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Off the top of my head, I'm not seeing how you could do Les Paul-style switching with a single pole rotary switch. I would look for something that's got a least two poles. Sometimes it's easier to find 3 or 4 pole switches, and they will work too (you just end up having unused poles). Pay attention to shaft length, diameter, and knurling (or lack thereof). Those factors will determine what kind of knobs you should use. You also want to make sure the switch isn't too deep or big around. I have a 6 pole 4 way rotary switch in my Strat-style guitar, and the cavity is just barely deep enough to accommodate. I had to rout the cavity walls a little to make it fit. All that said, I use mostly 25mm Alpha brand switches when I need a rotary. They're cheap, reliable, and widely available. Mouser has a good selection of switches. Try p/n 105-SR2511F-33S if you're planning to use a set-screw knob.

What does that extra knob by the neck pickup do?

Nice tip on the teflon tape. Thanks. I've been meaning to try the saran-wrap thing for a while. I actually would have used it on this neck, but it slipped my mind. Anyway, I'm going to keep working on the neck and just hope the rod sorts itself out when it's under string tension. If not, I'm sure I'll be able to find some way to fix it. This is actually the second neck for this particular instrument. The first one got hosed in, oddly enough, a fingerboard gluing mishap.

My latest neck has a two-way truss rod from Allied Lutherie installed in a tight-fitting channel. I didn't use any caulk to seat the truss rod when I glued the fingerboard on, thinking that a little wood glue would inevitably find its way into the channel and take care of the rod for me. Apparently that didn't happen, and the truss rod rattles loudly when I knock on the neck. Applying tension to the rod takes care of the rattling at the heel end, but the nut end rattles regardless of the tension applied. The neck is currently uncarved and the fingerboard is not radiused. Should I continue building the neck and see what happens, or should I try to fix it immediately? If I try to fix it, what is the recommended course of action? I really would like to avoid removing the fingerboard, as I've had a lot of trouble getting a seamless glue joint when reattaching the board. I am considering this technique from Frank Ford, but I'm not exactly sure how to attack it. Has anyone tried this? What are the caveats?

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Frank Ford's technique of sanding along the fretboard with finger-backed 600 grit paper to crown the frets (link). I know it sounds incredibly lazy and cheesy, but it works quite well provided your leveling wasn't too aggressive. Polishing the frets with micromesh goes quickly, too, though I imagine a buffer would be faster (don't know for sure since I don't have one). Anyway, I've tried this on a few necks now, all fretted with narrow-ish wire that didn't need much leveling, and I was more than pleased with both the results and the amount of effort required. I imagine there are a few situations where this technique would be a bad idea, but it's always nice to have more than one way to do something.

You can use this applet to get a rough feel for string tensions: http://www.pacificsites.net/~dog/StringTensionApplet.html. It's not 100% accurate, but close enough for general work. Many manufacturers publish string tension data, too.

Pretty standard design for a DIY truss rod. This rod works in a flat bottomed cavity, as opposed to the Fender-style truss rods. I don't really trust the bending, though. Not that I've tried it myself, but it seems like it would weaken the rod in that area, possibly leading to breakage in the future.

I bought some fretwire from Grizzly a little while ago. It's about 1/3 the price of the Stewmac wire, so while I was concerned about quality, I figured it was cheap enough to be worth the risk. The wire seems extremely soft compared to what I'm used to, and I don't think I would recommend it. Has anyone else tried it? It would be nice to have a second opinion.

That seems about right. I tried the dye on a scrap of pearloid pickguard material. It soaked right in, but only after I roughed up the surface with 400 grit paper. I'm a little surprised I haven't read about this before. Seems like Les Paul refrets would be one of the more common applications of this stuff. I wonder whether the dye would still soak into the inlays if I sand fingerboard out to 2000 grit.

No dice on the steel wool. I worked at it for a while, too. I eventually switched to 1000 grit, and it took about 20 minutes to get the dye off the inlays. It also took most of the dye off the fingerboard. What's going on here?

Don't know of any all-in-one type books, but here are a few single subject ones I like: Band Saw Handbook by Mark Duginske - an absolute must have if you own a bandsaw The Complete Guide to Sharpening by Leonard Lee - very thorough and covers just about every type of bladed tool Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner - Probably the best overall finishing reference (but no amount of reading will substitute for experience)

I believe the inlays are pearloid, but I can't say for sure. I'll give the steel wool a shot when I get home from work.

I used the Stew-Mac fingerboard dye for the first time to darken a Les Paul fingerboard last night, and, contrary to Stew-Mac's claims, the dye didn't wipe off the inlays. Here's what I did: 1. Sand out the fretboard to 600 grit 2. Apply a little dye to a blue shop towel and wipe on a thin layer 3. Wipe off the excess with a clean towel 4. Repeat 2 & 3 I'm thinking I could sand out the fingerboard with 800 grit, and that would probably get the dye off the inlays. I don't know how deeply the dye penetrates the wood, though, and I'd rather not remove it from the fingboard itself. I've been picking at the dyed inlays with fingernails and bits of sandpaper, and the dye is really on there good. Any ideas?

That's what I do. Another way to sleep soundly would be to just take them out to the driveway and burn them.

I guess the main benefit would be versatility. It can do passable impressions of a Strat and Tele with the right amp settings. Plus it's got the regular Superstrat sounds, and a few unique sounds, too. Unfortunately, the "right" amp settings for each voice are very different, so you would need a multi-channel amp to be able to get all the sounds in the same set. I don't actually use, or plan to use, all 39 combinations, though. I wired the guitar like this more so I could easily test a number of wiring configurations, and come up with a switching system that lets me access my favorite ones in the most convenient way possible.

A guy on another forum made a bass neck from solid Ipe. He said carving was very difficult, and that the final neck was impossible to adjust.

No. The Variax electronics process each string independently, and there are only six channels.

My poor old Yamaha has been the victim of a number of abuses over the years. It's been rewired several times, routed and cut up, had hardware stolen to use on other guitars, and, worst of all, refretted twice while I was teaching myself fretwork. I decided to to get this guitar back into shape a while ago, and now that it's basically done, I'm posting the results. The main thing to do was get the neck back into shape. I had re-fretted and re-radiused the board to the point where it would no longer hold fretwire, and I had sanded into the side markers. Pretty bad looking: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework031.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework032.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework033.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework034.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework035.jpg First thing's first. I steamed off the fretboard: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework038.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework039.jpg Next... make a new board (Jatoba): http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework036.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework037.jpg Glue on the new board (simple, right?): http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework040.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework041.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework042.jpg Oh crap! Gap! Well, I know how to fix this... first thing's first. Steam off the board: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework044.jpg Mr. Neck, meet Mr. Jointer. He's here to straighten you out. http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework045.jpg Now that's a nice flat gluing surface. http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework046.jpg My newly re-surfaced neck along with a nice new Jatoba fretboard blank: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework047.jpg A thought occurs... the truss rod now sits proud of the channel. I think I know what to do: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework048.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework049.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework050.jpg Making another fretboard: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework051.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework053.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework054.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework055.jpg Glued on. (Yay, got it right this time): http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework056.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework057.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework058.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework059.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework060.jpg Now, let's install those side dots. I radiused the board first, but didn't take any pictures. http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework061.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework062.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework063.jpg Nut shelf is a little uneven after the jointing operation. I think I know how to clean it up. I should have taken better pictures here. My router is bolted to a sled that rests on those rails. Then I simply ran a follower bit across the piece of wood that's bolted over the fretboard. http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework064.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework065.jpg Now, remember how the trussrod nut was in-place in the last photo? Well, all I can say is I'm glad it was aluminum, because I forgot it was there. http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework066.jpg Now, we're going to have to skip a few steps. I fretted and finished the neck. I was going to lacquer it, but cold weather and impatience combined for a Tru Oil finish. I gotta say I'm very impressed with how good it came out. Every bit as satisfying as a nicely lacquered neck, and a lot less work. Finish on the headstock face is original, everything else is Tru Oil. http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework002.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework003.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework006.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework010.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework011.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework012.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework013.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework014.jpg Ok, so we got the neck taken care of. Next up: electronics. Previously, the guitar had an over-wound Strat pickup in the neck position, and humbuckers in the neck and middle positions (GFS Crunchy PAT and Crunchy Rails). The humbuckers each had a series/parallel switch, and all the pickups were switched using a standard Strat-style 5-way. I wanted more options. So I wired the humbuckers to a 6P4T rotary switch that selects series/parallel/inside coil/outside coil for the humbuckers, and replaced the neck pickup with an Artec rail humbucker hooked up to a 3-way swtich for series/parallel/single coil modes. I'm still using the Strat 5-way, but there is a middle/neck pickup swap switch that let's me get the Tele sound. I also put in a kill switch, but it's too noisy to be of much use right now. No tone knob, either... don't need that. Rather than waste too many words trying to describe the electronics, I'll just post a schematic. Couple threads related to my electronics: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...c=35808&hl= http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...c=39331&hl= I'm already toying with some other electronics ideas. I might change to neck/middle swap switch to a "neck pickup on" switch. This would give me one more combination (all the pickups in parallel), but I find the swap switch more intuitive. If I can figure out how add neck+middle, neck+bridge, and middle+bridge series combinations without adding too many more holes in the pickguard, I might do that, too. I've also been toying with the idea of a "blower" switch like the one Myka posted recently. Of course, I had to bust out the router for some of this stuff, but I didn't take any pictures while I was doing it. I also shielded the pickguard, but not the control cavity (too much work). The wiring avoids ground loops, so I haven't had any problems with noise anyway. Still to do: - Make new nut - Install string tree for D/G strings

I used to have a very similar router to that Craftsman, and I hated it. Depth adjustment was a huge pain and it was underpowered. Don't buy it! Edit: Nevermind... I see you already bought a better router.

+1 to all that. I have a habit of saving pictures I like. The internet is so transient in nature that you never know when they'll just disappear one day. I have a few other Drak pictures saved... wish I had more. Check this beauty out: Hope Drak doesn't mind me posting these.

It's one piece African mahogany. I asked Larry at Gallery Hardwoods for an extra heavy, extra pretty piece of mahogany, and boy did he ever deliver. The blue one is mahogany, too.

My first foray into guitar finishing did not turn out very well. I wanted to refinish an Ibanez body that I acquired from eBay. I won't recount all the newbie mistakes I made, but I think it will suffice to say there were a lot of them. I ended up building a new replacement body for that guitar about six months after the refinish, and hanging the original in my closet like a skeleton. After a while one of my friends discovered the body and started pestering me to assemble a guitar for him with it. I eventually gave in, and said I would do it if he provided all the parts and let me refinish the body. So here's the end result. Sorry for the pictures. I never had a chance to take any good ones... just a couple quickies right before I handed the guitar off. I refinished the body and neck, which are both stock Ibanez parts. The hardware is imported stuff from Guitar Part Depot, and is surprisingly good for the money (especially the tuners). It's got a delrin conversion nut, and the pickups are SD Pearly Gates and Rio Grande Tallboy. Both pickups sound fabulous. I'm considering buying a Pearly Gates to replace the DiMarzio PAF Pro in my guitar. The Tallboy is a little bright for my tastes, but still a solid pickup. It's got a nice little hint of twang, and the coil tap modes, as promised, are very good. Couple of crappy flash photos. Don't mind the fingerprints. The flash makes the blue look a lot lighter than it is in person. And one next to its older brother

I've never been happy with the standard tone control, and I've tried a few different things to get a little more utility out of it. I feel like the standard control cuts way too much high end, and that cutting highs is a pretty limited way to modify the tone. I can use the tone controls on my amp to do basically the same thing (I'm not one to ride the tone knob, though). On the other hand, changing the coil switching can drastically alter the tone in ways that are basically impossible otherwise, so I've been move more and more towards opening up more switching options at the expense of the standard tone control. On my Tele-style guitar, I replaced the standard cap with a .01uF. This leaves more highs in the signal, and I find it much more useful. I also use push/pull pots on the volume and tone controls that let me select series/parallel and phase. These controls have a much more significant effect on the tone than the actual tone control. On my beater guitar, I dispensed with the tone control entirely, replacing it with a 6P4T rotary switch that selects various coil switching options. Changing the coil switching can have a drastic effect on the voice of the instrument that simply cutting highs can't achieve. I've been toying with adding a tone control switch that either shunts a .01uF cap across the output or inserts a "cocked wah" circuit (ala Arlo West). For me a simple on/off tone switch has about 90% the utility of pot in a smaller, easier package. My bass has a passive 2nd order band-reject filter centered in the upper mids in addition to a normal tone control. It's hooked up to a push/pull pot so it's either on or off, but I still find myself using the filter a lot more than the actual tone control. The only guitar I have that has a totally standard tone control is my piezo-loaded RG, and I actually find it useful on that guitar. I use it to cut nearly all the highs out of the neck pickup, then blend in the piezos to give a pretty solid jazz-guitar sound. Anyway, that's my take on tone controls.

Actually, I believe it was just a high mass bridge made back in the height of the "heavier = better sustain" days.

Pitch or no, ya gotta admit that's a nice looking body.