mistermikev

looking at that again... apparently the commons are rev on the other side.  so... x and r which are connected.  so... that part looks right. 

Well.. I hope it was just hitting the plunge release.  I've certainly done that before myself.  to be sure... you might consider taking a marker and marking your bit where it goes into the collet on your next run... then checking it later.

I couldn't like the above post enough... so I'll just say: that's some good advice.

looks great!

oh snap "we may have an issue in sector 14".

I must constantly give likes... because I constantly run out of them.  at the risk of joining up with these two dissidents I would love to see your like potential be proportional to your rep/time-spent/responses or other metric.  Otherwise I end up having to talk to people... and no one wants THAT.  so for the greater good of humanity and all in this forum...

"MORE LIKES... MORE LIKES... MORE LIKES"  (imagined crowd chanting)

yes, I'm all hopped up on goofballs again.

not knowing anything about tosin's preferred wiring nor the megaswitch nor the wiring scheme of fluence it looks like the way this would work is in position 3 you'd have individual volume controls for either pickup and then a master.  doesn't look like your second half of the switch is doing anything because there is nothing going to common on either seg.  ie m and s. so as drawn I would say it will not work.  on the orig drawing common is going to one of those secondary segs and one of the wires from neck is going to the other.

yes, what he said... wood is worthy of speachless.

3 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said:

Yeah I guess a jig could work if you're building fretboards of the same dimensions frequently. My rationale for the blocks this time were that I had already cut the neck and fretboard to final dimensions prior to glueing, so the locator blocks on either side seemed like a good idea. The principle is pretty similar to the cocktail stick method I've employed a few times, but in this case I had not cut the fret slots already so wasn't sure where to drill the wholes in the board.

well, I was thinking of something that would work for any neck... two blocks in a straight line on one side... 12" apart, glued and screwed to a piece of mdf or pine.  A 1/4" slot cut at 90 deg in the middle of the board with another block with a hole thru the middle.  lag screw with a wing nut holding it to the mdf board.  put the neck tight to the other two blocks, scootch the middle block tight and lock it down with the wing nut.  perhaps two variable blocks but you get the idea.

just spitballing here.

1 minute ago, ADFinlayson said:

Well that's very nice to hear, especially from a man of your saliva . I don't enjoy it either, nor do I consider myself to be particularly skilled, it's more of a succession of cockups eventually resulting in something that looks half decent in the right light - so I like having done inlay. This inlay is going to be a bit more difficult that previous ones IMO because it's all circles and triangles - I'll sort out a pic when I get home. In fact I'm seriously considering getting myself one of those mini CNCs to have a go at cutting it out that way.

Now that you've said that, I see the turtle neck and I am struggling to unsee it, so thank you 

I used 4 locator blocks, 1 on each side at each each end. I used a blob of super glue and stuck them on at the very bottom of the neck blank (what will be carved away) in case of any tearout when tapping them off with a hammer. If you do it, I recommend superglue accelerator, I didn't use any and I wish I did. 

right on.  so it's not just me!

I was suggesting I might build a simple jig based on your idea using 3 blocks... but good to know on the glue.

you fretboard strikes me as wearing a turtleneck right now - I don't know why. 

looks like you got her on the run. 

I like the idea of the locator blocks on the sides as I always use pins (I remove after) and there always seems to be a 1/64 deviation due to me clamping the piss out of it to the point where I move the pins.  what did you glue the blocks on w?  I might try 3 blocks but mounted on a piece of mdf used as a bottom clamp protector.  If I made the middle block adjustable I could re-use it.  I like it!  I'm stealing that!

1 hour ago, ADFinlayson said:

I live on the wrong side of the pond

well I have a spare room if you ever want to visit the dark side! moo hoo ha ha ho ho hee!  (but don't steal any of my 8/4 walnut nor ebony that's stacked under the bed!)

6 minutes ago, ScottR said:

That's a pretty good price for no curls at all.

SR

I'm pretty spoiled.  they had a piece of 1 x 12" x 12' of purple heart that had some light/med figure to it.  I believe it's $8/bd ft so probably $100.  they also have teak, bloodwood, bubinga, zebra, etc... for similar prices.  last time I went there they had 8/4 maple that had med birdseye in it.  I passed at the time as I don't see me using 12' of 8" @ 8/4.  Should have snagged it because it would have been $2.95/bd ft.  I need to visit that place more often!

so there's a local place I visit... where I asked them to bring in some curly maple from their sister store in california.  Peterman lumber.  It's S2S curly maple approx 7/8" x 7" x 10' for $25 a board.  Figured it might work good for a slip matched top and if not def for laminated neck stock.  The other board isn't as consistently curly as this one... but pretty nice for the price anyway.  Don't know if they ship and i suspect the shipping would be a killer anyway... but thought I'd mention for those in CA or AZ.  at the very least - perhaps you like to look at wood as much as i do.  wood porn!

also... here's a little something I picked up at home depot the other day...

1 hour ago, JayT said:

Routing cavities, first one went no problem...2nd one again router issues! How does a flush bit with 2 bearings dig into the wall?

 

but I made a little plug (not putty despite that being my first instinct) worked fine but wish I thought of grain matching at least a little.

turned out ok...going to one painted and under pick guard so no BFD I suppose.

Rounded hard edges and carved belly cut tonight

carving is easily my favorite part of this process

 

the only way I know of a router slipping is if the bit is slipping in the collet at which point I would say your wood is the least of your worries!  did the template slip?  are your bearings secured such that they won't move up or down? 

I have a black and decker router that is far from the ritz but it works fine (only 1/4" bits tho) and you are welcome to it (pm me).  Not sure what it'd cost to ship but I would be happy to box it up and send it if it means preventing you from getting hurt.  One way or another, I'd like to see you get to the bottom of this issue before something bad happens. 

Not trying to be dramatic but if a bit comes out of the router while it's running - you don't want to be in the sm state let alone holding that thing!

perhaps you can toss up some photos of the router/bit setup?

anywho, glad you weren't hurt and it looks like you recovered w a plug so... good on ya!  build(s) are looking handsome.

when I first saw your pics I was going to guess goya... as it def has that 70s made-in-japan look.  It reminded me of this guitar that my dad bought at a swap meet for next to nothing...

since bizman wrote a dissertation on the tremolo... looks like yer in good hands!

12 minutes ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

Not quite 1 piece! So close though. I used the remaining wood that I had cut around the neck section for the 'wings'.

I don't seem to have had many problems with Wenge, although I think that because Ive read so many horror stories about the splinters etc that I have been quite careful with it. This piece in particular cut quite nicely. The Ziricote on the other hand...

Yes Im looking forward to stringing this up...an easily achievable low action is one of the aims with this build.

Im probably putting some small fret markers on this.

right on.  did a nice job matching the grain.

feel like I somehow missed the start of this.  v cool build. 

all 1 piece wenge?  you must still be pulling splinters out of places you didn't know existed! 

really looking great.

I did a zero radius for a slide guitar and was surprised at how comfy it actually is.  talk about low action potential.  this should be a crazy good player.

I concur... I actually wondered if you put a new top or veneer over it.  can't see it at all.  nice work.

Just now, JayT said:

A bit of progress...every cut is nerve wracking at this point

and who knew drilling 6 straight, perpendicular holes is near impossible? Even with a drill press. I saw some videos after the fact on how to do it...pretty labor intensive. Anyway, I’m inching towards the finish line

really starting to come together there.  looks great. 

afa straight lines... I hear ya.  with good brad point bits and a solid template I have managed to do a pretty good job but have thought a lot about how to get it 'right' and my best guess is to setup a fence and drill the holes in square stock first... then carpet tape that to the guitar and place the bit in the hole.  I actually did that on my recent tele and it worked good.  I s'pose there's lots of ways to do it.

7 minutes ago, willliam_q said:

Yes @mistermikev I love the way it turned out.  I knew the flamed top  was nice but didn’t realise how nice it would actually be.  I got a bargain on that top too, I think it was about £40 delivered from eBay.  
 

cant wait to get this thing finished now that I’m this far...the impatience is starting to set in

hehe, that's usually how I make most of my mistakes!  mmmm steak.  careful, don't blow it now!  looks great tho.

17 minutes ago, Mr Natural said:

it will probably be a bit- dealing with some more pressing  life issues at the moment unfortunately. 

well, I'm sorry to hear that brother.  I won't pry, but just to say - if you need an ear.  Hoping better days for you and looking fwd to your next build!

1 minute ago, Mr Natural said:

very nice job on the axe Mike- that sounds like a very versatile tele!

thank you very much mr nat.  I very much appreciate your feedback!  so... when's yer next proj?

41 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said:

Getting glue on the truss rod isn't what I'm concerned about, clearance of the fretboard over the truss rod wheel preventing the fretboard glueing down properly is the main concern, that's why I'm contemplating pre cutting that part of the fretboard 

well, I meant more to prevent glue from oozing out and sitting in a spot behind the wheel that will be hard to sand/remove... but afa fit - just test fit it and if you need to take a dremel sanding wheel to the back side of the fretboard until it doesn't touch?  just a thought.

10 hours ago, mattharris75 said:

Speaking of... My favorite version of the song. I've seen this band twice, and they're amazing, just won a Grammy in fact.

 

 

very nice take on it indeed.  thanks for sharing!

Just now, ADFinlayson said:

I don't think you're miss-understanding the problem, I'm leaning towards cutting the slot for the wheel prior to sticking the fretboard on - the top of the wheel is about flush with the top of the neck so I don't want it to get in the way of the glue up. I think I need to sleep on it. 

ah, not getting glue on your truss... ok.  when I did mine thru the board I just put a piece of tape over the area to prevent glue from being spread right there... but yours will ooze out.  I would think just putting tape on the outside edges and using a q tip to clean it right away as the glue come out would do it.  then remove tape.  just a thought. 

17 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said:

Yes the true to the original comments were sporadic and conflicting in places. There was talk of a scratch plate at one point, but I pulled rank - scratch plate over the walnut would be sacrilege IMO.

 

Need to figure out how I'm going to do the fretboard/binding etc now as the truss rod wheel is going to make things awkward. I don't really want to slot/shape the fretboard prior to glueing because I don't have a visible centre line at the heel end like I do on my PRS style builds. But I think I'm probably going to have to get it at least cut to the correct length with the little truss rod recess cut prior to glueing. Any advice in that department would greatly appreciated.

I hear ya... I think good instincts.  On the other hand I keep ending up in this loop where I won't cover a beautiful piece of wood... but then I don't want to build with something not pretty just so I can use a pickguard.  it's a viscous cycle!

advice... why not put it thru the fretboard? 

edit - ah... binding bit bearing will hit the truss wheel... got it.  if it were me... I'd make an exact copy of your neck template, then take your binding bit and run it on bottom of the orig with the copy below it, then a straight bit to cut the rest off.  now you've got a copy that is exactly less your binding channel width.  just did that recently several times!  anywho, that's what I come up with.