daveq

For a Strat, the router is required in my opinion. It is a little scary at first but I think after you do one, you'll see that it's fairly easy. Now, since you aren't building a Strat this time: If you have decided that you don't want to use the router, WoodCraft sells some great contoured sanding pads: Contoured Sanding Pads There is a small radius concave pad that would probably be better than just doing it by hand. Please don't take offense - just a suggestion in case you weren't aware of them.

This reminds me of something Jeremy (LGM) mentioned a while ago. He said he had a way to hide gaps regardless of the type of wood. At the time, he didn't want to say what method/materials he used. Did he ever share that info or is it still a secret?

AllParts used to sell a tiny pcb push/push pot. I didn't care for it myself but it may be what you are looking for.

Are they something like these : ? Digital Pots I thought about trying these things out a while ago but for guitars, I just couldn't justify it (other than just having fun).

Where are the holes for the bridge? Are they covered by the finish?

This will be painted, right? (Not left natural or stained?) If so, I think I'd consider filling the pickup cavities and re-routing them. Unless there is some way to pull off what you were saying without seeing the cavities. Other than that, real nice job. I have found that neck-through's are more difficult than I thought. I haven't finished mine yet but I hope it's worth the effort.

Interesting.... Where does the bridge go - no holes for it yet? What are all of those holes for along the bottom edge? Is it meant for playing or is it a decorative thing? Nice job on the finishing - looks great!

Don't forget that you can take a few 3/4" pieces of wood and turn them on their sides if thickness is an issue. The width becomes the thickness and you're flatsawn wood becomes quartered. It's not the best for conserving wood but I think it beats laminating that way. Then again, if it's what you like - don't change a thing . For cutting down the thickness on the headstock, I use my bandsaw with a 1/2" blade. I clean it up with a sanding block or occasionally a block plane. There are lots of ways to do this but I don't think it needs to be too difficult. I think it's fairly common for people who haven't tried scarf joints to want to find another way. Give it a try though - I think you'll find that with a couple of attempts, you'll build some confidence.

Has anyone here used a table saw for this? My old saw was too small to do this but with my new saw it actually goes very quickly and is accurate. It does need a bit of sanding but 95% of the work is done in seconds. You need a jig to do it this way but it doesn't take very long to make one. Also - I am another one of those fools that tried using a jointer for something it shouldn't be used for back when I was just getting started. I was literally within 1/16 of an inch of losing a finger tip (on my fretting hand). It buzzed the very tip of my skin but no deep tissue/bone loss. Very frightening.

There's a great article over on jemsite.com on this. I don't have the exact url at the moment. It's not aimed at a Strat but you can use most of it. Basically, the truss rod compensates for the pulling action of the strings. Dual action rods (I don't think Strats have) allow you to add more pull or compensate for the pull. Anyway, if I find it, I'll post a link. Take a look in the mean time.

I know you gave up on ungluing it but just in case someone does a search on this: Placing it over a steaming pot would take a long time - if it would ever work at all. From my experience (I've had to remove more fretboards than I'd like to admit), the heat needs to be applied directly to the wood and it needs to be extremely hot. A clothes iron set to max heat (as mentioned above) placed directly on the wood (or sometimes I use spare fret wire) will get the job done. You can't force it to the point where you're breaking pieces off either - you just need to keep applying pressure with the razor, then the knife (or whatever you are using) until it feels like it won't go further. Stop advancing the knife, heat it for a few more minutes and continue. It will come apart fairly clean if you are patient. Unfortunately, I've become pretty good at doing this - at least with fretboards. I haven't tried a scarf joint. (I've been experimenting with different methods of LED mounting and fiber optic installation )

I'm really glad to see that there are at least a few people here who realize how crazy it is to over-analyze these things. I can't tell you how many times I've read someone complain about not wanting to use a Floyd because it doesn't give enough sustain or ruins their tone - or they don't want a bolt-on because it won't sustain as well as a neck-through, ... When I read these things, I can't help but think - OK, you can't have a Floyd ruining your sustain/tone on your hacked up/sloppy version of "eruption" (at least the 30 or so notes that you can attempt) or whatever music you're into. It would be different if Joe Satriani or Steve Vai or SRV, ... made these complaints. When it's someone trying to build their ultimate guitar (for their own enjoyment) - I really don't have any issue with it but I have a feeling some people just try to follow the trends to be "cool". I hope I'm wrong about that. The bottom line is - play what YOU like and don't bother with what is supposed to be the best. Oh yeah - spend more time worrying about how you play than what you play.

How about Billy Squier? The Stroke, Everybody wants You, Lonely is the Night,...? Get's everyone moving but you won't have to pull off any heroics. Also, Pink Floyd might be a band worth considering. Lot's of great stuff you could pick from. The one thing I really want to stress on this is to not put yourself into a postion where you have to be the main guy for the entire song.

You said no metal, right? How about something from the Eagles? Maybe Long Run, maybe Life's Been Good by Joe Walsh (it might be too long though)? Pick something where you won't have to carry the whole band and constantly be in the foreground. Joe Walsh and the Eagles have lots of songs where there's great guitar but it's not the only thing happening throughout the entire song. Also, I'd do a few practice runs in front of smaller groups of people first. Build some confidence - maybe to the point where you're looking forward to it instead of being uncertain about it. If you have time that is.

My vote would be Bolivian Rosewood (Pau Ferro). I know this wood all too well. I spent 3 weeks in agony from working with it. Hives like I have never had before and never hope to have again. It's hard to say if it really is Bolivian Rosewood since it does look similar to Indian Rosewood. If I had to bet, my bet would be Bolivian.

I'm looking for opinions from people who have built neck-thru guitars with drop tops. This isn't my first guitar but it will be my first neck-thru (or at least the first one I will have completed). I have the neck built to the point where the taper has been formed and the truss rod channel is complete. I have not cut the neck thickness yet - it's about 2 1/2" thick as it is now. I was considering cutting the neck to thickness (the body portion first) next. Once that is complete, cut/rout the area where the drop top will sit. I'm not sure how the top will go on though. Do you normally bookmatch it first and rout the neck area before it is glued to the body? I know this is the way it is done for bolt-on's but not sure about neck-thru. The area that surrounds the fretboard is what is bothering me (frets 16 to 24). If I bookmatch it first and I have an overhang on the fretboard, will the top still go on? Thanks, Dave

I know you probably don't want to spend a lot of money but I really love the EMG-VMC for use with those pickups. I don't bother with a tone pot, I just replace it with the VMC and let it do it's thing. They are pretty expensive though - around $70.00. I was working on my own version of it a while ago but never finished it. Oh - yes it does work great with guitars. I know EMG markets it for use with a bass but there's no reason not to use it on a guitar. If you want a more flexible EMG, you could look into an 89. They aren't quite as flexible as a passive but you can split with the 89.

Did you mean neck joint ferrules or did you really mean string ferrules? I know that link isn't for string ferrules but if you built one using them, I'd be interested to know. I've never seen that done. I used to have a tutorial-howto thread for this. It's still here but the pics are missing. If you get stuck, let me know. Basically what I did was shape the contour of the heel, then drill the holes for the ferrules with a 5/8" forstner bit. To get the depth, I made a mark on the forstner bit just above the height of the ferrule. If you're careful, you can stop and check the depth by dropping one in and continuing if it isn't deep enough. The body needs to be clamped to do this. I then drilled the neck screw holes using the starter hole left by the forstner bit.

WOW ! That's twice now that this has been brought back from the grave. Since someone has brought it back - I just want to say that I no longer do mine the way I described. Since I have had my full size table saw (I used to have a crappy benchtop thing that scared me), things are much easier now. I made a jig for the 13 degree agle and all it takes is a quick cut and most of the work is done. If Ibanez does it that way, I think they use a slightly thicker neck blank than the 3/4" that most suppliers carry. My RG550's scarf joint seems to suggest that the blank would have been somewhere around 7/8". This may or may not be intentional but having the thicker headstock piece ends up pushing the scarf joint further back towards the heel. I'm guessing that this helps strengthen the neck/scarf joint. If anyone knows how Ibanez builds their necks, I'd be interested to know. It's obviously a scarf joint but what I'd like to know is if they use the same piece for the headstock as they do for the neck (as shown above) or if they use a different piece for the headstock.

OK, that makes sense. I didn't think of the neck-through thing. Any idea why they named it "Dinky" ???

What is the difference between the Dinky and Soloist guitars? They look very similar from the pics - is it just materials/pickups/bridges... or is there a difference in the shape/dimensions also? Why do they call it a Dinky anyway? Seems like a strange name.

Very nice work! There are a few people here who continue to amaze me with Tele's, LP's, ... - all guitars that I normally don't care for but when you build them - WOW!!! Also - the weight issue has never been a concern for me. I know some people play live and I can see why they may want a light guitar but for me it's all about the sound and feel. If it weighs 5 more pounds than a normal guitar, I really don't care. (of course, if the added weight doesn't add a better feel or sound/tone then there's no point to it). DaveQ

If anyone's ears are able to discern a multi-lam body from a 1 piece (of the same type of wood) - I think they should look into getting paid for that talent. I just don't think it's possible. In my limited experience - I have found that I prefer 2 piece bodies. I love the built-in center line. I think some beginners may think that a 1 piece is best for a stained/dyed finish. Maybe that's true if you're not using a top but if you are using a top, a 2 piece is great. The glue lines should not be visible. The grain patterns should be the only thing that gives it away and that is usually also pretty hard to see (depending on the type of wood).

What type of music will this guitar be aimed at? I read from several sources that black limba was the most wonderful wood in the world in terms of sound quality (for solid bodies). So, I went and built one a while back with a black limba body and black limba neck. I used an ebony fretboard. At first, I thought it was going to be perfect. I tried some lead/solo work with it and I liked it. I tried some clean/slow stuff, some blues, and it sounded very nice. Then, I tried what I like most - high gain / metal. I'm not talking about death metal or anything that extreme but something similar to Satriani, Vai, Lynch, ... It just sounded horrible! I had SD pickups in there at first (I think they were scremon demons) with a SD pickup booster. It didn't matter if I boosted it or not, it was pure MUD!!! The low E was complete garbage. I tried switching to EMG's (81) and got the same result. So, I'm passing this along just in case. I know every piece of wood has it's own personality - maybe it was a fluke. You may not even care for that type of music but I thought it was at least worth mentioning. I have never tried using that type of wood since then - I stick to maple, alder, cherry mostly now. That's just my preference though. I hope it turns out great. DaveQ

I haven't used it either but the bridge position should only be a matter of scale length. I don't understand why number of frets or where the neck pocket is would matter at all? I think it was a good suggestion to draw it out or at least grab the bridge (if you have it on hand) and place it on a flat surface and do some measurements. The saddles may end up being closer to the nut than the post placement and that may explain the larger distance. Even though I have built many gutiars, I still lay everything out before drilling any holes. I like to have most (if not all) parts on hand before I start so I know what I may run into. If you have the parts, that should help you figure this one out. I wish I could tell you for sure if that is correct but I'm not a TOM guy and I don't use that scale. Stewmac has great customer service - maybe you could ask them to verify that you are using this thing correctly?