Bizman62

Post a pic or three, please.

Our Master told that he built such a router jig out of a desk lamp, the rotary clamp type with swivels and springs.

I've been thinking about that. It would require the whole kit including a smaller router. Mine isn't too big but it's for two hands. The first thing I should do is to get a smaller bearing for my router bit, the first channel was routed with a lent one.

To clarify the plan of laminating the sides would be to resize the body and then laminate the sides to the same thickness as the binding. The birch would also be so much harder that routing the binding channel would be much easier as the bearing wouldn't dig a groove into the side.

Thanks, @komodo. I was thinking similarly. As this isn't a carbon copy of any guitar no-one can tell that the size is wrong.

As there's no extra strings there's no huge difference in string pull. A truss rod should be enough. There's nothing against using carbon rods as well. For extra strength and stiffness a laminated neck is also an option. Even a two piece laminate can be stiffer both up-down and sideways than a single piece neck as there's counteracting grain directions and a solid film of glue.

Based on an image search in Google it looks like the abm 7010c sits level to the neck, i.e. the thickness of the fretboard lower. The distance from the nut seems to be in the ballpark of 12 mm or half an inch. On a 'standard' guitar the neck break angle is usually about 10-13 degrees, yet on Fender type flat headstocks the string angle can be about 6-7 degrees. Less than that may cause the strings to fall off, yet I guess with the headpiece being so close to the nut there's not much space for the strings to fall off the grooves.

Alright! Joined the workshop society for a whopping €35 per semester, including insurance which another member just had proved important by cutting two of his fingers at the table saw... For members the cost is 1.90 an hour, double that for non-members. Not too bad, there's a ton of tools including two big band saws, a jointer, a planer thicknesser and a meter long belt sander - plus the blood thirsty large circular saw. As I may have mentioned, the groove for the binding was slanted as the top is radiused. There was basically no binding on the top side so I decided to route it away and replace it with fake turtle. The cheap router base for my Dremel type tool was the right choice, the bit not so much. There's no bearing on the router bit, only a guiding pin and as the blade would chew much more than needed for the binding I decided to add a rim around the guitar to adjust the groove. So I attached a strip of the binding with masking tape and super glue. The basic idea was good but the material was wrong! As the pin rotates at 10000 rpm any the friction makes it so hot that any minor stop melted the binding. Ouch! That got most of the job done but the result is bumpy. I then took a scalpel and a chisel which worked to a degree but especially the inside curves need a LOT of love before I can apply the binding. And as you can see, the poplar is soft. Even the plastic router base dug grooves on the top. And the scalpel wandered all over the place despite having used a marking gauge to draw a starting cut. Sounds like I'll have to dye the sides pretty dark to hide all the dust-glue fixes. Another option that came to my mind is to cover the entire sides with the flamed birch veneer. That should make binding easy as I could first sand the entire sides flush and then glue the fake tortoise binding and finally the birch. The figuration of the sides would then be lost. Opinions, please!

You're not just a guitar builder, you're a woodpornstar and a true artist!

Now this day started fine! As I've learned a new thing this day isn't lost... I can buy the tinted epoxy thing for the right one, but on the left one I would expect the edges be more transparent especially at the edge of the lower horn. It looks like solid wood to me. I wonder if it could be done by partially waxing the top, following natural lines, and then flood the rest with dye? The matte looks might be done by oiling and waxing which should stick on waxed areas. Just guessing...

The images don't show, they ask me to sign to Google and even after that all I get is a no-go sign. With your post count you should be able to apply the images directly to the post instead of linking. Other than that your project sounds interesting!

Good point. But what about mail order wood? I've seen ebony fretboard blanks bought from a Spanish well known tonewood company packed in cling film, still dripping wet. Literally. I'm sure that the OP is aware of this issue. The question is if the wood has stabilized long enough to the NM climate.

The 12th bar ribbon looks nice! But is there really space for the text? It looks busy even on the headstock. What's the difference between #2 and #4 other than that the headstock burst seems to be narrower on the latter? The TWANG MASTER text looks a bit cheap compared to the rest. How about giving it a Fendery twist like below?

That looks interesting and the ergonomics are a fact. FWIW on some Crimson video Ben answered a question about a warped neck, telling that if the twist is that way it would improve playability. His biggest concern seemed to be that if the twist was caused by instability in the wood there'd be no telling how it might behave in the future. Doesn't that mean that a stable neck should stay stable even if carved to a twist? Speaking about uneven pressure and the power of string pull etc. just think about wooden propellers in aeroplanes. I suppose the Merlin engine of 1300 hp would stress the wooden propeller of the early Hurricanes much more than bass strings!

Contrasting and accentuating stripes are just so classy!

Whoa! Turquoise with a royal blue burst? That looks classy! Re a black Tele bridge, I saw something I guess is boutique made. It said "chrome" but compared to other chrome hardware shown on the site it looked much darker and less shiny. Not painted, though. It didn't say "black chrome" either.

Yay! That's great news! You'll learn to safely use tools you could never afford at home. I'd say that's a good first step towards working in a guitar factory.

Ummm... what's wrong with Wilkinson? It can't be worse than this no-name: https://www.guitarfetish.com/Vintage-Style-bridge-3-Brass-Saddles-Black--Fits-Telereg_p_849.html

Getting all three is a mission impossible. Really fast means a rotary mitre saw equipped with a dedicated ultra thin blade, used in combination with a template ruler (which you have). Too expensive for hobbyists. Accurately means using the template and a dedicated mitre box with a pin matching the notches. That's cost effective and straightforward which saves time but it's not super fast. The cheapest way is both time consuming and relatively difficult. The tools needed are an accurate ruler showing the smallest increments, a protractor, a pencil and a saw. Draw the center line, measure the locations on the centerline, draw the perpendicular lines with the protractor... Double check that your measurements match with the table you're reading the measurements from. Triple check that you're reading the table correctly. Wipe off the markings as you notice you've been reading the wrong scale. Redo the measuring and drawing and double and triple checking. Finally take the saw and cut the edges. Recheck that the scale is right. Redo the measuring and drawing process if needed. Cut. There's no shortcut.

If you can add a pin to match the notches then any mitre box will do - more or less. Many people have built the mitre box by themselves. The main thing is to keep the saw blade upright and perpendicular. That's why bearings are often used: tight fit with low friction. But as @ADFinlayson has proved, freehand works as well. One trick is to draw the lines with a knife instead of a pencil, that might lead the saw to the right groove. No matter which method you have the tools for, practicing is the key. That's the only way to make your hands steadier. And steady hands are handy in many other tasks in guitar building.

As I've already said above plus some more: Mark and align the centerline of the fretboard with the template. Pull the template firmly against the pinned edge Clamp the fingerboard and the template so they don't move when you're sawing Keep the saw upright Don't force the saw through the wood. Fretboards are very hard so don't expect the saw sink like a hot knife into butter. Work on the corners. Start with the outer corners and continue with the corners inside the slot you're sawing. That way you don't have to push through the entire width, making the job a little easier. Take your time. Rest when your arm fatigues. Exhausted muscles can't do accurate jobs. Do it when you're in the right mood.

That mole won't get whacked, I suppose...

Double check each of them to be perpendicular to the center line. Also double check that your slots match with the notches. It seems there's quite a few slots that have saw marks more than a blade's width off the slot. If all the above is OK, you can continue. If not, try filling the gaps and resaw. If you can't hide the filled slots under the frets and they look bad, get a new board and use this one as a practicing piece. Sometimes it's better to abandon a failed piece than trying to fix it. Such a piece won't be useless, though, as you can reattach it on the notched template some 1/4" off the current location and practice. After you've cut it 3 or 4 times you can even turn it around and do the same on the other side!

You should aim to perfection in things like that. Learning away from sloppiness is much harder than learning to do it right from the very beginning.

That too. I guess a quarter of a millimetre is accurate enough.