WezV

if those are really dunlops, you should buy them at stewmac they are half the price or are those different?

StewMac

those are not the recessed ones, same strap lock bit - different strap button

Isnt it the name for plantation grown indian rosewood ???

all i remember are the mistakes. its usually quite nice to see a guitar after a few years to remind me it was actually pretty good

If you are doing a drop top you can actually (if planing good) make a series of relief cuts in the back of the top (OK, I have not done it personally, but seen it made) not extending all the way to the edge of the top. I believe there was a thread on this forum that showed how to do it.

that is not so good if you are going for the natural binding look

heat , mositure, time and clamps will get you there as long as the top is not too thick and your forearm contour not too drastic.

or is it a drop top with forearm contour you are asking about??

that is awesome. i am loving 'simpler' finishes at the moment (as if a proper gold top is simpler than a burst !!!)

because the loss of body tone.

I used to think like this. It was actually playing a couple of blackmachines which changed my mind.

yeah, if you do break the split completely in the hopes of glueing it back together you will almost always find it wont quite fit.

once the split is done the tension is released and the wood will move as its been trying to all along - in different directions, hence the split

what, this one:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=44161

iirc some of this thread was lost due to forum downtime - but johns thread is in tact

looks to me like it would still be fine even without the centre support

i have had a few go bad, including at least one of the stew-mac ones, but the cheaper ones are noticeably worse - i have even had some with rattles

what really got me was how the local guitar shop reacted to me using them. they really didn't rate them and even suggested i include a spare if i was going to stick with that type of jack. my guess is that there experience would be more with imported mid-range guitars

now that is classy!

its a TRS

The reason you have been pulled over, sir, is for an extreme lack of clampage.

wrong type as much as a lack.

that many clamps + a couple of cauls to distribute pressure would be fine if you were using G-clamps, would need a few more with F-clamps

but trigger clamps only really hold stuff in place, they dont let you put any real pressure on the work

it used to be a very popular method for refrets but has fallen out of favour. no real reason for that, as long as its seated well it doesnt really seem to matter how it gets in there

search for epoxy (re)fretting

http://gicl.cs.drexel.edu/people/sevy/luthierie/guitarmaking_guide/fretting/fretting.html

does it bring back painful memories of the dragon?

its what traditional manufacture of stringed instruments looks like. certainly miles away from the precision and perfection we are used to seeing in modern factories, but i wouldn't call it sloppy

i have a couple of old 60's Hofner bodies and necks around here somewhere ... made exactly the same way we have just seen those guys doing

I think you need to draw it out full size to be sure, also do a plan of the chambers, hardware and contouring to get an idea how it will all fit together.

the horns look a little thin for my tastes, but its very close to a fully coherent design idea. I also dont see the reason for using so many different pieces of wood... it will look great in the neck section, but does the body also need it?

seems like an ambitious design for a second build, having the neck through revealed on top will make it a fair bit less complex so is worth considering. I just hope you have a lot of clamps

F holes would be unnecessary, and probably difficult to execute effectively.

f-holes might be a pain, but a row of different size circles certainly wont be. i did a pattern with different sized circles on my first chambered guitar, took about 5 minutes and looked awesome!

are the rails stiff enough to hold the router without any bowing?

mine is made simply from L-sections of steel. It needs a wipe with oil before use, gets a bit squeaky if i forget. it works fine.

i do wonder if the drawer rails are adding unneeded complexity to a simple idea, but if you can come up with a way to keep dust out and are sure they dont bow then its a bloody good idea

i have a Fat allparts neck i need to reshape... i have done it a few times now and it seems to work best if you concentrate on changing profile rather then actual thickness

a 1" thick V-profile neck seems to feel slimmer than a 1" thick C/D shaped neck. based on this i usually only take a minimal amount off the centre line and take more wood off the cheeks when 'thinning a neck'

i would go with the RPC every time. my cousin is less sure so i let him use what he wants - but he hates nitro so i am pushing him back towards RPC. if i let him he would use 2k auto lacquer every time, i am still not convinced by that.

we used one gun with a plastic cup that reacted oddly with the RPC, but the little metal touch up gun works great

i am saying i brushed it when it was my only option... until i had my cousin offer to start spraying for me. It sprays just fine, needs a little thinning

Both ways work, brushing takes more effort because you have to apply more and flat back - not easy to brush a perfectly flat coat like you can when you spray. as with all things, its easier to get professional results when spraying

I have some sprayed pictures too:

straight out the gun

buffed

I used to use it a lot, that was when i was doing my finishes by hand with a brush.

now stuff gets sprayed and sometimes its used, sometimes not. it is definitely easier to spray than brush, but a good finish can be got by brushing it if you are patient and sand back regularly and use a damn good lacquer brush

It tints well with spirit based stains

You can do 3 coats a day or even more no problem. if you start again with 24 hours you can carry on like that. If you have to leave it past 24 hours than give it a few days before applying any more or it will wrinkle.

coats applied within a day will burn in, coats after that 24 hour period will not so that is when you get the possibility of witness lines

You can buff it to a high gloss after a week, although it will still sink in a little after that.

Its a very hard wearing finish, but not really brittle like nitro, it will dent rather than crack.

this is the last one i did with a brush. wood was stained, RPC was clear. buffed by hand:

It may just be me, but I don't see any predrilled holes for strap pins, pickup rings, control cavity covers or jack plates... Please correct me if I'm wrong.

its not always worth doing anyway. i dont drill any of those holes beforehand as its easier to finish and polish a piece of wood with as few holes as possible

iirc it was Drak who advocated taking it further and sometimes didnt even do pickup routes before finishing

if you do pre-drill all holes you need to be aware that they will need redrilling after to remove finish build up, and they can also cause problems during wet sanding/buffing if water gets in the hole and swells that area causing you to sand/buff straight through the finish

with wood bleach

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=wood+bleach