postal

Thin, fast, easy, and easy to touch up... use a light coat of Tru- oil. Jackson/charvel offer this finish for "oiled necks".

Probably not a good idea. The oils bring brown/red color into the CA which could stain the neck wood. If you seal the neck wood first it would work fine probably.

Care to take a wild guess as to who fender buys the black inlay blocks for the geddy lee jazz bass? Yup- Masecraft. Make sure you get solid black though, and not the black "mop"

HEHE! Cool! I'm about to start an "Axe" as well. Hopefully glue the fretboard on later tonight if I can free up some clamps....

Fender Corona pumped out 100,000 units in 2006- Yeah the QC isnt exactly sparkling. Generally, the tight radius fender uses, and poor fret levelling, means the frets should be levelled again, then "ramp" the upper frets- say 16 up- This means adjust the truss rod to get the neck as straight as possible, then level the frets, *then* sand/file or stone frets 16+ quite a bit more.

I ride a motorcycle- An aquaintance of mine who rides showed up one day with one side of his bike all trashed from a spill.... I asked him what happened.. and with a pause and a grin... he replied "...character building...." I know it has nothing to do with the topic... but the post about character building made me think of it!

Oh thank you for being here to point out the obvious by using one word to state exactly what was already said by the mere mention of a word that answers nothing by itself No problemo- glad to help- However I *think* I also had *THE MOST* thorough explanation as to why it was necessary and conditions that affect it as well. Or were you just lashing out at me cuz you're "compensating" for something?! Forgot to compensate your bridge placement on your 2" scale?

I'd say that one was a bit too bleached. This is what bleached *should* look like. Here's the matching pair. Yeah the splinters hurt- Yeah it splinters easy. Yeah, it's hard, and your tools should be sharp, but it's not that difficult to work. BTW, I did the "carve" with a 4" angle grinder with sanding disks- easy cheasy. Bleaching however, is *****REALLY****** hard. I used household bleach soaked for 40 minutes. I would guess the cabinet in the link was done with wood bleach which is a lot stronger. You see I made a matching pair- 1 bleached- 1 normal- If I were to sell a bleached wenge guitar, I would want $1K extra for doing it. Seriously- It's *that* much of a PITA, I wouldnt do it for less than a *K*.

I guess none of you have heard of "****COMPENSATION****" Perfectly normal. Even a shorter guitar scale, the high E will be a little farther than the actual scale length, and the bass E will be significantly farther back. This is why MOST production guitars with a TOM bridge is angled so the low E is farther back than the high E. The actual distance beyond scale length does depend on string gauge, string height and scale length. The longer the scale, the farther the bridge beyond scale. The higher the action, the farther... and the bigger the string, the farther- though generally bigger strings also mean higher action.... This is NOT an epiphany- most of us already knew this. (I would hope) I dont know if it's really worthy of the "mistakes to avoid thread- Havent you ever seen a catalog with a guitar with an angled Tunomatic and wonder *WHY*? Now you know.

Flatsawn wenge carved top looks awesome. Dont ask me about the "tone" since I'm not a player. I made a pair of wenge capped carved tops and they looks great. I used zebra for the body under the wenge just because the colors go together really well. Down side is they're kinda heavy, but they look awesome. People tell me they sound good- but thats subjective.

40 should work fine I suppose. Might leave the surface a little rougher which would take a little more smoothing with the ROS, but shouldnt be an issue I would think. I personally havent tried the flap sanders, I just use the sanding disks. I get good results with that so I never bothered to try the flap sanders. Others like the flap sander, so either one should work fine. Just a matter of personal preference.

A ROS will work, but take a long time. 4" angle grinder is FFFFAAAAAASSSSSSSTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Too big a job for a dremel. I'd use a ROS before a dremel. (but I hate dremels- only use them when I *HAVE* to.) The ROS would be faster than a dremel., and the angle grinder is really quick.

4" angle grinder with sanding disk makes quick work of almost anything.

As mentioned, number of strings and nut width/bridge width, but also scale length and number of frets will determine your FB width. Also, do you want a Jazz bass style narrow nut, or a P bass style with a wider nut- Best thing to do, is get your bridge and a slotted FB in the scale you want and number of frets, and draw the outside strings to the bridge spacing, and leave 3/32 to 1/8" extra on each side. So, assuming 34" scale 4 string with a nut width of 1.5, draw 1.5, go in 3/32 to where the outer strings would sit in the nut, and draw the lines for those strings all the way to the bridge. Look at where the fretboard ends, and measure the space between the 2 strings, and add 3/32 or 1/8 on each side, and you have your FB width. Most 4 string basses- the nut is 1 1/2 to 1 3/4.

Lowrider, That is SWEET! Tristan, I posted the first couple of guitars on the shredder when I first signed on and introduced myself. I posted the warrior when it was completed as well, but it was a while back. I think Ronz doesnt like me cuz my small number of guitars are way cooler than his huge collection of BCR's! I've taken a break from building for quite some time, and finally getting back into it. A lot of projects been sitting for a while, and started a few more- the carved soloist like my #1, a kelly, a tele, a regular warrior, RR, a cocobolo carved top, and 3 basses. Thinking about starting up a doubleneck king V... I got frustrated since my RR and plain warrior have been ready for paint for over a yr and I dont have the money to have them painted. The red dragon was waterbase my father sprayed, the others that are completed are tru oil, and I want poly for the other projects, but need to pay a painter to do it. It was annoying to think of completing more guitars when I cant get the ones that are done painted- See ya on the shredder when it's back online- Postal!

Thanks for the compliments everyone! To fit the design on the warrior was pretty easy- I had the origional pattern from the red "strat"- I cut the pattern into individual body parts and fitted them to the shape and filled in any gaps drawing it in. Just changed the style of the tail/backbone and slung his head low instead of high, but did it with the same patterns. There are a lot of really great first builds in this thread!

I normally use 12" radius, and factory coiled dunlop is perfect for that. Though I certainly understand a 12 wont suit everyone.- Though your argument is *slightly* flawed- Really doubt those banjo makers use 6100 or 6105 jumbo wire! My stash of pre bent wire will last for awhile- after that, I'll make a bender, or just buy dunlop- or try the grizzly stuff.

Most of the design is a max of 1/4" above a normal "strat" body. The back of the head with the long horns is taller than 1/4". I made the body thicker than a normal guitar, and routed down to normal thicknesss/height on the blank spots. The wood I started with was right at 1 3/4", so I added 1/4" to the back of the guitar. The entire design was done by hand with carving chisels. I used power tools for basic construction of course- but the actual carving was all done by hand. You wouldnt believe how hard it is, and how long it takes to do the 1/2" radiused edge by hand between the front claws and such... and make it match perfectly with the parts I used a router for. I have about 40 hours in the carving- at least another 40 in sanding the darn thing.... and of course regular construction time I never tracked. The entire project took over 9 months- but for a 1st build, it's pretty cool. Not perfect though. I blew the bridge placement and the bass side E gets right to the edge of the fretboard at the last fret. I never fixed it because the transparent finish. If it were solid color, I'd dowel the holes and redrill. But since it's my first, I wont sell it anyway, so I left the bridge as is. Made a "warrior" with a dragon on it- and have a "soloist" 24 fret bridge humbucker only version under construction right now. Here's the "warrior". It's my #5 (I'm getting tired of dragons!)

I bought wire from stew once. *ONCE* What do they do? *Straighten the wire* before they sell it to try and get you to buy their uber expensive fret bender? What kind of obvious scam is that? Most manufacturers coil their wire in the first place- I've never seen straight wire *ANYWHERE* else. I will not order ***ANYTHING*** from stew if I can help it. I use Dunlop wire from a "secret" source Matt probably knows about... Dunlop wire comes coiled which works well for a 12" radius. Might want to check Grizzly. I've seen pics of the wire which was obviously coiled by the manufacturer- give it a try maybe- it's probably dunlop -dunno- (but not who I got my stash from.)

My first- Neckthru strat "carved top".

Well... If any of yours have a backbow, send it to me- I know how to "fik" it- do it for free! The book from Melvyn Hiscock has a pretty good explanation of how to do fender style rods.

Dont see rosewood or cocobolo necks too often because they're so heavy. It can and has been done, just be carefull to keep the body heavy as well so it balances properly. A "1 piece" coco or RW neck/fretboard would look nice- just need to make a thin, perfect cut to loose as little wood as possible so the grain will still line up well. A good resaw bandsaw and jointer would work. A tablesaw will eat too much wood. Or, if you bind the neck, you could cut the fretboard off, and the binding will hide the glue line...

Hey Sami, Dubai sounds NUTS now! No wonder you spend so much time on the roads. I live fairly close to a mall that was/is? tied for 5th largest in the US... and it's still "just a mall". I'm not trying to be a buzz kill or anything, but doubles are very touchy for the reasons I gave in my first post. I'm considering starting a double myself, but I'm poor- I have 2 guitars waiting for paint. Been waiting for over a year... cant afford to have em painted. Have 3 more guitars and 2 basses under construction... Dont have money for parts/pick ups to finish them, or the money for the paint.... Starting to get worried about necks warping without a finish on them..... Got a LOT of time, and still have some wood left, so I consider starting the doubleneck... but at double the truss rods, triple the tuners for a 6/12 string, double the pickups and pots.... etc.... My double would be sitting for a couple yrs waiting for paint and pickups.... before I finally see if I got it just right.... The point I was making, is that a lot can go wrong in a build. A double is basically 2 builds that share a common oversize body, so it's twice the work and twice the money and twice the risk of something going wrong. I'm certainly not trying to talk you out of it by any means. I think any serious guitar collection needs at least one double..... I just want to press the point that you need to be sure of yourself and your skills and the cost of the build before attempting. If you know yourself and your skills, and think the project through, and feel confident that you can achieve a positive outcome, then go for it. If you have any doubts, it's a sign that you're not ready yet. Regards, Postal!

Origional post- Fretboard like a piano with black and white inlays.... well, I thought of that when I built my first guitar, because I had 10 yrs of piano lessons and dont play guitar. I almost did it and planned on tuning every string to "C" so the "keys" would be right... until one of my friends who plays guitar mentioned chords would be impossible. Guitar/drummer duo looking for more fill.... Heard a chapman stick?

Reading G&L website, they use 2 way rods in their necks, and cut them in half, route for the rod, install the rod and glue it back together. If you have decent skills, the glue line would be nearly invisible. I use 2 way rods because they're quick and easy. I also like to be able to correct a back bow. I used to work at fender corona and we tossed a LOT of necks with a backbow that couldnt be fixed. When some evil giant corporation is paying for the wood, I dont care. When *I* pay for the wood, I dont want to have to use it for firewood. We also broke a LOT of truss rods. At fender, fixing a backbow, means putting the neck on woodblocks with a 1/2 ton press in the middle of the neck and firmly "persuading" the neck flat. Did you know walnut blows out before maple? I know for a FACT- Done it many a time. Once in a while I broke the maple, but flatsawm maple is so flimsy... It didnt happen often. No thanks, I'll stick with a 2 way rod. I have access to a welder, I should just buy some taps and make my own.