dave
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Posts posted by dave
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Just before I moved house (about 4 months ago) I decided "that's it! I'm gonna build my next neck instead of buying one!!!!" so I started a section of my site (check it) to narrate its progress (only this page works - the others were never created!).
Anyway, that piece of wood got left at the old house, and I still never found out what kind of wood it was! So I was driving around recently and saw a skip on the street with some similar wood in it - I guess it used to be roofing joists or something so I did some checking online and it seems that roofing joists are generally some kind of pine.... do you guys think pine is strong enough for a neck?
If not, where else can one source suitable timber at free or very-low prices? btw I'm in the UK....
If I went to a reclamation yard and perused say the maple section, what would I look for? How would I know that "this" piece is more suitable that "that" piece?
I really want to build a neck from scratch, but sadly funds are quite limited at the moment. I guess it's OK to use (ahem) "inferior" woods for body-building testing, but I guess neck tests & first-attempts, etc really need the right kind of wood from the start due to their important job in the grand scheme of things.... or am I wrong?????
btw... I got five lovely pieces of nearly-flat rosewood for fingerboards from Ebay (they used to be wooden flooring lol) for less than £10 so I've got plenty of meterial to play with at fret-cutting and inlay time!!!!!
Thanks guys... this place is great!
Dave
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check out FretCalc... you enter the scale length, number of frets and not only does it give you the measurements, but you can also print out an actual-size template that you can (temporarily ) stick to your fingerboard while you score fret positions with a knife, prior to sawing the slots.
Good luck!
Dave
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yeah that's a bit steep innit
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Hi there....
Once Brian & the rest of the gang have given you some pointers on what to get, you might want to try Screwfix and/or MachineMart for tools. Their prices are great and ScrewFix in particular do next day delivery cos everything's always in stock :o
I got a scrollsaw for small cutting jobs (like scratchplates, etc) for about forty quid ( :o ) from MachineMart and a bench-top bandsaw from ScrewFix for well under a ton ( :o ).
I better go before I overuse a smilie
Good luck!
Dave
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I was just reading an old review of the Warwick Thumb Bass, and saw that they used to allow individual string height adjustments in the nut by using slot-head screws as the nut. The string sits in the slot, and you can raise/lower the string height by removing the string and screwing/unscrewing the screw as required.
I thought it was kinda cool so did some searching, then found there's a new version. They call it the Just-A-Nut II.
Here's what it looks like....
Anyway, I thought I'd let y'all know about it in case it's something you might wanna use.... maybe some of you engineer types could use this as a springboard for some kind of (almost) infinitely adjustable intonation system...?
Hope your weekend is going well
Rock on
Dave
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There's also Pincotts. They use the American AllParts catalogue, but are based in the UK.
Cheers, Dave
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Yep - Bumblefoot is the band, and Ron's the mad axeman.
The song "Dig Me" from Three Of A Perfect Pair by King Crimson features Adrian Belew playing a fretless guitar.
And as for black fretwire... maybe strips of ebony would suffice...? Or sawdust + glue + black paint/stain/dye?
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Thanks guys! Some great feedback!
The flatmount trem is an all-in-one unit. There are two (used to be) strong springs under the bridge, and a major chunk of wood was hacked away to fit it. There's a picture of how it *used* to look (trying to post a link now...) here. You can see where I've bolted it to the body's top. The pickup there is a Kent Armstrong Motherbucker - two stacked single coils in one unit, one is a PAF+ and the other is a Super Distortion. I've rewired the scratchplate to have single/off/humbucking for each pickup ;-) The back of the guitar is smooth - no routing or cutting has been done at all cos everything is fitted into the front. And yes, I know it's pretty sad to paint such a Godawful colour scheme on such a lovely piece of wood! All I've done to it since are strip it bare and cut a big semicircle behind the bridge so it sits on my knee better (think the Steinberger Strat-style guitars).
Anyway, having a cut-down Floyd block sounds like a cool idea, although I have some power tools so sticking some more wood on the back & re-routing etc isn't a scary option either!
Thanks guys, I'm gonna have a think and see what I come up with!
Oh, and by the way, the guitar's a little oddly shaped cos I'm a lefty, but prefer the balance of a righty upside down! LOL
Cheers, Dave
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Hi guys, my first post!!!
Rather than give you my guitar-building history (it consists mainly of bought parts anyway ), I thought I'd dive straight in and ask a question....
One of my guitars is a hardtail. It's only a hardtail because when I first built it I put on a copy of a Kahler trem (remember those?!?!). After a year or two the springs lost all their springiness so I had to literally bolt the bridge's top to the face of the body :o
Anyway, the body's really thin (even though it's one lovely piece of mahogany)... I guess it's about an inch and a quarter.... would it be easy for me to attach another piece (probably on the back lol) so I can stick a Floyd-licenced in there? I know I'll need to fill in the flat-mount routing, but that's no big deal....
What kind of wood should I go for? What kind of glue should I use? How many clamps? etc etc etc
Many TIA!
Dave
Cheap / Free Timber Sources...?
in Solidbody Guitar and Bass Chat
Posted
so I guess it's a good thing that that piece of wood got lost in the move?????