thegarehanman

The only difference in wiring would be that when you wire your tone and volume pots, wire the pots such that they're a mirror image of any right handed wiring diagrams. Otherwise you'll be turning volume down when you want to go up and so forth. Everything else should be the same as on a righty.

Anyone who is going to do a good job of it is also going to charge you more than that bass is worth. For instance, if you sent it to me, wanted me to disassemble, paint, and reasseble it, I'd probably charge about $300-$500, depending on different details. If you wanted me to strip it down to bare wood and then do something with it, I'd just turn it down. Stripping a guitar down is labor intensive and not a whole lot of fun. peace, russ

If you're going to use a veneer, staining and sanding back is not a good idea. You may sand through the grain while sanding back. Also, some glue will inevitably soak into the veneer when gluing it to the substrate. You may expose some of the glue-soaked wood which will not accept the second coat of stain so well. Your best bet (if you want a deep stained figured maple look) is to soak the veneer in analyne dye diluted with lacquer thinner or alcohol, such that the dye fully penetrates the veneer. Once that's done, you just need to glue the veneer on and clear it. If you try this method with water rather than lacquer thinner or alcohol, it will probably destroy the veneer. peace, russ

Those brass sleeves come in the lmii wooden knobs. They're worthless. By the time the set screw is tight enough to keep the knob from slipping, the brass sleeve is crushed and the pot shaft will crimp like there was no sleeve at all. peace, russ

You may have crimped the shafts on your pots together. Take the knobs off and look at the shafts. Is there an even gap between the two halves from bottom to top? If the top is pushed together and the bottom has a space, then this is why the knobs are tilted. You likely won't be able to pull the two halves apart without breaking them off the shaft. Your best bet would be to replace the pots (if this is the problem) and put a piece of metal between the two halves so they can't be crimped together again. peace, russ

Don't you have anything better to do than go on about this? Why not go build a guitar, for heaven's sake? Now I'm tempted to burn (sheerly out of indifference) the two guitars that have been sitting unstrung in my closet. ...and the answer is "no," I don't have anything better to do than reply to this silly thread. Well, maybe I do, but I'm procrastinating.

I build race cars, and I'll tell you this. It doesn't matter if you win or lose the race...after the race you're still going to drive it as hard as possible until it doesn't run. Some people get it, some people don't. It's not like you don't strip anything that's salvageable off the guitar/car/whatever before junking what's "worthless." This reminds me: I've got a couple of guitars that need a good burning.

The reason people WOD or burn or destroy (in whatever manner they see fit) their instruments is because they are disgusted by the work or some flaw and don't want anyone else to see it or associate that sort of work with them as a builder. Obviously, sending an instrument to you would mean there is an instrument floating around somewhere that they built that they are not proud of. Someone who bothers to destroy an instrument for such a reason would never send it out to someone. peace, russ

I think Wes actually built an all bubinga KL explorer...

Oh, and I think since you posted your design online before even building it, you technically gave up the rights to it. Again, I don't see a resemblance, so that doesn't matter much.

Not in the least. People on this board produce tons of guitars and even more drawings, and most all are the result of some other design. Yours, for example is the result of a flying V, obviously (and the drawing and picture you've supplied really share very very few resemblances at all). Prs' single cut was proven, in courst, to not be similar to the Les Paul. Those two guitars have more in common then these two v's. So no, you wouldn't have a chance, especially if you haven't even built and sold any. However, it might still be fun to send BC Rich a Cease and Desist order the the aid of an lawyer. They might send you a few bucks to try to 'keep you quiet." peace, russ

I don't use a block for color sanding the clear. Only when shaping the top. All I use is a hard foam pad. I really don't think that there is a need for a block unless it is a flat top. I'll second that. I don't use a block when wet sanding contoured surfaces, and I've never had a problem with waviness in the clear, as a result. peace, russ

The best way to do this would be to stain the whole guitar, then spray the whole guitar with sealer insuring that there is no exposed wood anywhere on the body. After this, you'd go about swirling the body like normal, but with only one color. After that, you'd apply clear until there was no noticeable ridge between the opaque and stained areas, then you'd sand and buff the clear like usual. peace, russ

wez, what subject do you teach? So I just shipped the guitar this evening. It should be in the customer's hands thursday morning. He's planning to use it for a gig that evening, if possible. Apparently some bloke who goes by "Steve Vai" is supposed to be there and wants to check out the new guitar. Must be some new beatnick the young'ns take after. (and yes, I am stoked) peace, russ

capello: I'm not a huge fan of the knobs either. then again, the whole guitar really isn't my style. The customer wanted a "tinker toy" look for the guitar to resemble the original jason becker guitar as closely as possible. matt: the finish is a polyester clear coat, the same stuff on prs', fenders, every car on the road, etc. I just added a flattening agent and sprayed it on very thin, to make the wood look almost like it doesn't have a finish on it wezV: thanks, and yes, that absolutely means you're dull, but I'd like to think that's just because you don't like binding. peace, russ

Thanks for the kind words. I can't take credit for the inlays though, that was all done with a laser by doug. I guess I spent about 2 months on this one. Probably about 60 hours invested in it, perhaps a bit more or less. As for the cavitiy covers, I make the notch go slightly under the cover so you can get your finger under it to pry it out. The magnets hold it on really tight, so you need a bit of leverege. You can't see into the cavities unless you're trying hard, so it doesn't really bother me. Next up is a transparent white tank top It won't be anything show stopping; I'm just looking to build something that's more eye catching than what you see at guitar center, but something that's still affordable, since I'm planning to sell it anyhow. I really need to get cracking on making the molds for my pickups though. More on that when I actually get to it... peace, russ

Done and ready to be shipped. The 3 humbuckers on the 6 string side make for quite an array of (noticeably) different sounds. I actually thought there'd be some tonal "overlap" among the 5 selections, but there really isn't. Ah yes, some specs: 6 strings side: -pickups: Sd Custom Custom(neck)/Sd Jason Becker Stacked Humbucker (middle)/ Sd EVH (bridge) -bridge: orginal floyd rose -tuners: gotoh mini rotomatics -controls: volume, 5 way pickup selector (n/nm/m/mb/b) -neck: maple -body: white korina -inlays: number inlays inspired by Jason Becker's signature guitar 12 string side: -pickups: Sd Sh1 (neck)/ Sd Custom Custom (bridge) -bridge: 12 string hardtail -tuners: gotoh mini rotomatics -controls: volume (with push/pull to switch between 6 string and 12 string output), 3-way pickup selector -neck: maple -body: white korina -inlays: letters inspired by "This is Spinal Tap," and client's logo at 12th peace, russ

The stewmac hot rod truss rods are a bit thick for a neck with jem dimensions. Considering using lmii's (lmii.com) or allied's (alliedlutherie.com) truss rods. Both are of good quality and both are 1/16" thinner than the hot rod. The allied rod has a bit finer adjustment though. peace, russ

check your pm's

wetsanding will leave it hazy. If you spray the finish and it's smooth (ie, no imperfections), then you can just hit it with some 0000 steel wool. I like to wax and buff a finish after I flatten it with steel wool. It makes it have more of a satin appearance than a flat one. If you like the way it looks after the steel wool though, i'd advise you to not wax it. peace, russ

Well, you're right if you mean chrome as in the process of electroplating a guitar body, but when I hear people talking about "chroming" a guitar, I just assume they want a chrome look, not necessarily metal plating. I've seen paint jobs on metal that look very very close to chrome. If I were to go about chroming a guitar body, I might approach it in one of several ways. Personally, if I were to go for a chrome effect, I'd start by using a plasticized body blank from Gallery Hardwoods or anyone else that sells that sort of thing (though I'm no aware of anyone that does). Even though the plasticized blank will still expand and contract, your glue lines and wood pores won't show up during the expansion/contraction, so the chrome paint job should age just fine. peace, russ

Wood shrinks and expands at different rates than the finishes on it. Chrome finishes require a perfectly uniform, flat surface, so the chrome looks bad after the wood shrinks and expands a bit.

Mattia, I knew someone would point that out. I think you're just a little jealous that it was the people who became independent of England, and then started Microsoft and Macintosh and a long list of other industrial superpowers, that are simplifying the language and cutting out all of the unnecessary u's. . Granted the exchange rate is not being so kind to us at the moment... . Anyhow, you know it's just a matter of time before W decides calling our language "english" is unamerican and instead decides it be called "american." It will be his next great achievement right after "freedom fries". Ok, I'd better stop with the politics

A burst would look good on it, but the simplicity of it at the moment is very appealing. The yellow color is very easy on the eyes. If it were me, I'd leave it as is. However, considering you're teaching people how to build guitars, this is a great opportunity to explain how to spray a burst to the readers. peace, russ EDIT: Just reread the topic title. Actually, my honest opinion is that you should spell it "color," as opposed to "colour." What's it with brits, aussies and kiwis adding extra u's all over the place?

I stick my guitars in art exhibits all the time. Don't do that for the money either, because there's none to be had there...unless you're selling your guitars at unknown painting prices, of course, but that wouldn't turn a profit either. peace, russ