Jon Bell

Nah, still doesn't work.

I like the idea of a hand made neck. It will be made exactly to your requirements and it's got to be better than a factory made one.

There are some jazz downloads at this site: http://www.visual-jazz.com/download.htm if you're interested.

What do people think?

Thanks, very helpful advice!

6th, min7th and maj7th are all simple chords that are easy to play and have a nice jazzy sound. You can slip them into "normal" music too without them sounding out of place.

Just a test!

I think the wire is for things like pickups, not for general wiring. Unfortunately it's too thick for making a good pickup, you couldn't get enough windings onto the bobbin to get enough output.

Where?

I'm thinking of making an entire guitar (body, bolt-on neck, ebony fretboard) out of zebrano (also called zebrawood). I'm found somewhere to get it from and I think it is the most amazing looking wood.

Has anyone had any experience using it? I found one place on the web where it was described as being very hard to work with and finish. Is this true? Would it be better to stick with one of the more popular woods?

Also does it have any harmful effects? A lot of wood dust seem to be an irritant, I was wondering if zebrano is too.

Thanks,

Jon

I'm preparing fret my first first fingerboard. I've got the board radiused, slotted and cut to the right size but I'm a bit unsure what tools I will needs for applying the frets.

The minimum required seems to be:

A small hammer: Could you use a regular hammer and protect the frets from damage by laying a piece of scrap wood over the frets and hitting that?

Fret cutter: I know there are special fret cutters but could you get away with normal wire cutters or will they not cut close enough? Is there a cheap, easily available tool that will do the job?

Fret files: Is there anything special about "fret files" or can you use normal files to finish the fret ends?

Oil stone: Can you use wet and dry paper or wire wool to level the frets instead?

Thanks,

Jon

I've read that inlays often need finishing off using chisels to get into the awkward corners. I've also read that inlays can be done entirely using chisels.

Is there a specific size and type of chisel needed or will any smallish chisel do?

Depends on the type of harmonics. I think that you are talking about natural harmonics, if so there are only a few places on the neck where they will sound clearly (known as harmonic nodes) - the 12th fret, 7th, 5th, 4th, 3.2, 2.8, 2.3, etc. The closer you get towards the bridge the harder they will get, generally they are easier on the thicker strings too. If you use you bridge humbucker with plenty of gain they should all sound clearly.

Another type of harmonics which you will hear a lot are pinch harmonics (listen to some Dimebag or Zak Wylde riffs). Getting a consistent sound here is harder and more complicated as notes are generally fretted down moving the nodes.

What factors make for a great sounding, high gain metal pickup? Is it strong magnets? Lots of windings? Or something else?

Also what is your favourite metal pickup (excluding EMGs, just passive)?

To-mah-to/Po-tay-to

Very cool! I like your pickup choice too, should give some great sounds!

Looks great! What wood is it and how long did it take?

Looks like it will be great when it's finished. Snakeskin, cool!

I've just had a go at some wood inlays on an old les paul type neck with block inlays. I've cut the wood and it looks great, I'm guessing that the next steps would be glue the wood with some PVA wood glue then sand it flat.

What is the best way to finish it? I'm using an ebony board so the finish would have to be compatible with that.

Great sound. Great price.

I've just installed one of their distortion humbuckers and it sounds amazing. Huge, thick sound great for heavy riffs, soloing and pinch harmonics. Very impressive and great price too!

I'm currently thinking about the inlays on a fretboard I'm working on. Rather than using MOP or abalone could you use wood veneer? I've got a pack of marquetry veneers (about 1mm thick each), could I use these for inlays and if so what finish would it need?

Thanks,

Jon

If you use the locking tuners (which don't require string trees) the strings should stay put pretty well.

It was any easy job to install the new nut. I added a few wood shims to bring the nut upto the right height and then superglued it all together. However I do have a bit of a gap where the old nut used to be so it doesn't look as good.

Jon

I've just replaced the locking nut with a graphtech one and installed sperzel locking tuners on my Ibanez S series. It's worked well and it stays in tune great without the hassle of using the fine tuners and allan keys. The strings also feel a bit easier to play, due to the new tuners I guess.

Jon

I think there's a major flaw in Ed roman's argument against having the pickup at the 24th fret harmonic node. That node will only be at that position for an open string or if it's fretted at the 12th fret. Furthermore, on a 24-fret guitar, the pickup will be at the 26th fret so that any string that's fretted on the 2nd fret will produce a harmonic "dead spot" just like the open string on a 22-fret guitar.

I agree, it should only really make a different if you're strumming some open chords. It reminds me of the Earvava nut, it only affects open strings, if you actually fret a note down it stops doing anything.