zyonsdream

Yup, excellent work! Not a thing I would want to see different on it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...E:IT&ih=009 Just posted some more benders at the $24.99 price. I ship international too so come and get them!

I’m not taking issue with these statements but in all honesty I really can’t agree with them. If you are buying run of the mill maple then I agree but if you are buying select hardwoods or even endangered hardwoods you need to be prepared to pay the high prices. AAAA quilted maple isn’t as available as it once used to be. Also, it’s not uncommon to see someone selling a “custom built” guitar for 4-10K when we all know that it cost nowhere near that amount to make. Even with expensive hardwoods you generally get away with about 1K or less in costs so there is an obvious mark up for “labor.” I wouldn’t consider it a stretch of the imagination to say that if AAAA maple dropped to 1.00 a BF, that savings would end up in most of our pickets and not in our customers. Price gouging goes from the bottom to the top when you talk about custom instruments. I do disagree with people labeling inferior lumber higher than it should be just to sell to new builders. It takes me a full day to rummage around the mill I go to just to get enough lumber to build a few guitars because I’m so picky on what I want. However, like I said earlier, cost is not a determining factor when I find that great piece I’ve been hunting.

It is an art. If there is space between the bottom of the tang and the fret board slot you can likely just tap it back into place with a dead blow mallet. but if the bottom of the tang is seated at the bottom of the fret slot, your fret slot is not deep enough. Sometimes you can use an exacto blade to cut a bit out of the slot from the end and the use a sport of superglue to hold the fret down once you can press it in. As said earlier, if the slot is too wide you'll have to glue it to hold it down. Regular superglue will do the trick for you as it will wick into the slot with ease. You said, you don't have much experience with fretting so I included the picture so you could see what part the tang is.

I like this buid alot and think it would appeal to the "beatles" crowd allot. It does remind me a little of one Ed Roman used to make though.

Point taken. It’s funny though. I’ve never considered the BF price of lumber. I go through the pile and find a piece that I really like and if it strikes me, I don’t care what I pay for it, I must have it. I go to Hearn’s hardwoods in Southern PA a lot and their prices are a bit higher than some but the lumber I get is always in great shape. I’ve never split a board to find rot in it. I also know a guy who has alot of land in WVA and he has his own mill. I get Walnut for pennies! It's good to have an inside source LOL.

Wood prices are on the rise but not just with “instrument grade” lumber. Go to home depot and check the price for a 2x4. Katrina did a number to the lumber market and I expect prices to go even higher with the wild fires in California. Over the last 5 years, the U.S has taken a hit and domestic lumber such as maple has gone through the roof everywhere. Now, quilted maple is not used in home building but when one sector of the market goers up, they all go up. It’s common economics. Let’s not forget that the more populated the U.S gets, the less trees there are and the less harvesting there will be. A lot of tree farmers are moving to corn because of bio fuel needs. Look at the price of feed for animals. It’s going through the roof because there isn’t enough corn to feed the animals and the fuel pumps too. Folks, everything is going up in dramatic fashion I worry more about the fact that it’s getting harder and harder to obtain certified exotic hardwoods and more and more people are buying uncertified lumber from places like EBay.

Ah, thanks, I wasn't sure if this forum banned members for linking to other forums. The shredder is a great place to learn and the tutorial that neal put up is by far ones of the best reads for getting the neck angle right on a neck through guitar.

Neal Moser of BC. Rich fame has a message board called the Shredder. On that board, they have a brother hood of wood section and he has a thread that goes over his method of building a neck through guitar. I'd post a link but I'm sure it would be erased quickly so just search for Neal Moser and shredder and you'll find the place. If I over stepped my bounds, sorry.

Hitone: to be this looked likes lie an incredible build and Stellar acoustic. but the back of the guitar was more interesting to me than the top. I've never been particularly attracted to acoustic guitars but if I had to choose one, I'd choose a Hitone acoustic! Batfink: The finish is stellar on this one and I'm a sucker for reverse headstocks; even if it is a Kramer cone. The color choices are a real throw back to the 80's and the maple board really sets it off. I'd like to see a version without the bass side cut out. It just makes me think that the neck body joint could be weak. Jazz club: I have to say that I love the laments and the choice of woods for this build . The one knob set up is definitely different for a two pickup configuration. There are some finish issues on the back and headstock that could be seen and the body seemed a little thick for my personal tastes. However, I really think this is one of the strongest builds in the competition this month. Rhoads56: I have to agree with WezV. The finish isn't my thing and bluer tones would likely support the shark sound-hole but obviously this is a superb build to say the least. The lengthy review that you included in the post pretty much said it all! sb guitars: I like the old school 80's BC Rich style two tone burst on this one. I'm not sure if the picture is showing oil on the hard-coat or if the finish is cloudy. Unfortunately with the level of competition I'd need more pictures to really consider this one. I do like the variation on the mockingbird style thought! Brian d: This one is very unique and if I was looking for a travel guitar it would be tops on my list over the other ones on the market. I liked the choice of wood and the headstock was really cool too. Dean: This was a real throwback and almost gained my vote but as was said earlier some of the sound holes looked out of place. to me the front of the guitar is really cool and I love how you mounted the control on the pick-guard. I thought that the wood choice for the back was a bit odd with that burl strip added in. To me the color choices didn't flow well but overall, I found this one to be a welcome addition to the usually sterile guitar market. Capu: This was a really nice build and I have to say that I really like the abalone strip down the center of the guitar. It adds a nice touch. The finish looks excellent and really made the maple top look good. The only thing that struck me was the mixing and matching of the hardware. It all most seemed like you went into the spare parts drawer and picked what you had. I chose batfinks' guitar because the dude playing it looks too happy. I really like the 80's vibe and when I kept scrolling up and down to see which guitar stood out the most to me, I kept stopping at that one. All in all, another strong month for the GOTM!

More than likely they will just put some glue down in the hole and ship it back out to you. Gluing a dowel into the hole, and drilling a new hole would be the best thing to do but the quick and easy fix is a small amount of epoxy. Just don’t expect to pull the bushings back out anytime soon. BTW, I would imagine that sending it back to Eppi would mean a good 6 months without your axe. I didn’t even know guitars came with a warranty but then again, I never purchased one that I didn’t modify within the first month of having it.

Personally I like post style bridges. I built this Tele shape for the Guitar player in Dragonlips two years ago with a hipshot baby grand bridge and it really turned out nice. http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j287/ZDG...01/100_0785.jpg However, the fender flat mount that you have will also look nice on your guitar

If I remember, didn’t Fender make a guitar completely out of Brazilian Rosewood? I can’t remember if it was from a solid piece though. To me building out of a solid piece of wood is not being a responsible builder. I attempt to conserve every bit of wood that I can and the cost/reward isn’t there to build a solid piece guitar. Besides properly completed glue lines will help to stiffen a guitar and help to prevent twisting. This is why a neck through neck is often made of two laminated pieces glued together instead of one solid piece. Glue tends to bond stiffer than the actual wood itself. Therefore, it wouldn’t be advantageous to build it out of a solid piece due to warping and twisting reasons. I’m building an all maple guitar which will only have two glue lines when it’s finished which is just right for me.

To me black rings look better on Padauk but again, it's personal opinion. With the gold bridge it wouldn't look bad to have gold rings. A lot of people look at plastic as a sheep alternative to using more expensive metal rings but I personally don’t feel that way. BTW, I love your choice to go with two humbuckers on a telecaster! That’s my personal preference too!

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j287/ZDG...ter/acrylic.jpg When I opened my first shop (when I was right out of high-school) I worked in a plastic machine shop working lathes and mills. So, I thought that building out of acrylic would be awesome. The picture above is my 17 lb telecaster with a DiMarzio (something or other) in the neck pickup. There is nothing pretty about this beast as it was one of the first guitars that I ever built. Just thought I'd share since it was mentioned that there haven’t been a lot of clear guitars posted. As for guitar being built. The shape isn't for me but the craftsmanship looks great. Don't be surprised if the tone isn’t quite what you think it should be when you are done. Plastic (even hard plastic like acrylic and lexan) doesn’t have the world’s greatest tone. However, it will sustain for a year!

You’ll get further as a builder if you worry more about those ecstatically pleasing and ergonomic factors and let the tone come through with lumber choice, quality building and high grade electronics!

Ultimately a solid body electric guitar’s tone is governed by several factors that garner a nice timber. The largest and most noticeable are: Quality/type of wood used Quality/type of pickups used Neck joint and mass around the neck joint IMO – type of frets used (which can increase sustain) Quality/type of bridge used. Strings used (big difference maker in my book!) Using a plastic cover plate instead of a wooden cover plate will not give you a noticeable affect on tone. Putting a bevel on the back for your belly will not give you a noticeable difference in tone. I suspect that everything contributes to the overall voice of a guitar but really! This ongoing debate is fruitless. I’ve heard guitars that were made on an assembly line out of the same materials as the next one and one of these guitars will have a better voice. A guitar is an imperfect instrument and is played and built by imperfect people. The experimentation is what is so exciting about building guitars. Everyone will sound different no matter what you do to it! To me there is no better excitement than the first chord on a freshly finished guitar.

These went so fast I decided to make another batch. They still have the super low price of $24.99 too! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...E:IT&ih=009

yah, just go from nut to the 12th and use that to measure your bridge. you'd have a 22 fret short scale.

You could also bind the fretboard to hide any existing cracks. Once glued to the neck the board would naturally want to compress the fracture together which would help to put pressure on the fret that has to go into the slot. Since it didn’t cost you anything I’d use it to learn on by fixing it and successfully gluing it to a neck. Throw some binding on it and no one will ever know it was fractured. That’s more experiencing than using it for fretting practice. You could also use it for a short scale guitar too. That would be interesting. Since it’s pre slotted you would just measure the same as you would on the board before it was broken. Nut to 12th, double it, 12th to bridge.

The set screw has to go between the slot in the shaft. This pushes the two halves apart and keeps the knob straight on the shaft. Split shaft knobs aren't really designed to use with a set screw knob. They should generally be used with solid shaft knobs but making sure the set screw goes between the split in the shaft will be your best bet for keeping the knob straight.

Stew Mac makes an excellent book for beginner fretting. Seriously, look into it before you ever touch frets! Messing up a fret job can cause serious damage and in some cases can require a new fret board to fix the damage. I've seen frets that have been forced into a radius that's different than the fret board. They have a ton of meat in the middle and very little on the ends. It looks ugly and plays ugly too!

Well Purple Heart gets brown as the light gets to it. I build in a very low lit environment so light wasn’t an issue. If you get a piece of Purple Heart and it’s brown when you sand it and route it the color will get purple again. It’s pretty much the same color as it was when it was first hard coated. The finish is flat so it was never really vibrant in the first place but UV protected hard coating will keep that purple looking sharp for a long time. You can get UV additives at Sherman Williams because it’s necessary for a lot of wood floors. I can understand your “issues” with your semi-hollow. Purple Heart is a killer to say the least. It’s the hardest wood I’ve ever worked with and the end grain is just menacing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=180158651414 I got these for a job, job fell through, I was left holding the bag for the cost of the pickups. Just trying to get what I have in them. Free shipping to the US! If you are international and you'd like them PM me. We can work something out on the shipping costs!

it seems the standard for metal is the X2n but I'm personally not a DiMarzio guy. The Duncan invader is a good one to for metal. Check out www.guitarheads.net they sell humbuckers with hex screws that really rock. They also sell actives. I stuck one in an NJ warlock and I absolutely love it! it's 10 times better than anything EMG has ever put out! If you go active with the set up make sure you use a drop orange cap! It cuts the sizzle out of it.