mistermikev

not likely. it's probably inlay so it'd require you to lam a new piece of ebony or paint over.

i honestly do not know. not sure why it would matter. either way I'd put down some primer of a different color, do some sanding to see where hi and low spots are... get it smooth... primer a final time and paint.

in my case... I don't think it's consistent enough to really qualify as 'desireable'... but it's close. I could def see finding a piece with some more of it and liking it for a front. def pretty for a back. will have to take a look at the rest of my stock of it and see if there are any more spots (the first blank had none).

I've seen it a few times around here for sure. kind of something to watch out for if you are trying to do a finished side. then again, it's pretty in its own way.

not sure I'd try sanding thru the stickers if that's what you mean. they'll gum up and ruin lots of sandpaper. since you are going to refinish anyway... I'd use some goo gone and peal/clean it first. No obvious chips so... should be pretty good candidate to leave the finish and just paint over.

easily one of the best headstock designs ever. love yours. the curve at the end is not only beautiful but I bet it makes that headstock very rigid. form AND function... nice.

thank you for the feedback. I'm fairly happy with it. Did you see those X in the grain? kind of faint... but it looks like chain link fence.

tru dat. all part of that measure twice, cut once school of thought. this template is especially complex because I'm trying to set it up to where I can make one template and be able to do a thinline, and a deluxe,,, so 4 knob + toggle vs 2 knob + 3way... tremolo bridge vs tom style. lot going on! Every time I step away for a sec and come back I think of some new detail I need to re-work... so until I run out of new thoughts... keep iterating!

stu I'm reading your post while I was working on my drawing at the 'template level'... I was thinking I might take a look at the f hole with this style but smaller - like you suggested - just to see how it looks... but my photoshop template is setup such that it isn't easy to switch back and forth between this view and my template view... so I'll have to revisit that. I'm not sure a smooth straight line headstock is what I'm after... but you've made me start thinking about another thing I might try to lock it all together - so thanks for that! I very much appreciate your feedback.

I think I'm using this for the back of one... and it will be black stain... so it probably doesn't matter anyway... but yeah, I think your right side arrow is pointing right at the grain I was looking at. it tapers out about 2" from the edge. I think I see what you mean on the left... the lighter grain of the top piece stops abruptly.

hmm... it's funny, we are looking at the same sort of artifact but I think I'm seeing it in a different place. I'm seeing exactly what you are describing... but not on the left.

I have some pics with the line pointed out via photoshop... but was interested in seeing if anyone could find it before I post them... there IS a telltale mark that I know to look for, sort of a "if it's there you know that's the split"... just curious if you see that. Can you describe where you see it?

ok, round 2. def improved my join I think... is it easy for anyone to spot it? Also... looks like the marks there are from the sm fence I've seen on a some guitars around here (ehem).

not necessarily. if you have enough lead, you can just cut them real close to where they connect, then strip it back a bit and reconnect them. I like to leave some color connected so it's easy to see how they reconnect.

the tricky part is the studs... lots of good methods for that ( @ADFinlayson ) so perhaps a washer and a piece of pvc or pipe to get those out... something heavy and a screwdriver to top off the nut (cut first along edges with razor to prevent chipout), probably some wrenches for the tuners, screwdriver for the screws... that should be about it. take a photo of your elec cavity then snip the wires.

I imagine if you did that... it'd result in a perfect neck every time... but I def don't have the time for that. Perhaps i'll get burnt. Still good to know I'm not alone. I def wouldn't buy wood and then cut it into a neck... I've let all my wood sit in my garage for at least 6 wks before doing anything. if I then cut it and let it sit for a week and see anything more than say 1/32... I'm moving on to another piece. it's way too much work to build a neck to have to toss it! Good advice above and I appreciate you sharing it!

heck, turn it into a feature... maybe some inlay there... some mop dust in a pattern around the controls. ultimately tho... you gotta do what's gonna make you happy.

sure, I think if you are really just scuffing up the surface it's probably better by hand. that said, if you have any big divots it's going to be a lot more work by hand.

you COULD sand it to the wood. if you are just repainting, you probably could save yourself work by just roughing up the finish and perhaps deeper sanding where you might have dings and such. You might want to do a primer over the old finish to ensure the new finish stays on well. just 2 cents. good luck!

thanks scott I really appreciate it. I plan to use mohawk toner blonde which I suspect will be a lot like the champagne frost I'm currently using but more yellow. with a thin coat it is pretty opaque and I plan to do a little thicker for an aged broadcaster look. I'm pretty well convinced at this point that it will be fine but you never know so it's good to get some general feedback from the experts! thank you all for that!

I imagine finland and wisconsin are a lot alike. my family has a cabin on lake michigan that is from the 20s... all logs. I have similar memories of staring at wood ceilings.

thanks for reply. I'm not really concerned about the actual join... once the opaque finish is on... I think it would hide it well. I was more concerned about the heartwood on either side showing up after getting a finish, and being a visible contrast to the center lighter wood. afa pickguard... well this would be a broadcaster/black-guard type so... you'd really only be able to see the last 4 inches. Just not sure if it's a bad idea to use contrasted wood like that. anywho, i appreciate the input. I'm going to join up another piece next and perhaps when I see that one it'll change my direction.

so as I'm sitting around waiting for nitro to cure... I'm working a little bit on my next build(s). tele time! anywho, I made up this blank intending to use the heartwood side as the side that would face a top on the thinline I'm about to build. looking at the heartwood - I really would hate to waste it by covering it with a top. was planning on a butterscotch blonde tele with no top anyway but am unsure how such an uneven piece would work in that application. On the one hand, the mohawk nitro I have used on my current blonde does seem like it would even things out quite a bit. also, dark wood grain would likely show through such an opaque finish well esp after some grainfill. on the other, I think I'd end up losing the part I like anyway... and am beginning to think perhaps I shouldn't use it for that? Have posted this somewhere else too, but hoped to get some more feedback on it. what say you? should I use this piece for butterscotch blonde or should I cut another piece more similar to the plain side for that? heartwood side: plain side:

first off, just want to say ... how bad can the other side be? such a beautiful piece of work would seem a huge shame to dismantle it. couldn't you just flatten the top with a router sled and put a new top on? I'm certain your not looking for advice from me... and you can weight my response with my experience, but looking at it and thinking "what would I do"... I think I'd put this on my router sled and take off all the material behind the neck, get a better look at the joint... then perhaps hand saw up either side of it, then use a jig saw to rough cut the body away from the neck, then begin cleaning up the neck with router/hand tools. just a thought... I'm sure there will be better/more-seasoned ideas along shortly.