jmrentis

I really would like to do a cascade rout for a top. But I am not brave enough yet to do a carved top let alone something like that cut. It's cool as hell though and after I build a couple I will attempt something like that, the one I'm doing now is my first as you know and next I'll probably do a neck through and the next one I might do the carved top and cascade cut. Very cool though, about your instructions maybe with a few pics it would be fine.

As far as the finish goes, the brown you are using is like the one in the poll right, somewhat tranparent? Thats cool as long as you don't go solid color, because there has been some people that cover super nicely figured woods and that makes me sad, if anyone is planning on doing this let me know and I will trade you, your quited top for some poplar. If you did I would understand because you didn't come to this conclusion until now and it's already all put together.

That pickup setup sounds killer, you'll have to post some sound samples when it's all said and done. I think the 12 pole piece will add a lot to the looks of the guitar as well as sound I'm sure. And the inlays are cool too. Very clean job on inlaying them. Will the finish not affect them, or will you work around them?

Where did you end up finding the knobs? Was it the place you mentioned before? Thats a really good thought, and I'm sure your headstock will look a lot nicer like you said because they won't catch your eye. Man this thing better win GOTM, I hope everyone can see how much has been put into this guitar and how unique it is. In that aspect it definately reminds me of Thorns's guitar.

Man that thing was amazing! Honestly it was the best guitar work I have ever seen in the 10 years that I've played, and it's not so much the look of it, it's the attention to detail. That guitar didn't have a single factory made part, everthing was made by hand, I know some of it was cnc but that doesn't really matter to me because you still don't see guitars built like that from factories with cnc. I still can't get over how cool it was, and how much disrespect it got. It doesn't matter if other people like the colors, it wasn't built for them, it was built for a customer. The point was how it was built, technique and the theme. Simply amazing. And I must say yours is coming along in a similar direction.

Keep up with the updates, so far this has been a great thread, lots of info, lots of pics and a great product so far! How much longer are you expecting? a month, more? Take your time and keep adding details, so far all the details have made this guitar great. Right on man good luck with your next move, glueing the top, finishing, or whatever else you have to do. Later. Jason

what's w/ the double, double posts?

Hey man whats up besides all the madness around here? I really think you've done some very nice stuff on your project, a lot of it seems very difficult. Have you decided on finish? How will you do the burst on the control area? Will you do a mini burst right on the flat portion or will you just keep to the regular burst and not make any changes in that area? I hope that made sense. That headstock is cool, I really put 4 or 5 hours in the other day trying to decide on a headstock pattern. What I came up with is very similar to yours and Simo's headstock. I couldn't decide if I wanted the curve across the top or if I wanted it flat. Either way it will be similar but not the same.

Anyways the project seems like it's getting close, it's lookin good! Is there going to be any other unique features on it? Well, nice stuff man and I can't wait to see it done. Also you are welcome to post on my thread, I don't care, it doesn't even have to be about my project, just as it's not about the stuff thas been going on here lately, I'm bored of that stuff! Well I'll talk with you later man, I'll probably pm you about some chambering stuff later I think I'll need some advice, I'll be cutting and chambering real soon. Thanks for your help and nice work with your guitar, it's going to be a very classy and unique guitar. Later! Jason

Wow both guitars are looking great! I was wondering what wood it is you are using for the neck? Is it black limba, maple, or something else I can't really tell from the pics. I like the knobs too, they are very smooth and will compliment the guitar nicely I think. Well good luck with your project and keep us updated. Nice Pics! Later. Jason

Hey guys not much of an update but I added a bunch of pics. Some of the maple top wiped with naptha, which was the first time I tried this, I couldn't believe how fast it dried, I didn't use much but it looks like I used plenty in some of the pics. I also got pics of a piece of soft maple I had gotten a while back. I could never find a use for it, when I bought it my idea was to use it in a neck laminate with a very stiff wood, but I have the feeling that it still will be to soft. As you can see there are a lot of flaws and problems with the board, it almost has a spalt going on, but I know I can get a lot of good wood out of it, and it has a very nice figure. It is a rough cut pretty much so it is hard to get an idea of how nice it looks,even with all it's issues. I also got a pic of my purpleheart body wood with some naptha, and it looked really cool with it on. I have to say though I just finished sanding it down to size and getting it flat so the actual color is not there. In a week or two it will have much better color to it.

I put my neck paper template on my wood and I think I will get two solid necks with 13 degree angled headstocks and 1 neck without headstock, with which I could try a scarf joint with some other wood, maybe just some hard maple with veneer. It will be good experience to try the scarf joint. Unfortunately something got spilled on my neck wood and stained bright yellow. I think it was some bug spray that we use to spray the around the outside of the house. I think it will sand out but it will take quite a bit of sanding to get it all out, although once I rough cut it and add a fretboard it should be completely gone. Now I wrap it all up when I'm not working on it just to be safe. There is a pic of my neck with naptha but it's hard to tell the difference without a pic of it dry right next to it.

I will mark out my rough cut on the body today and cut this week and hopefully get the neck rough cut too. And then I'll start chambering, first with a forstner that I just bought then clean it up with my router. I still need to get my truss rod, I'll have to do that this week, I am going to get the 18" hot rod from stew mac. If anyone thinks I should look at another one let me know what. When I order that I will pay fryovanni for the fretboard I want and will begin the actual neck assembly. The fretboard from fryovanni will be slotted. I have seen his slotting on his own projects and can say it was perfect, I wouldn't trust that anyone could do it better. After all that I will need to buy the fixed hipshot bridge and the inlays I want which aren't cheap.

Inlay material

I got this from the supplies section, fryovanni posted it recently. I couldn't find a good place to buy them before that. The ones I'm going to buy are the first ones on the page, the ones on the far left. They are MOP with figured MOP inlayed. Very nice and will go great in my cocobolo fretboard.

Oh well thats just where I'm at right now. I'll post more pics when I get some of the cutting done. So far so good, haven't run into any major problems. I haven't gotten that far along yet but I'm still happy about what I've done. And I love taking pics, thats another hobby of mine, which is why there are so many. Thanks for all the help guys and will talk to you later. If anyone has any suggestions please post them! Later. Jason

Progress Pics

Yeah, I'm going to make this my last post in this thread too. I actually didn't look at it for a while and for some reason looked again this week. As you can tell, I have very, very strong feelings about this issue and I probably should have just ignored the thread to begin with. Later, no hard feelings...

Hey man I'm with you 100%. I too have very strong feeling about it, I have my reasons, but I am glad that there is no animosity. I think we all have our own opinions and they are based on our real life experiences, which lead us one way or the other, so it is hard to change someones view, because they have their reasons and you have yours, we all do. I think that this is fine, that means we all think for ourselves, and don't just go by what someone says or what they read. So crafty definately no hard feelings, with all that has been hoing on around here I think this subject was minor and just more of a personal preference because even people that don't like pot thought it would be a good idea to legalize it, I think we all just want whats best for everyone. Later man and I'm glad this thread ended up ok and didn't get out of hand, it was a solid debate! Jason

The Thunder From Down Under,

That Will Send You Under If You Blunder.

Good Luck Perry!

WOW Where have you been Wes? I haven't seen you lately, are you still modding? Just curious. It looks like it but I wasn't sure and some other people said otherwise. Later! Jason

Cool, I think Perry has a strong sense of what should and shouldn't be here, and who. As he said there are times when there is practically no mods or admin to compete with everything being posted. So a mod on the other end of the clock will be a great help and keep things from getting out hand like some things do here especially if noone does anything to stop it. I think Perry will be a great asset to the PG squad, I really like all the mods and admin right now, I think the problems were just a few people that feel like they should be able to do what ever they want without consequences. Hopefully another fresh mod like Perry can help weed out some issues. Good luck with the modding Perry, I'm sure you'll do a good job cleaning up this place! Later. Jason

PS: This is a far better idea than the one mistake that was made recently, at least Perry has a good track record and is trustworthy. And KNOWS how to build guitars, which is a big help. Good Luck!

It's has very cool grain orientation. It really works well with the design! Nice stuff man, I can't wait to see it finished! Good luck with the finish, I hope it turns out well for you.

Oh yeah if we are playing the ink blot test game, I see a nose, at least the end of it reminds me of the bottom of a nose. Don't ask me why! Either way that thing looks sweet! It will look great with a burst finish. Later. Jason

I figured there was a way because I read of that person that used them. And I had thought about the chuck but I was unsure if the dremel's could be swapped, like I said it's my brothers so I'm not totally familiar with all it's features. Thanks Frank and I will look into getting this chuck soon, because even if the bits are pretty much the same, they will be free of coarse with a little bit of wear, and he is going to sanitize all of them before he gives them to me, which is good. I will still look into finding that other thread and wil let you guys know how the bits turn out next wednesday night. Thanks for the help guys, and thanks for the idea Frank I kinda got worried there that my plan was flawed. Later. Jason

Oh well I am not sure. Is there no adapter for a dremel type tool that would let you use the bits for teeth? The tool I would use is similar to a dremel but is run off a air compressor, it's actually my brothers. I know the bits are similar, but I thought they were made up of a stronger compond, being that they had to drill into teeth, which I would believe to be much harder than even ebony. But I don't know all that much about the bits themselves or whether they will work or not, but I have read a post where someone used them somehow and they worked well for him. It was around the same time this thread was started, I remember that because there was two threads that had that suggestion at the same time, and it struck me as a good idea.

Oh well I see if they will work when I get them, since there are a few different types I hope to get at least some that will work. Man if they do work, it would be great for inlays in my opinion. Also I was wondering being a dentist if you have heard about a drug named Zometa. I've been treated with this for osteoporosis, I'm 24 and my bones are already in bad shape, partly because of asthma drugs(steriods), such as prednisone that I had to take so much of as a kid and I have screwed up hormone levels. But anyways this drug has been linked to many cases of osteo-necrosis of the lower jaw. Doctors said any invasive surgery like tooth extraction will lead to this problem, it happens when the exposed bone hits the air. The cases have been very bad, and just removing the rotting bone did nothing but make more bone exposed thus increasing the problem. The only way around it they said was to do any major dental surgery in a hyperbaric chamber, that way the air would be uncontaminated, I guess. The drugs general name is biophosphantes or something like that.

So if you have any info on this let me know, you can just pm if so. I know there have been a number of dentists that have come across this. I'm worried to say the least, and I also need a fusion surgery on my back and am worried that this problems could occur in any other area of exposed bone, but I guess is hasn't been linked yet. Still worries me. Also if you have any ideas on how to use those bits, adapters or other ways let me know and I will look for that other thread, the one that the guy got a bunch and used them, and said they worked well I believe. Thanks for your help and I hope to hear back from you brian dds. Jason

I think someone that has a guitar similar to this will be more help. I was thinking about it and I'm not sure if the pickups just go in from the top or if you put them in through the back. I would assume the top and I would guess that the way I decribed would be the right way but as I said I haven't done one so either wait for more answers or ask as you go through it, it won't be that difficult. I think it's ring/spring/pickup then attatchment to the body which is where I'm unsure of how that works on guitars without pickguards, but I need to learn that as well because the guitar I'm building right now will have no pickguard. I like the look of them, especially with a nice figured top. Good luck with it, I will go look around to see if I can find exactly how that works for you and I will post it if I find anything. Later. Jason

PS: Thats a very good deal, very lucky! At least you will appreciate it a little more. I couldn't just get rid of a guitar because it didn't fit the trend anymore.

Do you have a pickguard? With a pickguard you will put the screws in from the top through the pickup rings, through the pick guard, then through the springs and finally into the pickup. Just take off your pickguard and follow the steps. There are many different pickup rings for different guitars, bu that is the basic idea. I did this on my ibanez, and there are holes at each corner for screws into the pickguard to keep it stable but I didn't even use these, it might be a good idea if you are doing a show to put all the screws in though.

I have never put pickup rings on a guitar without a pickguard but I would guess that you put the screws in through the pickup rings, then through the springs, then into the pickup. Then put the pickup into the hole and screw the screws at the corners into the body. I'm sure there is other guitars that require other methods but I don't know exactly what you are working on so maybe you could post what kind of guitar it is and if it has a pickguard or not. Good luck with the installing, if you know what you are doing it is really easy, just be careful when taking off pickguards because you can screw up the electronics fairly easily, if you pull to hard on the wires, also you will have to take off all the knobs and switches before removing the pickguard. Make sure you label where all the different screws go and in what order you need to put them back in. Later. Jason

Cool procees you got going! I don't think the problems are bad at all, with a little sanding like you said it will be almost gone. Also I think you mentioned this but you could add some dust from the board with the ca and it would make the inlay gaps at the top almost invisable. I'm sorry because you probably have this stated somewhere, but is it going to be a bolt on, set neck, or neck through?

If it is bolt on I would finish this neck as is and if you end up not liking the finish result build another one, but at least you have a finished neck with inlays under your belt. Also I think you did a very good job on the inlay you did in the process you posted. It looked like it was perfect, nice stuff. Well good luck with whatever you do, I would finish it but thats just me, I always broke so I try to not make mistakes, but when I do I try to fix them whever possible. Again if it's just a bolt on, finish it. You'll probably end up building countless more necks, why not have that one to show how you started. Thanks for posting the pics and good luck! Post a pic of the finished neck if you decide to do it! Later. Jason

Your right that it would be more expensive to fix it, but that way you might not have as many problems with the next one. And you could buy a non radiused board and do that yourself if you wanted to and inlaying would be a little safer that way because you could radius most of the mistakes out. Either way I think it will turn out fine, even if it does have a few scars I'd be cool with that. Later. Jason

I was just wondering if you are going to radius the board, because if you do you might get rid of some of the minor issues. I always read that you should do 2/3rds of the radiusing then the inlays, then finish up the radius. I think thats what I've read. But I haven't done any inlay work myself so I can't give advice, but this is just what I've read. I would want to buy the radius sanding block, the big one, and do it that way. As long as your inlays are thick enough.

I wouldn't ever throw it away, although I know some people would. If you can fix it, then it's just more practice and experience for the next one, and you might end up with a fretboard that looks fine, honestly it won't sound any worse with mistakes and it just means you are still learning. I've read a few of your posts in the past couple months and it seems like you did plenty of research and practice, so I wouldn't worry about your mistakes, it's probably just another part of the learning of doing inlays. Also I was wondering if you masked off the areas of the fretboard you weren't working on? I would do a thick layer of tape just so if I slipped or dropped anything there would be some protection, might not save it but I'm sure it would lessen the damage.

Anyways Greg get a pic up and some links, because I will be doing some block inlays soon and would like to see how you did it, I have a air powered dremel and will be getting a good amount of bits from my dentist next week, of all different shapes and sizes. I'm excited to do my inlays, but I will be very nervous because the fretboard I'm getting is so perfect. It isn't expensive or anything and there are some similar ones that I could buy but I really want to do the best I can. So good luck Greg and let us know how it goes and get pics if you can! Later. Jason

I like the last one! Pretty cool design, the last two on the page are your two newest right? The other one, I think the upper horn is a little too round for me, it reminds me a lot of a lap guitar, cool but just not my style. But again I really like the last one, I would consider this towards the top of the list for me. Good luck and post when you decide which one you will start with! Later. Jason

That's all. The point is though, which people aren't getting, is that marijuana doesn't help your lungs.

And booze doesn't help your liver! But it's perfectly legal. It's obvious that pot isn't good for you, I don't think anyone is trying to make that statement. I think everyone understands that, and they accept the consequences. But again I think alcohol is far more unhealthy than pot and nobody has anything bad to say about booze. If you are going to give people the choice to drink or not, then why the hell would it be different for pot? And about the pot being good for asthma, this was years ago as I said before they even knew cigarettes were bad for you.

As far as pot being worse for the lungs, there are 1000's of chemicals in cigarettes, I've seen the list it fills up a page front and back in tiny lettering. Yes chemicals! There is a filter but this stuff gets through regardless of the filter, it might stop a little tar though. And as far as pot the chemicals are minimal, nothing to what a cigarette is. Much safer, just look at the stats, do you see as many people dying from pot as cigarettes, NO. There isn't as many pot smokers but if you went by ratio it still wouldn't even be close.

And like you said about the smoking taking years to cause problems, that is why I don't think your friends problems were due to smoking. Even if he had been smoking for 5 years, the symptoms wouldn't have shown up that severe.

Anyways my point is pot is less dangerous than alcohol, and alcohol is perfectly legal. If the rules were the same for both I would have no problems, but they are not, and for no good reasons either. And as I said that site I believe is trying to make smoking out of anything other than a vaporizer is bad for you, I think they are trying to sell you on the vaporizer, I wouldn't trust this site! I wouldn't trust most any site, it seems most everyone on the web has their agenda, basically trying to sway you towards something, it doesn't matter if it pro weed or not! I can't believe some random site with some random comparison. Anyone can make stuff up. For every 1 person that is killed in an pot related accident there are 1000 killed in alcohol related accidents. Doesn't make it true, even if they say they have studies. Otherwise all the studies would all have the same answers, and they don't they are all different. Each one wants to make you believe that it is true and they will twist the studies around to make it look like it. I'll give an example:

There was a study a while back, I don't have it off hand but I will look for it. The study stated that pot was the most common cause for visits to the ER. Stating causes of overdose and accidents. And yes you the cases that they tested were positive for pot. So first off pot can show positive in your system for up to a month and they don't have a test to see if your high at the time, so that itself discredits the study. Next of those positive tests I believe over 90% had alcohol in their system, and alcohol only stays in your system for a couple day tops. And another small % showed positive for the heavier drugs like cocaine, crystal, and heroin, these were the overdoses they were talking about, considering it is impossible to overdose on pot. So all they did was twist the study around to make it sound like pot was the cause of all those visits. Even though they were mostly all drunk drivers and heavy drug users. Yeah they had pot in their system, but it wasn't the cause that brought them to the ER. But they were obviously paid to do a study that showed what someone wanted you to think, they had an agenda! And this was a study done by highly trusted organization, funded by the federal government! I got the study from a class I took at my local college in a coarse that was called drug studies.

And thats why I don't really trust any studies, let alone one from the web! Jason

Do you guys see on the picture of the back, a chunk missing just below the left side horn? I can't really tell but it looks like some bad tearout or something. Maybe it's just my eyes! Jason

Personally I don't have a planer/jointer so I try to use the edges that come surfaced from my dealer. On the neck I'm doing I glued 3 pieces of wood, 2 pieces rock maple and 1 piece jatoba. I was unsure if the surface would be ok but I was assured by some of the good builders here that I didn't need to do anything to that surface. I was under the impression that sanding the surface would give the joint more strength, but I was wrong, everyone told me otherwise. The smoother the surface the better the bond, and now after glueing a bit of stuff I would have to agree. I used titebond the original for my joints and it seems to work better than anything I have ever used. And in the past I have had to glue a fair amount of wood, and nothing compares to titebond in my eyes. I know there are other glues similar now to titebond but if you can I would get titebond the original. I would say most people here use titebond.

So if you have a planer then by all means use it, I hear this will give you the best surface for glueing, a freshly planed surface. To me I wouldn't want to use a hand planer but I'm sure that if you bought a really nice one that was big enough to get a flat surface it would work ok, I know people do that, although I would feel a great deal safer with a machine. So good luck with your project! What exactly are you doing, a neck, a body, or both? Here's a pic of the neck I'm working on, I'll be cutting it soon on the bandsaw. What ever you do make sure you have fun! Thats why I do it. Later. Jason

Glued up laminate neck

HAHA. I went to the dentist today and was thinking about guitars the whole time I was there. So before he started grinding my teeth away I asked him about trying some of his used bits for inlays and other similar small tasks for guitars. He gave me a strange glance obviously he never has had this question. So he replied that the reason they go in the trash is because they become dull and no longer cut teeth. He then paused and thought about it and said that even though they aren't sharp enough to cut teeth cleanly, they should be plenty sharp to cut most any wood. So he said he will gather a bunch for me, the round ones, the square ones and any others and he will sterilize all of them for me and when I go back next week he is going to give them to me.

Man I'm so glad I asked, I'm sure they will work for somethings, and they are free, I never complain about free, it's one of my favorite words. And those bits look killer, I have a feeling they will work very well. I will let you guys know how it goes when I get them. And ask if you go, it's worth a try to get some killer bits that are hard to find in that size, quality, and free. Later. Jason

"Smoking two or three marijuana cigarettes a day is estimated to have the same effect on the risk of cancers and on the prevalence of acute and chronic respiratory symptoms as smoking 20 or more tobacco cigarettes a day"

Reference.

http://cannabisheaven.co.uk/vaporizers/how...rizes-work.html

I just wanted to point something out, I could be wrong on this but I don't think so. The site is talking about using a vaporizer to cut down on inhaled toxins. To me it sounds like an advertisment for their product the vaporizer. So even though that site is obviously pro weed I think they want you to buy their vaporizer which as they said cuts down on the bad stuff inhaled. I feel this is an agenda, I know they are pro weed but they are also pro buy our vaporizer, so they want to make smoking weed out of anything else sound terrible. I would not consider this a vaild source, yes it is pro weed, but they are pro making money more than being worried about legalizing. And I didn't see any scientific studies done although I might have missed them.

And about the kid at your school, how old is he? It would take a long, long time to develop any serious respiratory problems. I smoked so many cigarettes for years and never did I have any problems, I had a minor cough here and there but nothing that was even noticable. Seriously if it was possible to get serious respiratory issues from smoking weed, it would take many many years for the effects to show up. I'm curious though, so if you see him ever again ask him? I highly doubt that weed has any part in his sickness, but I would like to hear what it is from him, if he knows the cause. It could be just asthma, some people use other names for it or just general names. Years and years ago pot was actually recommended for asthma, believe it or not!

I've had asthma since 3 months old, and it put me in the hospital many times. They would have to give me steriods and adrenline to keep me breathing. Those drugs are a major part of the problems that I now have, they have done a lot of very serious damage to my body. But thankfully my asthma got better in my early teens. I still need my rescue inhaler on a daily basis but I haven't been put in the hosiptal for asthma in a long time. And now you all are welcome to flame me because I smoked cigarettes for 6 years! I know I'm the dumbest SOB you ever met. Funny enough though smoking never made my asthma any worse. It might have if I kept smoking but I quit. And yes it was terribly hard to quit. But thats why I don't feel that the kids problem is smoking, I smoked for 6 years and was asthmatic and I didn't have any worse problems and still don't have any worse problems. I could just be a very lucky person though, who knows? Later. Jason

Hey guys I did a bit of sanding to get the little channels I had smoothed out. I had forgot that I had a nice belt sander. I had no belt though so I went yesterday and bought some 50 grits being that the purpleheart is so hard. I only did 5-10 minutes of work and it worked great. I was worried about more burning, the table saw cut I did to get the little fretboard size pieces really burned the wood, I had cut the pieces from the last two inches on either side of my body blank.

So now it is nearly flat, I have about another 5-10 minutes getting perfectly flat, there is still a channel or two left, but for the most part it is all even. This side is going to be my back, I want the other side to be glued because it is a smoother surface, I don't have a planer/jointer so I want to use the side that is untouched to glue. In the pics you can see how light the purpleheart can get, it's more brown almost, right after you cut it and as the days go by it gains that dark purple color back, it's very cool how it works. Next I will tape my neck template to the neck and trace it, and take it to my buddies and cut it out on his bandsaw, and if I do it well enough I'll come home with 2 necks. While I'm working with the neck I will start doing some chambering and rough cuts on the body. So far so good and I'm having a blast. Thanks everyone for their information it has been a big help! Later, Jason.

Progress Pics Very slow progress, but progress none the less!