ryanb

It is certainly possible to sand it with a flat sanding block, as long as you are careful not to mess up the radius. A sanding caul does make life easier, however. Buying or making one is pretty inexpensive. If your board is "pretty rough" and you can see "routing marks" you are going to need to start a lot coarser than 600 (say 100 or 120 depending on how rough it is), and work your way up to that.

I am perfectly calm. Any excitement is something you read into it. If you already decided to replace the body, why are you here asking for opinions on sanding and refinishing this one? Good luck anyway ... hope it comes out well.

I don't agree. I would be very suprised if it were a one piece body -- there would be no reason for Ibanez to build it that way for a solid finish (it's possible, but don't assume). Even so, it is still basswood. Yes basswood's grain isn't very apparent ... which is one reason it won't look good stained. Basswood will never look like a JS6 (mahogany), no matter what elaborate staining you try to do to it. If that is the look you want, get a JS6/6000 or make a mahogany body. You also shouldn't assume that the basswood will look that good. It can have discolored areas that don't affect the sound, but would look terrible in a natural finish. Of course, you won't ever know for sure until you strip the existing finish, but I wouldn't even consider it in this case.

This all depends on what you want to use it for. I have a 12.5" Delta planer I have been using for years (mostly non-guitar work). I also have the 18" Delta sander. The sander is a great tool for guitar work, but it does NOT replace a planer. Moving from a 12" or 12.5" planer to a 13" planer makes essentially no difference in the real world. The two speed option might make some sense if you do a lot of work on highly-figured woods, but in my opinion it isn't worth very much extra money. You won't be putting a full guitar top through it at once anyway ... really just for rough sizing multipiece body blanks, neck blanks, etc. Final work would then be done with planes, sanders, etc. A 15" or larger planer is a great luxury for sure, but at a significantly higher price point. If you can afford it, go that route. If not, a 12.5" planer is a very good tool to have around. Also keep in mind that the planer is not going to handle very thin stock either ... you won't be doing acoustic tops on most of them for example. That's another good time to pull out the wide drum sander. It's a different tool with different uses. One doesn't replace the other. Decide what kind of work you really want (and need) to do, then buy your tools appropriately. A small planer won't help much if you only want to do one-piece bodies and tops, but they are great for a lot of things.

Good chance yes. Try it and see.

It's no secret where the Fret Nippers came from. Sure you can make your own for less money. But like anything else, a lot of people are willing to pay a bit more for the convenience of not having to make their own.

Birdseye can be quite problematic in that respect. The previous tips are good. But after you have flattened and bandsawed your blank, it will start to twist again. Be sure to keep it weighted down and don't leave it sitting around long before you use it (i.e. glue it down onto something).

White plus red pigment ... practice till you get it right.

... not to mention that all that cutting oil is going to make a mess of your wood and may create finishing problems down the line.

Stick with the polyurethane. Good luck getting Kinkos to print that stuff for you. They are pretty picky about not touching any copyrighted or trademarked material (for legal reasons).

If you were really reacting to the wood, it seems unlikely that only one finger, and not your whole hand, would be affected.

For a cheap tabletop band saw, it looks pretty normal. For a good band saw, it looks pretty bad. You might be able to improve things somewhat with adjustments (as already mentioned), but you will always have a certain amount of that to clean up with a band saw cut. The router trick works very well in the right circumstances, but there are lots of other ways to do it as well. Adjust the saw for the best cut possible, then be sure to leave enough extra material that you can clean the marks off without removing wood past your cut lines.

First you should make sure that your reaction really was from picking up the cocobolo, since that is a pretty minor exposure . However, if that really is the problem, you are very sensitive to the cocobolo and you should immediately forget any idea of using it. You don't want to cut or sand it, or you could have a very severe reaction. Even with a respirator, the exposure to your skin could be a big problem. Putting something like lemon oil on the finished board won't solve the problem. While it might be possible to seal the board up with something like lacquer, it would be a pretty unusual finish. Bottom line is that it just isn't worth risking your health for a fretboard. There are plenty of other choices out there that won't have the same consequences for you. Check out the pinned topic on wood toxicity.

Awesome stuff again, Craig!

If you have the cash, Dan Erlewine demonstrates that procedure on his Advanced Fretting 1 DVD (at Stew-Mac). Those are good DVDs, though expensive. His videos also address the common LP loose truss rod issues. The info is probably in his books too, if you can't afford the DVDs. The tutorial section should have some relavant info too.

As mentioned, after cutting/planing/sanding purpleheart, it will take a little time to oxidize and return to the brilliant purple you expect. Left unfinished, it will change to some dull brown shades over time. You need to get some lacquer or urethane on it (the concensus i've found is that lacquer is the best). Something with a UV inhibitor would probably help. However, purpleheart WILL continue to change over time even if it is finished. It will change much more slowly, but it will still change. About the best you can do is keep it out of sunlight, and it should last pretty well.

You probably can use the buffing compound you have, if it isn't too hard. Stewmac sells paste versions of the same compounds for use on the Finesse pads (on the same page). As for the big wheels, even if you mounted them to your hand drill, it wouldn't have the torque to spin them. It just wouldn't work right.

Matt got it right. Use a sharp brad point bit or a forstner bit.

If the nut is replaceable, then replacing it is probably the best option. Otherwise, manually bend the neck as far as you need to (ala neck jig, but can be done by simpler means if you don't have a jig), then adjust the nut to the new position. By taking the force off the nut you will be able to turn the nut even without getting a really good grab on it.

+1, compression from the fretting. You didn't say how much backbow you actually have, but a little is not such a bad thing. The string force will pull it back forward again. As long as the string pull is enough (or more than enough) to pull the neck straight again (or into a little relief) with a truss rod adjustment, you shouldn't have to refret. The double-action rod helps this too. Use the rod now to straighten the neck as much as possible before you level the frets. Then readjust the rod as necessary after you have strung it up and let it sit awhile.

Yes, you can install the rod upside-down, but the adjustment direction will be reversed -- clockwise to loosen, counter-clockwise to tighten. I do the same thing with Stew-Mac Hot Rods for a similar reason. When I discussed it with Stew-Mac, they agreed that there was nothing wrong with doing it that way, as long as you don't mind the change in adjustment direction.

Another trick is to route the rings into the surface of a thicker piece of wood. The extra thickness provides the support. When the shapes are done, a single pass through the table saw (or a resaw bandsaw) will slice the rings off the block clean and simple.

I wouldn't count on converting it to piezo. If that's what you want, you should have ordered the Double Edge Pro.

Also be aware that with abalone inlays, your scalloping runs a risk of either going through the abalone or at least may significantly alter the appearance of the inlay. The color and figure are not constant throughout the thickness of the inlay. Just take all of those things into account when setting the depth -- thicker inlays are helpful.

You have one fret that is high at one string. Either that fret has popped up (unlikely on the B string without getting the E too), or the fret just needs to be levelled correctly. File the fret down where it needs to be or get a tech to do it for you. Should be easy enough. Also, FYI -- You adjust the height of individual strings on a Floyd by inserting/removing shims under the saddles. OFR saddles are different heights though, so don't get them out of order. (not sure if the licensed trems are the same)