Bizman62

For pushing gently you can use the drill press as well.

There's three connectors as shown in my sketch above. When the hot wired connector touches the tip of the jack and the grounded one the sleeve, there's a working connection. Even the two "hot" lugs would work that way when the plug is pushed to the bottom. But when the sleeve touches both connectors there's a short circuit (the grey plug).

If you have the parts then build the fret bender by yourself. I didn't have any bearings so I bought that one instead of running around the town hunting the parts. So far I've used it once and it worked, however there's a small dent in the big wheel that seems to make a dent to the fret wire as well. Nothing that can't be fixed, but still. Based on the price and packaging (a plastic bag) that might well be picked from the reject bin of the production line of a much more expensive tool.

My memory may fail on me but I recall having seen in a Crimson video that there often is an intentional gap up the middle of the sole underneath the throat to reduce friction or something like that.

He's a catfish! Whiskers and all! Nipples are delicate things. Obviously you don't want to hammer a too thick of a stud into it, then again too loose of a hole isn't good either. Ruokangas Guitars has addressed the issue by applying bolts on the bottom side: https://ruokangas.com/specifications/bridge-talk/

By fence I meant something really lightweight and temporary. As the dremel router requires both hands for stability holding a stick with one hand was soon dropped from my list of ideas but even a folded piece of tape might have given you the extra support needed for long straight runs. Another idea that popped into my mind was to cover the entire fretboard with tape to make removing the excess epoxy easier. The way you could rasp and file down to the taped areas looked very safe! I don't know how well you could route through the tape but if that doesn't work, masking the fingerboard after routing and cutting the tape off the routed lines with a scalpel shouldn't be too difficult of a task. Definitely much easier than trying to cover all fret slots individually!

I've been missing you! The epoxy thing was most likely the best way to do the heartbeat and for a first build it looks great! Not perfect but definitely better than the amateur restorations in Spain... I especially like the wavy segments. I wonder if you could have used some sort of fences to guide your Dremel router along the longer strokes - something like a single piece of flexible plastic to follow the radius attached with double sided tape, reattached to a new location where needed.

Modern glues can be stronger than the wood they're being used on. However, doesn't that bridge look loose at the treble end? If so, carefully removing and replacing might be a better idea.

Whoa! Those are some expensive tools! I was going to build a fret bending tool like the one @MiKro linked to but ended up buying this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001081480136.html?spm=a2g0s.12269583.0.0.587c550f3clN2D Fret slotting jigs including the saw can be get for two digit sums as well and I'm not talking about Chinese copies: https://www.guitarbuilding.solutions/luthier-tools-webstore A precision mitre box is not that difficult to build by yourself either, making the fret guide (the notched piece) requires precision.

I might use regular Titebond but that's just me. If you're going to make sort of a laminated bowl you'd need a two piece mould. Moistening the veneers should prevent them from cracking, heat might help as well. Wood can be surprisingly flexible when it's properly steamed and it will stabilize when it's cooled down. By the way, if you build a mould using sheets of plastic foam (the type used for packaging or even the yoga mat type) on either side will even the pressure, thus preventing bubbles between the veneers.

Yes, that can be the issue. It's basically a stereo jack so if you've got the middle ring connected and the mono plug pushed almost in it will work until you push it a hair deeper. Then the ground part of the plug will touch the middle connector, making a short circuit.

I found the same image earlier. It should be easy enough to move the lead to the other lug for testing purposes.

Do I see right, is the shortest lug still free? The shortest lug is for the tip, the longer one for power switch etc.

The biggest issue for me was to believe I had understood your question right as sometimes I've understood the question wrong and answered accordingly.

Goes to show that what's elementary for one can be new info to another hobbyist woodworker! And thinking that I was afraid to post all that in fear for underrating your knowledge...

That looks more like a piece of lathed veneer than cut. As it's in the middle it doesn't matter much. Plywood is usually made of rotary cut veneers and it's tough as can be. As long as you have the best looking veneer on top all is good. If you've ever wondered how the thin veneers are manufactured, here's how: https://gharpedia.com/blog/manufacturing-process-of-wood-veneer/ A fellow builder once brought rolls of 0.55 x 120 mm birch veneers to the workshop. I've used them cross grained to prevent control cavity covers from warping and splitting and also as accenting stripes. The seam is invisible when done carefully - which I know you can do! It's unbelievable how little material you need to counteract warping or in your case stabilizing a molded shape. Back in the day I visited a kitchen cabinet factory where they made laminated worktops out of chipboard. Now the laminate is watertight but the chipboard isn't which means that the bottom side could swell and warp with moisture. So to counteract that they laminate a single sheet of perforated paper on the bottom side, the holes being about 5 mm in diameter so it's rather a mesh than a sheet! And that works.

Whoa! Can't wait to see it!

Can I hereby hire you as my illustrator? That looks exactly what I meant. The 10 mm elevation at the 17th fret seems a bit high, though. Nothing dangerous, it just makes playing on the upper frets a bit difficult as there'd be a thick chunk of wood between your thumb and the fretboard. If you route the neck pocket some 5 mm deeper at the edge and increase the angle accordingly you'd improve the ergonomics in two ways: Both the upper and lower frets become more playable. The latter simply because the headstock end will be closer to you with a steeper neck break angle.

@Angie, you might be interested in this article of Japanese Lawsuit guitars from the late 70's: https://www.jazzguitar.be/blog/lawsuit-guitars/

Here's hoping you're not positive.

Basically yes. If you're making a laminated top or bottom, line the outermost (visible) layer with the neck just as you would do with a one piece top. That serves both the aesthetics and strength against string pull. I've heard about boatmaking where the laminates can be glued at steeper angles for added directional flexibility. Several angles are also possible. If you want to bend the veneers to a shallow bowl a three dimensional laminate might work. A two dimensional would be strong enough for most uses, though.

Cross laminated veneers is basically plywood and the method is used for adding strength. Take one veneer and you can bend it one way until it cracks neatly along the grain. The other way it won't bend as easily and it will crack into splinters. Two cross laminated veneers will be equally stiff when bent into either direction and won't crack that easy. Three ply cross laminated will bend more easily to one direction than to the other and again won't crack as easily as a piece of solid wood of the same thickness. -Was that the information you needed or did I just tell something that "everyone" knows?

Don't rely on documentation, measure by yourself! I'm not saying Schaller's documentation is poor but it may tell about apples while you understand oranges. 20 mm adjustment screws doesn't mean 20 mm adjustment range as part of the screw is inside the block. Lay the bridge on a flat table, adjust it halfways and measure the height. That will tell you exactly what you want to know. When you know the height, take a long (guitar length) piece of paper and draw a straight line across it. Mark the place and height of the bridge. Also mark the last fret and the edge of the neck pocket, add the height of the frets. Then mark the location of the nut at the other end of the line. Finally, take your long ruler and draw a line from the bridge to the nut line so that there's your desired action above the last fret. Distract the distance from the string line at the edge of the neck pocket from that at the last fret/bottom of the pocket and you'll know how much deeper it has to be. No angles, just millimetres! And of course, if you so wish and need to, calculating the angle by knowing the measured difference in height within a known distance is basic triangle math.

Thanks @David Ivy. Now to start with I must say I know basically nothing about electronics, I rely solely on diagrams by someone who knows. Prepare yourself with a little salt. Looking at the diagram it seems that the green and white humbucker cables and the ground should populate the two center lugs on one side. On your wiring it doesn't look that way. To me they even seem to be on the wrong side. The focus isn't the best, though, so I may see wrong. Another thing is that some wires seem to touch the next lug on the switch, especially the red one on the left. Tidying the loose ends might help with a shortcut if the wiring matches with the diagram. Here's a better picture of the diagram for those who know more about these things:

Looking at the pace this may end up being a short story...