mistermikev

well, I'm no expert... far from it... but I'm guessing that would be determined by the length of your truss rod unless you are going to make it(skunk stripe) longer to be 'period correct'. 

very unique build... I like where this is going!

8 hours ago, Guitar Goomba said:

For gluing thin, flat surfaces, I use slabs of granite.  I sourced mine (for free) from a local countertop jobber and got a couple of the waste pieces that come out from the sink hole.  You can cut it using a diamond blade on a circular saw, just go slow and take shallow cuts.  You end up with perfectly flat surfaces and can stack weights on top for additional pressure.

 

Loving the build so far!

thank you!

congrats ScottR!

so did binding this weekend... went pretty good all things considered.  I taped/dry-fitted and bent the binding first... using a hair dryer (heat gun is just too much for binding I think).  Then I used ca glue to go around the body again and pry-apart/glue/re-tape.

and a closeup...

started carving down my neck too... I still haven't round a good bandsaw so I used a jig saw.  This meant a lot of excess to remove... so I just used a straight edge and multiple passes to prevent blowout. 

one step closer!

cap is treble bleed... if you cut one end  it will prevent the bleed.  afa the pot... are there active pickukps in that?  generally that'd be the reason to use a 1m pot.  you could take two resistors (1M) and place them across the 2/3 and 1/2 lugs to reduce the resistance to 500k.  or just replace the pot altogether..

lol.

ok, I'm slow: just figured out that that is a member here.  good to know and sorry for 'calling you out'!  I know we all work the way we are comfortable and what might be unsafe for me might be safe for someone else. 

also, router tables make me uncomfortable... but plenty use them and insist they are more safe than freehand.  You gotta do what's right for you.

thanks again for sharing.

2 hours ago, Prostheta said:

That's Chris Verhoeven's video!

I'm afraid I don't know who that is... but he def knows a lot.  Some amazing jigs there... also, he makes me nervous the way he puts his fingers on that router!  i'm sure he knows what he's doing (still has all ten) but makes me cringe. 

that's a vid I feel like I should probably watch a few times as there is so much to take in.  all sorts of pearls... you have enlightened me again - thanks for that!

if the one I voted for wins... I get that guitar right? ;)  I'm guessing the issue above is you have to be a member for a certain amount of time before you can vote - in order to prevent tom foolery.

wow... some amazing competition here.  all 4 could win imo on any given day making this a very difficult decision.  Several candidates have been very nice to me here -making it even harder.  I can't help but feel guilty for the builds I didn't vote for.  Very nice work gentlemen - you should all be very proud of your accomplishment here.

On 6/27/2018 at 11:57 PM, Prostheta said:

In my opinion, a Myka jig is idea for this.

 

awesome video.  learning a lot from it.  thank you very much for sharing.  also... guy who is clearly a thousand times better than me... but "didn't have the handles in his hand and lifted it(router) up while the bit was still spinning" I can't help but notice!

thank you chris.  it looked funny to me at the 1-7 fret if they were centered vertically but I'm inclined to agree at the 17-19 it would look better centered.  you live you learn... but yeah... any variation from the line down there is going to be magnified.

just throwing my vote out for side A.  vnice.

i don't want this to get weird... but that wood looks so much like a woman's stocking... is it just me?  Keep thinking 'F-R-A-G-I-L-E'.  that thing just looks great.  thanks again for sharing!

pretty impressive fix.  good on ya.

i very much appreciate the reply.  what you described - is exactly why I asked for feedback.  I'm pretty sure with a better pic it would stand out but was just wondering if it was obvious (because it is to me).  it's the bottom two inlays... one is crooked west and one is crooked east.  there are other minor issues but those are the two that just hit me.  I am still trying to decide if I can live with it or if I need to order another inlay set and router them out. 

fwiw I learned that going fwd I will have to create some sort of board with a fret-tang like protrusion that I will stick into the fret slot and use to guide/cut a straight line to start with... and get equal distance on all and better orientation... wish I'd have thought of that before!

this can only mean one thing: I've made no mistakes.  Perhaps y'all just aren't good enough to catch them (oh snap - I gone and done it now - totally kidding!)

I admire your enthusiasm.  Sounds like you've got a lot of decisions to make.  I encourage you to just start choosin'!

q1: that's certainly a cool shape(rick-style)... and a nice spin to do one thinline.  I think full thinline on a bass might be likely problematic afa feedback but you never really know until you try.  might want to consider more of a 'weight releif' than 'chambered' approach.  I recently did a thinline bass with lots of forstner bit holes and small f hole cavities.  No feedback issues so far, but admittedly I don't play live or (that) loud.  I suspect that low e would get away from me in a really loud setup.

q2: bigger the body the more feedback is my gut guess.  given two proportionally excavated bodies. 

might want to take some photos and mock something up and see how it looks.  good luck!

just wondering how obvious my mistakes are here... I could see them from space, and even when I close my eyes.  Can't decide if I need a mulligan here or if I should just chalk it up to my greeness and move on.  Can you point out my flaws in order of severity? or er um... what is your vote: "finish him" (thumbs down)?

oh, no - worst possible scenario: newbie answering questions for a newbie... certainly this will end in disaster...

yes, one is 25.5 scale and one is 24.626 scale... er whatever that works out to in your em... MILI  METERS (hehe).

if the tailpiece has been drilled then I'm afraid you are probably out of luck... but given the fact that you are asking about putting a bolt on neck on a gibson style body I'm going to guess this body is not gibson spec.  I'd recommend putting masking tape over relevant body area and drawing a line where the center of the bridge is and measuring to the start of the neck cavity.  then google or measure the distance from the 12th fret of a tele neck in question to the end of its' heel.  those two added together have to add up to half the scale length so in your case 12.75".

long story short... you are probably better off going over to gfs and looking for a lp style bolt on neck.  I wish you the best of luck.

hey jimf... take some time to grieve the tearout... and then get back to work! 

Looking good so far!

Right on brutha - wish I could take credit for it but I stole the idea from some thread I was reading - no doubt someone on this site. 

I had to take off quite a bit from this stock as it was the end piece and was a bit cupped so figured I'd try this method.  What I learned is that I should have stuck w the dewalt saw for both pieces.  that thing is razor thin and cuts amazing.  best part is the grain should be a 90% match.

I use photoshop... not because it is a great tool, but because I have learned it over the years in other capacities.  Gimp is a good free version of it.  I should really get to know gimp as my ps is outdated and is just a limited version I got ages ago.  Gimp seems to have all the same functionality, but a different gui.

I take pictures of my actual wood and have built a folder of them.  Its nice to be able to play with the images and decide the orientation of said wood.  Still learning new things there, and def a challenge to make the finished build live up to the drawing but:

On 8/3/2018 at 7:56 AM, Mr Natural said:

i have always used the method of nailing along the outside edges of the bookmatch- nail along one side- then place a thin strip of wood underneath the joint so the bookmatch is slightly "roofed"  with the joint edges exposed open slightly-then nail the other side of the bookmatch making sure to keep the jointed edges somewhat tight. the idea here is you remove the thing strip that kept the jointed edge up off the flat surface,  glue the joint- then you have to press down on the bookmatch to get the center to press together- the nails on the outside give enough pressure to keep the joint tight- and a flat board plus weight on top keeps everything relatively flat and prevents the center from popping up from the pressure. Make sure to use wax paper over your glue line on both sides.  I would expect wood that thin will curl somewhat even after the glue dries. but you can flatten it out when you glue to the top of the guitar. 

here is a pic of what I am trying to explain- i used whatever I had laying around on top of the bookmatch- If I were you I would try to find a single piece of material to keep that flat. I have used this method as it is one of the easiest ways to deal with outside edges that are not squared. as you can see below- the bookmatch is wider at the bottom than at the top. the nails provide adequate pressure along the whole length. also notice the bottom corner is slightly curled up along the nails- that is about a 1/4 in thick top if I remember correctly- it happens- especially with figured woods. 

 

thank you again for this excellent advice.  I used some straight boards and clamps as my 'nails' and used a 3/32 thick ruler to prop up the top in the middle.  Removed the ruler and just enough pressure that the top wanted to spring up if left without any down pressure.  Held it down with some slate tile.