ryanb

It's really a cosmetic issue, so you can do whatever looks good to you. If you have a pickguard, you can cover it with that. You could glue in a wood block as mentioned. You could add a small cover over it. It won't take much glue to hold a filler block in place, since there is no force on it (it doesn't need to be that strong).

Interesting. I would also like to know "how much bigger" the new template is. Since the template is made for a Strat neck, is the template too big, or are the Warmoth necks too small? I wonder if the change was made to add more room for finish buildup. Oops. Never mind, I just saw your response...

If your choice is between rattlecan poly and rattlecan nitro ... I dare say that you will have MUCH better results with the nitro. When you spray out the nitro, the layers melt together and self-level much better than the poly. Hardware-store spray poly often sprays a very textured surface that would be hard to clean up. If you do use the poly, you need to make sure that each coat is COMPLETELY dry before you do the next coat ... full drying takes a long time (though much less in Arizona of course). If you recoat too soon, you may get a finish that stays sticky for a very long time, and may have trouble with the finish lifting. But that's just a suggestion.

What kind of grain filler did you use? Some fillers will accept oil, some won't.

You guys seem to have positive results with this stuff. If it works for you, by all means use it. My experience has not been so positive however. While it is a good product for furniture, I find it to be much too soft (compared to the lacquers and two part urethanes usually used on guitars) to produce good results, and very hard to apply well from the spray cans. These hardware-store polys are very different from the two-part urethanes. I wouldn't even consider using it on a finish I wanted to buff to a high gloss and hold up to abuse. But it could be worse.

While I agree that a flat-top, simple Tele or Strat may be the easiest to build, I think that kind of misses the point. You should build the guitar that you want, and that interests you. You must have some opinion about the type and style of guitar you really want. A fancier design may require more work and care, and a little more learning curve, but it can be done, it will keep you more interested, and you will be happier with the results.

Definitely bore oil.

I haven't used a $25 spray gun, and some bad guns can be very bad. You might find a good one though. I really hate rattle cans, so I would try to find a decent spray gun. If you do use aerosol cans, get a couple and switch frequently. When the cans get cold (from the propellent), they spit and clump more.

Try the System 3 Clear Coat two part epoxy. You can get it from LMI or numerous other places. There's also the SB112 version for really porous woods.

You can use the small attachments for the Dremel, but you have to go very slowly and take small cuts in each pass since the Dremel and its bits are pretty lightweight for routing. You can start with the smallest router base you can (laminate trimmer if available) and add some wedges to the base to allow it to sit flush... and you have to adjust the depth as necessary. You need to find a way to keep the router flat, or the binding channel, and thus the binding, will be angled. Of course the best way to do this is with an overarm router, but few people happen to have one of those around. Of course it can be done by hand too, with a little care, skill and some hand tools.

You said the board isn't radiused yet, so you should start fairly coarse with the sandpaper ... maybe 80-100 grit and quickly start moving to higher grits. You really can just keep going until you are satisfied with the finish. As far as your LEDs, they should sand down with the board just fine. You will have to polish them with a pretty high grit if you want them to be pretty clear ... or stop earlier if a milky translucent finish is what you want. The scrapers are probably better for the plastic binding.

You should slightly roughen the existing gloss finish before painting it so that the new paint has something to grab onto. (And also make sure the surface is absolutely free of dirt and grease.) You can apply whatever finish you want, but a color coat with no clear won't be very durable. There are matt clear finishes you could apply, or you could use a normal clear coat and just not polish it all the way to a gloss ... that might give you the look you want. Try some samples and see what you like.

If you are looking for metallic paints (like metallic car finishes), you may need a larger spray tip (depending on what you have). I believe the hardest part is keeping the paint mixed well enough while spraying it and getting it to settle evenly on surfaces that aren't horizontal. But maybe those are just problems with the heavy metallic flake. I don't really have any experience with that. I think LGM would be the definitive answer on that one. I think some of his pinned threads approach the subject. I'd suggest checking out some of the automotive paint suppliers (such as House of Kolor) for information about the products and how to apply them.

Yeah, I would think it is closer to 0.023 than 0.020. 0.020 will almost surely be too small, especially on a refret. But you won't really know until you pull one or more frets and measure. Then you can plan your refret job accordingly: which fret size to use, whether to use glue and/or hammer in, whether crimping or flattening the tangs is necessary, etc. Be sure to measure the size of the barbs too... it's not just the tang size that matters. (Your size selection will also depend on whether there are any neck curvature issues you are trying to change.)

When the truss nut is placed at the body end of the neck, the neck usually must be removed in order to adjust it (like some Fenders). You can make an access hole there, moving the pickup back some (as you mentioned). That can be hidden by a pickguard, or even a removeable section of the fretboard extension (among other ways). It shouldn't be a problem if you want to recess the rod a bit for more room. Just figure out where the peghead end of the rod will end up. Most of the effect of the rod is toward the peghead end anyway. BTW, you might consider some of the other versions of the Hot Rod. Specifically, that is the reason for the "spoke nut" Hot Rod, so that it can be adjusted radially with a smaller access hole at the body end. Another idea is to access the rod nut through the neck pickup rout ... of course you have to pull out the pickup to do it ... which isn't much easier than removing the neck. Of course, you could also move the nut to the peghead end .... it's up to you. If you use the 1/8" allen nut, you will have to have a big enough access hole to get the allen wrench into the nut (both in depth and length), and wide enough to allow more than 60 degrees of rotation of the allen wrench (you have to be able to turn it far enough to remove the wrench, rotate it one flat, and reinsert it for another bite). You will have to work out what that is in your case ... but it will be a fairly large amount. You may want to think about that part some more before you jump into building it.

Well, I certainly am the minority opinion on that one. I agree that carbon fiber may be a good precaution on something like cherry. I still say it is completely unnecessary on hard maple and jatoba. While I am not necessarily convinced, given your positive experiences I may reconsider the carbon rods in a future project. jmrentis, either way, I am sure your neck will come out great ... should be beautiful with those woods.

Get some bar clamps and reuse the bar. They are pretty inexpensive in many places and readily available.

I agree with MATT's response. LMI sells a set of nut files from Ibanez that is a little cheaper than the Stew-Mac set. A carpenter's level with a good straight edge and adhesive sandpaper is good for fret levelling ... or if you have the cash get one of the Stew-Mac flat-machined beams for levelling. For the nut you will need files/saws slightly smaller than the strings you want to use. You can use just about whatever you like and can find for the fretwork. It's largely a matter of preference. One of the Stew-Mac nut seating files can make your life a lot easier too.

The knives on the Lo Pro Edge are supposed to be "different". The left side is flat and the right side is curved. It is actually a plate that is installed in the base, and it can be replaced. But it doesn't sound like yours needs to be replaced. While you are over at Ibanez Rules, read the sections on properly setting up your knife edges and studs.

In my opinion you are making a mistake putting the carbon fiber rods in there. The rods are only going to make it harder for the truss rod to do it's job. (It resists both forward and backward bows.) Combined with an already thick neck, you are going to end up with something you can't adjust. That's fine if it is exactly the relief (or lack thereof) that you want, but a disaster if you need to change it. There are plenty of thin-neck guitars in the world that are doing just fine without any carbon rods. Don't simply assume that it is going to make things better for you.

I thought I would throw in some additional comments about the Hot Rod. I am using it for a couple guitars right now. I am putting the adjusting nut at the headstock. The normal Hot Rod installation puts the adjustable rod at the bottom, which means that the adjusting nut must be buried pretty deep in your headstock (straight headstock, not angled), making it weaker and uglier. I am mounting mine upside down, with the adjusting nut on the top. (Stew Mac has confirmed that this works fine.) That makes a much nicer package, with the adjusting nut tucked neatly right under the fingerboard surface. The disadvantage to this (of course) is that the adjustment direction is reversed (counter-clockwise to tighten). To me that is a minor compromise. It's a nice way to improve the packaging of a dual-action rod. (If we could get Stew Mac to build a version of the Hot Rod with the threading reversed, this would be really slick.)

I can't help much with UK suppliers, but there are a number of online suppliers that carry it. (like Musician's Friend). I think LeBlanc also makes a similar product specifically named for fretboards. (It only costs a couple dollars US for a bottle, so shipping to Europe would be expensive ... but I expect there is a supplier somewhere.) I learned that trick from Rich Harris at Ibanez Rules. The other brands probably work OK too ... I don't know.

Find some Leblanc Bore Oil and apply a very small amount to the fretboard after fretting and everything else is done. A number of online suppliers carry it ... do a search. It's very cheap and will last forever. Just rub some on with a rag. Periodically you can add some more after cleaning the board. You don't need to mask the frets for this. X-Treem Metal Polish is good for polishing frets (mask the board).

I may have read that wrong, but it sounded like you wanted to increase the scale length because using the longer 24-fret board forced everything out farther. But that doesn't work, because the frets will be in the wrong place. You can't just slap a 24-fret neck on a body designed for 22 frets. As mentioned, the extra frets must be added at the bottom of the fretboard, not the top. And the fret positions must be accurately determined for your scale length. You have to start with the scale length, not find out what it ends up to be at the end.

I don't follow you. do you mean like a stencil? I'm trying screenprinting because I want to do a bunch, and stencils can take forever, and if you've got more than a couple, the stencils break down, and you can never get em right. But maybe I don't understand what you mean. Billy ← Billy, Yeah, I meant a stencil ... I forgot you were talking about doing many guitars. Sorry.