Vinny

That's cool Thirdstone, I dig testmules. I can see the frankenstien lightning bolts coming down from above bringing it alive. ITS ALIVE..... ITS ALIVE !!!! -Vinny

$25 Each, right? -Vinny

Geez, I feel oooooooooooooold. -Vinny

Hey Kenny, Its great that you're building guitars, I wish I had started earlier. I've spent about $1500 outfitting my shop but I still cannot do resawing effeciently, The bandsaw I want will cost a grand but there isnt enough need for it right now. If you plan on building guitars, buy the tools as you need them. Borrowing can bite you and the other guy in the ass when you burn out his planer or other power tool. A basic router can cut your truss rod channel, plane surfaces level, follow a template, make pick up cavities, shoot the edges of a book matched top, etc. I think a basic $69 Router, $59 Jigsaw, table saw $179, a drill $49 or drillpress $189, chisels and scrapers will get you very far. Probably what that bandsaw would've cost. Consider the advice here, the people on the forum are a great bunch of guys in my opinion and many have been at this longer than me (2 yrs). -Vinny And that 'donuts for hardwoods thread'?, that fella's really something else !!

Hey Brother Luther, Consider having your fretboard/neck on hand when you lay out your drill holes. I find it too easy to make a mistake, but when the pieces are laid out in front of you to move around and measure, things come out better. Good luck -Vinny

Hey Hey its not a scheme ok............. well its sorta a free-trade bargaining agreement thing... -Vinny ""I spotted a cabinet shop on my way home from work the other day. Snagged myself a nice piece of maple (fretboard) and a mohagany board (maybe laminate, don't know yet). The guy is really into the strawberry jelly filled topped with the powdered sugar. Thank you Tim Hortons.'' -Digi2t -Way to go bro ! -Vinny

Hey Ryan, Tell the guy at the Yard that you're making a guitar. They'd probably find it interesting over dealing with carpenters all day long. -Vinny

Thanks Drak for posting for us rookies. My 1st attempt at veneering was a mess. the top looked like bacon! In my list of tools to buy I have this clamp shown below, -Vinny http://www.grizzly.com/products/h5510

Beautiful job Marcovis, I hope it raises a small fortune. Please let us know how the auction goes. -Vinny

Yeah, and he worked for peanuts -Vinny

I havent purchased wood in a while as Ive got a good supply to last me. There was another post on where a PGer asked where to buy wood, I believe it was mahogany. Heres what I've done to assure I have a good steady pile on hand. Befriend your local (or not so local, drive if you must) Cabinet Making Shop. Look in the phone book under Millwork, Custom Cabinets etc. Avoid the showroom, go to the workshop where the sawdust is flying, wear construction boots, jeans and a plain shirt. no fancy clothes, after all your just a regular working stiff like the rest of us. Ask for the boss or shop manager, smile and introduce yourself and tell him/her you're an amature guitar builder and wanted to know if there were any small wood pieces or offcuts that would get tossed out that maybe you could have. You'd be surprised by the response you'll get and will probably walk out the door with some nice wood. Thank him/her for being so generous. Come back a day or two later in the morning with a dozen donuts, bagels and cream cheese or coffee cakes for the crew as a thank you. Dont expect to get anything today, you're just showing your appreciation. You'll probably be invited to come back again soon for more wood. After stopping in a few times the crew will get to know you and you'll be warmly greeted, and you'll bring donuts/bagels and by now have a nice selection of wood at your shop to build with. I went to see my friends this morning and joked with a guy in the shop as I was picking through their 'firewood' pile. He asked me what I could use. I said Mahogany, Cherry and Walnut. He said how about Maple? I said sure and he pulled out a huge 2x10x30 billet of beautiful clear rock maple from under the bench. Good for maybe 5 necks or 20 fingerboards at least. I also picked up 3 boards of walnut, a nice slab of cherry which he ran through the planer without me asking, cause he thought it was nicer than it looked, and he was right. And a 1x8x24 of beautiful cedar that is sooo nice for an acoustic top. It is clear to them that Im a hobby builder and not turning any profit on what is given to me, I truly appreciate what they donate to my shop and I believe my sincerety comes across when I thank them. -Vinny

Acousticraft is right, and I think some contrasting laminations add a visual 'pop' for the eye. -Vinny

I just finished a Tele from scratch and did the pocket as mentioned above. I made my neck then traced it onto a template blank which I cut out and placed on top of the body for routing with a pattern bit. I added a few pieces of tape to the inside of the template where the bearing rides to make the route come out a hair smaller (tight fit). Its easier to sand or scrape than to add wood back on if you went too big. Here's a thread of a Tele build, he used a pre-made neck but the steps are the same. -Vinny http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...p;hl=telecaster

I apperciate the fast responses, I'll post pics when it starts to look more like a guitar. -Vinny

Happy New Year to all, Im building a Les Paul and the diagrams (1956 I think, but no neck pic) Im working from do not show the depth of the mortise. The drawing shows a top view and give me the width and length , but not how deep to go down with my router when Im on top of the body. I hope I explained this good enough to show what Im asking here. I not going crazy trying to match any particular year LP, Im looking to make a good solid set neck and need an idea of what others have done. -Thanks Vinny

Greetings and Welcome from New York! The book I would recommend is Melvyn Hiscocks 'Build Your Own Electric Guitar'. Check Amazon or local Libraries for a copy. On the question of how did my first turn out? Ive been looking at it for a while so the excitement has sort of worn off, but when friends stop by they see it for the first time they go Holy Shneikys! Thats cool! It turned out good, lots of mistakes that got corrected with the 2nd guitar I made (a Tele). Now the third one is on the table and I hope it will be even better. -Vinny

Hi John, What I think you might've missed is the routed channel is curved. It was mentioned above. A single action rod is installed in a route that is cut deeper in the middle (5th to 10th fret as an example) than on the ends (near the nut and heel. A contoured filler strip is glued in on top on the channel to 'lock in' the rod which is now sprung under tension. The surface is then planed smooth and the fingerboard glued on top. -Vinny photo courtesty of Gavigan Heavy Industries

Squier strats and teles are hanging on the rack at Guitar Center for $99. A westone Ive never heard of. -Vinny

Mattia, glad to hear you're coming to town. is it business or holiday ? Also is there any concern for the plug type on the router? Such as Euro style etc. -Vinny

Im very happy with the 12 1/2 in Delta I bought earlier this year, There's still good deals on the model #TP305. Heres Amazons offer. A good planer for under 3 bills and I made a stand for it from scrap 2 x 4's - Vinny http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00...activeda8553-20

Looks good Al, I would dig making a neck-thru down the road, Ive got enough walnut here thats for sure. Keep us updated. -Vinny

On Wes' recommedation I got the Sherwin Williams stuff and am very pleased with how it turned out. I used both a minwax waterbased color stain and an aniline dye (alcohol based) and the clear topcoat went on great. -Vinny

Hi Rich, very good post, thanks. All the points you bring up are so true and can be applied to every tool I have in the shop, the cost vs. the use I'll get from the tool is always a factor. The saw I'd see myself owning for re-sawing would cost in the $650-850 range once its set up right. Right now I cant see spending the money and will continue with the table saw method or like you said take it to a local shop. Thanks again, -Vinny

Maiden post some pics of your get together! -Vinny

Hi Rich, I have 8x36 4/4 flamed maple boards among others that I plan to re-saw. I've tried the method described above using a table saw and doing the rest by hand to make fingerboards and thought there's gotta be an easier way. The cross-cut kerf on my table saw blade eats more wood than I'd like, its the one that came with the table. Are there 10'' re-saw blades available for table saws that will go through hard woods? With a smaller kerf too? Thanks to all who responded. -Vinny