WezV

why rule out mahogany? this was bleached first to get the mahogany light enough for a translucent burst slightly different to the traditional gibson way of doing these bursts on mahogany, which was most likely a solidish colour with mahogany grain filler leaching through to show the grain

that is a rather pricey bridge for a plywood body

mine mainly gets used for making templates, although i did use it for 1 1/2" bodies in the past

go with the black. worst case is it ends up a bit more subtle (and maybe more tasteful ) than you originally intended. and obviously its much easier to get a clean inlay in ebony i wouldn't go with a border as i would find it distracting

possibly because most maple necked guitars are fender style and most fender style necks are (or should be) flatsawn. your going to see a lot more of them warped simply because there are a lot more of them there is nothing inherently wrong with a flatsawn maple neck. i am happy with either perfectly flat sawn or perfectly quartersawn maple for necks, both would warp in the wrong conditions, both will be fine if looked after

yet it works simply and easily for me 9 times out of 10... you just have to be capable of not forcing it. if you feel you will have to force it you stop and try something different. quite simply really but people only ever seem to want advice if it works 100% of the time, which i dont think any method does! i have used it on loads of guitars and never damaged a single one. i wont deny that it could be possible to split a body with the method... but a little common sense is all that is needed to prevent that ever happening

its maple, so you will never hide it. but the good news is no-one else will ever notice it anyway. fill it with epoxy, smooth it off. those who look really closely will assume its a bit of natural discolouration

you say unused, but that is definitely showing some signs of wear

thanks!!! i knew i had seen it somewhere

more than 10, less than 17. cant go wrong with 13.5

Value makes a lot more difference than type. i did a little test similar to the one in the video, 2 caps on a switch so you can instantly flick between them. but i made sure to match the value of the caps i was using the results where that the caps actually sounded pretty much the same when tone was full on or full off. There were some differences in the feel of the sweep, but the same sounds were available. The big problem i found with the cheaper ceramic disc caps was that they were inconsistent and often well below stated value. but when matched with a decent cap like an orange drop or some vintage ones they actually sounded pretty similar

its not a new pot is it? some high quality new pots are a bit stiff at first and need a bit of wearing in. if it is an old one that is full of crap take it apart to get the crap out. you will see the case has a few tabs folded over to the top section, unfold them with a knife and it all comes apart easily

dont get me wrong, i am all for alternative materials which is why i have been following their struggles quite closely i was a bit confused though, they were advertising guitars as having granadillo or obeche fretboards which looked very black in the pictures. they provided no explanation of how it got that way. :? just seemd a bit off that they were obviously calling torrified maple 'baked maple' because people know maple isnt that dark... but most guitarists dont know what granadillo or obeche look like so they didnt bother confirming any other process... until people started moaning about it on forums anyway, in my book alternative materials = great veneer fretboards though... gonna have to see how they stand the test of time if i was just moaning about gibson i would moan about the price of these http://store.gibson.com/historic-spec-bumble-bee-capacitors-two-pack/ when they are made like this http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/historics-reissues/118027-historic-gibson-faux-bumblebee-caps.html and just to prove gibson does respond to forum attacks, they did try to justify the construction. though they didnt ever try and justify why their new cap in an old shell is at least triple the price of any other alternative http://ashbass.com/Gibson/GibsonCaps/GibsonStory/Response.htm

I would say the first answer...because grain is rarely perfectly straight it would tend to be a stronger arrangement I would think and less prone to twisting,same as a laminate neck but smaller in scale.It would make no sense at all to flip one 90 degrees. I would have complete faith in that method and have considered laminate fretboards myself of different colored woods just to look cool that is kind of my point. i can see how taking a piece of wood, splitting it and reglueing the opposite way round would make for a stronger fretboard. But i dont think that is what they are doing. basically they cant get rosewood of the thickness they need so they are getting two thinner bits and glueing them. if they just said that my only concern would be the extra chipping risk when refretting. but they say: this is easy to do when splitting one piece of wood and flipping one half, not so easy when you start with 2 thin bits of random rosewood. i guess it all still works if they wood has been cut and consecutively stacked before exported from India, so maybe that is it. this is gibson though, and even if they are doing that now it wont be long before they start differentiating between face and substrate rosewood but any pretences of extra strength doesnt hide the fact they simply cant get the material the way they want it

ok, i assume we have all heard about baked maple by now... as well as obeche(which is oddly black), richlite, granadillo and Katalox well they finally released a statement about them http://www2.gibson.com/Support/FAQ-Tonewoods.aspx my favorite bits: reads a bit odd. basically justifying laminated construction... and its an odd place to have laminated construction. i want to know more about the grain direction in these two laminates. do they both run headstock/body? or are they 90 degrees. if both headstock to body are they cut from the same piece with one flipped round? if so, why? If 90 degress, will the fretboard not be less stiff than before? will it tear out easier when refretted? sounds odd either way. sounds like i called this one. i would bet its an acrylic polymer that is basically pressure cooked till all the way through the wood... i.e acrylised wood like larry davis provides at gallery hardwoods

i have not tried plain beeswax, must be some recipes for prepared beeswax somewhere ( like the musicman one*). tbh you cant really go too wrong as long as you are following some rubbing and buffing ritual i would leave 24 hours between each stage for the best results *inital coat of oil, leave 20 mins, wipe of excess leave. leave 24 hours *wet sanding with oil 600-1500grit. wipe off all oil between grits then buff and leave 24 hours *prepared wax, rubbed in with fine wire wool for a good long time, buffed off with a soft cloth. repeat as needed ... *the musicman one is a 1" cube of raw wax gently melted into a pint of lemon oil. nice on maple, not tried it on others

that will do it. its also quite nice if after doing an initial coat you let the oil dry for 24 hours. Then you wet-sand with the oil and fine wet & dry paper. then buff off all the horrible gunk that creates. start at 600 grit and repeat the process up to about 1500 grit very nice as it is, and also good with a coat or two of briwax rubbed in with very fine wire wool and buffed off with a soft cloth for a little more of a long term sheen these steps will take it past the ordinary oiled finish into something really great, really smooth, really tactile

very true!

i dont think he was considering using actual plywood for a neck

its not skin. i suppose the one above does look quite like animal skin, but the ones i have seen in the flesh are nothing like it gibson describe it as "the rough-hewn and minimally finished top of the guitar, the maple of which still bears marks from the carving process," so its all about getting that consistently carved look at home

i think the best way to get that look at home would be with a wide shallow gouge. very very sharp. practice going against the grain on scrap wood

nah, i like the circles. makes me think of an old pocket watch

its a spot where a string isnt quite ringing out properly - for whatever reason

as far as the things you said i agree....but what is the connection with the dead spots??trere are 2 different things,,,completely..do you mean buzzing??? they are not completely separate ideas, just depends what you mean by a dead spot. it can either be a dead spot because of resonance issues in the neck. or it can be a dead spot caused by the string slightly catching uneven frets or not even registering as a separate note to the next fret along. Demonx - i think your acoustic builder friend obviously has a lot of talent to be able to fret with a hammer and never have to level. but you have pinned down that even if you could do that, you wouldnt get the action you wanted for your guitars. it doesnt matter how much his sell for, the style of guitars you are making need to be capable of a low action and this will always involve a fret level (using standard fretting techniques, i am sure someone will invent a new system at some point)

as far as the things you said i agree....but what is the connection with the dead spots??trere are 2 different things,,,completely..do you mean buzzing??? they are not completely separate ideas, just depends what you mean by a dead spot. it can either be a dead spot because of resonance issues in the neck. or it can be a dead spot caused by the string slightly catching uneven frets or not even registering as a separate note to the next fret along. Demonx - i think your acoustic builder friend obviously has a lot of talent to be able to fret with a hammer and never have to level. but you have pinned down that even if you could do that, you wouldnt get the action you wanted for your guitars. it doesnt matter how much his sell for, the style of guitars you are making need to be capable of a low action and this will always involve a fret level (using standard fretting techniques, i am sure someone will invent a new system at some point)