guitar2005

I've used DEFT on a couple of projects and I know the product well. DEFT is a hard Nitrocellulose lacquer and when you apply several coats of it on to your project, you don't need to sand between the coats as each new coat melts in to the old one. This is the beauty of Lacquer. I would not wet sand a DEFT coated project until I've applied at least 10 coats (5 double coats). At this point, you're lightly sanding to level out the finish and ensure that there is not orange peel that keeps building up. After that, I would normally apply another 10 coats (minimum). DEFT Lacquer is thinned out so you have to apply many coats to get enough thickness to ensure no sand throughs. Make sure you wait 3-4 weeks before levelling the finish as the lacquer will cure and become harder and thinner. You can now level the finish and start buffing but be careful, even at 20 coats, the deft lacquer is pretty thin.

On the older, non AANJ necks/bodies, I believe that you could do that.

It's $20 investment I'm happy to make. Everytime I use new bit, I'm suprised how well it cuts compared to old worn one. Like said before, it's my insurance fee. So I know if tear-out does happen,....it's not because I didn't want to fork up the $20 for a new bit. Penny wise, pound foolish is saying that comes to mind. Or you could buy a more expensive bit and sharpen it when it becomes dull. Yup. I use Freud or Lee Valley bits and use them with proper routing technique. I clean them regularly and you can sharpen them with a diamond file like these: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...t=1,43072,43077

To avoid tear-outs it's necessary to use brand new router bit, high speed setting on the router, and very very shallow passed. It's also adviceable to check the direction of the grain, as direction of routing can have huge effect on the occurance of tear-outs. In some areas you just can wait for it to happen (routing parallel to grain). Tear-outs have happened to me in the past. For planned solid color it's no biggy. Bondo type car filler will take care of that. For stains or natural colors it's wise not to route at all. Chance of tear-outs is simple too big, whatever your technique and precautions. For natural colors and stains bandsaw body close to spec, let Robosander type set-up bring you even closer to final shape, but do final work by hand. I've had a tear out like this happen once to me - I did 3 flying V body blanks at once and I ran one of them through the router a little too fast If you're going for a natural finish, I say try contouring the horn differently as to minimize the tear out if you don't mind a slightly different shape. I would try to fix the tear out by cutting a thin piece of mahogany veneer, cut it in the shape of the tearout and glue in place. You'd be surprised at how good the fix might look. you could make the tear out a more regular shape to make the fix easier. You don't need a new bit for every project. That's just crazy. All you need is to take your time and take small passes, especially when running the router bit cross grain. Most people use tools with little or no experience and end up with problems like this. When routing, you should always do the cross grain parts first and take it S L O W. The bit bearing doesn't have to touch the template when making the first couple of passes. Firmly grip the piece to be routed and run it by the router bit until the bit bearing touches the template. You shouldn't attempt to touch the template right, unless you're within 1/16" or less from the cut line. Where did you get the sustain block? Did you make it yourself? I want one!

For the eBay file, I got mine from FretShop. Its OK and is fairly wide. I would have preffered a narrower file. Also, mine is 150 grit. Where on ebay did you get yours? A for the frets rocking after doing a light 800 grit pass, my suspition is that some of the frets on that neck aren't seated properly. Make sure that the frets are firmly in place. if not, put a small dab of CA glues and clamp. I always clean up with 600, 800 and 1000 grit paper and never had problems like you have.

Maple will give you slightly more attack on the notes when used as fretboard (compared to RoseWood) I doubt that you would hear much of a difference in tone. Finish with tung or danish oil and wax. I don't like lacquered boards.

This is one of my favorites from the Project Guitar forum. Amazing work. One of these things I noticed in this build though is that the neck looks like a bolt on construction but is glued in. Is that right? I'm working a some set neck guitars right now and never thought of doing it that way. It would mean building the neck with less wasted wood.

Ok - I'll use a non-powered tool to cut the inlays based on your feedback. Problem is finding the right tool. Would something like this work? http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...t=1,42884,42902 or this: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...t=1,42884,42902 or this: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...t=1,42884,42902 Thanks

Love that neck. Can you tell me when you put the biding on the fretboard? What are the steps? is it glue the fretbooard on, trim it to fit on the neck, route a rabbet then glue on the binding? Thanks

Careful, I have heard that plain tung oil will take months to dry properly, it will stay horribly sticky for ages. Tru-oil is a blend of polymer and polymerised linseed very similar to polymerised tung oil. I believe Polymerised Tung oil will be fine. I've used Tru-oil on a number of occasions, that sinks in to the grain and dries hard pretty quickly. I have a walnut/alder bass coated 5 years ago and never had to retreat it, I just wax it every 6 months. There is no such thing (as far as I know) as "pure" tung oil. We're not talking about linseed oil here. When I said plain old tung oil, I meant circa 1850 brand tung oil . Watco Oil works OK as well but doesn't seem to dry as hard. Sorry about the confusion.

That hasn't been my personal experience with Tung Oil. There are several brands and formulations out there. I use Circa 1850 Tung Oil and the Lee Valley polimerized oil. Both harden as they cure over a period of 1 to 4 weeks, therefore, do not attract dust or dirt. I understand that it doesn't completely seal the wood, so if you're under the lights, sweat even a little and use the guitar regularly, I'm sure that it is possible that the thin finish could wear off and skin oil and sweat could eventually discolor it. I have never had that experience personally. The thing with oil is that it should be re-applied regularly for the first year if you want to build up a layer of finish that won't wear off too quickly. I wonder... Zachary guitars uses a light natural finish that I believe is tung oil. I haven't hear any bad reviews from users of his guitars. Maybe he's got a trick. Has anyone else here have good or bad experiences with tung oil?

Yup. What he said

You don't have to agree. Do whatever works for you. I'm emrely suggesting alternatives that in my opinion will give the ultimate sheen and depth for natural finish. 1- Scraping doesn't create dust. Sanding does. Polishing is a different form of sanding, you are correct but scraping leaves the surface in a state where there is no need for "polishing" at > 1000 grit. With a scraper, I've never had to blow out dust. Yes - I have have tried fine sandpaper 1000 grit and above and scraping always gave me better results. Sometimes a combination of both can be used, especially for rounded surfaces but the scraped surface always has more sheen. What are you saying? Don't suggest alternatives because its not the right language? come on. This forum is here to provide help, suggestions, alternatives and solutions. That's exactly what I did. 2- When buying a scraper from lee valley, as I suggested, it comes with full instructions on how to sharpen them - it is dead simple. Additionally, scrapers will be cheaper than sandpaper because you don't have to keep buying sandpaper because of it loading up. Using a scraper is easy and anyone can learn how to use one in under 30mins (in my opinion). Scrapers have mulitple uses and even for single guitar, it believe that getting to know how to use a scraper would be beneficial as it will produce a stunning finish and the tool can be used for other projects.

There is another method you can use, and that is to sand your quilt up to 4000 grit before applying finish. Sanding inevitably creates dust and the dust gets into the tiny little pores and tears up the wood instead of cutting it. What you really need to do to get the ultimate surface before finishing is scrape it with a quality scraper. This is fairly easy to do but takes a little patience. The wood should literrally shine when you're done. Scrapers can be found here: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...cat=1,310,41069 http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...cat=1,310,41069 http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...cat=1,310,41069 http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...cat=1,310,41069 To me, this is the only way to finish wood for a natural finish. When you see the results of scraping VS sanding, you'll understand.

My personal favorite is polymerized Tung Oil or plain old Tung Oil. With a buffing system, you can get a really nice finish with either one. You can get the polymerized Tung Oil at Lee Valley (www.leevalley.com)

I ended up getting a diamond file from the Fret Shop eBay store. I'll let you all know how it feels.

Would you happen to have a CAD/PDF copy of the neck ? I'm working on a similar project and haven't had the time the draw out the headstock. As for cutting the angle - Yes, angle then shape. If you shape first, the dimensions will no longer be correct when you angle it (I assume you're building your neck from one piece instead of using the scarf joint method) Thanks

1) You can find these on eBay. Pretty good quality boards, they are. 2) Yes 3) It is as simple as it looks. You have to be very patient. I followed those instructions myself. Removing the fretboard will damage the gluing surface a little. take your time.

1. You may need to make the bridge opening larger so that it fits properly 2. NO 3. Yes I will add that those ebay Floyds at 20.99 are absolute crap. The knife edges will wear off making the trem unstable. The fine tuners will be a bitch to use, the plating will wear off quickly. Stay away. You'd be better pff with a used Ibanez Trem or a new schaller licenced Floyd.

Don't know that I'd fancy a bridge with screws sticking out of the back of it like that. The screws can be cut so they don't stick out as much. The pigtail bridge is really nice too, but I've never found one in black.

All I said is that its not EXACTLY like Randy's. In saying that, its the closest the original I have ever seen. In no way did I ever mean to diminish the work. I think perry does absolutely amazing work and I'm always in awe when I see his completed guitars.

i have a masking sheet that has been cut to suit the original layout, plus precut inlays (and full fretboards). Email me if you like. Very nice indeed but its not exactly like Randy's. Actually, Mr Sandoval doesn't make them exactly like the original either. I have an adobe illustrator file that has the original Rhoads V, blown up to 1:1 scale and the paint mask pattern to go with it. I spent HOURS making it perfect. My end result is still not 100% exactly like randy's because I based mine on Sandoval's current builds. Also, I didn't place all of the hardware at the exact same spots as the original. You can use the blown up V to make your template (have it printed at your local print shop) You can use the paint mask pattern to make the paint template. I got a car decal shop to cut a template from the paint mask drawing on self stick, low tack vinyl. PM me if you want the drawings. I can send them in PDF format.

With chrome saddles, I'll be filing off the finish.... Is there a place that sells just the saddles?

I want to build an explorer with a 16" fretboard radius but it seems that all "standard" tune-o-matic bridges are 12" radius. I checked the wraparound bridges too and they're 12" radius. Are there not other options out there?

Doesn't really make a difference. You can work the neck angle into a bolt on. I prefer tune-o-matic that's recessed with string through. I think they look better and you won't need a neck angle at all. In saying, I'm planning on build an explorer with a wraparound... so I'll most probably need a neck angle; not sure since I haven't drawn in out yet.