postal

I've done that with sticky backed sandpaper both covering a good size sheet of MDF, and when I need one small edge REALLY flat, like the edge of a fretboard, I put the paper on the table saw. I use the 3M sticky paper. The adhesive isnt TOO strong like some other brands.

A *LOT* of actual fender maple neck/maple board are separate maple fretboard. I don't know why..... But clearly it is an "acceptable" practice. Even the Geddy Lee and Marcus Miller have separate maple fretboards. Maple glue and dust is about the ugliest thing I have ever seen. Dont do it. Dust and glue works great on darker woods though. You can replace the neck and use this one with a rosewood board for another project..... or plane it down and replace with a maple fretboard. or consider adding binding to hide the edge of the crooked slots. I've seen custom shop strats/teles with binding.

Sounds like the nut was filed by someone that really knew what they were doing. Yes it's a constant radius board. The frets *could have been* levelled that will make it more of a compound.... But the high E is lower, because it CAN be. The thicker the string, the more it moves when it vibrates. High E can be lower than any other string, and each larger string must progressivly be higher than the last thinner string.... So Low E is the highest, high E is the lowest and everything else is somewhere in between. This is not uncommon, it just sounds like it was setup by someone trying to get the lowest possible action.

I really cant help with any suppliers you hadnt already discussed- except Larry Davis at Gallery hard woods- He's a good guy, and has some interesting things...... but nothing beats a good bandsaw with a nice wide blade capable of resawing whatever wood strikes your fancy at home. Naturally you need room for it and the cash, but Grizzly has some very good saws capable of resawing for not too much. I was really impressed with how well it resawed. I've made wenge and cocobolo carved tops I resawed myself, and you cant be the price doing it that way. Although I did just order a quilt maple top off ebay because the price of a billet is so high.....

Fender, I've never inspected a fresh mighty might, and dont know if they level the frets or not. The neck can also warp being shipped from their place to yours, and a lot of other factors...... I think you should follow the first steps I posted adjusting the truss rod to as straight a neck as possible and check with a razorblade that the frets are level. If you find an issue with that, then hopefully someone here knows where there is a good step by step levelling FAQ. It is not difficult, you just need to be REALLY carefull, and understand what you are trying to accomplish quite thoroughly before attempting it. A refret by a pro is not cheap, so Make sure you read up on it before doing it. Strings choking on bends can happen generally up to around a 12"radius at the last fret. A compound board from like 10-16 or so shouldnt have any problems, so this "COULD" be an issue as well, but.... I'd pass on that one for now till the level is checked. Another thing is the bridge height like you mentioned in the first post. What is your string height right now? You said you checked with feelers, but didnt tell us what you measured where. Maybe the bridge is a tad low...... Just to let you know, getting a super low action is only possible when every part of the setup is done flawlessly. The fret level/truss rod adjustment is the MAIN factor in this. If those arent right, the action will never be "shredder" low.

I have seen and heard an aluminum body strat with a regular wood strat neck. It sounded okay, and the weight was perfectly acceptable. To do this in the time frame you gave in highly unlikely though....... This guy made a full size body template out of heavy birch ply and pounded front/back halves out of 1/8"aluminum, with forearm and belly cutouts even..... tig welded the halves together, file/sand/buff until the seam is invisible and sent it off for chrome plating. On the inside of the guitar body was a metal subframe skeleton assembly to mount to the body sheetmetal and mount the bridge and neck to a solid surface. I had seen another tele that was done with I think- 1/8" aluminum as well, and the front back plates were flat, the side was a separate piece that was again tig welded in place, and the weld went far enough into the top/bottom plates to get a slight radius on the edge as well. I dont recall, but I think that one had a wood structure in it for the neck/bridge points. There are many opinions out there about the sound from a guitar and what influences that sound. *MY* opinion, is that the neck and headstock have FAR more influence than most people think. Using a regular guitar neck will certainly help in the tone dept with a metal body. That strat *almost* sounded normal..... Unless you've made a number of guitars already, and really know what you're doing, then I find it unrealistic to complete a project like this in the time given. Best of luck though- I hope you do it, even if you have to finish it after the class.

I REALLY want an edgesander beltsander.... We have one at my work with osc function, and it's very usefull for solidbody guitars. Grizzly has some smaller one's that are pretty cheap, and are made in korea or china....... I know both of you are on the wrong side of the water to order from grizzly.... but isnt there some type of tool supplier out there that deals with decent but inexpensive korean/chinease import stuff?

Only thing I want to add, is drilling mutliple holes, clean the dust off the drill bit after each hole. Woods like maple leave almost no dust, but rosewood/ebony leave a lot of dust on the bit. If you dont clean off this dust, it can make a hole larger than it's supposed be. Just use a scrap block of non oily wood like maple, and lightly press it to the bit will usually knock the dust out of the flutes.

Outstanding! If it fits an '04 CBR600 send it my way!!! hehe! Very good work though. I thought the eye sockets had a larger opening in the backside, but you're the one looking at pics of the real thing.

Did you level the frets before stringing up? It is possible that fret is high and you need a good straight edge to check. Using the straightedge on the entire neck, readjust the truss until it is straight as can be, then use a fresh razorblade, place the sharp edge of the blade directly on the frets and use the blade as a precision straight edge, see if the blade will rock accross any fret (high fret) or if you see light under the blade at any fret (low)-- check for light holding the neck up between your eyes and a large flourescent light to REALLY see if there is light. If a fret is high, you will need to relevel the frets. If this is not the problem, then it is just "normal" strings choking out on a tighter radiused fretboard. This can also be very carefully fixed by following the basic setups above for levelling, (be sure the frets ARE ACTUALLY level) then with your flat sanding block and 400 grit paper, carefully take about 5-6 passes on the upper frets- like 17-18 on up to the last fret. This will grind them down *about* 5 thou less than the rest of the frets which prevents the strings from choking on them during bends. Apparently not a whole lot of people know that little trick, but it works great, and removes so little fret, it is not noticable that the action is 5 thou higher over those frets......

I think a refret by a reputable repair person is the right way to go. Doing a proper refret/levelling/dressing is not a complex thing, but it does have a lot of small steps that need to be done correctly. Discussing it and reading about it will inform you of the process, but it is not like actually doing it yourself. The best is to have someone that knows what they're show you and explain it as they do it, but good luck finding people out there willing to teach it. There are a lot of little tricks out there when it comes to doing this right, and no amount of reading will point the way like actually being taught how to do it right by someone who already knows. Paying to have it done right will cost far less in the long run of trying to learn this crucial part on your own, and risk a neck you like in the process.

Most zebra I find is actually rift sawn, not perfect on the quarter like that. I made 2 guitars with it that were wenge/zebra..... I have zero weight issues because I made the bodies quite thin- even though wenge weighs a ton. About 1.35 or so at the thickest, and they were carved tops to.. Mine sound find, but people like different things...... Seeing as how technically it is a "rosewood" and many brands and individuals make solid rosewood guitars, even fender custom shop..... although they do chamber the body for weight... and people pay a hella lotta money for a CS guitar, they cant be all bad... just my opinion-

NICE!!! Perfectly quartered. I've played with it a little and didnt have much issues. It can burn a little on a saw or router, but again, not too bad. It certainly takes more effort to work being a dense wood, and be a bit carefull with cross grain cuts as they tend to splinter just a little.... on the bottom side using a miter saw would splinter about 1/32"-1/16" deep about 1/8" long. My builds with zebra were multi wood laminated necks, and the other wood was VERY rigid... And my thick fretboard added even more strength. I did this primarily for looks, but I had *heard* that zebra alone just may flex a bit much for a solid zebra neck. With that I mind, I wouldnt hesitate to try a full zebra neck, just dont take it super thin, and use a very rigid fretboard preferably a tad on the thick side of at LEAST 1/4" thick *after* radiusing. I tend to lean toward thick fretboards anyway because they add a great deal of stiffness to the neck, and people say they help in the all elusive "tone" department. Hope that helps bro. Postal!

and drill slow!!!! You want the bit spinning FAST, but push the drill into the wood slow........ If you pretend it's a woman, is where you get into problems....

I'd also be worried about balance.... You said mahog body and purple heart neck... That alone in many conventional designs could lead to neck dive... You could add tuners made of helium and still have issues..... All I'm saying is, plan on adding birdshot in the body or some other large weight, and it'll be okay.... be heavy, but okay.

Anytime you rout the outside shape of anything..... You should have the wood within about 1/16" the right size, and depending on the grain direction, you need to adjust the speed you move the router..... If the neck is very close to right size, go slow, and use a good sharp bit, you shouldnt have any difficulty.

A wilki is a different design of a modern strat bridge. They are basically identical in all "important" aspects.... except they are less sensitive to stud spacing. They are basically a drop in replacement for a strat bridge.

Sims custom sure looks like aluminum that was pounded to shape over a form. I've seen a custom shop strat that was done that way.

Yes you need to match the two parts. If the body was predilled/routed for bridge, the neck has to be the right scale length/number of frets/and heel size to fit the body correctly and have the bridge location correct. The easiest way to ensure things are right, is to get both pieces from the same company, and research the info on those parts to be sure they were meant to go together.

What fretboard wood? What kind of binding? plastic? Wood? are you applying finish to the fretboard itself? Normally, a non finished fretboard, plastic binding the top of the binding is scraped flush to the board with no finish. A finished FB like maple, the binding is scraped flush to the board and the board and binding both are finished. A non finished board and wood binding that needs finish, is scraped flush, then mask FB and finish the edge of binding, scrape excess finish off FB..... In this instance, the layer of finish on top of the binding is just to seal it, and there shouldnt be any thickness above the fretboard to worry about.

Easiest way is a maple top and maple board dyed whatever color you want..... I'm working on one of those right now, but I'm having "issues" finding figured maple big enough for my pointy.....

tonepros is such a ripoff.... I think there really has to be something wrong with people that are willing to fork over that much money for a GOTOH bridge with setscrews.... Yes you read that right... tonepros IS that same inexpensive GOTOH bridge with a few screws added.... dont believe me? Buy one, and read the name brand on the underside..... tonepros is top notch for marketing hype...... but get the inexpensive GOTOHS..... Even though they are cheap, they are good. Jackson uses them for their TOM models. Use it, and be happy.... then laugh at tonepros and the absurd amount of money they charge for their expertise in using a thread tap....

Technically, yes.... the hum routes remove sooooo much wood, there is almost no neck left.... and then the trem route removes all the neck blank. The plus sides are.... simplicity of construction.... no neck pocket, no tenon to frustrate with, just plane the wings and glue. I still believe that even with all the routing, there is better vibrational transfer using a neckthru than even a deep set tenon because the tightness of the joint. Just my opinion

Even the accuracy of a sloppy cnc is fine in guitarbuilding.... after all, when it's final shaped, we still sand it and loose 10-20thou.... or more... or a lot more.... then finish it... and depending on the type of finish can easily add 10-30thou.... If you're talking $80,000 cnc... you better be looking at a haas with auto tool changer.... and another line of work to keep it running a full shift. I'd be thinking a lot smaller than that. A CNC able to do 1 body, or one neck is not very big, and if you look around, you can find all the help you need to build your own for about $5K or less. Personaly, I'd be very interested in one off custom inlay sets. Key point being ONE OFF. Which you could add to your library and sell to someone else if they liked it, and I wouldnt care, but many wouldnt like that..... I see no point for you/or me to think about doing bodies, as they are simple, and not worth me paying a dime for someone to do it for me. I make neckthru's... I dont worry about no sloppy ass neck joint..... Even if I wanted to do multiple carved tops, I would just make my self a duplicater if I wanted to save time. Making my own duplicater would cost less than paying someone to program and cnc them for me. If you choose to build up a library of body designs people can choose from- assuming you not sell a customers design without consent, could be a good idea, but expecting someone from here to order 5-10 bodies is quite unrealistic. I really think that the most likely way to get started, is a small cheap cnc doing inlay work. I hope you get it off the ground, I'd use you for inlays. Got a project just sitting right now waiting for someone that can cut pearl straighter than me...... I think your take on what people think of cnc is about right... I dont have a problem with work being done by hand and CNC.... after all, I cant cut pearl worth a damn by hand..... I understand what CNCs are good at, and good for- no biggie to me. Perry- You're wrong. It takes 6 hours man and machine time to make a MIA strat.... You need to streamline.

I heard of someone using the old string ball ends with a screw through them. A lot smaller and easier to find real estate for them than strap buttons.