hittitewarrior

I really like the idea of using a pre-slotted board as the template! Thanks!! Knew this was the board to come to! Anyone have thoughts on how much variance off the ideal is still "ok"? When is it discernable (I'm assuming the value changes depending on where you're at on the fretboard). Thanks again!

I have sloooowly started work on my second build. My first build used a pre-built Carvin bolt-on neck, which was awesome, however this time around, I'd like to build the neck myself. I have the stewmac Japanese fretting saw, and have been building a 25.5" scale MDF template. I used a design I found on this site for a DIY fretting mitre box (which is such a neat idea... the Stewmac one is EXPENSIVE). Anyways... as I started cutting fret slots into the template, I realized just how difficult it was to freehand cut fret slots. I have been measuring with digital micrometer, and then using a square to create a line for my cut (.3mm pencil). I then use the Japanese fretting saw and try to cut exactly on the line removing the lead from the surface of the template and then deepening the cut. I realize there are quite a few areas that I could be making mistakes above, but my main question is: How accurate do fret locations need to be for intonation? I went back and measured the first 7 cuts or so and here's what I've got (all are interval measurements): 1st fret 1.436 (ideal 1.431) 2nd fret 1.376 (ideal 1.351) 3rd fret 1.302 (ideal 1.275) 4th fret 1.225 (ideal 1.204) 5th fret 1.17s (ideal 1.136) 6th fret 1.078 (ideal 1.072) 7th fret 1.019 (ideal 1.012) Perhaps worse is how straight the cut is (as dictated by the square)... For instance: 3rd fret is ~1.302 at top of fret and 1.282 at bottom of fret (worst one I measured - most appear to be within 30 thousandths). I think at this point, I'm leaning towards chucking the template, and just buying the stewmac one, as painful as that is... but wanted to check your collective expertise for thoughts on this. Kinda feels like an embarassing question, considering how careful I was trying to be... but I'm not afraid to be wrong, and would rather learn from it. Thanks for the input!

I was told by a Dimarzio distributor that he recommends using F spaced pickups, even on regular fixed tail bridges... Claiming that it really won't make too much of a difference. Do people on here agree? I have to admit I was a little surprised at that assessment. I'd think that the f spacing would cause the strings to be off the poles slightly and ultimately cause some loss or unintended variation in signal. Thoughts? Edit: I did find my bridge specs on 1st to 6th string spacing and compared with Dimarzios recommendations... I'll need to use F spacing. I am still curious if people have noticed any difference in sound if a standard pickup is used when an F spaced should have or vice versa.

Thanks for the feedback!

So my first build is coming along. Finally got the body cut out and planed down. A friend gave me a great 1 inch walnut cap for this, so I went from a poplar guitar to be painted as the plan, to a carved walnut top with a natural finish. I digress... I'm looking to rout my neck pocket next and was thinking of making the humbucker jigs and neck jig into one template and rout them at the same time. Thoughts? Should I wait to rout humbuckers til after the bridge is placed? Also, I know humbuckers positioning is kinda subject to the builders opinion, but given this is my first, I don't have an opinion yet. Anyone have suggestions on 'standard' positioning for bridge and neck humbuckers on a 25.5 inch scale ? And finally... Humbuckers rout depth - how do I go about calculating this. I will be using a crunch lab and Liquifire combo. Any and all input is much appreciated.

I feel silly asking this buuut you do what you have to do. I bought a Stanley straight blade spokeshave. I am in the process of building my first guitar, an iceman with walnut top. My intent is to carve the top pretty aggressively, and before doing it for real, decided to try the new spokeshave on a scrap piece of wood. I'm sure part of it is just experience level, but I was really having an issue with it chattering across the wood, and also just biting in and taking big chunks. I backed the blade depth back significantly which helped on the biting piece. I tried pressing hard, light, and at various angles. At the end of the day although slightly better it would still bite and chatter. No long curlies Do you typically have to sharpen the blades right out of the box? Is there a specific technique to drawing the blade across the wood? Any help is greatly appreciated. thanks

Thanks for the info. Exactly what I was looking for. I must admit to some additional ignorance... RAD ? S9 thread? I don't think I've stumbled across those on this forum yet. Are they here or on a different forum? Ok, never mind... RestorationAD and his S9 guitar... The RAD threw me lol. Thanks for the heads up.

I am laying out my templates for routing the neck pocket, and it occurred to me that if I make the jig long enough, I could create a notch in the back of the jig for helping appropriately locate the bridge. The stewmac fret calculator suggests that you mount the gotoh hardtail bridge I purchased at 25.25 inches... That is, with the center of the forward most mounting screws 25.25 inches from the fretboard end of the nut. When I do this it appears that I would have to move the low E saddle almost all the way forward to make the distance from nut to saddle 25.5 inches... I'm thinking the better way is to move the saddle to the center most position and then measure such that that point is 25.5 inches from the nut, or am I missing something? Input is appreciated. Thanks. At the moment I have misplaced my Melvyn hiscock book, but I'd still be double checking with this forum either way. Lol

Thanks for the info guys. I definitely mean drop top (although I was not aware that they bent the wood over the forearm curve... I did wonder how to do that). How do you go about bending it? Or does the thickness just lend itself to the "subtle" curve? My body blank is too thick to begin with, and I do not have the equipment to handle taking care of a veneer yet (vacuum system)

I was curious who people tend to use for drop top wood supplier? Has anyone used OregonWildWood.com? They seem to have some pretty drop top sets in their bargain section. My first guitar is poplar, and I'd rather do a clear coat versus painting, so I was looking for something to look a little nicer than poplar (especially the piece I have lol). Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I have arbitrarily picked two DiMarzio pickups for my first build. Not completely at random as I like the Petrucci sound, and also wanted something more tame as well... The current selection will be the DiMarzio LiquiFire (bridge) and Air Norton S (neck). I'm looking for feedback from anyone who has used these models before, and might now how they may pair with a Poplar body. Also, I am having a hard time finding anyone who sells them in Red (an option on DiMarzio's website). Has anyone had any experiences getting one of the non-stock colors from DiMarzio. How did you go about ordering it? Thanks in advance!

Oh, it was at least a 1/2" bandsaw lol... maybe even larger. Machine shop at work. I'm just starting, so I obviously do not have much in the way of power/carpentry tools. I'll definitely take a look into the spindle sander. I have a family friend with a woodworking shop, so I'll have to see what he has and if I can spend some time in his shop. The MDF I'm working with to start is 1/4". Saving the 1/2" MDF for the working template. I second getting itchy on MDF dust contact... made sure to wear gloves the second time. Thanks all for the input.

I think I may know the answer to this question (the answering being to use a router and then rasp/block sand/etc.) however, I'd be interested if anyone else has had any positive experiences with other tools, or whether I just picked the wrong tool for the job... I started cutting out my 1/4" jig for the body outline (to use for "precision" routing the final 1/2" jig for the body outline) using a band saw and noticing that I was not going to be able to get it into the cutaway, decided to do the detail cutting later. I just tried using a coping saw, which I really expected to work, but had a horrible time with it binding in the MDF. I decided to heed the advice I've seen on here about using the right tool for the job and stopping when you start to get frustrated... Is my assumption about using a router and then fine tuning the outline by sanding, the best way to go about shaping MDF? Has anyone tried any other methods with success (i.e. scroll saw? something else?)

will do!

Thanks for the info. I'm thinking of making sure I have the full joint (ala the Warmoth Iceman's), but I may try to recess the neck plate so I can contour it a litle bit. I think most neck plate's are 1/8", neck pocket is supposed to be 5/8". so on a 1 3/4" thick build, that leaves an inch for stability. Should be enough I'd think. Would you agree?

First post here - this forum is one heck of a lot of information to take in I especially liked the sticky on mistakes not to make! I'm building my first guitar - an iceman body (poplar) with a Carvin BN neck... I was going to do mahogany with a walnut top, but after reading some of this site, and the price of poplar, I'm going to start with a nice white with some custom waterside emblems. I received a CAD drawing which I've printed full scale and put onto a template. The following images are of the neck joint, and I'm a little skeptical as to the potential strength, and was hoping for some other opinions... should I move the neck joint further in? fully support the heel of the neck? or is the proposed contour probably fine? Any opinions/insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance http://photobucket.c...tockguitarbuild