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bob123

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Posts posted by bob123

  1. Another masterpeice Wes. Some constructive criticism for you.

    1) the overly large gap in your nut. Just didn't feel like using the proper size material or you messed up? Looks sloppy. Easy to fix though.

    2) The glue joint on the body is pretty poor, I would use more clamps or joint it more properly next time.

    3) the transition for the fretboard to the headstock looks like crap. I would have personally sanded that back to make a more smooth transition.

    4) your body chamfers look uneven from the bass to treble side. Perhaps some better routing techinques? did you free hand that or use a table?

    5) they have smaller strat jacks, since yours is sticking proud of the body, I would have gone that route personally.

    Other then those mistakes, looks like a good guitar. I like the color and wood choices. The pick guard is a nice touch.

  2. Here we go again... You guys take a simple question and turn it into a battle field, using your wanton accusations and assumptions to put words in my mouth, and twist what I have stated to your own malignance.

    Lets get this straight

    1) you and wes are HOBBYISTS. You two are NOT professional builders. Why are you two the ones always defining the lines? You do great work, sure, but you are still just hobbyists.

    2) You and wes are the only ones that get pissy whenever I ask a question. EDIT: since one of you will say it, I don't care if everyone on the internet agrees with you two. They at least have the common decency and maturity to keep their opinions to themselves.

    3) You and wes are the only ones that make these wild assumptions. "You asked about a pot, so you must not know how to solder". "you asked about wood, so you must know nothing about wood". "you want to use a non common wood, so you must be trail blazing". "you have never built a guitar before, so your wood must be home depot lumber"

    4) you and wes are the only ones that cause problems when I ask a simple question. Don't like my question? Heres an idea, don't answer it/ignore it. Public beratement is a POOR and immature route to go.

    5) How much experience is required to "have experience"? 1 build? 5 builds? 10 builds? Rhetorical question, but Im sure you and wes have a smart-aleck answer.

    6) While this may have been a "beaten to death topic" ten years ago, there is NOTHING on this forum that discusses this topic. NOTHING. I apologize if Im asking a question that was asked a decade ago. My 'cursory at best' research? Why don't you show me topics discussing this then if you're so much better at it.

    Sick of this crap every time I ask a simple question. Why is it that Scott, KEA, and working man were able to answer the question asked, but you two have to drag it out to the fields to whip it out? Ridiculous... LOL.

    yet again.

    I really can't understand why all the fuzz.Bob is simply stating a different way of making a guitar neck.I don't know the guy but he makes a fair point.I don't get why Prostheta and Wes are getting so 'jumpy' and disrespecting.People should challenge tradition in order to evolve their craft (as Fender,Les Paul, Steinberger ,Floyd Rose tand many more did in their time even if at times it came back to bit some of them).Also as i recall there is someone here who makes one piece builds, to my knowledge a big no no for 'traditional' luthiers.With respect to everyone from a zero experienced builder to be.

    P.S you do know that wheel is not the best way of transport.I believe there are some trains gliding on magnetic fields that are way faster from the traditional wheel trains ;)

  3. I use those ferrules and inserts on cheaper guitars, and, tone voodoo aside, I notice a relatively dramatic change in tone for the better. More sustain and resonance. I would do it to my more expensive guitars, but that whole "Resale" thing... Normally I use stainless steel into brass, which theoretically could have some corrosion issues, but here in the midwest, I don't think that would ever be an issue.

  4. Well wes, I've built a cherry neck, worked great. I've built a few walnut necks, worked great. I've built an oak and maple neck, worked great. I've built an ash and jatoba neck, worked great. Ive also built the prototypical maple necks, which of course work great.

    All of these are uncommon for neck woods. In my experience using them, I can't understand why. Some builders will not use Walnut for a neck, and I can't get a straight answer. So in my experience, asking those with MORE experience usually solicits suitable information so I can add their experience to my repetoire. Since I've done researching online, its not this "beaten to death topic" that you claim it to be. I've never seen it on this site, although it may be holed up in the trenches somewhere. In fact, "cherry guitar neck" provides almost nothing on google. I apologize for being so heinous as to ask another seemingly innocuous question that assaults your honor wes.

    Ash, walnut, cherry, whatever, are NOT expensive hardwoods. Mahogany is NOT more plentiful in CONUS then those listed, and are not "easier and modestly priced to find" in the midwest. I would pay 30-50$ a board foot for a nice mahogany blank up here.


    "I want to do use woods that other people don't use because I don't care what everyone else uses....so what do you guys use?" seems a little bit strange to me.

    I also don't recall mentioning that anywhere. Thanks for putting words in my mouth... again...

  5. cherry is a good guitar wood. It is pretty much identical to soft maple, aside from color. Machines the same and is about the same hardness and stiffness.

    It is not used probably because of its color... at least on necks. It is usually a very pinkish wood.

    People always ask these questions as there is a real, definitive answer, when there really isnt. Its just one of those things. It just isnt used. No real reason.

    Thats really what I was assuming.

    Shame really, has such a great feel. I really enjoyed making this one. Color doesn't seem distasteful either, but to each their own I guess.

    gj0y.jpg

  6. I recently built a quasi pensa super strat ish build, and I decided to use a quarter sawn piece of cherry for the neck. The piece was very resonant, had a wonderful tap tone, and felt very good once finish sanded. Cherry isn't more expensive then maple around here, which leads me to wonder why its not used more? It's regarded as a very high stability wood, which would seem to lean itself to the luthier world more then it has. Yes, yes I know a few guitars are made from cherry, but no where near where maple is concerned.

    Another curiousity, why is walnut not used for necks much either? Seems to be a strong, dimensionally stable wood with favorable properties, and it frankly just looks gorgeous. And yes, again, I know people DO use it, just wondering why its not more common is all.

    Those are the two that really spring to mind. I just really can't think of a great reason, other then tone voodoo. Neither are a pain to finish, especially the cherry. The cherry was an absolute joy to finish. Smooth finish like maple, but doesn't have the tendency to get "dirty" like maple does. Not overly hard but feels great in the hand.

    Google isn't shining much light on it, so Im hoping you old tim... I mean you more experienced gentlemen could provide insight to this.

  7. No. Not anecdotal. Acoustics clearly benefit from the choices of glue and finish. An electric is far less sensitive but the differences still exist.

    I wasn't speaking about acoustics though, those are its own thing in my eyes. Go to some of the tele and strat forums. If its not done with nitro, its "garbage" to a lot of them. Even if you put 30 coats of nitro on, its still better and more resonant then a nice thin coat of poly. Even though thats complete garbage, and anyone with half a brain can see why.

    As far as differences in glue on an electric, Im still skeptical. DTM uses epoxy for EVERYTHING, PRS uses plain old wood glue, Gibson uses hide glue, fender uses polyurethane glue, tom anderson uses something that dries in like 30 minutes (unsure, I haven't spoken with him yet). Believe it or not, I do quite a bit of research, the thing with glues is theres always a "serious flaw' with the other kind. Since theres no defined industry standard (theres certainly the "hobbyist" standard for titebond 1), I'm simply biased to what I've experienced. Granted I don't have a huge scope to deal on, but I've built enough guitars now. Titebond 3 hasn't let me down, hasn't had issues with finishing, has always dried (thats my issue with it, it doesn't seem to have a long work time).

    On an acoustic, I simply don't care, as Im not building acoustics.

  8. On my headless build, I actually had the body peices fall apart. It was the strangest thing. It was humid out, and I had used titebond 2 for the glue up, and it literally just fell apart in my hands. It was very strange, because the glue was still visible on the seams, but it came apart like splitting two pieces of bread apart. Im thinking the humidity weakened the glue joint enough for it to just fall apart. I was having a conversation with Tyler here on the board, and mid sentence it just split apart.

    threw the bottle of TB2 I had and got another, haven't had issues with it since. Just part of my experience with glues.

    0xbm.jpg

    As for the design, I just kept sanding and carving until it fit my body perfectly in all positions I play in. Not trying to win any design awards iwth this one lol, just a personal exploration in ergonomic guitars.

    b8ih.jpg

  9. I feel it is much more than opinion.

    II has no business in guitar making. It is waterproof, never dries fully and will show through finishes, because finish wont stick to it.

    But your choice.

    I've honestly never had issues with any of that. I certainly wont disagree with it not being the best or anything, but I don't necessarily feel its this foul evil that a lot of luthiers make it out to be. Some will claim the only way to properly glue wood is with hide glue. I mean, thats been proven false for decades now, yet people still cling to it for dear life. Same thing with "nitro" finishes being the only "acceptable" finish. You can pile on coats of nitro, but as long as its nitro, it has a better tone right? Apples to oranges I know, just anecdotal.

    But for finishing, I mean, I glued this up with titebond 3, it's been refinished like 3 times now, never had a single issue with stain, dye, or clear coat adhering or finishing properly. Im not good enough to be "lucky" with it I dont think. Pardon my trademark toes. Definitely going back to titebond 2 personally, just simply for workability purposes. Finishing and drying have never been an issue. If anything, I think it dries harder, as its easier to scrape off, its not gummy at all. That said Im extremely finnicky about glue joints. If I show a glue joint line, I will usually just scrap the piece or rip it and start over if I can save it.

    wo9q.jpg

    As you can see, theres no visible glue joint, its very solid.

    3uf0.jpg

    o8jo.jpg

    and got the head stock wings glued up.

    ls06.jpg

  10. nope, Mdf will hold up just fine like that. Its not going to break when it is flush and flat with something.

    Yeah... Titebond III is useless on guitars...

    I wouldn't say useless, its just not very user friendly. I used titebond 3 on a ... "guitar" I made a few years ago. Still dead straight, no seams showing, held up well. I Just prefer titebond 2. Some swear on 1. At the end of the day, I don't think matters a whole bunch, but simply an opinion on this side of the screen.

    Im assuming you're not using a whole bunch of pressure when you clamp the mdf then. It always seems when I apply the pipe clamps, SOMETHING moves. Its just so much force I guess.

  11. Right on. I dont know why ive never done it like that before. I dont usually do neck through stuff, so i guess its never really been an issue. Id be nervous about mdf, wont it crush under the clamp over time? I just had some cherry and maple scraps left over, they seemed to do the trick pretty well.

    This is definitely the last time i use titebond 3 though. It holds great, but im always in a mad dog rush to get stuff clamped up due to setting times.

  12. If you have a master volume, and your pickups are in parallel circuit (i.e. going into one source like a 5 way switch) then the master volume should have the same degradation to all switch settings. It cant pick and choose to work properly for one pickup position and not the other. If anything the switch itself or the pickup itself have to be the culprit, or some wonky grounding issue somewhere.

    I do agree, i would probably pull everything and start over if i couldnt find it.

    Scott, care to post a pic of the wiring?

  13. My thinking, isthat if it were a bad pot, ALL the pickups would be affected equally. since you claim the neck pup is worse, that is exactly where I would start searching. Make sure all the wires are intact, joints solid, etc.

    its the "obvious" answer of course, I don't mean to step on your toes. Make sure the ground wire on the pickup is also firmly attached. I've accidently pulled a wire out of a single coil before, much to my immense anger and frustration lol.

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