radrobgray

try to match slayer pull upswith a floyd...you can't.i have to bend and pull up at the same time to reach the right pitch

all my floyd gutiars have better pull up than the one with the kahler.

i disagree...you want to have absolutly zero gap anywhere before glueing....clamping just puts it under stress.

Bah humbug! Measure the compression on your top the next time you clamp up....two thou is 1/5th of your high-E string, its 50 microns...it's a hair man! Literally. human hair diameter

Now, Rob G may not have measured the gap accurately. However...if you think your jointing is flat and straight at better than 50 microns across 20", you're fooling yourself.

For the record, you can find a glue line on very light-colored woods no matter how tight your joint is and how white your glue is, if you look hard enough.

I *think* he measured it wrong. I think if you can see light it would be off by more, and that is bad.

like postal said...if he can see it,it aint .002

you want it perfect...perfect means no light...nothing less

id have to disagree. you can see a .002". if you can see a human hair you could see light thru that gap. i may have mesured it wrong but i guess that doesnt matter. all that matters to me is that i get it jointed properly. also i understand there will always be a glue line, i was just trying to minimize the chance of having one bigger than i could help.

anyways i fixed it by starting with southpa's method and then finishing with fryovanni's.

thanks to all who have commented,

rob

ive been trying to joint my 1/4 top for 2 days and im still getting gaps. ive tryed the different ways i found in search but to no avail, gaps.

my question is it even possable to get it perfect? mines pretty close but there is a small gap that i can see when i hold the peices together up to the light. i checked the gap with a feeler guage and is about .002" or less is some spots. i know thats not a lot, but i just dont want to get a fat noticeable glue line.

thanks

rob

thank you

There is no 'best', but yes, in theory, the radius at the bridge needs to be flatter still. In terms of fret pressing, John Watkins sells a set of cauls that fit the StewMac set with a whole boatload of radii; not cheap, though. Either use one that's almost exactly perfect, or hammer it in.

The GAL Big Red Book #3 has most of the math required to define the 'ideal' radius for any given set of parameters, but again, ain't cheap. Frets.com possibly has some forumulas, as might something in the MIMF.com library. Alternately, remember its supposed to be a cone, get out some high school math books, and do the math.

who is this John Watkins and where may i look at his producs?

so ive decided i am going with a compound radius fb. but i have a few concerns. if i do a 10"-12"-14"-16" radius wouldnt i need to continue the change of radius all the way to the bridge? as in: nut10"-12"-14"-16"-bridge18" or 20". im asking because i am going to do this to a guitar that will have a floyd rose, so i need to know if i need shims for the saddles or not.

what is the best combo of radii for a compound raduis?

also how would i go about pressing the frets in with stew macs inserts. the compoundedness of the fret board mean that the radii will be differnt at every fret. is it ok to use a insert that is close or is it best if its the exact same radius?

thanks

rob

i bought a hamer scarabII, it has 2 HBs and a 3 way switch. but it sounds not normal in the middle position. it doesnt sound like any other guitar i have ever played. it sounds like a wha is on, ala Michael Shenkers lead tone. are the pups out of phase or what? if so how can i wire my other gutiars to do this.

well, what problems am i asking for? also if its not suggested why is there tutorial in the "Solid Body Guitar and Bass Tutorials & Reference" area?

im bending a drop top over a arm-contour and to avoid crackin someone suggested veneer softener (i had previouse problems wiht this on a 1/8" piece of brizillian cherry). would i work on a 1/4" maple top? any expereince? i thought id ask because well 1/4" is way thicker than veneers.

I have never done any refinishing, I was planning on bringing it to a shop or something.

that would cost you more that the guitar. just find a guitar that has all the things you want. then you wont end up spending heaps of money.

How difficult is it to cut a 3 degree plane across that large an area?

I can't see any difficulty in this part at all. Pull out your favourite no.5 plane and do what it does best.

Ive always wondered exactly how you would put a neck angle on a neck thru

This, I'm curious about also. i.e. body or neck gets the angle planed in.

Q/Sawn timber preferred for a thru neck (IMO). Which end do you plane out to the neck angle?

Leave the body section untouched and attack the neck area for your angle? Or vice versa?

I'm not too sure which would be preferred.

cheers, Stu

for the angle i draw my lines, cut off most of the bulk with a band saw(in the body side), then i glued the wings on acorrding to the lines i drew, then i get out the hand plane and make it flush wiht the two body wings. heres an pic of how i cut my neck blanks with out a scarf.

If it's all glued down, there's really not much you can do less sand it all off and give it another try.

Or if you have any left, try and glue a patch into it where you need to see it and fill the rest in with epoxy or something.

its not glued its just clamped on right now. i have enough for another sub-top or to patch it.

How did you go about bending the wood to the contour?

If you try to fix it. The suggestions above sound reasonable(if the look is acceptable). If you do sand and re-do. Seems like more heat less water(1/4" is a tuff bend).

Peace,Rich

its only 1/8" thick. im going to put another top over this one (the 1/4" flame maple). i used a cloths iron and water.

(1/4" is a tuff bend).

Peace,Rich

+1

and your contour has a sharp bend (at least in the rendering)

which needs a very soft transistion

this is a more common problem than some would like to admit

but ive seen it happen to 3 tops in two months

its not super sharp it drops only about 1/4" if that and is very gradual.

there were no problems when i bent it it was fine. i think it cracked from when the water evaporated.

so i carved the arm contour on my soloist, and then i bent my sub-top over the contour. every thing went smooth and it was fine after i clamped it. but when the it finished drying it cracked (see picture), the crack is 1/8" wide to nothing and about 8" long. how should i approach fixing it? it doesnt need to look good from the top, just the endgrain, beacuse im glueing on a flame maple top on top of the sub-top. is that a bad idea?

also the sub-top is 1/8" thick brazilian cherry/jobota.

the top is 1/4" thick flame maple.

***digital rendering***

What's your verdict on the Kahler? Is it in good'nuff shape to form a strong opinion?

well ive always been a (original) floyd rose guy. but, personally i belive one is not better than the other, they are just different. they are both awsome

Kahaler pros:

Easy string change (no cutting of ball ends)

Smoother feel

Softer bar tension

smaller cavity

adjustable every thing

kahler cons:

NO flutters

not as much pull up as the floyd

and I think that theyre uglier.

in the middle position on the pups it doesnt sound like any other guitar i have ever played. it sounds like a wha is on, ala michal schenker. are the pups out of phase? or what?

so i had some extra money from my new job and i felt like spending it. i ended up picking up a 1985 Hamer USA Scarab II, very judas preist, for about $350 W/ a case. the paints a little worn but no major damage and the hardware is pretty much new. i thought it was a sweet deal. all this talk about kahlers had me wondering.

full shot

guitar and case

when you said bloody sharkfin inlays i thought you may have injured your self tying to inlay them. those are sweet.

j frog?

or you could use a ORF which has a 10" radius nut and bridge and then shim your bridge saddles to a different radii, so you could use the stew mac board.

when i was 14 i could play better than that, but, playing and writing are completely different.

thank you very much!

thats how wide a floyd rose nut is and i have used that board in conjunction with one, and i just double checked.

from the font of the slot to the end is 5/8"

i know how to do it but when should i? i have a 1/8" peice of brazillian cherry i want to put on a guitar with a forearm contour. it will bend over the contour if i push on it with my hand(takes a decent amount of pressure). so i guess what i was wondering is since it will already make the bend without breaking should i still steam it or just glue it.

also if i do steam it should i center join it before or after, this applies to my flame maple top too.

thanks

rob

heres a pic of it with the wings attached and roughed.

soon i will carve the arm contour and then put on the 1/8" brazillian cherry top. after that i can then attach the bm flamemaple drop top.

this is not meant to be harsh but, if your not sure what to do you shouldnt be gluing things together or starting your build just yet. do a little more research then ask questions.