fookgub

Here's a link to a huge picture of a RR. Knowing the scale length is 25.5" will get you the rest of the dimensions you need. Thickness is probably about 1.75 inches.

I think he was talking about the Exodus video, not SYL. I, too, thought the Exodus video was, well... lame. The vocals, lyrics, and posturing just didn't do it for me. The instrumentation was undeniably tight, though, especially the guitar work. Insane guitar solo was cool, too, and the V is just killer... makes me want one.

I've never tried a fat finger, but, FWIW, I did notice a difference when I put an allen wrench holder on the back of my headstock. The neck felt more "lively" (ie: it felt like it vibrated more). I've never had a problem with dead spots on that neck, so I can't address that claim. Also, the differences in tone and sustain were slight, if any. I certainly did not notice the huge differences that people rave about on the 'net, but I do think that the added mass at the headstock had an overall positive effect on the "feel" of that guitar. Another time I was experimenting with piezos, and I clamped a piezo onto the headstock of a strat-type guitar. Again, the neck felt more "lively." This time, the unamplified sound of the instrument became much louder. I don't know if that's because the clamp was more massive than the wrench holder, or if it was more due to construction differences between the guitars (the other one was an Ibanez RG), but it was a noticeable change. Again, I don't recall there being a huge effect on the amplified tone, but (and I'm sort of reaching here... this was a long time ago) I do remember thinking the sustain had improved. The guitar had awful fretwork, which makes it hard to pin down things like dead spots. Anyway, I'm reusing that RG neck on a hardtail guitar now, and I removed the wrench holder. I put a little chunk of brass in its place... nothing fancy, but it's a bit heavier than the wrench holder was. I was thinking that a neat way to make something like this cleaner would be to countersink a little brass disk into the back of the headstock. Better yet, a chunk of brass could be buried under the cap if the headstock has one. These ideas are not very reversible, though.

Ok, I've got a plan now. I think I'm going to buy a mahogany blank to start with. If I end up buying the padouk blank, I'll try to do two necks at once, using the mahogany for the trials. I'm also going to build (have already started, actually) a neck from scrap wood as a total practice neck, so I think (hope) I'll be pretty well set technique-wise before I start cutting into some fancy wood. A couple more Padouk questions: Are that any finishes that will protect the wood from UV exposure? I don't plan on playing it in the sun, but it will get some UV because it's going to sit on a stand all the time (the rest of my guitars live in cases, and I like to have something I can grab quickly when "inspiration" strikes). Also on the subject of finishes, I was planning for a pretty natural feel for the back of the neck: no grainfiller, just a few coats of lacquer rubbed out with steel wool. I've played mahogany and wenge necks that were finished in a similar manner, which I really liked, but I don't quite know what to expect from padouk.

bump... Guys, thanks for the comments. I've been thinking about this for a while, and I've decided against the Grizzly blank because I'm not too sure about the quality. The rosewood blank from LMI looks good, but it's too short for the neck I want to build (a strat-style neck to replace the one on my Yamaha Pacifica). Setch is probably right on about mahogany, but the urge to try something exotic is pretty powerful, and, as much as I like mahogany, I'm not sure it's the kind of neck I want to end up with. Anyway, I've been eyeing a Padouk neck blank that SoundAt11 has on eBay, and I was wondering if anyone would care to comment about it. I've read that Padouk is exceptionally stable and works well (besides the problematic dust), but I haven't come across much information about it's tone as a neck wood.

Glad everything seems to be working out. The guitar looks great, except I can't figure out what's going on with the nut. Is it wider than the fretboard, or is that just the picture? Is there something under the nut? You said in you post that you're getting a new nut, so I guess this will be all settled out soon enough. Otherwise, the guitar looks great... can't even tell anything ever happened to it.

The cold weather has prevented me from spraying any clear last week, so decided to refinish the headstock to match the body while I had some time. I've got an Ibanez decal on order, and that should arrive some time this week. For now, here's the headstock with a single coat of clear: another view For the trussrod cover, I've got a piece of balsa that press-fits into place. It's painted the same color, so it should be pretty "stealthy." If that doesn't work out, I may go to a more traditional Ibanez-like cover, but I'd really prefer not to. Also, my bridge from ETS is finally on order! I'll post the obligatory hardware shot when it comes in. EDIT: Here is a picture of the headstock after I sanded it flat. One of the main reasons for refinishing was so I could plug all the holes for the trussrod cover and string retainer.

I figure you've got several options: 1. Keep everything and tell him to get lost. Not the best option since you did have a deal at one point in time. 2. Cut the maple out and give everything else back. This is a revenge move since the maple is not very reusable and you'll ruin the guitar. 3. Give him what you've got so far and keep the scraps. Chances are that if he's not willing to wait 9 months for a hobbyist to build a guitar, he doesn't know how to finish it himself, and he's probably not willing to pay a pro to do it. He will end up with a useless plank of wood, and he may even come back and ask you to finish it. Tell him he has to pay if he does that. 4. Try to explain to him how good a deal he's getting. You're building a custom guitar for the cost of materials. In real world of guitar building, you get to pick two (at best) of three things: cheap, fast, and good. Looks like he's getting a good guitar for cheap... it ain't going to be fast. Here is what I would do: try option four. If it doesn't work, go with option three. This one is the closest to your original deal. I'm curious about this coworker thing, too. It sounds like you don't see him often. Is this true? What kind of job are you working? From your post (and I'm very sorry if I'm jumping to conclusions), it seems like you're not that old and probably not working a career-oriented job yet. If that's the case, then feel free to do what you want. Otherwise, I would be much more careful. It's never wise to make enemies in the business world.

I would have at least salvaged the pickup and tuners.

The bridge pickup looks slanted in this picture. Was that intentional? Either way, I like it. Are you going to share your tuner design? I'd love to see the plans, but I understand if you want to keep them to yourself.

Use a flap sanding disk. Either 40 or 60 grit. I'd have to check, but I think I did the contours on my RG with a 60 grit disk. It cut like butter. As far as angle grinders, I would think any of the big name brands would be just fine. We don't need as much power as metalworkers do, so I just went with the cheapo Harbor Freight grinder ($18). It's not so hot for cutting metal and stuff, but it's plenty powerful for woodwork.

I'm not sure. It looks like a wraparound to me, but you're best off calling Allparts. If you check ABM's website, they have a bigger picture of the six string version of that bridge. They don't list the seven string version on their website, though, nor do they give much info on any of their bridges. I went down my list of suppliers tonight and couldn't find any others. Universaljems sells both the GB_2567-002 and GB_2567-010 bridges, too. Anyway, I'm interested in 7-string wraparounds, too, so let us know what you come up with.

I did a little searching and all I could find was an ABM bridge sold by Allparts. Try part numbers GB_2567-002 and GB_2567-010, and hang on to your wallet!

I'm not quite up to buying rough sawn wood yet, but I have been meaning to check out Paxton. I haven't bought any wood from Woodcraft... too expensive. I mostly get lacquer and the occasional router bit or other small tool from them. I would like to check out some of their classes, though. Mostly the turning ones because I've never used a lathe and that looks like a lot of fun. I've been to that thunderbird coffee a couple times... pretty cool place and I like their espresso (that's saying a lot, too, because I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Little City espresso snob). I'll keep la morada in mind... Arrandas is just a short trip up Burnet for me, though, and that's hard to argue against. Sarovar puts on a pretty kickin' lunch buffet, too, if you're ever in the mood for indian food. Anyways, it's cool to see a few people from in and around austin here. We've got a decent little central texas contingent going.

Oops... I totally forgot to reply to this thread. I'm right north of in town on 51st st. I've lived all over north and central austin in the last six years, and I have to say I really like this part of town. There are so many cool shops an restaurants on and near Burnet, it's almost shameful. Not to mention a woodcraft up the street. Anyway, after going back and forth a few times, I've finally decided to finish this guitar myself. I just finished up the color coats today, and I'm going to give it a few days to cure before I start shooting nitro. No flash: With flash: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/rg7-color-flash.jpg The color is Duplicolor metallic black, but it looks more like a very dark grey in direct light. Neither of the photos are accurate on my monitor (but the no flash one is closer), so I'm just posting them to show a little progress. I don't know what's up with the spots in the photo with the flash... something on the camera lens maybe. The color coats came out great and they're very even. I couldn't see any lines from the fills, either, so that's nice.

Hmm... looks like I'm way off the mark here. Any ideas on what the problem might be?

I figured I'd bump an old thread instead of starting a new one since I have essentially the same question. I just bought myself a spray gun and I'm trying to gauge my progress. So far I've used an entire quart of lacquer (thinned 50/50) on 6 clearcoats. They're building ok, but not super fast, and I'm not applying real thick coats. I've used more lacquer so far than I thought I would, so I wanted to see if y'all think I should be getting more mileage from a quart. One other thing. Yesterday the coats seem to be going on a little dry, so today I dropped to pressure to about 45 PSI and adjusted the fluid control almost all the way open. The lacquer is going on wetter now and seems to be building a little faster, but I think I may want to adjust the fan so it's a little narrower. The lacquer seems to be going on a bit orange peel-y, but by the time it dries it levels out to a pretty nice surface. Just to give an idea, this is the gun I'm using. I know it's cheap, and I'm not expecting super awesome pro results, but I think that with a little practice and the right setup, I ought to be getting some decent results. So my basic questions are, does it seem like I'm going through lacquer too quickly, and does anyone have any comments on my technique or equipment adjustment? I know a need to learn this stuff for myself, but a little push in the right direction is always helpful.

Not that cheap, really. I paid about $50 for three cans. For the same amount of money I got a quart of nitro lacquer, a quart of thinner, and a gun. Granted the gun is cheap, but I wanted something cheap to learn on and it still works quite a bit better than spray cans. The only big expense in a spray setup is the compressor, and I already had one. Even if you have to buy a compressor, it's cheaper in the end. I figure you need about 6 cans to do a good job. By the time you do three guitars, you could have bought a setup like mine. After that the savings just pile up.

Well, so much for finishing this guitar in early January. The finish was too thin, and I sanded through in a bunch of places. I'm recoating it now. Last time I used ReRanch rattlecan clear. That was my first, and possibly last, experience clearing with rattlecans. Now I've got a spray gun, and the clear is building much faster. I should be done with the clear coats by friday, then the guitar is getting hung up for drying for another month.

It was found guilty of possession of a floating bridge and one count of not having enough strings. In some households that would be cause for deportation, but I let it off with body work and a refinish.

Don't know if it belongs in this forum, but I just wanted to share a picture of my latest backyard monstrosity. My neighbors must think I've finally lost it for good. The hook at the top swivels so I can turn the guitar 360 without repositioning myself.

Yeah, guitarparts depot is great (I got the 81-7 from them), but the ETS bridge is super awesome. It lets you drop the strings in from the top (I hate threading strings through little holes, whether they're in the back of the bridge or through the guitar). Plus it adjusts and locks in 3 dimensions, has no springs, and looks cool, too. Nothing against the bridge you posted (I'm using the 6 string version on my RG build), but I wanted to go all out with top shelf hardware for this guitar.

Still trying to order that bridge from ETS. What's up with these guys? I exchanged a bunch of e-mails with them at the beginning of the month. About two weeks ago I sent them an e-mail telling them what I wanted and asking for payment details. I got no response, so I sent them another one last week. Still no response. Has anyone here dealt with them? How did the ordering process go? I'm really set on this particular bridge, but it kind of sucks having it hold up my entire project. All the rest of my parts are in now (EMG 81-7 came yesterday and I'm itching to try it out).

Well, maybe you could give me a little direction. Keep in mind that I'm a complete noob at finishing. I don't even have a spray gun yet. I just got a compressor a few weeks ago, and I was planning to buy one of the $50 Harbor Freight HVLP jobs. The reason I say nitro doesn't seem to bad is that I know where to buy the lacquer and thinners, I have a basic idea of the steps involved, and nitro is easy to touch up in the (likely) event of a mistake. I still don't know where to get the colors I want, though, or if it's even possible. The custom mixed paint from places like here is pretty expensive for what you get, and I think it's acrylic. On the other hand, I don't even know where to buy urethane, nor to I have any idea of what's required to spray it. I don't have a respirator, either, and the good ones are expensive. The paint itself seems expensive, too, and I really don't know where to get the colors I want.

Nope, same size. Think about it, why would Ibanez retool for a completely new body shape when they could just take their existing shape and change the routing? The screw holes in the 7-string neck I bought even line up with the holes on the 6-string body. I've sprayed a few coats of shellac over the past two days. I just wanted to seal up the body and provide a nice base for whatever type of paint ends up going to top of it. I don't know if this is true of all spraycan shellac, but the particular stuff I bought ("Bullseye" brand) sprayed like crap. Runs, poor coverage, and tons of orange peel. I changed out the supplied conical tip for a vertical fan tip and I started warming the cans. That helped a little, but it's still going to take some work to level this stuff. It's not a disaster or anything... just a little aggravating. Anyway, I'm starting to think about refinishing this guitar now instead of waiting for the testfit. The reason is that it's taking forever to order my bridge from ETS... I doubt I'll have it before the second week of January. I don't know what to do about the finish, though. The color I want isn't available in regular (i.e. Duplicolor) spray cans. I could get an aerosol can mixed from a touchup company for about $30, or I could buy a spray gun and get the paint by itself, but it's still expensive. Other options would be to have a body shop or a luthier do the color and clear coats. Even if I did the color myself, I'd probably have someone else do the clear because I've only sprayed nitro before and I'd really like to use something that's more durable and cures faster. What do y'all think?