wisdom727

I may have my first commission build soon. Since I know his parents, I've offered to do it for the cost of materials. The fellow wants an Ibanez RG-style African mahogany body with a reverse-headstock Jackson-style (or maybe ESP) maple neck. He asked for a satin-black solid finish, but because I don't have any spray capabilities (especially in winter), I suggested that I could do a black stain with oil finish instead. That seems acceptable. (Demonx has a great example of that on his web site: Andrews SS6 "Warhorse".) The greatest challenge for me will be white plastic binding on the body front, neck, and headstock. It's kind of like an MTM2 model. I've never done binding in past, and of course I'm intimidated by routing the channel around the forearm carve. Q; Does anyone know what size StewMac binding would be suitable for an RG?

Don't give up on this. I have one of your excellent creations, and it is amazing - far better craftmanship than mine. Just take a break and get back into it. You have a talent that needs to keep going!

Luis, I had the same problem on my last build with limba and walnut. I tried West Systems 105 resin and 207 clear hardener as pore-filler. Like you found, it went on really thick and didn't self-level at all. Sanding back was a major effort and I went through to bare wood in places. For the third application, I thinned the mixture with denatured alcohol (can't recall how much) -- and that worked out better. I also used a space heater in the room. Even then, I still found pores that weren't filled, especially on end grain. It also yellowed the limba more than I had expected - I wondered if my hardener had gone bad over time? Finally, I gave up on the pore-filling and continued with top coats of Deft Danish oil. Overall, a disappointing result. The next time I build, I will get a fresh tin of WS 207 hardener ($$), try the hot-water bath trick, and thin it even more so that I can apply it like Scott described.

Ahh! It is an apex predator. Looking very quilty and voracious. The headstock looks fine to me. Do not worry about minor aesthetic points -- we all spend too much time fretting about those things. Luis, your craftmanship is always excellent, and you should charge more.

Very nice work. Love that Xiphos shape. Duke says: "After I chewed up that template, I thought he was gonna give up guitar-building for good, and spend more time with me. Wrong!"

Beautiful work and photography, KEA. Inspirational! The grass does grow greener around your workshop. Time for a price increase?

Thanks for those suggestions, gentlemen. I think I will try both methods on scrap and decide which feels more confortable. I'll report back with results.

The bevels look good. Did you do them with rasp and hand-sanding, or a belt sander? As Scott said, that sapele has really nice grain. How does the body/neck balance feel so far?

I'm half-way through a Jackson Kelly-ish build. The body is white limba with a walnut center laminate flanked by black-dyed pear veneers. Yesterday, I routed it with my template. I got a little tear-out on two of the points, but otherwise, it's in good shape. My next challenge is creating the distinctive edge bevels that get deeper towards the points. Anyone know the actual depth measurements? Suggested methods based on experience? Rasp and careful hand-sanding? Block plane for the conex bottom curve? 45 degree bevel router bit using my MDF template offset and rotated slightly? I know many of us freehand it using an angle grinder with abrasive wheel, but I'm working in our basement spare bedroom and can't have a dust storm filling the house. Also, I found it really hard to control the the grinder when I tried it in past for belly and forearm carving. Whatever method I choose, I've got scrap limba to practice on.

That was a great video about timbers, grain, work-ability, etc. Thank you! I say that should be pinned in the tutorial section. I have made several bad choices on past projects, and would have benefited from your advice. Finishing options would be a nice accompaniment to a tutorial. E.g., 'oil' means very different things to internationals builders. And I like your selections for the current builds.

That's an amazing top -- doesn't get much better. As for the volute: experimentation is good, just what we like on PG. Great work!

Nice work, Paulie. Let us know what you think of the trapezoidal neck profile. Is the truss-rod access on your neck just in front of the brass headpiece? I built a Strandberg-tribute last year (with Ola's permission). I used a Steinberg-clone bridge and headpiece from J Custom in Korea. They seem to be made well and work fine, although pricey. I used a Stew-Mac Hot Rod truss rod, and had to flip it upside down to align with the access hole in the headpiece.

Good luck, John. This should be a win. ...Unlike the epic-fail I had 4 years ago with a similar Electra body resto. I filled the center pup and tremo routs with maple. Drilled for a hard-tail HipShot bridge. Then I shellacqued it and sprayed the body with auto-body acryllic rattle-cans.... and (unwisely) glitter. Bad ideas give bad results: The paint never really hardened, and flaked-off weeks later when I tried to play it. It's still my beater guitar until I feel more worthy of another attempt. PS, I love your Corus. Odd shapes inspire us.

As Scott said, that ash figure is amazing. I'm putting that on my 'must get' list. Hope you can get more in future. Please tell us how you finished these three beauties.

Unfortunately, this bridge has black plating covering every component, including the movable saddles, set screws, etc. Even the bare aluminum saddle inserts in my pic just sit on top of black plating. I haven't bothered disassembling the tuning knobs, but I'm assuming the same situation. Since this bridge is supposed to be a Steinberger clone, I searched the web for any mention of how those bridges are grounded, but couldn't find anything. I was planning to scrape the plating away where the high E-string saddle contacts the base plate, where the aluminum saddle insert contacts its saddle, and around one base plate mounting screw hole for my grounding wire. The E-string will connect to the other strings via the zero-fret. Just as I was about to post this reply, I decided to check the bridge with my ohmmeter. Sure enough, you are correct Mattia, the black tuner screw knobs are conducting. Relief! So I will only need to remove the plating around the base plate screw hole for my ground wire.

The eBay seller is headlessresearch http://stores.ebay.c...HEADLESS?_rdc=1

>> If you don't mind me asking what did that run you? The JCustom bridge was $130 and the headpiece was $80. $30 for FedEx from South Korea to Canada. >> I have inside line with ETS and ABM so they are probably my first choice but I am interested in this bridge. I had looked at the ABM product via Allparts, but the price was higher. I really had my sights set on Strandberg's single-string tuners and string-locks, but his web site says they are on reserve for his backlog of full-build clients. With Ola's permission, I hope to use his EGS body design for this build. I've never even played a headless before, so this will be an interesting experiment. BTW, my last build was a carved-top 7-string superstrat inspired by you, RAD. Thanks!

Thanks, RAD. I will start with a wire in one of the base-plate screw holes and check for any buzz. I might need to scrape off some plating underneath the saddle set screws - TBD. Yes, the bridge seems to be good quality. It's cast with hollows on the bottom -- it's a heavy sucker. Here's a pic: I ordered it on eBay late one Thursday night. It arrived at my door by FedEx the following Tuesday morning. Amazingly fast. Of course, I got a FedEx invoice a few weeks later for the import duty, tax, and processing fee.

I've started a headless neck-through build using the Steinberger-clone fixed bridge and headpiece from JCustom Headless Research. Any suggestions on how to ground the bridge? The strings will be electrically connected via a zero-fret, but I don't see a good spot to ground one of the saddles or tuners. Also, of note for anyone else planning to use that headpiece: The truss rod access hole is very close to where the neck plane 'shelf' is (assuming a 1/4" thick fretboard). This headpiece is intended to match specific Steinberger-style necks. So I will have to angle the headpiece downward to line up with the location of my Stew-Mac Hot Rod adjuster, centered ~8.5mm below the neck plane surface. (Build photos still to come in the In Progress forum.)

Very nice work, Avi. I like your aluminum headpiece solution, and how your logo reflects the body shape. I can imagine it being very comfortable to play. What brand of tuners did you use?

Looking good so far. You've got a nice edge bevel on the back and white binding on the front. Depending on what finishing gear and experience you have, I'd suggest a gloss black front with either white or pearloid pickguard in the traditional 400x style.

Very tasteful design. I especially like how the body thickness tapers from the center to the wings. Great lighting on those photos, too. The mahogany figure is very nice. What finish product are you shooting? Keep on posting!

I don't know about a burst, but I'm tempted by the dark grain-fill. What filler product would you suggest using, and what color for the trans? (I remember one of Drak's amazing finishes, where he bleached the lacewood, then dyed it with a black sand-back, then finally a reptilian green - wow!) I'd really love to get a mirror gloss with lots of depth to the lacewood, but I'm a bit intimidated by all the sanding and care required wth this carve. That's why Tru-Oil is my fall-back option.

Would the Stew-Mac right-angle 3-way switch fit? 13/16" cavity depth -- although it doesn't come in black. Or maybe a mini-toggle on-on-on -- although I've never tried one of those for pup switching.

Thanks, DC. So, we've got one vote for Tru-Oil. Any other suggestions before I commit?