RAI6

Actually, I believe they are called "eyelets". If you ask someone if they have string ferrules, they mean the ones that go in the back of the guitar. There is a thread somewhere on this board about this.

I guess what's "new" isn't the tune-o-matic itself, but the fact that it's recessed into the body, attached to "heavy duty studs" and string-through for better sustain. What's REALLY new about that? Not a darn thing.

I'm not sure what type of p/u's Steve had on Green Meanie back then. Could have been the same... As for the comment about Ibanez having weak p/u's... Their own stuff may not be the best, but JEMs come with DiMarzios.

The cracks are most likely from the nut being tightened to hard. And the cracks are along the grain... It could also just be natural cracking, appearing with the grain in an open and vulnerable area (the drilled holes...). Any way around this? I don't know what Hamer does nowadays (if they ever build FR style guitars...), but I used to have a couple of Hamers and they had the nut attached from the front of the neck. Remove the locking pads, and you would find the screws going in to the neck. Of course, they're still going in to the neck, but at least they weren't drilled all the way through...

It's not a "special tool", but a long drill bit. True, the distance between the control cavity and p/u cavity isn't that great, but that's not the point. The problem lies in the drill itself. If you just attach a regular bit, and then try to drill, you'll notice all that bulk at the tip of the drill. You simply cannot get a good position to get the angle you need. A long bit allows you to move the bulk of the drill out of the way... I have seen som drills that have a "swivel head", that allows it to turn 90 degrees from the body of the drill, but you still have to deal with the bulk of the chuck and such... Or maybe there is something out there that I just don't know about.....?

Photoshop will work, but you need to have the DPI high. (that's the resolution... the higher the number, the more "detail" will be preserved). Also, keep in mind, with a raster file, if you enlarge it, you lose resolution. If you create a file at 300 DPI, and then enlarge it to 300%, you just reduced the actual, final resolution to 100 DPI. Illustrator allows you to enlarge your image file without losing detail, as it is vector based and "re-draws" the image for any size you output it at. It also comes down to how you are going to output your logos. If you are doing it like discussed in several threads on this board (outputting it at home, using a regular printer), it doesn't really matter if your art is vector or raster. Just keep in mind to keep that DPI cranked in Photoshop! Enjoy....

"Following our hollow Strat® routine, we've made multiple chambers to avoid any funny resonance or feedback problems." Seems like it's not completely random....... But at the same time, all it really is, is a series of small chambers instead of one large. So, if you were to do this, simply mark out the FULL area that you want to chamber, and then break it up into smaller areas... You obviously want to leave alot of wood around the neck pocket, bridge, p/u's, and strap pins. But besides that, it's whatever you want to do....

Personally I don't care how a guitar is made, as long as it's well-made. But I do see a problem with someone using a CNC machine, and still charging "hand-made" prices...

I believe the key word is "FINE tuners"..... For minor adjustments, fine tuners are easier to use. Your tuners aren't quite as easy to use for minor tweaks, and usually if you need to tune down, you have to tune past where you need to go, and then tune up again. Fine tuners on a fixed bridge sounds good to me!

But doesn't epoxy dry rock hard? That doesn't seem to be a better solution....

Yeah, tried the stick-on ones, and even though they look pretty nice (and convincing) they feel like crap...

I have no idea where such a set up would be found, but I have a feeling it would be in a price range beyond consumer affordability... Large format printers themselves aren't exactly cheap, and the more advanced or specialized they become, the more expensive they get. The media probably isn't cheap either. But still cheaper than having some dudes airbrushing 300 guitars a month!

FotoFlame is probably one of the more commonly used items today. Ever seen any of those OLP "Ernie Ball" wannabes? Or how about those really cheap ESP LTD's? Or how about that re-issue of the Peavey Vandenberg? All of them seem to have these absolutely gorgeous quilted tops. But I think we all know that there is now way in h*ll you could make a guitar with a real quilted maple top for under $200. But these guitars are just using a flat material glued to the top. Like a veneer, but it's not wood. It's man-made. The "shrinkwrap" approach is something completely different. You could make a totally custom looking airbrushed design, on all sides of the body. Let's use a Floral JEM as an example. The design is created, and then printed out on sheets. A prepped body is inserted, and then heat is applied. The plastic "melts", and conforms to the shape of the body. And in the case of a Floral JEM, you then just spray the sunburst and your clear, and you're done. Now repeat... Cheaters.........

That's probably exactly what companies like Jackson & ESP use for all their graphics... At least on their "production" models.

Pics of the crack (THE crack, not YOUR crack!) would be helpful to make a good judgement..

I find it odd that this book can be that hard to find in the UK. The author is British, and so is the publisher. Strange.........

Who is "Hugh Tuners"......?

As far as I know it, you don't tune the Speedloader system. The strings come in the exact length they need to be, and after the guitar has been set up once, you will never have to touch it again. Not even when it comes to changing strings. Just put on the new set, put it together and it's already in tune. I'm sure fine tuning is available....

As far as I know it, you don't tune the Speedloader system. The strings come in the exact length they need to be, and after the guitar has been set up once, you will never have to touch it again. Not even when it comes to changing strings. Just put on the new set, put it together and it's already in tune. I'm sure fine tuning is available....

It's just a standard Strat route, but instead of being on the face of the guitar, it's on the "butt end", below the strap button. You just need to make sure that there is a "flat" area where you mount it, as a strat plate is intended for a completely flat mount. I'm sure you could bend it slightly at the tips, but it's not that hard to get a flat area... Hold a powersander in the same spot for a minute or so, and that should make it flat enough. Place the plate on the body and trace the shape, then re-draw the route inside of that line and route away! And from there you just drill directly into your control cavity

If a JEM style jack is too complicated, you can take this approach: Slightly below your strap pin, you flatten out the edge of the body just big enough to accept a Strat jack plate. Mount the plate so that the cord ponts straight up towards the strap, and it will automatically just fall in the perfect "loop" position. This is similar to the JEM, but much easier to do. Hamer's Californian model has this. Plus having an actual plate around the jack acts as a little bit of protection, versus the bare wood on the JEM....

If a JEM style jack is too complicated, you can take this approach: Slightly below your strap pin, you flatten out the edge of the body just big enough to accept a Strat jack plate. Mount the plate so that the cord ponts straight up towards the strap, and it will automatically just fall in the perfect "loop" position. This is similar to the JEM, but much easier to do. Hamer's Californian model has this. Plus having an actual plate around the jack acts as a little bit of protection, versus the bare wood on the JEM....

Yes, but as you set the router depth at one point, as soon as you start moving over the carved top, the depth setting will need to be changed... Wouldn't it be better to use a Dremel with a router base, directly on the body? At least that will follow the contour of the body, somewhat........

Years ago I had a Hamer Chaparral, which was black with a gold "marble" effect on it. Pretty darn classy.

Quite an interesting site you have your pic hosted on........ You crazy Swedes!