guitar2005

I had the exact same problem on a 1986 Kramer Paul Dean - Neck through body construction, Honduran Mahogany body wings, s/s/hum configuration, brazillian rosewood fingerboard. I tried everything to fix the problem (intonation, pickups - even EMGs, action, strings, technique, truss rod...). This was the flagship model at Kramer back the the day. Sold the guitar and never looked back. Its the only guitar on which I could not get good artificial harmonics. I guess some guitars just don't ring the same way as others.

To answer your question above, I asked the guys at Dimarzio a while back. The answer was that it makes no difference, regardless of what the "tone experts" will tell you. Pickups It sounds like your pickups are a little close to the strings. 1/16" with the 17th fret depressed is a little low. Usually, that's the kind of reading you'd get when depressing the string at the 21st fret. Also, give yourself more room on the bass side as those strings vibrate wider and your sound may not be balanced - you already have 1/8" so you're OK on that side. Truss Rod You say you have 0.007" relief. Again, that's a little low. You'll need to dial in a little more relief in there. I usually have at least 0.009" on a 12" + radius guitar. You didn't say what string gauge you use. String gauge has a big impact on sustain. Two more questions: Is the sustain problem with a clean sound or dirty sound? Have a look at the bridge studs and try to see if everything is solidly mounted.

I don't have a thickness sander but have a really nice bandsaw. What would be the cheapest thickness sander on the market? Any other alternatives to a thickness sander?

I need enough binding for 4 necks. I was going to make it myself but I'm not sure on what would be the best method to make it and after having thought about it for a while, I realized that it may take up a lot of time. Would I be better off buying it? If so, where can I get a good source of wood binding at a reasonable price? If go go with stew mac, that'll set me back $11.00 per neck.

Not sure if that's any help but its long enough to accept a Floyd or Ibanez lock nut if that's what you're wondering.

I picked up the Honduran Mahogany wood yesterday for the body. All I can say is that it has a really nice ring to it. Very lively. 12" wide so I'll be able to make a 2piece body and with careful cutting, I'll have leftovers for other projects I resawed the headstock thickness from another piece of honduran Mahogany I had leftover from my Rhoads V project. The Headstock will receive a 1/8" Korina veneer on top to match the body and a thin maple veneer on the back to match the maple neck. http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/208021657.jpg http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/208021633.jpg I also finished the body template: http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/208021649.jpg

Couple of questions: 1) What string gauge do you use 2) How high/low is the action (measured plz) 3) What is the neck relief (measured plz) 4) How close are the pickup poles to the fretted strings at fret 21? 5) Is the problem in a certain range or all over the neck? 6) Do you have another guitar that sustain longer for reference?

You need to understand the problem before you find a solution. Jumping to using expoxy without a good understanding of what the problem is may not solve your problem. That's just my opinion though.

+1

The neck pocket measures 2 7/8 inches deep. I just want all the way to the back of the first pickup cavity, and then measured my scale length. But if you read above you can see where i'm at now In Mevlyn Hiscock's book "Make Your Own Electric Guitar", the first building exercise shows that he uses a 70x40mm tenon, which is shorter than 2-7/8" and yours is wider too. I wouldn't be too worried about the tenon length at this point.

To me, that looks like 1) The mating surfaces aren't flat and are not providing full contact which is why the glue didn't spread evenly 2) No glue was applied on the sides of the tenon. Also, were both surfaces clean and dust free? Did you get glue squeeze out when you clamped everything together? 320 Grit is fine for glue ups. Never had any problems, even with close pored wood like maple. I would avoid Epoxy for now until you really understand the problem.

Wow! Do you have any pics of the neck joint? Hard to tell what could be the cause with NO pictures.

Tonally, I don't think the differences are audible but then, I've never swapped a TOM for a hardtail or vice versa on any guitar. For looks, I say a recessed TOM and string-thru. TOMs just look classy.

I have three different scale guitars, all with the same fretboard radius of 12". the scales are Fender (25.5"), PRS (25") and Les Paul (24.75"). After having done fret work on 25.5" scale guitars and having played them almost all my guitar playing life, I've gotten used to a certain amount of tension in the string and buzzing depending on the playing style. When I built my 25" scale guitar, I got more buzzing compared to my 25.5" scale guitar. I checked everything out. Relief, high spots on the frets - Everything checks out fine but I get more buzz out of the strings compared to the longer scale guitar. I then get a Les Paul and realize that the buzzing is more present than on the 25" or the 25.5" scale guitars I've owned. Action is set the same on all my instruments at a little over 1/16" for the high e at the 17th fret, 3/32" for the low e, relief is about 0.009". My question is: Is there a correlation between how clean the strings will ring out and the scale length?

I would rather buy from Warmoth, for the same price, who led the industry in this field, and is in it for the long haul. I cant say the same for an ebay seller. That's your personal preference - All I said is that for 5 guitars a month, its doable. Will it pay for a CNC machine? I have no idea. If the work is of good quality and the price is right, a lot of people (not everyone) buy from eBay. I did some research and found that certain body styles command higher prices than others like the San Dimas, EVH 5150 and Jem. The quality has to be there though. Lynn Ellsworth sold on eBay for a while, so did Jim Donahue. They probably did it just to try it out and don't really need the extra business and hassle of eBay.

Neck blanks glued up and flattened on both faces. These things are pretty damn straight. I'm sure that when I start cutting and shaping, the wood will start moving Next steps are, in order: cut the scarf joint, bandsaw the back portion of the neck, glue the headstock, install the truss rod then glue on the inlayed fingerboard. That sound right?

This is do-able. Pick some popular body shapes: Telecaster, Strat, San Dimas, EVH 5150, Ibanez Jem and could easily sell them on eBay for at least 150.00 to 180.00 each and reaching your 5 guitars a month quota would easily be done. If you went into set neck kits, you could probably sell a bunch of those too.

Tru dat. I mean really, how many whole notes get played these days? Let alone notes that ring out for more than a measure... I've got a couple of songs that I can think of where I need a note to last an entire measure or more and let me tell you, my Les Paul does sustain longer for that note than my Ibanez Jem, Godin LGX or Fender Strat. NO tone pros on the LP though - it has the original ABR-1 bridge and the tailpiece leans forward. Mahogany Neck with ebony board.

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=25958

My personal pref is Gotoh. Price is reasonable and quality is there: http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/gbridge_gotohgibson.htm

They're not piezo though. Your best bet would be to buy two LR-Baggs tune-o-matics, grab the saddles from them and put them on your 7 string tom. You're left with 5 leftover. Kinda of expensive though as each LR Baggs TOM is about $150.00

no shame here, he's doing what he loves.. i visted his shop in 04, and had lunch with him, spent the whole day with the guy... really a nice man. very passionate, and loves what he does... he just wants out of the "business" end and wants to design and build. dave .... Not shame for Tom, shame for people that buy guitars...

Zakk Wylde has a Maple/Maple Les Paul Custom. As for smaller, what do you mean? If you mean thinnner, the 60's slim taper neck by Gibson is similar in thickness compared to my Strat. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gib...mp;src=3SOSWXXA

http://www.andersonguitars.com/ Am I the only one that didn't know this? What a shame, Tom Anderson guitars are some among the best production guitars in the world.

If it were me, I'd just build a new one. That guitar doesn't look like its worth putting all that time into it.