Drak

It can be if you want it to be from what I understand. Not quite like lacquer, but you can bring it up to about any feel/gloss you want to, depending on the application, # of coats etc...

Up-Pull Maniacs!

No, it's just the hole from the drill for my neck pickup wires. I just start at the neck and drill straight thru to the bridge cavity...

The Dan Erlewine Tremolo Installation video (what I go by)recommends the front ledge at 5/32", and the rest at 5/16", although I have taken the rear section down to 7/16" on occasion...

I know of at least 2 folks who have made their own Bocote necks, and I don't think either one of them used any finish on it. As a matter of fact, I remember them commenting on how nice the Bocote felt by itself. If you want to put something on it, I would recommend Tru-Oil, a Polymerized Linseed oil that a LOT of people really like for the 'feel' on their necks. It has driers in it so it cures in a few hours, and you can re-coat twice a day. Tung Oil cures soft, Tru-Oil cures hard. You'll find it at most all gun shops and WalMarts gun section. PS, I would never wipe anything on one of my necks without really knowing how it is going to react first, especially a pricey neck like that. I bet it's gorgeous! PPS, You might want to e-mail Jason Lollar at Lollar Guitars, he is one of the two who I know have made several Bocote necks, and is a very friendly guy to converse with.

Thanks again! Guitars are the friggin' Nuts! I get my wood from either a local guy (Wood World in Rockville, MD) ...Or from e-Bay. I get almost all of my veneers from e-Bay these days also, there's 3 or 4 folks there that have really top shelf drop-dead gorgeous veneers consistantly. The Myrtle I got from Cook Woods off of e-Bay. The Coco-Bolo I got from my local guy at Wood World, but that was about 7 years ago I got that...his Coco-Bolo selection has dried up a bit since those days, but there's plenty on e-Bay... The middle (figured Maple) model was another purchase from Wood World. I always browse Cook Woods' selections on e-Bay, but there are others with really great stuff too...

Man, I'm on that like a scratch on an itch! Now...where'd I put that 7/8" Forstner bit again?

HaHa!! I didn't think anybody replied to test postings...just wanted to check my link before I posted it elsewhere. The neck is an upcharged Birdseye Warmoth w/ skunk stripe which I sprayed a deep 'yellow with a dash of red' finish over. I did stick an ebony neck on it just for a look, I didn't like it too much, it seemed to make it too 'Un-Tele' for me. The Maple neck helps keep it in the Tele family...or close enough for me... The neck is much more deep golden yellow than you would normally see. If you saw a pic of it next to a regular Fender, which is more amber-ised, you'd really notice the difference. I really like the way it looks with the blue/black. Of course...with the EMG Afterburner pre-amp cranked, it aint 'a gonna sound much like a twanglin' Tele neither!

Yeah. Drop the Tele and do the RG. There! I never liked 2-HB Teles much, and I don't think the Carvin neck looks very good on a Tele body (I have one of those necks, and I've stuck it on a Tele body...Yecch! The Carvin neck looks much more appropriate on something with more 'zing' to it than a Tele has...A Tele is really an anti-'Zing' shape... Of course, JMO, YMMV...

I've found that Forstner bits on a regular drill work well for this. They don't dig in too quickly or easily, giving you a lot of control over depth. You almost have to force them to dig in. You can jack a Forstner bit into a drill chuck and have all 4 done in less than 5 minutes and not have any worries that you're gonna come out the other side too fast... JMO...

Thanks! This is kind of my 'Hiya Guys' introduction thread, showing some of the stuff I'm working on presently (there's more). Great site, I really love what I've seen so far and hope it grows. I immediately liked it here. I hang with the twanglers (Fender-based) as well as the dive-bombin' Headbangers, I like it all, and everything in between... The top two are just the normal 'stain black and sand back' figure-enhancing deals. The Coco-Bolo was shot with Catalyzed lacquer for the first few coats to seal up the oils and clear pore-fill, then regular Nitro shot over that after it was orbital-sanded with Abralon Pads up to 4000 grit. I don't have the Pro Buff equipment to do Catalyzed justice, but I do have the stuff to buff up regular lac nicely, but regular lac w/ oily woods bleeds the oils up into the finish terribly, so I found a balance between the two that seems to work for me. I've also used CYA glue as a clear pore-filler/oil sealer on occasion, it works pretty good also...kinda nasty with binding tho, it does 'drag' the oils around as you're wiping it in, but it is another way to skin the oily cat...

Well, there 'are' blue flames! A Tele project I'm working on. Will have an on-board EMG Afterburner pre-amp and some other goodies. Myrtle Flame top and back, control cavity is the same wood, cut out before finishing, shaped, then screwed on for the finishing stages. The rear is a carbon-copy of this front shot. Blue Flame Myrtle Explosion Tele ...And Here's a swirly girly weirdo Maple quilt/burl thang I'm workin' on too...This one will have a set of Lace Sensor Hot Gold pkps along with another EMG Afterburner and an EXG control. Can't decide on the bridge, that's why there's no bridge stuff yet. Either a hardtail Callaham bridge or an OFR (in gold)... Basecoat Color (No Finish Yet) ...And a Rhoads-Jackson Inspired Shark-V, w/ Rosewood (Coco-Bolo actually) top and back that I 'almost' got done tonight. Overall Body Shot Closeup of Bridge Area Headstock w/ same wood

Just testing a linky... Blue Flame Tele

I wonder if ole' Ronnie got that lil' gimmick from Ibanez... When they came out with the Icemen in the late '70's, one option was a sliding pickup...hmmmmm........time period seems right, give him a few years to happen onto one... Either way, Montrose Ruled... PS, the only rule set in stone is to not put your bridge pkp too close to the bridge, or it'll get reeeel thin sounding...

Look up Jason Lollar at Lollar Guitars. He wrote a book on 'winding your own' a few years ago, and I think there is a portion of the book devoted to parts sourcing. Maybe it's listed on his website. Really great guy.

Yes, I've made a guitar with a highly figured Walnut top. I bleached it, then dyed it a slightly reddish hue, it seemed to need the red highlights to make it look 'guitar-worthy', otherwise it looked too much like a piece of furniture...I call it 'Bones', after Nigel Tufnel's T-shirt at the end of Spinal Tap. the figure in the wood looks very much like his 'rib-cage' T-shirt...

Do you have a set of router templates to do this or are you freehanding it? I could write a book on tips for doing this, but I'll tell ya, the video Stew-Mac sells that has Dan Erlewine showing tremolo installations is just so superior I cannot recommend it enough. Every time I go to route for another Floyd, I watch that sucker just One More Time! Dan is the Man!

I've used the same exact neck router template (Stew-Mac) for several years now, along with several different neck varieties (Warmoth, Stew-Mac, Carvin, etc...) on my own custom-built bodies. And I have never had to 'tape' anything to compensate for it being oversized. They make it that way on purpose because they figure the finish will eat up the rest of the space, which it pretty much does, all of my neck pockets have nice tight fits. I'm wondering if you are chasing shadows trying to do this 'compensate' thing? Just wondering out loud...seems you are getting frustrated on a step that I never even do? PS, I scored a permanent line down the dead-center of the template to help me line the neck up with the centerline of the guitar... PPS, when you use double-sided tape (ala the carpet tape) SMASH that sucker down as hard as you possibly can to make sure the template doesn't slide on you. I mean LEAN on it! 2-sided tape sticks harder the harder you press on it. Gently try to move it side-to-side before you fire up the router to make absolutely sure it's not going to move. I normally use one clamp at the tail end of the guitar to assist keeping it in place, as well as using 2-sided tape... Try to use as little tape as you can get by with also. I usually use 3 pieces of tape about 1" square (give or take) one on each side of the pocket, and one at the base (sometimes below the neck pkp cavity) ...along with the clamp at the tail end.