Guitarfrenzy

Welcome to the boards!!!! Hope someone can help you out on anything you have questions about.. there are alot of good people on this forum that should be able to direct you in the right direction if they don't have an answer. As far as Gibson Les Paul Customs go.. I have two of them myself that I wouldn't trade for the world.. The first one is a 1980 model, cream colored that weighs a tons.. lol.. but sounds great.. looks exactly like the one Randy Rhoads had. And the other one is a 1987 Les Paul Custom Lite... not sure how many years they made it, but it's super light and has a coil tap switch... it's my favorite. Both of them play great, but there are some things that I think could be done better, which is why I got into building them... it's hard to play in the upper frets because of the big heel.. etc.. Anyway, hope you enjoy the forum as much as we do... Matt

Correct me if I'm wrong but from what I've read.. is that birdseye maple and other figured woods look great as a guitar neck, but they are very touchy and warp, twist.. and is very unstable.

also you can glue a couple of toothpicks into the wood with Titebond and let it set overnight and then you should be able to screw it back into the wood... Good Luck..

Exactly, flatsawn is easier for them to cut, but we need quartersawn for necks, but when your searching around you can find some lumber that is essentially quartersawn because it just lined up that way, but you'll have to do more digging around to find them. But yeah, if oak would work.. I can get tons of it.. but, unfortunately it's looking gloom and doom so far.

Very good job.. what kinda paint did you use btw?

Couldn't hurt to have some blue on your guitar.. lol.. since blue rules!!!

Yeah I had the same problem with the other program myself.. just said Illegal Operation when I started up. Download the Turbo Cad 2D.. that works.. and if you print this stuff off look for alot of fun pasting 16 pages together into one piece.. Derek suggested that I take it to a print shop and they can do it on one sheet for 4 dollars... Not bad considering that it will be way more accurate.. I'm gonna try today to get the Les Paul Jr. design printed up...

I have tons of tab books and magazines.. seems like I have a couple of Jason Becker songs.. I'll see if I have that one.. If I do, I'll mail it to ya..

Why not just get a arbor press? Just don't buy it from Stew and you should get it for pretty cheap. I'm even sure the one from Harbor Freight would be good enough.. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Disp...itemnumber=3551 Not sure though since I didn't get mine from them, they just seem to have a good price. Has anyone ever tried one that they sell on fretwork?

I got your e-mail Brian, and the number I was dialing was the same as the one you sent me.. and I still haven't been able to get in touch.. thanks though

I don't know if there is a good way to level them without taking them out.. If you don't take them out, and find a way to sand them down some, won't you be on your way to a partially scalloped neck... lol.. because you obviously can't sand the wood underneath the fret... Humm.. interesting.. hopefully someone can answer this one, you got me wanting to know now.. lol

lol.. just make sure you unplug the drill press.. you sure don't want it going off when your pressing them down.. YIKES!!!! that would be bad.. very bad.. lol... Especially if it's someone elses guitar your working on.. or building.. hehe

It won't take long to find out if you like it or not.. I had miles of obstacles to go around that I had no idea would come up... and I know there is alot more challenges to come.. But if you enjoy it, and understand from the start that your first couple of guitars.. umm might not be first class.. then you won't be setting yourself up for failure like I did.. So, Good Luck and please read more than I did before you get started.. lol...

Thanks, Derek... Dang, I forgot about that link... actually was the first site I found when I started my search for guitar building information.. then of course this was the second place I found.. lol... But I had forgotten that they have actual blueprints on guitars..

Those guitar finishes have to be the worst Fender ever came up with.. That doesn't even look good to me.. but to each his own... Not even blue splatter can make em look good.. lol

Depends on how good you do the fret job.. lol.. Yeah most of us have to crown, level and dress the frets.. after we put the frets on..

A neck support caul is also needed for pressing the frets either by hammer or by buying an arbor press and getting the stew mac fret cauls.. I'm thinking Brian has a tutorial making a neck caul.. but I haven't been able to find it now. Brian should be able to tell you where it is. This is a list of things your probably gonna have to buy or borrow... Your gonna need a way to cut the neck out.. bandsaw is the best way I know of.. so your gonna want to bring it to someone who has a decent one that will cut out your pattern for you. Your gonna want a rasp and other files.. mill files, etc etc. Shokeshave is a tool you'll want to use, and orbital sander is a plus if you can borrow one to do a carved top. You'll need access to a drill press, since you want to drill the tuning peg slots straight as possible. Last but not least.. alot of sandpaper...!!!

Yeah that router is ok.. depends on how much your gonna use it and what precision you need. My personal favorite is the Dewalt dw621 simply because it vacums the dust also.. and works great, except it will cost you alot more, but you get what you pay for most of the time. As far as tools go... I'd suggest you read all of the tutorials Brian has on Tools... and make everything you can possible make, there is no need to go out and buy everything, but you'll still need these tools no matter if you buy them or make them.. Here is a breakdown of what you can make and in the process save tons of money. For this post I'll just consentrate on tools to do necks with. These are some of the tools you can build. Neck Work: Radius Sanding Blocks: Used to shape the fretboards radius... These cost around 14 dollars and you can learn how to make them from Anthony Setchell article: http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/radius.htm Fret Bender: These help you bend the frets to the proper radius before hammering or pressing them in. Brian has a great way of making one for alot cheaper than StewMac's 89 dollar one. http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/bender.htm Miter Box: If you ever decide to actually slot your fretboards, you can pick one of these real cheap at Sears or such.. for under 30 dollars you can get a really good one.. It will cost you 70 dollars from STew. Nut Slotting Files: These cost alot for the good ones.. so to get by cheaper.. buy you a set of feeler guages from a local parts store, and rough up the edges so it acts as a file. They work great and I'm still using them.. lol.. the guages will actually have the sizes already labeled on them.. so no guessing.. Fret Beveling File: They cost about 50 dollars for a good 7" fret beveling file. but once again Brain comes through with a great idea of making your own. Just read near the bottom of this great article for how to's. http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/fretting.htm These will get you started in the neck building process... next, guitar body tools!!

lol.. he's talking about Jacksonville, Arkansas.. it's north from Little Rock... But I can sense your southern pride Brian.. lol

So not all Epoxies are created equal... What kind should you use on guitar work then? Only the kind StewMac sells?

Nice.. I knew you had mentioned a place close to Little Rock, but didn't know they handled Mahogany, or Quilted Maple.. we definetly need to go check that place out...

There may be some place to buy that kinda wood locally but If it is I don't know about it.. I'll try calling around to see..

Maybe they took a long vacation lol

Stew Mac seems like they have too high of prices(once again lol). The prices I've seen is #5136 Mahogany, quartersawn {3 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 26"} , $54.67.. maybe that's not too much, if the wood quality was really good.. but they don't even tell. That seems like enough wood to make a set neck.. I've looked at Luth Mer International page and they was cheaper, but the wood was only 7/8" thick, so I'm not sure if that would be wide enough to make a electric guitar neck.. ala Les Paul Jr. style.. I'm thinking it would be wide enough but I'd have to glue another small piece for the heel and headstock. I'm thinking of getting the #4655 Ebony for the fingerboard... or the #4655-r Rosewood both costing over 15 dollars. And also it doesn't tell the grade of wood used which worries me alot... Just wondering who you guys normally use to get wood from... We got alot of Swamp Ash we want to use(free is good)... but some will have Quilted Maple tops.. which will cost alot.. but I just need to know of a place that will sell quality woods at decent prices. Matt

I found this link http://www.jimdunlop.com/maintenence/fretchart.html So are StewMac's fretwire made by Dunlop? or are they different manufacture? Can you order the frets directly from Dunlop?