RVA

I only have internet knowledge on this at this point, but I read that you seal before applying colored filler to prevent the color in the filler from spreading. Sealing before filling....filling and not having the color spread...none of this is intuitive to me.

I am also trying to learn more in this area. Do you follow the grain sealer with the grain filler and then stain? Or do you color the filler? Or sometimes one or the other method? Thanks

Really wonderful work. Besides the skill exhibited, it is both beautiful and elegant! Your friend will be thrilled!

Thank you both. This fella has a system worked out for guitar. Start around 12 minutes

Good advice, thank you. I do need to make one of those sanding jigs. I am not close to a master of either band saw or miter saw, but I am willing to learn...usual the hard way!

I was going to make a jig for my bandsaw fot the scarf joint cut, but it seems like a miter saw is a better option. Thoughts?

Thank you for the encouragement and advice. Time to wire this baby up!

Thank you. Got it nearly almost all the way flat...and as anticipated, the 8th (or 9th?) fret took a hit! I do have a fret slot saw. I would never have been able to install the frets it without it since the original slots were almost completely eviscerated. In the end, I got them level. I doubt I will keep this neck on here Maybe I can replace it with a scratch built neck one day if I can manage to acquire that skill.

Back plate fabrication today. I took 2 slices of this alder offcut from the back wood Cut off the round ends to facilitate clamping and glued them up and shaped it with a template on the router table. Look mom, no seam!! Now it will get sealed with Solarez, and if necessary, a coat or 2 of poly

Very impressive workmanship, and a beautiful guitar!

It was much darker before I sanded it. I do think it had been dyed. But I have never worked with wood like this before, especially on a fretboard.

So about the neck. It had a horrible hump in the middle. I removed the frets and sanded it as flat as I could, but it got to the point where I though the fretboard was getting a bit close to the point where it would not receive a full fret slot. I had account for the rest with the fretwork (fretted pics to come later) During this extensive sanding with a long radius beam, some of the plastic frets melted! I figured that this was a good time to experiment, so I took some saw dust from my collection, added some dye, and sealed it in with CA glue. Unfortunately, small chips around the side made when removing the old inlays made for an uneven circle. Also, there are still 2 semi-melted inlays. I am not too worried about it because it is functional and I will likely replace the neck down the road. The dyed wood Sanded "flat-ish" with inlay replacement The semi-circular wood inlay up close. Still a bit grainy. It is a viable method if I care to work out the kinks. However, I would think epoxy is (almost) always better. *** I would be interested to know what dye and epoxy you all use for inlays for next time please. I am not sure what fretboard wood I have here. Anyone care to ID it?

How about these switches on the pickup mounting ring? Maybe something like this can be done for selecting between pickups https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TS1BK--seymour-duncan-ts-1-triple-shot-mounting-ring?main_web_category_rollup=4%2F924%2F965&mrkgadid=3331288112&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=gpla&mrkgbflag=0&mrkgcat=guitars&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=92700046938600880&lid=92700046938600880&ds_s_kwgid=58700005283398302&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=373151794734&product_id=TS1BK&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=t&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9004503&creative=332063179836&targetid=pla-373151794734&campaignid=1708733954&awsearchcpc=1&gclsrc=ds

Your explanation was excellent, thank you. I t caused me to look at the issue without the shortcuts and brought me to a better understanding. It also made me realize that I need a plan before I purchase blanks

I spent a good portion of the night brushing up on trigonometry and algebra, which was interesting. At this point, I know just enough to muddle through the calculations on my own....but more than enough to use this wonderful trig calculation site. Oh the joy of modern times!! http://www.carbidedepot.com/formulas-trigright.asp

Thank you for the detailed and thoughtful suggestions. I did not know there would be math on this test. Time to sharpen my pencil!

Thank you for the advice! When you say to stick a bit extra on the bottom, do you mean a thicker blank and a fall away headstock, or a volute, or something else? How thick of a neck blank would I need? I do want to be able to produce angled headstocks. I am an not a fan of string trees.

Mates, I have and will do my homework before asking, but since I trust this forum, I would like to pose questions for advice or confirmation, and get assistance with issues along the way. I am sure there are many variables I have not considered (you don't know what you don't know), so maybe you could even rescue me from the edge of the cliff! Of course, I will post progress photos. I am going to attempt a 24.75" bolt on neck with an angled headstock using a scarf joint. I was thinking about a top glue for the scarf so that the seam is under the fret board. I want a double action truss rod accessible at the headstock. It will be used to replace an import neck on an prior tele build, so it will join the body at the higher frets (around 17-18 I think?) OK, first question: 30" seems to be adequate for this endeavor. Can I go less? I found some nice 27" blanks! However, I think the top glue method will cause me to sacrifice about 2 inches. Second question: is a 17.25" (438mm) truss rod a good choice? I think this would bring me to the 21st fret. Thank you for any advice

Ear plugs. What a great idea. As a lifetime light sleeper, I have plenty of those! OK, next time I hammer after. Thanks!

Thank you gentlemen. I will begin the hunt!

Thank you!

Thank you both for the encouragement and advice. So I can get started on wood selection, what are the appropriate neck blank dimensions? Many I see are only 1 inch thick, which would seem to be too thin, even with a healthy fretboard.

I had to go back and take more wood off the pocket. Better than having to add it!!

After wet sanding, cutting and buffing. It is still wavy, but better than previous builds since this is the first time I did any sealing. You may notice areas to the right and left in between pickup routes that are light in color. The blank had fissures all the way through, so I patched them with glue and walnut dust. I followed the traditional control layout because I had already routed the control cavity, but I think the layout is poor. I will probably do something different next time.

After a few rounds of Spraymax 2K spray. I wear a respirator, goggles, long sleeves pants....and a shower cap! Not shown - I used Solarez "I Can't Believe It's Not Laquer" to seal. It worked out OK, but after reading here, and other sources, I realize I don't know much about sealing and filling. Any suggestions for good learning materials would be greatly appreciated.