts and you've saved a load of money over $84 and have enough nuts for many future builds. Plus regardless with stewmac you pay like $8.50 and up for shipping, even for a single nut. Hopefully, some friends will want a few and we'll put together an order. Thanks for the deal for PG'ers, its truly a great deal. Hopefully some members take advantage of this great deal, especially on that buffalo horn, beautiful stuff. Jason

LOL, I was going to actually suggest doing that and decided not to bother someone else with this. I had completely forgotten that I am a mod, it didn't even cross my mind to edit the post, haha. That new update really did wonders on the trash posts huh! J

In this case it is the bit...like southpa I have used them at work,and the threads grab and force the cutting edges into the wood...if it is a good bit it will cut fast enough...if it is a Ridgid I doubt it... Like was said,they are made for studs and joists...I would not even consider using one of those on a guitar... Yea, sorry I wrote that wrong. I just meant to add onto what has been said, meaning the bit the was the issue as I know you guys know you stuff, but also it is helpful to use a drillpress if possible when drilling these types of holes. Even with a forstner you can get vibration with a hand drill, though I don't know that it would go as far as to cracking hardwood even in the extreme. I've drilled similar holes as a jack hole without a drill press, but it is just so much easier with one. I know I probably have some of those woodboring bits in my bin 'o bits, but I've never personally used one, unless at an apartment drilling holes for wiring, but I can't recall exactly. Anyhow, glad you pointed that out, the last thing I'd want is the OP trying the same bit on drill press thinking it'd make a difference. J

Also using a drill press is the way to go, if you didn't use one, which sounds like you used a hand drill? though not certain. Using a drill press keeps things very solid and can prevent problems like this sometimes because a hand drill can shake and vibrate inside the wood, catch and then crack, rip, or break things. Buy a quality normal forstner, I say quality because I've used normal forstners that were terrible, they barely cut and burnt like crazy even in smaller sizes. I prefer quality bits, as a show I watched called Wood Works suggested, sharper is safer. To do the jack hole, tilt your drill press table vertically and clamp the body to it and then drill the jack hole using the forstner bit. And for holes where you drill all the way through the piece of wood, try always keeping a piece of wood clamped against the area where the bit will come through to prevent it from tearing out and chipping. This works good for headstocks. Best of luck. J

I bought several bits from MLCS a year or two ago and they have served me very well. Anytime I need a bit that is where I look, the prices are nice, they have many different types and qualities and its always free shipping in the US. They also have great sales often where you can get sets of bits very well priced. I have a straight bit that I have used for thicknessing wood on my router jig and it has thicknessed quite a bit of very hard woods and is still very sharp and ready to go. I'd say these bits are worth a try. I haven't had any problems or concerns with them yet. I've been wanting to try some of the triplewing bits, the katana bits sound good as well, so far I've only bought the standard bits aside from some spiral carbide bits that work great. I just tried them due to the better price and free shipping, but now continue buying due to the quality of the bits. J

The drill bits I used were slightly larger than the fret slots, but they are easily covered by the width of the fretwire, so there is no concern there. I just used the same bits I drilled with as the locating pins. I drilled the holes, then placed the pins in upside down to ensure stability. I know it was overkill but I've heard people having slipping problems even using pins, so I did 2 pins in the first fret and two more towards the bottom. Worked perfectly. I left the pins in while the glue dried. I used epoxy and some of the pins got glued in, but I just took my soldering iron and held it to the pin for a bit and they easily slid out. Also for my bound board, I had it already radiused and shaped to its final dimensions. I used two of those stewmac plastic clamps they sell, I must admit I really found them useful and they did a great job of keeping the board centered. I used these to hold the board perfectly in place while I drilled the locating pins, worked great. Along with those I used a couple radius blocks to get even pressure on the fretboard. All in all I had no issues and was very pleased with the method, I felt it took a lot of possible complications out of the mix mainly in regards to shaped boards and soft plastic binding. Best of luck. J

It worth it to keep watch on those if you are in the market for a bandsaw. A year or two ago I found the 14" extreme version for a $100 off. I figured I could only afford to spend enough for the ultimate one which was also a $100 off, $395 I think was the price, but I talked myself into the extreme. It has quite a few features that easily make up the price difference, mainly a bit more power and cast iron wheels vs. cast aluminum, plus much more. If you can justify the price the extreme is great, I've been very pleased with that saw. If you take the time to learn and understand how it works and how to dial it in, you will have a great saw. I just put a woodslicer on it and wow, resawed a small piece for a friend to use as headstock veneers, cut paper thin no problem, very even and cut with such ease. Definitely worth keeping on eye on the price to get a good deal, but even at full price they are a deal. Great hobbiest tool.

I think I've had this coversation with most of my local guitar related friends and almost all agree that unless you can actually match the grain almost exactly on a cavity plate, its best to use a contrasting wood to the body. Matching the neck is a perfect choice and looks nice, especially when you see a guitar in person. I've seen too many cavity plates that are made of the same body wood, but the grain is way different or the color isn't the same and I cringe every time I see that. Perfectly matching plate or contrasting, anything outside of that tends to look off and completed distracts from the flow of the guitar. J

That was my first thought DGW, that you need that pivoting action so the caul can center and balance itself properly when fretting. However, I think his caul does pivot just the same as the stewmac piece, instead of a rivot it just has a nail through a hole, which would allow it to move I would imagine. Not certain obvious, but it would seem like it could swing if needed, but I agree it is important. I'd also be sure to support the table of the drill press just to reduce stress on it. Obviously you don't need loads of force to fret, but regardless supporting the table would be a good idea. I think I have that same drill too, the 12" Delta and the table is strong, but I wouldn't want to stress it out if I could avoid it, even though I doubt it would snap like the smaller cheaper table top presses. Anyhow, glad it worked out for you. With that piece being maple you could probably bevel the bottom like the stewmac caul then drill a hole for a set screw, then tap the threads and add a set screw to ensure the brass insert is held in place. I might even tap the threads, take everything out, add a couple drops of thin CA inside the tapped hole, let it dry then tap it again, just to harden up the wood there even more. Just an idea if the brass insert starts falling out on you. Best of luck and nice job. J

always willing to share!

Also, don't forget to put some of that padded flooring stuff underneath. It wasn't long ago a member at OLF lost the grip on his guitar and it was shot into the ground and heavily damaged. Another member mentioned to add some padded flooring underneath the buffer. Similar or same to the interlocking flooring that relieves stress on your back and knees. Good idea all around, but particularly a lifesaver when some accidents happen. J

I'd love some!!! I'll shoot you a pm. I've been hounding my Dentist for a while and he keeps forgetting to save them for me. Got some inlay work coming on too, would be a great help! Jason

Not bad for 3 weeks time.

Buffer post. What is the headstock cap made of?

Very cool contraption. Nice to see it works well also. Looks like the inserts fit well into the caul. Should be a great help when gluing in frets also huh? Being able to lock it there in place while it dries for a bit. Very neat diy tool as always. Thanks for sharing. Jason

Wow! As I said in the last build you posted with the "Splayed Scallops", everytime I see a new guitar from you, you have come up with something I've never seen anywhere else and its done well and generally an ingenious improvement. Even without those things I don't see you having any problem staying on top, but yeah, those types of technique and improvements put you above and beyond by a fair amount. Very cool technique there with the grain lines, made a significant difference in the final look no question. Amazing how you think up stuff like that. Well, nice stuff Perry and very cool technique. Jason

So very nice looking, gotta love the colored grain fill. Whats tripping me out is the grain line matching so well on a two piece. When I look at these last few photos, I keep having to look at the last page to make sure its the same wood. The grain lines matched so well after the carve it looks like a one piece no question. I don't know whether you tried to match up the look via slip matching in a specific way or what, but wow, seriously looks like a one piece in these pictures, very cool and you just gave me a great idea for my best friends wifes guitar which needs to be super light anyways. J