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postal

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Everything posted by postal

  1. A customer just called and said he wants to add this to his build. Anyone play with it lately? I searched and the info I found was from a few years ago. I dont know if the product has changed/improved, or what people recommend for a midi setup. Does it come with software? What else would be required? Any info or advice would be appreciated. Thanks all, Postal
  2. Heaven and Hell 12/6 doubleneck. Neckthru. 25.5 scale (both) Ebony fretboards, 26 frets. 12 string neck is maple/mahog/purpleheart for strength. 6 string neck is mahog, body is alder. Emg 81/85 for both necks. 1 vol, 1 tone, 3 way pickup sw for 6 string, 3 way pickup sw for neck selector. Headstock and neck bound in aluminum. Based on Jackson double neck King V. Custom paint by "Sik Kreations".
  3. It depends largely on experience. If people make multiples of the same guitar, they get a feel for the weight of the blank. It would depend on the size and thickness of YOUR blank, and have something to compare it to. Fender cs weighs every blank and marks the weight on the blank. Easy comparison since they're all the same dimension. Most of us make many different shapes, and blanks have to be different sizes... so I go mostly on "feel". When shopping for wood in a lumber supply, pick up several planks of similar size and compare weight- (obviously you cant do that buying stock from the net)
  4. Matching heads- alu trussrod cover which matches the shape of the artwork.
  5. A few more views of these. Bending alu around the forearm cut..... hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of fun.....
  6. Just finished up these 2. Demon (blue) walnut/mahog neckthru with mahog body. 26 fret birdseye maple board. Soloist (purple) purpleheart/mahog neckthru with mahog body. 24 fret bloodwood board. Both- Fully bound in aluminum- 2k auto finish- Custom artwork- 1 hum, 1 vol, 1 tone.
  7. I think getting a good amount of coats on, it gets very durable. It seems like (though I've no proof) the more coats you put on, the harder it gets. Though nothing is as durable as automotive clear. It is the toughest stuff out there. (except a "boat finish" epoxy)
  8. Use automotive paint products. That is the best solution. Take them to someone to paint for you. Have them hit it with adhesion promoter, then clear. If you're going to do it yourself, and you're going with the generic term "laquer"... I've no tips for you except wipe it down with alcohol, or thinner, or acteone, or degreaser. (note "degreaser" doesnt mean dish soap thats "tough on grease!")
  9. I have to disagree here. The string doesnt care what direction it's bent. 13 degrees down over the nut from headstock angle is still 13 degrees. 13 deg of "splay" to the side, is still 13 deg..... Do you think the nut cares what direction the string gets bent? 13 det down on the nut... 13 deg to the side of the nut? Now consider- A shallow headstock angle like 11, and a decent of "splay" to the tuner might be a total combined angle of 15-16-17.... Imagine for a minute. Take a piece of music wire- Stiff wire- that you can put a bend in, and it holds the bend... Bend a 17 deg angle in it... leaving 5-6" to the end- Like the bend would be the nut location, and the end of the wire is a tuner.... lay it flat on a table so the bend is to the side. This would be wide splay, with zero neck angle. Take the bent end off the table and let the tip of the wire drop down about 1 1/2" below the table top.... Now you're looking at a sizable splay, and a 13 deg neck angle.... Note that I didnt actually do the math to get the angles in my example precise... but you get the idea of what I'm talking about. And this is why I say what I quoted is wrong. Angle is ANGLE. The less angle the better, except a certain amount is necessary to stop string vibration past the nut. Headstock angle.... or side angle, is still angle, and looking at them both combined, you'll see the difference in angle between straight string pull and 13 deg head, is not VERY different from 11 deg angle with some splay. What it really comes down to, is how well the nut slots are filed. I have a 2 post modern strat bridge with 1/8" bone nut with quite a bit of splay on a 13 degree head. The strings dont hang up in the nut at all. It's a non issue. Which brings up a 2nd point.... If your idea works so well.... you wouldnt need to figure out how to lock that bridge... The only time this doesnt boil down to nut slotting properly, is using a locking nut, or a roller nut. The build does look nice though.
  10. I think it depends primarily on the radius of the fretboard, the stiffness (relief) of the neck, and how low of an action you like. Flatter radius- doesnt "need it" as much- unless you want a really low action. Tight radius like fenders 9" and such.... frequently "choke out" with a low action... and NEED it. lots of relief- not an issue- even with a tight radius Almost no relief, and as low of an action as you can get.... Well- You can get it lower, if you ramp the frets.... Thats what I've seen.
  11. Good suggestion but even better is to do this before fretting. I build in a slight fallout towards the end of the neck and usually achieve just over 3/32" action without too many post build adjustments. How do you achieve that accurately and reliably? Ramping frets is quick, easy and reliable. Only takes a couple minutes. Literally- like 2 min. During the build process, I'm carefull to keep the neck blank dead flat, then glue the fretboard on, radius the board and ensure it's still dead level it again. I know some people make clamping cauls for their fretboards that induce a very slight relief- is this what you're talking about?
  12. The reply from music logic was very good and thorough. I would add, that once you install frets initially with glue... the glue builds up under the fret, and you're stuck.... if it didnt fully seat, the glue under it wont let it fully seat.... Should get the frets in, THEN glue. Steel channel is not to be trusted for fret levelling.... Find a chunk of 3/8 or 1/2" aluminum in a length you like, and take it to a machine shop to be surface ground dead flat... As to higher frets buzzing.... This is very common, especially on tighter radiused boards like fender uses. The solution is easy, though many people dont know of it. It's generally called "ramping" the frets. When you initially level the frets, *ALL* frets are supposed to be perfectly level with each other. Once thats accomplished.... using your true flat sanding block (I use surface ground aluminum) You take off more from the last frets- Keeping all those frets level to each other, but angled lower to the rest of the neck.... My block is about 7? inches long. and about 2.5" wide. I use the narrow side of the block on the 24- up scrubbing more off the frets, but putting most pressure on the 24th fret. Then I use the block lengthwise, doing the same thing again. Most pressure on 24, least pressure at the lowest fret the block touches, and scrub it some more, until every fret under the block is in a flat plane, but that plane is angle lower then the rest of the neck. So... the higher the fret, the more the frets "fall away" from the string path. It doesnt take a great deal of "ramping" to fix the high fret buzz common on tight radius boards. But it solves this common problem quickly and easily. I think everyone should be doing this... but a lot of people dont know about it.
  13. Internet at its best! For the records, my logo was created by a professional graphist and a wonderfull friend of mine who is a Buddhist living in India, try and explain to him that he was influenced by Neal Mozer.... on second thought..... you're right.... And my advice was wrong. You are *WAY* too good to use some cheap flexcuts... Spend 5x's as much and get 2 cherries or pfeil. They're the only thing good enough to satisfy your ego apparently.... even though it took you at LEAST 4 hours too long to do a simple shallow chip carve Once again... I apologize for trying to help out a newb carver. Good luck to ya hufshmuck-
  14. Poplar is likely too soft to use as a reliable neck. CF would probably make it doable... but if you were gonna add the expense and time of CF... *why* bother using poplar? No cost savings, and more time than a traditional hardwood neck. Unless you like making laminated necks... you could use poplar and something nice and dense to give the ridgid/strength and be fine. For solid poplar neck, I wouldnt do it. (but I do like very stiff multi lam necks.... I broke a truss rod trying to move a 9 layer wenge/zebra neck)
  15. guitar reranch color nitro cans sounds like your best bet. If you're adverse to getting a compressor and spray gun.
  16. I know this thread has been around awhile.... Sata, Iwata, and develbliss are *THE* names when it comes to premium HVLP. Those are pricey brands.... I'm new to painting. I have help from a very experienced painter who owns and uses all those brands above on a daily basis. I bought a gun from harbor freight for a WHOPPING $15... Its not HVLP- its actually a standard high pressure. They do have HVLP for a little more money. That $15 gun sprayed 2k clear last night on 2 of my guitars with excellent results. The only problem was the painter- not the gun. If you are not an expert painter... go online to harbor freight and get a few of those $15-50 guns. It will be several years before you're better than that gun- After several years, you would appreciate a Sata/Iwata... but for a beginner, that $15 gun is pretty darn good.... You should get a gravity feed. Most of the harbor freight guns are- including the 15 dollar one. The $50 hvlp is better I'm told. Generally, gravity feed gives more even paint flow. Also easy to clean up- dont need to mix a large amount of paint for it to work properly either. You should register at "kustom kulture lounge.com" It's a site dedicated to painting. Mostly automotive, also airbrushers and pinstripers too. a LOT of info there on products/guns but note that most of them are professionals with a lot of experience so you see "iwata/sata/develbliss" everywhere, and none of them talk about harbor freight guns... but there is a lot of good info there. search for threads on painting guitars, and painting wood. Search on several user names including mine, XYZ, and Syxxstring. A week or 2 I'll have a new thread on 2 guitars Just painted with 2k. There is plenty of info out there for spraying, but that site generally is 2k automotive paint... not much help to nitro die hards except for equipment recommendations.. ----------------------------------------------- *************EDIT**************** Just read something about waterbase paint......... ugh........ To spray waterbase, everthing in the gun that touches paint must be aluminum, or stainless steel. This is where the expensive guns come in. Run waterbase through a cheap gun with any steel parts..... they rust. Dont know about the harbor freight guns... the body is aluminum, some parts are obviously stainless, but the needle.... or some othersteel parts might not be stainless.... However... at $15.... Its a throw away gun anyway. I actually got suckered in to getting a warranty on mine.... which aint a bad idea.... others had told me, they shoot primer through it, dont bother cleaning it.... take it back and get a new one!!!!!!!! I was told I should buy 2 more of these. 1 for primer, one for color base coats, and one for clear coat only. I'm out a whopping $30 for 2 more.... and with that warranty (no serial number) if any gun has a hiccup, and can exchange it.... and harbor freight is about 2 miles from my house..... talk about convenient!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My father shoots waterbase all the time in his HVLP. I dont know who made it... he said he bought it in an autoparts store for about $100. No rust issues with his.
  17. Heat the spray room and the guitar/paint-(have the guitar and paint indoors to keep comfortable room temperature) Take the paint/guitar out to the spray area (cold) Spray the guitar- Let the mist settle for about 15 minutes- then turn on the heater inside the spray room. I sprayed a 2k clear last night about 11PM it was raining and about 65 deg. No problem- had the doors wide open during spray and for the mist cloud to settle out. Closed it all up- turn the heat on. Checked this AM- looks fantastic. Sure- 65 is pretty different from 45.... but I would expect the same results. I'll give it a couple more days to cure fully before wetsanding due to the cool weather and himidity, but if the paint is warm, guitar is warm, room is warm except for 20 minutes of spraying and waiting for the gas cloud to clear.... is not a big deal. I would even use a propane heater in the spray room if I needed to. Just let the solvents/cloud dissipate for 15-20 minutes first. How long depends on the ventilation of your particular spray area- some could fire up propane faster, some considerably longer. No cloud or solvents in the air, and you wont blow yourself up. As suggested, I would NOT move wet guitars indoors to cure. you will screw them up. Just heat the spray area instead after painting. -------------------- Even if the heater you use is "sealed" like most "oil heaters"... the electronics controlling it are not.... I have a digitally controlled oil heater. It's FANTASTIC! (not the heating ability as my propane heater... but it really works quite well) Anytime the thermostat in the heater turns the unit on... I hear a noisy "click" from a relay.... I wouldnt trust it in an explosive environment. Let the solvents clear out!!!!!! Once the solvents/cloud has cleared, its no longer an explosive environment.... and even open flame from a propane heater would be safe.... ---------------------- I have a contact that makes electric infra red heaters. I would expect they're explosision proof. I can look into this if people are interested. He's in the US- dont know if he ships international, but I think he does. ------------- I dont run as a business yet. However, even as a 'hobbyist'- I refuse to wait from Oct to April for the weather to decide to cooperate.... How in the world would a full time builder stay in business if they cant spray for 4+ months? ....and I live in warm sunny socal.... BTW- I'm a newb to 2k automotive- however, a friend of mine has done custom auto paint and airbrush graphics for years. He's helping me get my guitars painted- I was working in his shop last night. Cold and rain dont bother his business much. Personally, I would have thought doing this last night was a bad idea- He told me "no problem"... and he knows what he's doing.
  18. Nope- not blind. As a hand carver I have an excellent eye for small detail. Your logo looks like a slightly more stylized version of his. To a passerby, they could see one logo, then the other... and think it was the same logo. That was my point. "Be unique. Just like everybody else." Neal is a friend of mine. I dont think he'd be too excited about your logo- As for chisels... look into "flexcut" brand chisels and see if they have chip carver knives. I know they make other carving knives and chisels. They not bad for the money. No comparison between my "two cherries" vs flexcuts.... but $700 FOR AN 18 PC set of two cherries, vs $75 for a 12 PC set of flexcuts....
  19. Bass blocks are def larger than guitar. Anyone that tells you to use a decal.... take their cheezy decal... and put it on their eye glasses. fender basses with blocks are real inlays. Not real pearl... (plastic from 'masecraft supply') but real inlays.
  20. First off... It's a cool idea but..... Your logo is far too similar to Neal Moser's stylized "M". (Neal has been in the business at least twice as long as you) 2nd- get some chipo carvers knives and practice.... 6 hours is about 5 hours too long.
  21. Looks REALLY good. Just one minor thing. The string thru is way too close to the bridge. So your strings pass over the saddles, and hit the back of the bridge. Dont worry about it too much. I saw a jackson catalog with a string thru tom raised so high, 2 strings clearly hit the back of the bridge. Though I was surprised nobody caught that, and let it into the catalog..... Generally, the string thru about 2" from the rear of the bridge is fairly safe. If the neck angle is correct so the bridge stays nice and low... Other than that- it looks great!
  22. No.... the REAL measured length is supposed to be longer than the actual scale length. It's called "compensation". 1/32" is not enough, and thats why fretted notes are high. generally, about scale length + 3/32" at high E, and +3/16" at low E. Also, action being high makes it even worse.... So for example... a 25.5" scale guitar... low E should measure about 25.7... This is normal, and how it should be.
  23. There is no such thing as "scarf too close to headstock". The scarf is wherever you cut it. The nut endes up "WHERE EVER IT ENDS UP" based on scarf angle and headstock thickness. The autocad is fine... but what you ended up with is very different for the reason I mentioned. The auto cad shows a very thick headstock thinned down on the backside. The head on the actual guitar had to be a lot thinner to end up with the problem you did. Or, you thinned the head from the front... Clearly in the autocad, the glue line ends right about 1st fret, and there is no issue at all with glue line volute angled headstock- As it should be. Look at the autocad you posted. Measure the distance from the front face of the head.... to the start of the glue line PERPENDICULAR to the face of the head.... To achieve what you see in autocad.... was a headstock about 1" (more probably) thick. However, I'd point out that typically, a volute highpoint is directly under the nut... and on the neck side it wont start, until at least halfway from the nut to first fret... if not even closer to the nut. Even someone who doesnt "like" volutes.... should be able to play a guitar with a volute... and never notice, because their hand will never touch it... unless they get used to using it as a "stopping point" for first fret. Just my opinion- As many ways to volute as people who make them... Here's a couple pics.... The purple heart laying on the back of the head for extra thickness - nearly what the head started as..... The blue tape is on the actual glue line.... The other piece of wood on top of the purple heart shows that thick headstock carried over to the glue line.... Here is a closeup with the same setup.... and a measuring tape for reference. Even though the measuring tape isn't quite in the right position, it's clear this head started at almost 1" thick.... look at the tape... follow the line of the wood down to the actual scarf... Hard to tell in this view... but the volute is under the nut, and close to the headstock side. No one could complain they dont like volutes.... because they should never touch that one while playing... (It's a large nut... about 1/4" long from front to back... so the volute is actually near center...) Hope that clears it up how to do a scarf joint properly. Note that even without a volute, it should be done the exact same way, just to push the glue line down on the neck. You dont want to scarf a head that is final thickness onto a neck.... the neck to head transition is right on the glue line.... and there is NO WAY to make that look clean. You go through the glue line at an angle which makes the glue line look HUGE..... Ask me how I know....
  24. I think the proper way to scarf, and volute... The headstock must be at least 1" thick to start with. Then thin down the head by removing material from the backside of the head. This pushes the scarf farther down the neck. Typically close to the first fret or even directly in between 1st and 2nd (glue line on the backside of the neck) Well out of the way for a volute. Even without volute, it keeps the glue line out of the neck to head transition.
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