jmrentis

Don't Grizzly sells to Canada? They sell Mc Faddens I don't know that they do! I thought you were exactly right, but at looking at the foreigns orders page it says they don't ship small items to Canada, only the rest of the world ?? I don't know if I'm reading it wrong on the Q&A page under foreign orders but thats the way it reads. Woodcraft.com sells to canada I believe and they sell Behlen Stringed Instrument Lacquer. I can't say personally if its better, maybe Maiden knows. I'd imagine it would be as its specifically designed for stringed instruments and has been used for a long while in the business and somewhat known. They also sell a whole host of oils and random finishing products including an easy to use shellac in a can, the Zinsser Bulls eye Universal Sanding Sealer and they even sell the 8oz bottles of Tru Oil which many people like. I'm testing with it right now and so far like it quite a bit. Definitely going to my neck with it. Actually coming to mind right now is a thread from OLF about getting Lacquer and Poly in Canada and who sells it. I would have to dig up the thread which was probably from a year ago to find the answers, but it might be worth contacting the company directly and seeing what they do. I think some companies would sell to Canada, however you'd end up having to buy a larger supply than you'd like. I'm sure someone has to supply Canada with McFaddens and other lacquers.

I think it's going to be a cool looking guitar. Of the lettered choices my first choice is most definitely B followed by either C or H. I like the altered design as well, it works well I find. The whole concept slightly reminds me of one of Russ'(thegarehanman) last guitars. The one where he used used his "tang top" design and did something like a rising sun looking top with alternating contrasting woods. I found it worked well as I think this one will. I like the wood choices a lot, I'd even love to see some satinwood in there, might look really nice in place of ash or something, nice looking wood choices though, can't wait to see this project come through. Best of luck with the project and keep us posted with progress pics!

I believe those are the same style bolts I get from my local Rockler. Allen Bolts. They don't use a real picture, but they look identical to the bolts from Lee Valley. And these are the inserts I used, same size as Mattia suggested. Threaded Inserts. Rockler has those same inserts in steel, which I might try next time as I found the brass ones actually tore on me, ended up having to replace one or two, but its likely because I had them a tad snug, plus I have no idea if those others would actually hold up any better. I'm using this setup on my bolt on solid body and they look nice and offer a very solid attachment. Rockler sells some inserts with a greater gripping thread, but I couldn't imagine using anymore than these had, it seemed plenty enough, unless you were using them in something super soft like drywall or something.

I'm pretty sure the fence you have can be adjusted for drift. I'll have to look at the picture of it and see if it looks similar to mine. Does it have 4 allen bolts on the top holding it down. If it does it should be able to be adjusted, I have a different Grizzly saw and the fence I have allows for it, so I'd imagine it is the same for yours. I've been very happy with my saw and will be even more so when my new spring and woodslicer come in tomorrow, yea. Best of luck with the saw and take your time learning exactly how each adjustment affects the other adjustments and what the optimum is for each. I enjoy learning the ins and outs of my saw, then again I enjoy reading every tool manual I have. J Edit: It looks like the same fence, so yea it will be adjustable so long as it is the same. It also comes with the aluminum resaw fence which is 6" and slightly longer than the table. It works well and can be set at either 6" tall for resaw or switched down to an 1" tall or so for thin stock and other types of cuts. Its super easy to attach and remove also. You'll see the handle used to tighten it actually has a spring that allows you to tighten the resaw fence to the normal fence while it sits on the table. I'm sure you'll see how it works, it took me a minute to understand how the spring worked. Its very neat that they came out with that X2 version with the cast iron wheels. I ended up getting the extreme version of the 14" for that reason among a few others like the fence, cabinet, light, extra hp and so on. That saw you bought looks very nice. Let us know how it goes when you get it her up and running. Along with the blades you bought, check out the woodslicer blades, I have one coming in tomorrow. I didn't know where to buy them from, I got mine from Highland woodworking and the price seemed very reasonable for all the good things I hear about the blades. I wanted to try the woodmaster ct, but I just don't have enough saw for a blade like that. You on the other hand should, though more pricey of a blade than the woodslicer I believe. There are a few helpful threads here and at OLF about blades, definitely helpful and worth a look. Best of luck with your saw!

No joke those arbor presses will help you fit into a few sizes smaller shoe. Actually, you can take a tip from Soap here and use that Baking Soda to add some light near your arbor press to save on the doctors bills. Try using Mountain Dew for lighting the press. Though I must admit I've been on the market for a nerf arbor press. I already have the silly putty radius cauls, so I'm set soon as I find the press. J

Very cool man!! It was a beautiful guitar, just as this one is. I really like that fretboard, very nice. You mentioned a lot of the veneer not arriving in useable condition. I was going to mention, maybe if you're very careful you might be able to bookmatch a couple broken pieces to make a top from. Generally they all come from the same cut right, just like these two, so if you had a few broken pieces it might be possible depending. It'd probably be pretty tough to do, but might look cool on some shapes. Again, great job, this one is looking very nice, great wood combinations. J

How crazy is that. I wonder how people out there find an info page or some detailed instructions and just sell them off on ebay like that. Thanks for posting that, doesn't look like he wants to stop does it. I'm glad I got to see the actual link as well because the other one had broken before I saw it. Again, thanks for the headups on this guy. J

Yes, size two is the biggest that I have seen, meant usually just for 3x3 headstocks because with 6 inline you'd have to space them apart farther and might not be able to fit all 6 tuners. I've seen the anodized colors, pretty wicked, especially if you're looking for specific colors to match a project. Are you talking about tkinstruments.com as the site you found? Sperzel also just opened up their site sperzel.com, but so far there is much to be found there, except some info and pictures of their different styles and such. Definitely my favorite tuners, though I want to try a few others soon. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that size 2 is the biggest they make for guitar tuners. J

A cool pic from Gilmers Customers Gallery. Mooooo

I ended up voting for the Kelvinator, I forgot to comment though when I did. I've voted for other orgmorg guitars in the past as I find them neat and timeless, although that is almost the exact opposite of the idea behind them in using aged products. I just find it great to take something else altogether and turn it into not only a playable guitar, but one that looks well constructed. There is a very thin line between leaving too much of that raw look and polishing it too much as an instrument and I felt that this one in particular found the perfect median. Honestly, I bet I would end up playing it a lot, but having mounting it on the wall while not in use. Aside from that it has a feel, almost a hertige to it and that is appealing, similar to how some see ukes. Many great instruments this month once again and as stated my vote went with the Kelvinator! Zyons guitar was awesome as well, something I would enjoy owning no doubt. Nicely done with a great choice in woods and I really liked the choice in finish for that one. Plus it looks nice and smooth and some portions of zebra can be miserable to get perfectly smooth. This build was right at the top of my choices as well. Scottys basses are always wicked and I've voted for them a few times already, so I felt someone else deserved the vote this month, though it was still one I considered for a great while, very nice build like the others I voted for. The firebird was wicked. I loved the grain on that fretboard, another great zebra choice there and I actually really like the natural top with black sides and back, plus white binding, very neat looking. The only thing with this one, is when looking at the whole build, I feel like there is some color missing from the project, I think that black hardware would have made a tremendous difference on this one and could have likely stolen my vote as I really liked the entire build, the top just needed that little bit of extra contrast to bring the back and the stripes from the fretboard together. Just how my eyes saw it, this is such a minor difference that I did not let it weight much at all in my decision, which is why this one was right at the top as well. Matt's guitar was awesome, I've enjoyed watching that one come together. The finish looks great on it and for a little guitar it looks excellent. That is something that I'd hope gets passed down the generations in your family, very cool and very well done. Beautiful woods, great handmade pieces on the instrument like the tailpiece, very nice work. Argytars build is another great build. I always love LP's and this one is no exception, I really like the burst coloring on this one, bit different and very nice. I like the figure on the top, does not draw away any attention from the instrument as a whole, yet gives just enough to make it look very nice. Another great build with a beautiful finish, very well done and a guitar anyone would be proud of, excellent work. And last but not least the Less Tall. I thoroughly enjoyed going through the threads with the different sized LP's. I think the idea of this guitar being fully functional and reasonable as a playable instrument is what makes it so cool. As Josh pointed out, downsizing an instrument perfectly is no simple task as you must adjust proportions so it doesn't look ridiculous. To have an LP come out looking so sweet at that size says a lot. I'm sure a lot more time and effort went into building a smaller version of an LP than would have if it was a full sized LP, even though it would seem opposite. I really liked this build a lot and look forward to seeing future instruments. All in all, great instruments all around, great work everyone. J

It is made that way. There are a few different types of spokeshaves, such as flat, round, and concave. Yours would be a round or some may called it convex spokeshave. I've heard numerous people using that type for neck profiling with no problems at all. I grabbed a flat stanley from rockler a while back and it worked out very well for me, took only minutes to get my blank close to shape and with only minimal effort. It did take a bit though to get it setup nicely. I flattened the sole out nice and flat, then got the blade sharp as I could, going along the same lines as the scary sharp system, using paper. I have stones, I just prefer paper now. Once they are tuned they are fun to use. I would love a nice one though, but I need some nice rasps first. J

Looks very nice Andy. The difference in fretboard behind the nut doesn't even look that noticeable, I think if your board was rosewood it might have been worse. Although I actually like that steep looking lip on it, I'm curious to see how it looks once your closer to being finished. Keep those pics coming. J

I felt that way too at first ngaa, but it really grew on me. I think it works really well with the fanned frets for some reason and the wider style neck, it contrasts, like the black inlays on maple, but it all fits together somehow, really well to my eyes. I really like the shot looking down the neck, it really looks like an axe you just wanna start jammin on. Definitely, reminded me that I would like to do a multiscale, really just so I can have one, same as I want to do a bass. Anyhow, great stuff Kenny!!! I'd definitely say wait until every little detail is completed, basically just the pup covers, even the smallest detail can make a difference in voting. String retainers sounds like a good idea. You can get some roller ones that are black with little silver rollers that would be fairly hard to see or you could go with the all black GraphTech string retainers which are made of some smooth material and would be nearly impossible to spot on your headstock. Just a thought, the GraphTech is probably also better because I've used the roller type and they were too wide for a normal 6 inline string spacing, the strings had to bend out to get in the rollers. What type of pup covers are you going to use? Some homemade ones or what style of store bought covers? You doing rings as well? Again, great project Kenny, inspiring. Best of luck with GOTM and look forward to your next project. J

One little idea that can help when freehanding using the dremil or hand tool, is to draw your outline, then try to put some tape around the outline, sometimes it can help prevent you from going outside the lines as well as protect the top if your hand slips. Not much protection, but it can help some. I've done it a couple times just for extra protection. Looking good so far, keep the pictures coming. J

Very nice looking guitar there! The colors all fit together so very well and I really like the coloration on that fretboard, its beautiful. That figure it really starting to show some depth also, bubinga is awesome wood. Excellent project, keep those progress pics coming!! J

As Wez said, in the video that bushing came out super easy, which is why he probably didn't have to bother worrying about slipping, he was barely using any force. I think as said, he had just removed it, pushed it back in for a demo of the idea. Either way its a pretty cool idea. J

I mentioned to Dave he might wanna skip the water in this neck because he used epoxy for the fingerboard attachment. If anything I guess acetone might help out, but I think I'd prefer just heat. I've removed a couple small things glued with epoxy just using my trusty heat gun and something thin like starting with a razor blade. Wez, have you had any problems burning the fretboard wood with the iron. I think the his fretboard is already pretty much at it final shape, any heavy burns might be a problem. The clamping it flat is a great idea I can imagine they want to go curly cue on ya after removal. J

The most often I see that called Granadillo, I don't know if that is the more common term or just the one I've come across most often. Here is a couple pieces selling at Gilmer Granadillo. Looks to be the right stuff. I really like that piece you got, beautiful stuff. It has almost a landscape figure to it like seen in some Rosewoods and ziricote. Anyhow, it looks to me like what I'd call Granadillo and they list that as a possible name on your link, so you might find more information under that. I know people have used it before and from the sounds it has some fine characterists for guitar work. Hopefully, someone here who has used it will have some insight for you. Nice grab, can't wait to see what you have planned for it. J

I actually like it quite a bit. It just looks a guitar that would be fun to play. Before reading the rest of your post, my first thought was to play around with the carve on it. I think you could do some interesting things with that build by using different carves. Well, nice stuff! Are you finishing this one up, neck and all, or it is being auctioned off? I was just curious cause I'd love to see what this body looks like finished with a neck and hardware. Good work and congrats on your design. J

Hey, looks great! Nice fix on the extra dot as well, from the closer pic I can't even tell there has been a patch job, very well done. Figure if it ever bothers you too much you could always turn it into a block inlay, which would cover the whole area. So, never too much of a worry, though I can't even see any sign of a patch in the pics really, so I doubt that'll ever be of any concern. Beautiful fretboard, Erik really sells some nice stuff. Again, nice work its really coming along quickly. J

Cyanoacrylate-superglue

Glad you picked up a better one. There are some tools I don't mind buying cheap and there are tools that I only try to buy top of the line. Router bits I prefer to be high quality, anytime you have a very sharp hunk of metal possibly spinning as fast as 25,000-30,000rmp that very last thing you want is that thing breaking or otherwise causing any other problems. Say that cheapo company didn't quite get the shaft right and it slid out of the machine, I've heard of some nasty router injuries and never want to experience any such thing. Its well worth buying some decent bits. On that note many people prefer Whiteside bits I believe and the site called routerbits.com actually sells a lot of these and a reasonable price. Might be worth checking out, you should be able to save a few bucks that way instead of having to buy them all from your store. Just an idea. $30 sounds quite a bit expensive to me, MCLS or Routerbits.com should have the same bits for cheaper and will work nicely. I'm sure your new one will cut many, many truss routes, I expect my bits to last quite a while before needing sharpening or replacing. J Edit-I just checked a 1/4"bit double flute, carbide tipped will run you $11-$13 depending on what length you want, you don't need much for truss rods, so just over $11 for such a bit. When I bought mine I was shocked by the prices at those sites and ended up with an upcut spiral bit because the prices were so much cheaper than I expected, lol. Still only cost me probably $15 or so I think at MCLS a while back.

You say this is your own design correct? Well, you neck and or heel can easily and likely be in different proportions than a strat and your scale will be off. Honestly, even if I was making the same strats over and over I'd wanna measure it just in case though with a cnc and adjustable saddles it'd probably be ok. On your personal guitar you might have an overhang of your fretboard over your neck or they might be even and your heel might be different causing it to not sit perfectly in strat pocket. Those reasons are why you should always measure that distance. The reason why that template doesn't exist is because there is no way a company could ensure that you did everything exactly to their specs. Maybe if you were doing your build with a cnc and had their program. Thats why that template doesn't exist cause when most of their customers come back and complain that it didn't work cause they used this template on their homemade guitar, they'd go out of business in a hurry. Anyhow, as I was getting at before, it doesn't matter, if you're using a 25.5 scale, have a similar heel and neck pocket, it will be real close if not exactly where you want it, but in case you haven't exactly matched the specs of a strat neck/fretboard/neckpocket/bridge you need to measure and mark out the distance. Say you used an overhang and the strat didn't, your difference in spacing isn't going to even be noticeable, it'll be so very small, as said that space will set itself and its not going to somehow be drastically different. J

I've been mulling over what you were thinking in your first post about the carved top with rounded edge. You could do a carved top with a recurve and then do a roundover on that sharp edge. It may come out looking pretty cool and would probably feel nice. I think your topographical drawing of the carve would work, just do the recurve on the black portion which would nearly bring the edge back to perpendicular and from there do a round over. I'd probably start with a light round over if you went this route and if you want more move up from there. I think a light round over would suit the concept best, just how my brain sees it. I'm sure these other guys have some good pictures somewhere of a recurve(recarve? can never remember) that could help you with a visual. Sounds like a neat idea, if I understood correctly. And if you preferred binding, you could still do the recurve thing, but just bind the edge instead of the round over. Either way would look nice I think. J

There isn't any template like that because the distance of concern is from the face of the nut to the saddle of the bridge. You can't set the distance from the bridge to the neck and then adjust the fretboard on the neck to get your scale right, just wouldn't work, even if it did, it would be pointless and a royal pain. If the heel of the neck is a 1/4" off or the fretboard was glued on a 1/8" higher on the neck leaving less overhang your guitar will never play right or tune. You can't worry about the spacing from the neck to the bridge, that really comes naturally after you do your neck pocket, it will space itself. Anyhow thats my take on it. And to do the alignment take some string or something similar(I like thin fishing line) and line two pieces up as if they were the two E strings running from the nut, place each one 1/8" from the edge of the nut or so and then down to the outside saddles, this will help you figure out alignment as you can visiually see how the strings run down the neck. If they run parallel they you should have your placement. There are other ways, but I just prefer that way for some reason, maybe some of the others can offer some more options. Anyway, again if you try to make some sort of template like your thinking, you're bound to end up with guitar thats out of scale and and thats a major problem. Even if I had a kit guitar with a set neck pocket and neck heel, I'd still measure it out because you never know when the heel or neck pocket could be slight mishapen causing a distance variance. J