AVClub

Thanks Bizman, great reminder. I think I’m going to go with the router planer method for now. My biggest worry about hand sanding was avoiding dips, but I suppose that’s where practice and skill come in.

OR can I skip both and use a router jig for planning and a palm sander? Just getting started it’s hard to justify too many large tools that I could potentially get away with a few harder but cheaper solutions

One more thing to add - Would it make sense to skip a planer, and use a jig/sled to use a router for planing, and then a thickness sander for fine tuning?

As I am working to build out my shop, one big bottleneck has been not having a way to plane down rough lumber to exact measurements. I purchased a StewMac Safe-T-Planer but haven't tried it yet as the setup is a bit much to get good results. Because I don't have a ton of extra time, I am trying to make the effort required to work on guitar projects as small as possible. With that said should I prioritize a planer or thickness sander? If so, any recommendations under $1000? With that said - If I can have BOTH for a little more, I would be open to that too, but might be too good to be true. Thanks!

I do, however would there be harm in going all the way through? Would simply scoring produce a crisper edge?

I have one of the newer import Kramer Barettas that I enjoy tinkering with and want to add a neck pickup. Does anyone have advice for the best way to route a finished (poly) body? From my research so far the best advice seems to be use a template, score the paint with scalpel/X-Acto using the template, route using the template first barely touching down on the finish, slowly lowering after each pass. From here I could use a drill to remove some material, and then finish off with the router. Does this sound like a good method? The pickup will be direct mount with no ring, so I want the route to be really tidy. I know some manufacturers route cavities after finishing, but I will be using a router and not have the luxury of high precision as a CNC would afford me. I already have a full sized router, but thought a smaller trim style router may be better for a job like this. Thoughts?

Thanks guys! Essentially what I had thought, I will be sure on the first build to make it flat as I think there will be many other things I need to focus on in the build. It would however be fun to do some tests with different nut underside. geometries, although I predict there won't be much of a difference. @curtisa - Do you have any documentation on fender using bent laminations for fretboards? This is fascinating, what years was this popular? The particular guitar I am building this for currently has an "A" sized neck (Which is fun, but as a player its a good excuse to build a proper sized neck, plus the guitar already sounds great, and I can't wait with a bit more contact in the neck pocket to see if it sounds even better) and the rosewood board is quite thin (approx 1/8"), I wonder if this is a bent board? The guitar is a 70's musicmaster.

I am new to building and before tackling an entire build, I am working on a neck for my 70's Musicmaster. I have the template ready to be cut and have done some 3d prints to test dimensions and everything looks good. However, one thing I stumbled upon is radius'd vs flat bottom nuts. What do you use and why? It seems a flat bottom would be much easier for me to cut the slot for in my shop, even if its not period correct (Thats fine by me.) are there any big advantages to the curved bottom nuts? Stopping from movement? It seems with a tight cut slot, glue, and string pressure, the nut would be hard pressed to move.

It might be a bit slow going with all of my other projects but I will definitely be posting updates, and will likely have many, many questions.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the info and recommendations. I have searched the forum but I've found more of trying to re-create a design, rather than create one from specific specs (I don't have or have used a neck with the specs I am looking to achieve). After thinking about it for a bit I think the best course of action for me right now is to create the specs that I want in CAD, and model in a Modern-C profile and then use some scrap pine or something to build the neck and test how it feels. This allows me to dial in the shape while also practicing building a neck. Thanks again for the help, looking forward to being more active in this community

Hey everyone, I am working on my first scratch build that is based on a Harmony H44 Stratotone. I'm working on designing the neck right now and I'm having a bit of trouble finding resources on neck design. I can find a ton of information on replicating a historic neck and profile, but nothing on how to create your own. I hope this makes sense, but maybe explaining what I am trying to achieve will be helpful: I want to make this guitar with a 24.75" scale, 22 frets, and a fender modern-C shape on the back (still deciding on fretboard radius). How would you guys approach this? Any resources that I might find helpful? Thanks in advance!