guitar2005

Thanks! I'll get in touch with him.

Is there anyone on here that can make an inlay from mop using my own logo? I need a couple for headstocks.

That fretboard looks real nice!

Definitely! did you scrape/router that edge clean? I find it hard to get a clean edge with dyes. I seal the faux binding area before staining. Do you use water based dyes? With dyes, the color always bleeds into the sealed surrounding area for me.

double post

Of course not, not on its own, you fool... but If you mix very fine ebony dust on maple with just water, it can stain/get stuck in the maple. I know from experience Apparently, your experience is different than mine so there must be something different in how we're doing this. I have an old maple with ebony board neck that has ebony stuck in the tiny maple pores. Maybe it depends on how fine the dust is and the maple itself. I don't know. Like I said - I'd use compressed air to get as much out before wetting it with anything.

Be careful because you can't generelize that that. For example, EM6000 does age over time.

Definitely! did you scrape/router that edge clean? I find it hard to get a clean edge with dyes.

Scrapers are the key to getting laminates that include such contrasting woods as Maple and Ebony. Any solvent might make things worse i.e. stain the wood. I would blow compressed air over the maple and lightly scrape.

for the angle, its really dictated by the headstock angle but if you really want to get fancy, you could have different angles used for the sandwiched laminate.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Using a router bit in a drill press is a recipe for disaster (tear out). Nice work so far on the guitar! I'll be following this one for sure.

Damn! I don't have a template ring for my router. I wonder if a big router bit on the drill press would work (I already carved the top BTW - I guess that complicates things somewhat) Maybe a cove bit like this could work? http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=30187&cat=1,46168,69435,62157&ap=1

I'm working on a carved top and I'm trying to figure out how to do that round recess for the vol/tone controls. How did you do that?

Its a rel beauty. I like the neck heel too.

I like the Ibanez Jem style input. A couple of years agos, I did something similar on an Explorer project: http://www.lydian.ca/Portfolio/Pages/Evil_Twin_1_Explorer_2.html#1

I've gone as low as 9/16" at the heel with no issues. That's on Northern Ash. I've also done 5/8" on Honduran Mahogany.

Some guitars were never meant to be strung with heavy gauge strings. The 1st that comes to mind is the Ibanez Jem. In saying that, a strat should be able to be strung with 10-46 with ease. The fact that there is an imprint of the shim in the body could be due to a soft piece of wood for the body or too small a shim. I would try to increase the size of the shim if you really need one and try to swell the wood back up where there is an imprint. Once the wood has somewhat come back to its original state, put a bit of shellac sealer, thinned down so it really gets into the wood. That should help in hardening the wood a little. I guess you could also use a wood hardener.

Agreed 100%. This is a crucial step and should always be done before commiting to drilling holes and whatnot. If your bridge specs are wrong (which are not in the OP's case) I'd worry about the quality of the product. Measuring everything to ensure that you received the proper piece of hardware or that the specs haven't changed is important. I never route/drill for a bridge until I have the part in my posession. Most errors are made because of assumptions. Never assume anything. Meh. I have no patience for people cherry picking excerpts from posts and then creating an argument for the sake of arguing and do it in a confrontational tone. I come here to help out when I can, get some inspiration, share some ideas and learn about new or different techniques. My post clearly said that measuring the hardware received should be part of the procedure in installing the bridge, along with getting and comparing with the specs for the bridge.

Excellent! Make sure you post pics of the finished product!

No,it's not always best... Whatever. You can have the last word. I won't encourage this mindless arguing.

I always use the spec sheets for the bridges I buy. I usually double check with the actual bridge I receive to ensure I got the proper unit, but the specs are the reference for the guitar's design and layout. I've used many different bridges and the specs are always dead on accurate. Wes - If you had read my post, I did mention that it appeared as though the SM Schaller was different. Schaller has different models. It might be best to contact them directly and ask them. Its always best to get the exact model number and get the specs for that exact model. Measuring can introduce a factor or error and when unsure correlating with the specs are the way to go, but that might be because of my engineering background. The specs is what's used to produce the bridge in the 1st place. For the stuff that I buy, I've never had issues with erroneous specs. I tend to prefer quality hardware and the specs are dead on for all the bridges I've bought so far (Boogie Rails, Gotoh, Floyd Rose, Ibanez Edge, Fender, Wilkinson).

I'm not sure which version StewMac sells but you can get the specs on the Schaller site. according to this PDF: http://schaller-electronic.com/download/CY5c31668X133c61198fbX2f58/TZ%20TremoloSystem_SchallerTremolo.pdf?ITServ=CY1500aba5X13d4a4b975eXY1bb0 The posts share the same center line as the saddles. The picture from the Stewmac site looks different in terms of the post knives on the trem. It might be a StewMac specific bridge.

JUst curious... what do you use to glue the binding? I've been using super glue but I don't like it. After 4 guitars using the stuff, I don't like the way it dries hard and become so hard to scrape off.

Ok - For a set neck, its worth the extra effort of adding a small shim and re-routing because glueing the sides of the neck tenon adds strength IMO.

Is this for a bolt on or set neck?