Dust N' Bones

It's pretty obvious that Ed Roman is an egotistical twit. (I can't believe someone on this forum had to tell me that) But the guy has got some pretty neat ideas. Which is exactly why I wanna rip him off.

Mainly I'm interested in:

his all access neck joint, which looks like just a bit of routing and sanding.

The 1500G neck finish. And now correct me if I'm wrong but to do that all I need to do is boil some lemon oil (or something similer), apply to the neck, sand it level (repeat if necissary) then apply some wax. And the wax is where I get confused. Is the wax also boiled? And is it applied the same way as the oil? I considered not applying the wax but, someone said that they didn't apply wax and instead just reapplied the oil every six months. And I'd rather just do it once. So, the wax acts as a sealer for the oil right?

Lastly is the direct coupling. I've found several article regarding this and I understand most of it except for the actual coupling part. All that's ever said is that the pickup is "Physicly pressed into the wood". Is that all? Because I think it might come loose sooner or later. So, how is the pickup actually attached to the neck?

Also he makes the heel removing process look like pulling teeth, and he charges an arm and a leg for it too. But is it anything more then cutting and sanding?

Yeah, I was afraid of that. Well, thankyou everybody. This has been quite helpful. All I gotta do now is figure out how to do some fancy pants clear glossy finish.

regular lacquer and shellac are out.

So, an alcohol or poly based product would work fine?

If you get yellow-ish powder, you're getting oils up into the finish.

And to fix this problem I need to let the finish dry longer or spray it on thicker?

And to do such a finish would I need any fancy spraying equipment?

Then get some flamed maple and stain away, really.

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Well, I really like the grain pattern of cocobolo and the effect it has on the sound. I just had that picture as a reference for what kind of paint I'm looking for.

By the way, Where do you all get these sweet woods? Exoticwoods.com? That's what I'm planning to use. Only place I've found that sells both cocobolo and Korina

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Ditto.

Now I know cocobolo is a difficult wood to finish. But unfourtunatly that's all I know. Because that seems to be all anyone ever says about cocobolo. So, how does one go about solving this delema? I'm thinking of going with a high gloss polyester finish as seen on the alembic Tribute. But what I'd really like is a translucent emerald green stain like This bad boy. But I hate to cover up such a beautiful wood as cocobolo with an artificial color that probablly won't even show up the right color because of the wood's natural redish color. And it might be too difficult. I've never seen a cocobolo guitar with anything but a clear gloss finish so maybe it's just impossible. Really, the finish is what I'm most worried about with building a guitar.

Oh, and yeah, I used the search feature.

How did I know that noone was gonna answer my question and just tell me to use the search feature? And how do these people know that I didn't use the search feature? And why don't they realize that with the same amount of typing, or less, they could have answered my question already? Honestly, I searched, and found nothing. Maybe I missed it. But all you had to type was either "neck" Or "body". Either of those would do. It doesn't hurt to help others with their research when they're having problems.

Also I should add that it's a glue in neck.

I'm perplexed. Before joining the neck to the body is the heel of the neck cut to make a certin neck requirement? Or is the neck pocket on the body cut to give the neck the required angle?

I'm also checking out Usacustomguitars.com. Has anyone had any experience with them? Really what I'm looking for is gold frets and an asymetrical back contour.

Well, I liked all the options Warmoth gives you but they're missing one crucial choice which is obviously a set neck/bolt-on option. Unless I'm missing something but I've searched high and low around that site and found nothing. However, soulmateguitars.com did look quite interesting. Also, what's anyone got against Ed Roman?

This is probablly a stupid question but I don't want to spend 500 dollars on a part then goof it up. So, could I buy a Warmoth neck without the bolt holes and then glue it on, or does the heel shape on them only ment for bolting on?

The volume pot for my rythem pickup is loose and I have no Idea how to fix it. I can't even get the knob off. I used that T-shirt methood from the website but the knob was too stubron. So, who knows how to fix this?

Now this could be wrong but i thought if anything, floyds help with sustain? i thought it improved sustain but meh could be wrong

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Wow, I just read that the original design improves sustain too. Why have I been reading so much about these being sustain killers? Oh well, my problem's solved.

Thanks pal. Also, how do the bigsby tremolos compare? I hear they have the same sustain as a normal bridge. But can they dive as far?

I'm having some mixed fealings about this floyd rose bridge. It sounds incredable doesn't it. You can dive down 800 steps and right back in tune. But then again it shortens sustain doesn't it? So I'll ask my questions to the experts here.

How bad is the sustain loss?

Does it Absolutly HAVE to be used with the locking nut?

What's the deal with that locking nut anyways?

And is there any way to increase the sustain?

Dense woods can transfer string energy better and increase sustain . . .but they can also be oily and damp energy transfer.

This doesn't yet address the issues of gluing and finishing cocobolo which can be problematic.

Is Cocobolo one of those oily woods that damps energy transfer?

And why would gluing and finishing cocobolo be problematic?

Also, I've been looking into using a mahogney back with a cocobolo top. Whould this possibly work better or worse?

As for it being a poisonous wood I will be taking every percaution to ensure that my guitar doesn't kill me.

Alright, I've been considering building my own guitar for a long time and, I'm gonna do it. Doesn't look to hard. But, I do have plenty of questions that I coudn't find complete answers to throughout the forum. Maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough. Oh well.

First, I plan on building the body completely out of cocobolo wood. I read that dence woods give a thicker, richer tone. I'm young and I've got a good back so I think I can support a good couple of pounds for a while. I also think that with an emerald green stain it'll look beautiful. What are your opinions on using cocobolo wood?

Second, sense this is my first guitar I'll be ordering the neck online sense it's just too important to mess up. My question is, How should I go about ordering a neck online? (I know that's vague, Just tell me what you would do)

What tools are needed to carve a guitar's body? And are the same tools used to form the cutaways for the arm and body in stratocasters?

Those Floyd Rose bridges are ridiculous. What makes them so special? And how do you set a bridge in the right spot? I'm actually considering having the bridge set by a porfessional at a shop because misplacing the bridge could completely destroy weeks of work. And isn't setting the bridge one of the last steps before electronics?

Lastly, what is a good electric guitar building book I should look into before I start?

Alright, I think that's all of them. Though, with my luck I'll have a hundred more after the first day of building.

Thanks!