Lex Luthier

I use my 6" X 99" edge sander to do that. I just hold the neck and roll it by hand over the belt and checkthe radius with gauges. Interestingly, I always get compound radii when I do this.

When you get new wood you should let it climatize for at least a week, You should sticker it on a flat surface, with weight on it to keep it flat.

Maybe it's because PRS is doing so well with that guitar, taking away business from gibson, that they got mad.

BTW, this is what I hope the finished product will look like, from the Fender website.

Gluing the top.

I gonna go get it today! I will still work on all the instruments though, Bass, Strat, Violin.

Your control cavity cover is from the same piece as the back right? How did you cut it out?

I'm gonna order it tomorrow. I have attempted to make a violin a while ago, but it just wasn't going well. I've always been intrigued with the StewMac kit, so I'm finally gonna buck up and get it. I'm actually not getting it to make myself a violin to play, I want to make it a piece of wall art. I'm gonna 'antique' it. I'm gonna finish it at my work, I'm thinking with an alchohol based dye stain in a maroon tone, then use a synthetic steel whool pad the sand back and lighten areas, then coat with a two coats of lacquer. I not gonna be too concerned with the final sound, because you'd probably have to do alot of work to get the thing to sound good anyways. I will post progress pics though. Should be interesting.

I'm gonna be slowy building a third bass, but my jointer won't be in for a few weeks, so I will finally start on my 1960 relic Strat project I've been putting off. For the first time ever I am using kit parts. The body is 2-piece unfinished Alder, and the neck is a small headstock Strat, Maple/Rosewood unfinished, both from Allparts. You can also see some of the hardware in the pic. A vintage style steel block trem, neckplate with 5 digit serial #, along with bolts. The parts I'm excited about are a set of Kluson Deluxe looking tuners and saddles from an old asian Strat copy from the 70's. I got them from a luthier who was replacing the hardware on the guitar. They're cool because they have natural wear, so they will go well with the look of the instrument. Also in the pic you can see the bootleg decal I got off ebay. I will be finishing the guitar at my work, because it's cheaper. For the neck I think a good plan will be to seal it, stain the sealer, seal in the stain, apply decal, seal the decal with light dust coats, then one or two more heavy-ish coats, with sanding in between. For the body, I still not sure if I want to first sealt he body with the clearlacquer, or start with the paint. I think if Istarted with paint, when I do the wearing the paint will wear off the body with a 'grain-ier' look. Once I have the paint on, I will stain the paint with a heavily reduced stain for a yellowed clear coat look, then one or to final coats of clear. I'm not going to lay on numerous coats, level sand and buff because, especially on the neck, alot of the finish will be perposely worn away. Also I use a really nice gun at my work that already gives an exellent finish. BTW, it is a lacquer I will be using, but I don't think it's nitro.

Looks like a cove bit.

I asked today, he said something like the guy was coming back in a few weeks or so. The guy has to mill the log and kiln dry it. Also, the owner said it was WESTERN Maple, the kind that usually goes QUILTED and FLAMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BTW, I haven't mentioned anything about my 'deal' I came up with...but who knows, maybe he won't even tell me when the guy is coming in so he can get it all...

I was gonna suggest that to you MKG...that's a NICE site! I agree with what DaveQ said about having a site if you sell your instruments, even if you don't sell through the site.

...was on Sunday, yeah I didn't know either. It was at the Croatian Culture Centre. I showcased local luthiers like Jay Duncan, Legend, Paragon and many more. They also featured a "Show'N'Shine", which I think was a competition, to display your guitar - this is the part I would have loved to take advantage of to show off my work to players...if I had any at the moment. It was such a success it has become a bi-annual event. Harmony Central Thread.

There are blade with the correct kerf you can get for a table saw, I don't know if it would fit in a mitre saw.

Like the name suggests you carve it. You can use gouges and fingerplanes to do it, or a random orbit sander or sanding disc attachment in a hand drill,. It helps to mark out the areas like a map, and to start it with a routed edge to get your depth.

That's quite close to what I use.

I made a fretting hammer with a brass head (and Birdseye Maple handle!) and it marked frets. I ended up going to a hardware store and got a nylon/plastic faced hammer for like $20. 8oz is a good weight to look for BTW.

Today at work the owner of the bussiness told me a guy came into the place sometime saying he was clearcutting his property and had about an 8' log of figured maple that he wanted to unload. The owner said the guy had a mill and was gonna cut it up and kiln dry it and bring it back to sell. I told the owner I would be very intersted in seeing it, and maybe buying some...he kinda didn't say anything about actually letting me see it or get in on buying any... he was telling me earlier how he bought a huge board of Mahogany forlike $500 and sold it to a guy for $1000 or something. I'm thinking he may buy-up all the maple just to go and sell it...he is a bussinessman ...I was thinking about it at work later, and was thinking of a deal where the owner gives me first dibbs on what pieces I want, and in return I help him sell what he wants to unload for $$$ to, well, maybe some of you guys if you're interested , or on eBay or something. BTW, I didn't ask what kind of Maple it was, so I don't know what the figuring will be, or even the grade. Ie, Rock Maple has Birdseye, while Western tends to go Flamed or Quilted...nor did I ask how the log was being cut, or how much the guys wants and how much there actually is...We'll see...(Fingers crossed for AAAAA-Quilting and Flaming)

Yeah, I just posted something like that in my thread. No way I'd pay $75 for something I could easily figure out. With me it's just cutting the slots I dread, especially Ebony, which I love using. I just think it would look cool, make the instrument look (and be) more expensive. Also, I'd have the nut level, like on a regular guitar/bass, it's the bridge where I'd have the low B of a 5/6 string 35", while the highest string would be 34". Not sure if the stringswould even fit though...It looks like with D'Addario's the lower strings would have the fuzzy thread wrapping right at the nut. The bass I just finished is about 33.8 scale, because of an unforscene(sp?) bridge issue.

?????????????????? Not sure if this is the same guy.

Maybe take some clear plastic, mark all the holes of the body, veneer it, then put the plastic tracing over the body and mark the holes. I would also maybe use a counter sink bit to get through the veneer to the old hole instead of a drill bit, because I wouldn't want to re-drill the holes, making then off or bigger.

Honestly no. Some places also have a minimum order amount. Are you SURE there isn't a Radio Shack anywhere near you?

JAMCAM?!?!?! I had one of those...SUCKED!!!! I ended up wiping it on the floor or something and later got a 3.2 mega pixel Samsung. Nice contrasting in your neck, it looks cool having the walnut so much thicker than the maple.

Why would building a guitar be a bad first project if you want to build yourself a guitar? Check the tutorial section, if you already haven't. There are separate tutarials for making a neck, making a body, finishing, etc.

You're right. Butnut and smokeyjoecustoms both use those stock smilies as their avatars.