wisdom727

This is my fourth from-scratch build inspired by some of the fine work by PG members. It's a 7-string, 26.5" scale superstrat, with a 3-piece carved lacewood top, and two-piece hard maple back. The neck is one-piece QS maple with pau ferro FB. The hardware will be gold and the pups will be white HBs. I'm looking for suggestions on finishing -- particularly because the lacewood top has a very textured open grain. I've done two Tru-Oil finishes in past that worked very well. I've also done (and re-did twice) an HVLP finish using water-borne Target EM6000. That wasn't as easy and I still need to improve my technique. Here's the body wiped down with mineral spirits: Neck and body dry: Back is hard maple. I will make a lacewood cover plate.

I couldn't find a template for 26.5" scale commercially, so I made one out of 1/8" thick MDF. I used an inlay saw to start all the slots, then widened them slightly with tiny files so they fit tight to the Stew-Mac registration pin. Finally, I used some thin epoxy along the edge. It took me a few hours, but worked OK.

Excellent work. As Wes said, the heel looks amazing. I like your binding job and the headstock shape. I'm not sure I associate the word 'brutal' with a butterfly, but your inlays look great. What is the thing between the bridge and the tailpiece? I've never seen a piezo in person. Also, Please tell us more about your finishing schedule. The gloss front with matte back is very tasteful.

Beautiful work and great photos, as usual, Patrick. That's an interesting heel transition. I'm trying to imagine how it feels while playing. You may have covered it in other threads, but please tell us more about your signature headstock inlay.

Very nice work, and great outdoor photos. The open grain on the cocobolo, wenge, and limba looks good with Tru-Oil. The 4 rear pick-up height-adjustment bolts are an interesting twist that I don't recall seeing before. As with the mini-switches, they'll look better in black. How is it for bending with those strings and dropped tuning on a 25" scale?

If you are using a manual slotting jig, like from Stew-Mac, I would cut the flat fretboard slots to ~2.0 mm depth as a start. After you have radiused the board, you will need to recut the slots following the contour. I attach a depth-stop made from poplar strapping to my fret saw. Here's a link to the pic.... http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/eTibW5MoBV_DIGSWtoUIn-d1BGWrBe5AcXUnF3MwAB4?feat=directlink

I have the same Ryobi 9" BS, and also tried changing to a 3/8" blade. Same blade squealing and poor results as you've had. I changed to a 1/4" blade with far fewer TPI. It clears chips better and doesn't wander as much -- but is still a POS. I now have a much better 14" General BS with an assortment of blades, and use the Ryobi only for thin material.

Love that yellow, John! I used Duplicolor on a refinish project (Electra XV3GR) in 2009. I sprayed several coats of gray base, a coat of metallic glitter, followed by many coats of clear. I left a day or more between coats, plus a 3-week gap before the final few clear-coats. Even then, it was so soft that it imprinted when I left it lying on a cotton t-shirt for an hour. Months later, paint chipped-off down to the shellac sealer in a few places, and I can still leave a mark if I press with my fingernail. I must have spent >$120 for those spray cans. I love their wild metallics and glitter effects but I won't use Duplicolor for clear-coating again. Now that I have an HVLP set-up, I've started using Target EM6k instead.

Warmoth stuff is very good quality from my experience and by their reputation. They don't offer a 'kit', but they have everything you'd need.

Well done, Manny! Thanks for documenting and sharing your 1st build in such detail. It's a reminder to us all that, with careful planning and patience, great results can come from using mostly hand tools. You and your son should be very proud of that guitar.

Great looking xiphos build! I have a related question: How do you and others create low-angle body bevels? So far, I've avoided beveled body shapes due to uncertainty, but I can imagine a few ways: 1. Use a huge/expensive bevel r-bit with a router table, and take many shallow passes to minimize tear-out; or 2. Build a router jig to tilt an overhead plunge or fixed router, and mill the bevels with the end of the bit; or 3. Carve them out manually with rasp, handplane, and scraper. Advice?

I'm restoring an old Electra neck from '83 that had many chips and dings in its original automotive poly finish. My plan was to fill in the chipped spots with several applications of CA glue, then to sand those areas flat. That seemed to work well enough for my low standards. The next step is to fine-sand then spray the entire neck back and headstock with a few light coats of Minwax rattle-can gloss poly. I did a test coat on the back of the headstock, and let it cure for a few days. When I checked the CA-filled areas, they felt gummy and lost their gloss when I rubbed my finger across them. Obviously, CA and this spray poly are not compatible, but I didn't find any posts about that from searching this forum. (Can't easily search for a two-letter keyword either!) Anyone have similar problems and/or advice? Thanks, Wis.

I wouldn't get my hopes up about learning anything directly applicable to amps, effects, or audio at any college electronics course. I had the same intent when I was a young teen. I went on to get my EE at university (24 years ago). But even back then, very little of the material was about audio or analog circuit design. I learned much more about tubes and basic circuit theory from my high school electronics/shop teacher, and from reading books and magazines. Learning is all about self-motivation. (That's why we're here on this forum, right?) If you really want some good old-school tube amp knowledge, I would highly recommend Kevin O'Connor's books from his London Power Press website. They are pricey, but worth it. Also, find some of Craig Anderton's books -- I built some cool effects from his old Guitar Player mag articles back in the '80s. Wis.

I'll second that guess. It does look like imbuya, except yours is a bit more lighter and yellow than the plank I have. (Might be due to the camera flash.) I've made some small gift boxes from it. It works easily and has a spicy cinnamon fragrance when sanded. That figure should make for an attractive top. Let us know how the bass turns out. Wis.

I recently bought a pointy 1983 Electra Dynasty as a restoration/learning project. It was sadly abused. Among the many repairs that it needs is a cracked heel. I sanded all the poly and black color from the back of the maple heel. I'm looking for suggestions on how to fix this. Should I spread the crack a bit and try to inject thinned Titebond, epoxy, or CA glue? The crack extends a bit left of the sanded area, but I'm not too concerned about that if I can glue most of it. I may also drill-out, dowel-fill, and put threaded inserts in place of the attachment holes (if I can find suitable black oval-head machine screws). Thanks in advance! Wis.

I've bought water-based dye, finishing supplies, and an assortment pack of veneers from Lee Valley. Also, here are some Cdn sites for wood and instrument parts: http://www.amwoodinc.com/indexCan.html http://www.exotic-woods.com/welcome.html http://www.acousticwoods.ca/ http://www.thewoodbox.com/index.htm I've just ordered Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil from here: www.cabelas.ca/ Hope that helps. Wis.

I'm looking for advice on placing the neck pickup on my current build. The body shape is based on the well-known ergonomic Klein design, but uses a conventional Hip Shot fixed bridge and 25.5" neck with 3+3 tuners on the headstock. The pickups I've bought are a SD JB for the bridge and SD Hot Stack for the neck. Would you suggest angling the Hot Stack as shown in my drawing? I'm thinking that the angle will accentuate the mellowness and increase output for higher strings, and reduce the 'boominess' of the lower strings. Thanks, Wis

Thank you, all. As cSuttle said, "Even if know one else can see it, it will always bug you knowing it's not right." So last night, I took WezV's advice, and drilled out the marker with a smaller brad-point bit. The left-over ring came out by prying it up with an exacto blade. I filled the hole with some ebony dust mixed with CA. Tonight, I re-drilled, then glued in a fresh dot. I'm back on track now. :-) Cheers, Wis.

Thanks, Todd. First, I think I will try spreading some CA on top, then sand it down and polish. If that fails, I'll drill out the mess and start with a fresh abalone dot. Cheers, Wis.

I drilled and CA-glued 1/4" abalone dot markers on my ebony fretboard. One of the marker holes was a few thou" too deep. What should I do? Drill it out carefully, and try again? Or can I just drop some CA over the marker, then sand/polish it flush with my dremel? Tnx, Wis

What a coincidence! I have been trying to use Illustrator to design a new variant of my Moderne for the past 5 days. Now I find this thread. I've traced my Moderne's shape on paper already. Give me some time, and I can give you a drawing and dimensions - limited by my newbie Illustrator skills, of course.

I have a 1983 Moderne re-issue, purchased used from Sam Ash in NYC in 1984. I loved the shape then and still do... Gumby headstock and all! It's definitely comfortable to play while seated -- certainly better than my mahogany LP standard. The korina's light weight makes for perfect neck/body balance and it does not slide around. Although I do wish all Gibsons had tummy contours or at least more rounded-over edges. The earlier comment about the headstock poor design is partly true. I don't think the string break-angles are such a big deal, but the tuners feel loose and sloppy. My only real complaint is that, although it sounds warm and bluesy through an amp, the light korina body seems to suck out certain notes, like the open G string! The uneven body response just feels weird. I'm planning to build a clone of my Moderne or more likely a variant based on a Jackson Kelly/Warlock using a heavier wood like alder or possibly maple. (This is my first post here. What a great resource!)