Bizman62

And I thought it had something to do with allowing the bridge plate to vibrate. What a disappointment!

I used to have one somewhat similar to that, guess it went with my ex. The constuction was a bit simpler as it didn't require bending anything: Just two screws at one end of a piece of wood salvaged from a fruit box. I tried with one but with two the cap aligns just right even after a dozen bottles. As the base was flat the caps didn't even bend so they could be reused by my poor student friends who tried some home brewing. A small hump might make it more effective, though, as less force would be needed.

Ooh the sound hole in the center fan brace!

I was thinking similarly to @ScottR. Black is a safe bet. But who wants safe?

Vanilla sauce on vanilla ice cream? Referring to @ADFinlayson's "Fifty Shades of Cream" issue in his current thread you may run into unpredictable issues. If binding is something you'd like for strength but wanted it to be subtle, how about white pearloid? That might look "cleaner" than cream and should also match the colour better than pure white. As you know, there's fifty shades of white as well and mixing them can hurt your eyes.

with a little help of skills you've developed. Would a matte sanded black P90 cover match with the fretboard or headstock? Or does any of those have the right colour? https://guitarpartscenter.eu/en_US/c/Pickup-Rings/192 https://www.thomann.de/gb/goeldo_humbuckerrahmen_pl11.htm https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/parts-c4/pickup-parts-c710/pickup-mounting-rings-c97 https://www.axesrus.co.uk/Humbucker-Rings-s/2219.htm https://www.gear4music.com/Electric-Guitar/Parts_Spares/Pickup-Mounts

"Ei paskempi" has a more positive vibe - "not half bad" might be a valid translation. And speaking about Satakunta (a province in South-Western Finland), they really go through the negative. "You're not going to stay long enough for a coffee by any means, are you?" and "You won't take any cake with your coffee, will you?" Here in the East it's the contrary: "You aren't in such a hurry that we can't have some coffee?" and "There's seven sorts on the table, go taste them all". "Et sunkaan sää kehtaa tommosta omakses tunnustaa" - is that about right? (You're not going to confess that there being something you've made, are you?)

So let me just say this: By applying some clearcoat you've now made it unsuitable to be used for firewood as the burning lacquer might be very harmful for the atmosphere. Burning the binding might be even worse. So since you've ruined all good BBQ related options you'd better continue on the track you've chosen and watch your steps! Or, if you like the Finnish compliment better: Vituikshan se meni, olis pitänyt arvata.

Ahh, low contrast... I can buy "cream" for the colour on the images but on pure white that might look dirty. Or rather "kusenpolttama" (for you non-Finnish that's the colour of the inner front of originally snow white undies). A pure white-black(-white) should look good, the black pinstripe actually would be better than a wide black band, yet it would outline the guitar nicely. I was thinking about black pearloid as an option but that wouldn't match with the matte black pickups.

I've seen that on spruce and pine as well.

Based on the images I'd say binding although a minimalistic approach does make a statement as well. But what colour of binding are you thinking about? If you're planning white with black pickups and chrome hardware, black binding might look better than the brown on the picture.

I knew I had seen that mentioned somewhere on this forum but it may still take a few repeats for me to remember how that's called.

Good choice. Paint is definitely the only viable option for finishing wood like that. The figure makes my eyes hurt. Or a less proper hairdryer... My wife has one that burns my fingers when I tear off stickers from abandoned computers.

Gotta love the way you use what you've got for an improvised curve template! I guess that's something that younger folks just can't figure out, they just want cnc'd factory made templates for everything while we grumpy elderly farts simply take something that looks right and use it.

That is going to be stunning! Every square inch yells "Warehouse Office Booth!" That sure is a great way to keep memories alive.

Fully understood and my suggestion/question wasn't meant to criticize how you do things. Seeing tools and jigs like the last one simply make me think how they work and could they be easily improved. It's part of the way how I learn things, pondering pros and cons. That's what I was thinking about when I saw your Dremel rig. A couple of strokes with a razor saw and chiseling the piece in between away. Or maybe just using the chisel...

To save your precious time, small bits and pieces here and there should do the trick as well without having to unscrew everything. My primary suspects are the pot lugs and the jack. Speaking about the latter I foolishly put copper tape into the jack cavity of a strat. All was good until I fastened the boat: The plug bent the tip connector to the foil. Loosening the screws of the boat fixed it but as you know it's not a permanent solution! I've also seen a single thread of wire connecting the two jack prongs. In my age that is almost impossible to see without a magnifying glass and reading glasses.

That's what I thought after my previous build. The current one has been under progress twice as long as any of the previous ones and it's still not ready...

The entire build looks that neat. And even the templates.

In that case, shouldn't a single pin aligned with the router work? I can see a flaw in that as well: getting the pin close enough to the router bit can be challenging.

Yet another way to skin a cat! The Dremel router base extension is a clever tool although most builders would just take a chisel. Both the Dremel and the chisel require a steady hand so you don't carve through the actual side but then again I've seen even that been deliberately done as the binding channel will cut that very edge of the side away. Do you have a stopper pin or two on the bottom side of the extension to prevent cutting the side? Like so:

Huh??? It's been a long time since I've last seen ram issues other than poor seating caused by dust or vibration

and you got something that looks to me like wrought iron! That looks seriously like something a blacksmith has forged quite some while ago, the original all-black having worn shiny on higher spots. I wouldn't bother with the light spots, they most likely blend in sufficiently with the sealer. All in all very nice three-dimensionality. That's something I'd call a Heavy Metal axe...

Welcome onboard! I'm by no means an expert but for what I've seen having been used for decades and based on what I've bought/seen been used by fellow builders I'd say any hard enough wood should do. You can look at Janka hardness charts and based on some of them ebony can be three times as hard as walnut but an average value doesn't tell the whole truth. There's harder and softer pieces depending on where the tree has been growing etc. I've got an old parlour guitar from the 30's with a flawless beech fretboard... Also, a lot depends on how you play i.e. do you press the strings on wood or just make them touch the frets, and how often you cut your finger nails. However, black walnut is quite much on the soft side in average so I'm a bit tempted to suggest other options. I don't know how much is your "expensive" but in my books an AAA Indian rosewood fingerboard blank for a tenner isn't too much. That's what they ask for one at Maderas Barber, Spain. CITES may be an issue, though, so I looked for more local suppliers. https://exoticwoodzone.com/ seem to have no rosewood fretboards but they have some nice woods as "thin dimensional lumber" which is oversize but for $15 including shipping the prices sound reasonable. Another vendor having stuff in stock is https://alliedlutherie.com/collections/fingerboards?sort_by=price-ascending whose prices aren't stellar either. If you're going to build more than one guitar, ask for 2nd grade. A couple of years ago we placed an order to Maderas Barber and just out of curiosity bought a dozen or so various species B-grade fretboard blanks for €2-3/piece. Exotic ebony, ziricote, santos and madagascar rosewood, granadillo... We could not find any major defects, at least not on the area to be used. Ridiculously beautiful pieces!

Instead of purchasing templates you can make them by yourself. Buy accurate real size drawings and take them to a copying company for a few copies. Cut and glue the templates you need on a piece of MDF or plywood and use your jigsaw. Making templates is a big part of guitar building and can teach you some valuable lessons on cheaper materials than guitar wood.