pariah223

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=prod...&lpage=none I found this stuff at lowes, and its a bondo product. I use bondo just about every day because i do paint repair on cars and the stuff work great on plastic. But im not sure how this stuff here would work as a grain filler. I cant get any grainfiller locally where i am, but i can get this stuff, so what do u guys think

well progress is going very well on this instrument, i dont have pics right now because to be honest... i forgot to take a single one throughout the whole thing, but ill get pics up soon. Body is done except for the pickup cavs which im waiting on until i get my pickups (ran outa money =( ) All the binding work on the body and headstock are done, Fretboard with abalone dots is done and ready to be fretted. Tuning machine holes are drilled. Its a matter of days before the work before painting is done.

cut your neck pocket out before you make the neck.. I find it much easier to match the neck to the pocket rather then doing it vice versa.

anyone know of any? I can never find a nicely detailed one explaining what glue to use, how to clamp it, and all that good stuff.

thanks for the replys. Say i were to get an EMG 89 (im really considering it now) for the bridge. How difficult is it to wire that with 2 SA's above it? I havnt had much wiring experience with guitars since the 2 i have built i got the pickups prewired. Does the EMG's come with wiring diagrams for doing that?

agreed, this is very amazing for a first project. Much more successful then mine. Curious though.. what is that bit in the mill? that thing is a beast. I have been using a 4 flute end mill for all my milling and as you could imagine, it takes a while on bigger surfaces.

yea, its not a traditional metal design, but i also hate most of the overly pointy, violent looking guitars. I prefer flowing curves and more traditional finishes. You would be suprised now adays how many metal players play les paul style guitars. As for the software used, i got a copy of 3dsmax and that didnt take me more then a couple hours, but i also took classes on 3d max and have done commercial work in it before so im good with it. I design all my guitars in max first to see how color schemes and such will look and work out in the end. It helped me come to the decision on this one of gold or chrome hardware... also, where are the image posting rules, i dont see them anywhere and i dont like breaking rules!

well, the best setup i found for single/humbucker active combo is the EMG pickup set. Now i know all you hardcore blues players are cringing at the thought of an EMG, but i, being a metal player, am very fond of the EMG pickups. I have played a little on them and from what i could gather in a short time was they would work for what im going for. A part of me wants to just go with seymore duncans all the way, and forget about active pups, but i havnt made that decision yet. Pickup choice is something that can actually be decided later in the build process. I usually dont rout the pickup cavities until very close to the end due to certain methods i use. I would ask you all for pickup advice, but since pickup preference is so personal, theres not much of a point.. haha.

Hey everyone. I just recently "designed" a guitar to suit my needs (i say "designed" because its hard these days to design anything). I am going with a telecaster/les paul type deal. Its a les paul related body shape, but its flat instead of carved top because i personally like the simplicity behind a flat topped guitar (much like the tele). Im going with 3 pickups, 1 emg81 in the bridge (im a metal player) and 2 single coils for a nice clean tone (im also a blues/classical type stuff player). Im going with a black back and neck and a sunburst to a vintage amber in the front. The body is topped with curly maple and the neck is made of mahogony. White binding around the body and head but i think i mleaving the neck unbound. If theres anything else you guys wanna know just let ME know. I made a 3d render of what i want the final product to look like and here it is. Also, does anyone have any pickup advice for the single coils? And have you guys ever heard of pickups that can double as humbuckers and single coils with a push/pull pot? thanks!

so basically the only real difference is weight then? If that is the case i will probibly go with the cheaper one because i cant imagine a piece that small would really make theh guitar playable/unplayable depending on what weight bridge i use.

Ok, well i think im going to go with a tailpiece.. but now the quesiton arises... theres 2 im looking at. one is around 35 dollars, the other is around 15.. could anyone tell me the difference between these 2 in terms of value? I know its not alot of money, but it is when your on a budget. here they are http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailp...es.html#details http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailp..._Tailpiece.html

go right to the source for info, thats what i do, here is just one of the dozens of les pauls. If you are looking for a different one, just navigate the site. http://www.gibson.com/Products/GibsonElect...Studios/Studio/ once you know scale length and fret numbers, use the link the other guys put to stewmac for the calculator and u should be all set

What is a better way to go with the Tune-o-matic setup. There is tailpiece and then tehre is through body stringing. From what i have heard, through body stringing gives better sustain. Can anyone verfy this as dramatic enough to go with string through body over tailpiece? or is it mostly just cosmetic now adays like most design features.

I dont see how they cant beleive it is that simple. If you have a good flat surface at the join, the seam will be stronger then the grain of the wood. And yes, melvyn's book is excellent. It is very informative but if you get it, like mattia said, read it cover to cover, dont just go to the part your focused on. because i have noticed that with every step or process in building a guitar.. .there are multiple factors that determine its process and outcome. Also, to start, you might be better off building a kit, or modding an already built guitar. My first attempt at guitar making was actually me building a new neck because the headstock snapped off mine.. I got addicted and now im on my third instrument from scratch. Start small because you will be very discouraged if you set your goals too high.

thanks for checking that out for me, appreciate it very much.

i see what your saying.. I just wanna be sure that my lowest point is lower then i want it to be so i have to raise the action up. On the last guitar i built i calculated wrong so the bridge height at its lowest point was just a bit higher then i like my action... but luckily the guitar was for my dad who plays with slightly higher action then me so it wasnt fatal. This guitar however is going to be mine so im measuring 100x cutting once. This is also my first time messing with neck angle and glued in necks. I have done straight and bolt ons up until now. Also maybe you can help me with this too while were at it. Im doing a glued on neck with an angle, but it is to be a flat body, not carved top. DO you know the best way to handle that? Do i just make the tenon as wide as the fingerboard and taper it as i would on a bolt on? or is there another way.

i did click there, and it dosnt tell me the actual height of the bridge, just diferent measurements of all the parts, so i dont think it tells me what iw ant.

Hello, Does anyone here know the bridge height for this bridge http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailp..._and_Parts.html I am building a guitar that i want to put a tune-o-matic bridge in and i want to go wtih this one. But i wanna know the specs before i buy it. Unfortunatly stewmac dosnt seem to tell that detail (not sure why they would leave that out). If i had to guess, i would guess its around .6 in or so based on other TOM bridges, but i want to be sure. I emailed stewmac as well, but i figured i would try and get answers from 2 places. Thanks!

u should post a link to the tutorial so we can see what you see. Anyways, yes, they are glued together to make one big piece. It is much easier and cheaper to find a pice of wood 8 inches wide then it is to get one 16 wide and if you get a good seam, then depending on the wood and the grain, you can hardly tell it was joined... and if you are going to paint it you wont see it at all. If you do not have any woodworking skill though i recommend before you get into guitar making you do alot of reading and practice using tools because there isnt any step of making a guitar that is easy or that can be done good without knoweldge of the tools you are using.

thanks for the help, that should about cover all i need to know!... now to the more complicated (debatable) stuff such as the carved top!

so there not actually a paint finish at all? just dye.... very interesting to know.

and does that help a little?

Hey everyone I am very new to the whole finishing of guitar process. I do however do paint work on cars for a living so i have access to any paint i could ever need! unfortunatly, i dont have the knowledge to do what i want to do. I have seen many guitars that are painted, but the grain is still plain as day coming right through the paint. I know its not as simple as put a light coat on.. so whats the trick.. do you use a black grain filler? or is there something more to it.. Im in the beginning stages of building my next guitar and up until now, i have only done natural wood finishes. Its time to get more dangerous but i dont really like solid painted guitars (unless its a black les paul with cream color binding.. which is my next choice if i cant figure this out). Any resources links or personal knowledge will be very helpful. thanks in advance

Hey everyone. I just recently finished this bass i had been working on. Its a stat style, but i took some of the things i dont like about strat style and modified them to my liking. This is only my second intrument so i didnt want to go too crazy with the design. The headstock is my design, but its nothing fancy. Went 2L2R because thats how i prefer it. Knobs are custom made, maple/walnut to match the body. The body is curly maple with walnut laminates on each side (it actually isnt half as heavy as i thought it would be, weighs no more then my esp). The neck is also maple with 2 thin walnut lams going up it. Electronics are EMG P actives. Gotoh tuners, schaller roller bridge. Well enough talk, heres some pics to prove it! I also have a load of progress shots if anyone cares to see them as well.

yea, im not doing a pickguard tho, so i dont have to worry about all that. thanks again!