Guitarfrenzy

Like Setch said, you don't want to be filing away your neck wood accidently while filing the fret ends. A safe edge needs to ride along the fingerboard to avoid this. Here's a picture of what he's talking about. I do however make the edges of the fingerboard have that "broke in" feel, by hand rolling the edges. I use a weird method of scraping the edge with a razor blade by changing the angle to round it with each pass until it's like I want it, then final sanding will finish it. Not sure it's the best method, but one I use. BTW.. that's after the frets are installed.

I agree with what you guys are saying, a router is the most important tool to have in guitar building. It's unlimited as to what you can do with one, and the right jigs..

Just wanted to keep everyone updated on these videos, there is a new one out that shows how they build a complete neck. link It's definitely worth watching!!!

This is another lesson in guitar building 101. It's not always how you do something, it's also what order you do something. Obviously now you know to slot the fingerboard before tapering it.. lol Lesson learned, schools out.. But the way you did it, is like PRS, Fender, etc. does theirs, with one exception, they have a machine like this that can cut all the fret slots in one pass. You probably don't have a machine like that, and neither do most of us. Another way to get the centerline is to just take the measurement at the nut end of the fingerboard, divide it in half, and mark your centerline at that end. Do the same thing at the heel end, then use a long straightedge to draw your centerline. You could also make something out of wood that would hold the neck at the correct place for slotting perpendicular to the centerline. Did you bandsaw the neck out? If so, find the scrap from the side and try to use it, it might work for you.

Welcome aboard!!

I have gotten tools from all of the above.. Stew Mac, LMI, Allied, Ebay, Grizzly, and have built my own, etc. etc. But I guess I'll just answer with where I bought most of my tools, which is Stew Mac. You got me wondering though just how much money I've spend on tools with just Stew Mac.. umm. let me see.. #5054 Offset Diamond File $94.50 #4578 Fret Leveler (16") $40.87 #4148 220 grit Stikit Sandpaper $48.95 #0405 9-1/2" Radius Block $15.35 #0417 12" Radius Block $15.35 #0418 16" Radius Block $15.35 #1649 Fret Tang Nippers $41.29 #0619 Fret Cutter $26.36 #1826 Dressing Stick Kit $8.95 #4479 Neck Support $10.44 #5745 Adjustable Fret Saw $28.64 #3850 18" Straightedge $44.40 #0620 String Action Guage $18.95 #5151 3/64" Inlay Bit $17.95 *(.010" - .056") width Nut Slotting Files $153.00 *two double edged Nut Slotting Files $45.90 #0673 String Spacing Ruler $20.95 #1811 Feeler Guage Set $21.95 #3598 Guaged Saw (.020") $8.22 #5663 2"x3" Robo-Sander $24.90 #4611 Pearl Cutting Saw $16.60 #5262 Mini Air pump $9.95 #4365 Fret Press Caul Set $46.47 #4894 6" Steel Ruler $10.90 #5243 Pickguard Bevel Cutter $23.88 #1094 Humbucker template $5.55 Total so far ------------------------- $815.62 That's just on what I call tools and I probably missed a whole lot even then. I saved a lot of money by building some tools myself. The neck jig I made saved me $355.00. Bought and modified an arbor press which saved me $59.94. Etc. etc. Now don't even get me started on how much I have spent on books, videos, supplies, etc. from Stew Mac. I would start to cry.. lol

It didn't work.. lol

True, but the whole point I was trying to make was that Firefox has it's risk too and isn't as secure as some would like you to believe. I'm not trying to defend IE, lord no.. btw if you noticed, I use Opera. They are the inventors of tabbed browsing, and even IE is going to use it in IE 7. I'm not saying Opera is safer either, actually you should always run the newest version no matter which browser you use.

I don't know about more secure, check out this article that just came out today here....

Agreed. Yes, epoxy is probably a better choice, but I've personally used CA glue before and it worked good. Just wanted to give him another option. I'm with you though, to do an even halfway decent job, your going to have to be very careful with how you do it. I personally don't think you should practice on this guitar though!!!

You can use super glue if it's a minor ding, but you'll have to wet sand and buff the body again or it won't look right. It's really best, for you to refinish the guitar again, if you want it perfect. But then again, you have to be realistic with yourself. Do you have the right equipment and know how to pull off a better job, than if you'd have left a couple of dints and dings in the original finish? That's really the question you need to ask yourself.

Opera is what I use...

Nice looking instruments, I like it when someone does something new design wise and still make it work. Very nice!!

Above is a drawing of what Russ was explaining earlier. I posted this before you demanded a drawing of it. I gave you a link that not only shows you how to make a strat style neck, but also the whole thing from complete scratch to finish. I really don't understand why you can't get started. You just need to get drawing out your templates with the dimensions in the link I gave you for the neck, draw out or print out your headstock shape once you decide on something, and like Larry the Cable guy says, "GET-R-DUN"...

Believe it or not, your going to have to have some tools to build a guitar, it's just that simple. Now if you don't have any of the tools mentioned above.. Jigsaw, coping saw, router, bandsaw, scroll saw, etc., please reconsider putting off your build until you do have or have access to some tools. Handmade doesn't mean carving out a neck and guitar body with karate type chops to the wood, your going to have to use tools.

First off, why do you want to change the string spacing at the bridge? Are the two outer E strings too close to the edge? Was this a guitar you built? If so, you should have bought the correct bridge for the neck you made or was going to use. You could have read my Calculating the Correct Bridge For Your Guitar article, and punched the numbers in to find which bridge would be best for you. Let's say you did the numbers and it turns out 2" string spread at the bridge for the two outer E strings. We'll if you bought the Hipshot bridge your talking about, which has a string spread of 2-3/32", then you can see why the strings are so close to the edges of the fingerboard. That's why you need to plan ahead, and since the bridge you bought was preslotted and if I'm looking correctly, using wide V shaped slots. Your best best it to buy new saddles and slot them to correct the string spread. You probably could have avoided this situation if you'd had done the math. Good luck bro.. MaTT Vinson

It's not something you have to do, but if you don't you might have to make it so the neck is sitting quite high from the body, depending on the bridge you use. Just depends on how you want things to look and feel. Read that thread you found on neck angle again if your still having a hard time understanding the need for a neck angle.

If your wanting a very thin neck then the Stew Mac Hot Rod truss rod probably isn't the best one you could use. It takes a 7/16" deep slot, and you have to leave at least 1/8" between the bottom of slot wood, and back of neck. If you can get one that only takes a 3/8" slot like these or these from LMI., you'd be able to get a thinner neck.

Hey, chill out bro.. I think the advice you've been given is the right direction. Melyvn's book is very valuable and highly recommended. How was they to know you can't drive 27.5 miles to buy one. Chill... First off, you have to be willing to be helped, before you can get help. The advice given to you has been for your benefit. If your building your own guitar, you can make the heel any dimension you want to. Now, If your wanting a certain size heel, like a Fender, Gibson, PRS, then we can understand you better. Check out my Making of a Strat pictorial if you want to know the methods for making a Fender style neck. It doesn't give the dimension of the heel though, simply because I didn't show how to make your own templates, which would have taken up a whole tutorial itself. This was built from Strat templates bought from Ron at guitarbuildingtemplates.com. If your serious about building a neck, take the time to build good templates first. I've said it a million times and will say it again to you,,, it's much easier sanding a 1/4" template perfect than it is a 2" piece of hardwood. Hope you find the pictorial of some use to you. As far as the dimensions goes, and I'm just going to assume you meant a Fender type neck. Here's a link that should help you to make your own using these dimensions. link 1

I'm with Setch, exactly why was the fingerboard taken apart? I thought that only the neck wood was damaged from your pictures. Your quickest solution now, is just to build a new neck from scratch.

As far as I know, the frets aren't adjusted, only the nut and bridge. The nut is moved forward approximately 2mm, and the bridge is intonated for stretch tuning.

It's great that your so busy you need help to keep up. That tells me business is good, and that's where it's at. I hope you find someone who can step right in and can help you get caught up. Good luck Perry, hope everything works out for you.

Looking great so far!!!

I have no doubt you can cut out a body with a Scroll Saw, especially Delta brand one. If your going to buy something to cut a body out and you can't spend much, then I'd recommend buying the little 9" Delta Bandsaw. You can get it for around 100 dollars, and it will cut a body out in no time. If you've got more money, buy a bigger bandsaw so you can resaw. Actually, It's great to have more than one bandsaw, so that one is just for cutting out bodies, and the other is setup for resaw. That way you don't have to change blades when you get ready to do either. Also, when I was in Lowes the other day, I noticed Delta has a 10" bandsaw now, it approximately 200 dollars, and might be worth checking out. Now if money is no object, then 14" and up.

Depends on what kind of finish it is. If you do install the tuners before the finish cures, if you leave them on, you could have major problems if you ever need to remove them, and most definitely pull up the paint. All the advice above works great to solve this problem.