SwedishLuthier

I wouldn't do that. It might be possible to get a good joint that way but I think that it will be to hard for a newbie. I would rather rout a neck pocket much the same way as a bolt on, or the same way as many (if not all) PRS are done. Have a look at how myka does it: http://www.mykaguitars.com/tools/neckpocketjig/ You dont have to make such an advanced jig, look at the bottom of the page. Good luck Peter

Sound like a cool idea, idch. But there might be a ready made hardware part available instead of threading the tube inside and out. Search you local hardware store for threaded inserts like the ones used for using machine thread screws to bolt a neck. I've seen real large ones that should do the trick. About the tone pros. I cannot believe how responsive they were to my complaints. I got new inserts, new larger locking top nuts AND a complete set of studs and bushings from their custom shop. Great customer support!! Sad to say the new stuff feels just as loose in the threads as the fist pair. I will mount the m anyway and see how they works.

Ive stained a thinline Tele once. And I meal the COMPLETE guitar, body top, back, neck AND maple fretboard. Looks a litle bit odd, but nice at the same time. NO problem to stain the maple neck or fretboard. It picked up the stain in pretty much the same way as the birds eye maple top. Just test your stain on scrap to see what shade it will produce. Peter

I haven’t tried this personally, but I think that this might work. First a few notes: This method works only on bolt on necks This method requires some skill with tools. If you don’t have it, pls stay away from this method, or at least practise on scrap. You need a router table or similar. If 1/8” is all you need, then it is easy to find a binding that is wide to make up for this. Just remember to use half f the desired with, or you will end up with a much wider neck. You can also use thin strips of the same wood as the fret board is made from. Gives you a much cleaner and nicer look. My preferred way of binding any fret board, BTW. It gives you almost an “invisible” binding. Very sofisticated. Take the guitar apart. Lay the neck flat on a bench, fret board up. Measure the neck and, if necessary, shim under the neck/heal so that the neck is perfectly level with the bench. Glue the shims to a larger board to make sure nothing slips wile we do the next step. Find a way to clamp the neck to the fixture we have already built (haven’t really figured it out yet, but it shouldn’t be that hard). Now over to the router table. Use a strait bit and an edge guide to rout away a small amount of wood from the side of the neck. Go all the way up to the fret board, but don’t touch it with the bit. Also stay away from the neck pocket part. Rout away about ¼”. Use a square and a plane to get the sides of the fret board square with the rest of the neck. Otherwise you might end up with a tilted binding. Also be sure to stay away from the neck pocket part of the neck wood or your in trouble. Now you have sufficient support to glue ½” wide strips “under” the fret board. Use the same wood as the neck is made of. The next step is to glue a binding on the ledge that we have created. Blend the new neck wood to the old and you are ready for finishing. This method creates a neck pocket were the fret board have an overhang over the body. It works perfect if the fret board id flush with the body. Otherwise you have to add small strips here too. The idea of a fret board that overhangs the neck wood might be a bit unorthodox, but I make most of my bolt on necks with a square neck pocket and a similar overhang, pretty much like the Gibson way of making set necks. Good luck Peter

I have got some amazing response from Tone Pros about this. First they were almost disbelieving me about the poor fit in the posts/bushings. Then I sent them some measurements I made, showing that the bridge could (IMO) wiggle a lot forth and back. They now will send me new parts from their custom Shop with Air express!!! Excellent customer support. I’ll get back with more info when the new parts arrive.

I have built a 5-string electric bass with sound cambers. The chambers were mostly there to reduce weigh. My pieces of beech were VERY heavy. I did a sandwich body with about 22mm thick pieces (4 for the top and 4 for the bottom half). I then hollowed out the chambers in both halves. The beech I got was quite heave in my outer bits. The neck is made from maple laminates with thinner oak strips between the maples. Also graphite reinforcement bars. Pickups are active EMGs, one J-bass and one P-bass. I would say the sound is a little bit less top end than I expected it to be. But for a bass it is a killer sound, especially with the very rigid and stable neck and the EMGs. Sounds like an interesting project Peter

Call them! Dont know how experienced you are, but ou can always buy this: http://www.carvin.com/products/single.php?...er=NT6B&CID=BKT and pull the freets, glue thin strips of wood or plastic in the fret slot and sand everything level. Peter

I've sent Tone Pros a mail about the problem. Let's se what they say

No, I have not installed the inserts yet. I am maybe a week away from mounting the inserts. I haven’t contacted Tone Pros. I bought the stuff from Stewmac, and my experience is that they don't handle that type of quality question that well. I got some P90 routing templates that were WAY oversized. When I asked them about this, they responded that it was to accept the finish build-up. But the templates were over 2 mm to big all around, and they didn’t answer at all when I questioned a finish thickness on the inside of the pickup cavity of more that 2 mm. So I don’t think that they will have anything at all to say about this. Maybe I will mail Tone Pros directly.

Jup, I was thinking Teflon tape. But I have another idea that I wonder if anyone have tested: What if I put short Allen key screws like strat intonation screws “below” the studs and the posts tightened against those ? I know that it will be very hard to adjust the height of the studs. I will have to take the studs out, adjust the Allen key screw and put everything together, and repeat. To stop the Allen key screw to spin along with the stud I was thinking of putting Teflon tape on THOSE. Nothing to stop string transfer to the body but still a nice solid fit between the posts and the bushings. Anyone who have tested that?

It will probably take you through a single guitar. Otherwise you can just return it. The ad says 2 year warranty. The most risky part could be the bits. If a bad bit brakes during use, it could destroy the body completely. I remember a thred ot long ago about that. It has also hapened to me, but I was lycky, and no damage done. I’d say buy the router, and get a few, high quality bits. Peter

England and US is going metric...inch by inch

Don’t agree 100% with you on that, but it is indeed a bit overrated. I choose Tone Pros to test them. The company uses coupling to the body as a marketing concept to promote their stuff. They are supposed to lock very well in the body. That’s what Tone Pros themselves talk about, and that’s one reason why I tried them. Obviously not completely true. The other reason is that I'm building a top of the line guitar for my first public appearance. I thought that another “brand name” (even on a so small thing as the studs” would contribute to the attention I (hopefully) will get. The fair take place during a guitar show in late October in Stockholm, Sweden, and I'm using top notch stuff on this: - GOTO tuners (I think they are better than Shaller, more even in quality) - Pigtail bridge (like I said earlier, they have got a little attention, and it look fine this far) - the Tone Pros studs (A little disappointment there… - quilted maple on a carved top… - and my own make of pickups.

I have just received an order from stewmac with a pigtail bridge and the tone pros Studs/bushings. Here’s a shot report: The bridge looks really good. I agree. But for the Tone Pros studs, I NOT impressed. OK, the studs lock the bridge all right (no play there), but the posts are really loose in the bushings!!!! So what’s the ¤”#%¤”#¤% point?. I mean, I will get a rock solid joint between the bridge and the posts, but I will have to trust string tension to get the string vibration transfer to the body. The whole point of Tone Pros is to get a good coupling with the body, but I would say that both my BADASS and a GOTOH bridge (don’t remember model, but Stewmac carried it a wile ago) have better coupling to the body. No more Tone Pros for me!!! Probably the most overrated hype in the guitar community for the last years

I like it just as it is, but I like big guitars. Its an original design. To few of those arround. Go for it.

Try "The Fender Telecaster" book by A.R.Duchossoir. It got original Fender plans included. The plans is scaled down, but I just threw the book into a photo copier and enlarged them. Worked fine. It also gives you all necessary, and a lot of unnecessary, information about the Tele. Peter

Ive done that on a strat a couple of years ago for the same reason as you. Works really good I second that

I've been using the Stewmac version for over 5 years. Been working fine all the time. I radious after slotting too. No problemo Also:You might consider adding a SMALL amounth of grease to the side of the saw to reduce friction and get a smoother usage. Using too much will get the saw dust to stick to the saw side and it will get REALY messy

Waahooo!! Fantastik paint job! Great

Another very good combination is a neck with three thick mahogany laminates, like 15 mm, and two thinner maple laminates arround 5 mm. Killer looks, and mega-strong. A little more work maybee.... BTW: I've never heard of anyone using the scunk stripe as an laminate. Fender use a valnut skunk stripe to cover up the trussrod installation wich is done from the back on their guitars. If its not a Fender (or a Fender clone/copy/ripp off) it is probably a all-trough laminate and not just a skunk stripe. Peter

More Qs: Brand of guitar? Model of guitar? Pics of guitar? Makes it easier to help...

Actually I've seen quite a lot of sels that where leaking. And those were of cause done with only canning paraffin. Don't know for sure that it was caused by differenses in teperature. Better safe than sorry, I figure.

I think that Drak sprayed the neck pocket to stop the blank from desintegrating. Remember he had a WERY rotten piece of wood. With a good pice of wood I would stay away from spaying the neck pocket if possible. I often get a bit of overspray into the pocket, but I try to scrape it away befor screwing the neck into place. I think that laquer stop the sound transfer from the neck to the body a bit. Also; if you attach a laquer finished neck before all solvents have evaporated, you might end upp with a neck that is sticking into the neck pocket and is impossible to remove. Happened to me with the old stewmack vaterbased finish. I waited a week before I buffed the finish (a few days is sufficient according to the manufacturer) and another couple of days before attaching the neck. A few months later I tried to remove the neck but it was completly stuck. I actually broke off a piece of the side of the neck pocket while trying this!

They are perfect, FOR PLAYING SLIDE!!!! I think that they look very worn. Could be just grime but dont look like that to me

I'd say ebony. It'll balance the mahogany with more pronounced highs, preatty much like adding a maple top to a mahogany body. The rosewood won't do that. Peter