Inisheer

Ok, I guess I am in the market for some veneer now. I am also still looking for just that right piece of maple for the top too, there are a lot of places to buy maple, but I can't find one that especially catches my eye (for a reasonable price). No need to rush this project.

Hmmm, you guys really think it will look that bad with both flamed and quilted? I already have the flamed veneer glued to the neck blank....but if will look really bad I suppose it would be worth it to change it. Can I just add another layer of veneer on top of this one? I wanted to finish the neck before I started on the body, so I don't even have the quilted maple top yet, so making my own isn't going to work. Any thoughts?

I decided to do another project, but this time I will build the neck too. This project will be a bit more daunting than my last one, so I am both a bit nervous and excited. I know a lot of people are sick of PRS guitars with maple tops, but that's what I want, so tough. Specs: -Mahogany body/carved quilted maple top -25" scale mahogany neck/indian rosewood fingerboard -Flamed maple headstock veneer (I couldn't find any quilted ) -Mahogany left natural and maple stained blue w/faux binding -Chrome hardware + gfs pups, black knobs

I think I recall Verhoevenc pressing in frets with a radius block on that tutorial he made on his site. It might be worth it to read that, or possibly even PM him asking if he still thinks that's a good idea. Just make sure to let us know what you find out.

This project turned out very nicely, the black and the red go great together. So after playing it for a while, can you say how good that poplar is? I am concerned about using a softer wood, especially for a hollowbody....is it hard enough?

I am starting a PRS project and am planning my neck tenon off of that exact picture and was wondering if it would be strong enough. I figured that if it worked for him, it could work for me too, but I'm glad you asked this to get clarification. Although the neck tenon doesn't extend past the pickup cavity it is deep enough to go under the cavity, which gives more gluing area I believe.

Just a little update. I never could figure out the wiring, but it is actually not that bad and I have decided to leave it how it is. The action is a bit high because the bridge sits slightly higher than I thought it would (since I routed a little deeper for the neck pocket), but that too is not that bad. It is fun to play and my only complaint now is that I don't have a better amp for it.

I can't say that I really like the design, but that is some very nice work. Keep it up!

This build is looking cool so far, the carve looks really nice. How thick is the maple top?

Great job, Ben! When most people come up with their own designs, I usually don't like them, but this one looks nice and looks comfortable to play too. Everything about it looks nice. Have fun playing it!

That acoustic looks great, I like the neck! I love acoustics and would like to build one some day, but since I am just getting started building electrics I will wait a while before attempting to do an acoustic since they look much more difficult. The electric looks nice too, btw.

Thanks for the help.....but could you explain that to a person who doesn't understand electronics? I know that the pots need grounded, but I don't know what the casting, shaft, and tip are that you are referring to.

I looked at it and it seems like the wires on the input jack are like on the diagram. Would switching those wires still be worth a try?

No luck with this yet. I looked at everything, and it looks like he did it the same as on the wiring diagram except for one thing. Instead of the ground wires being soldered to each of the potentiometers they are all soldered together off to the side, not connected to any pots or anything. I don't know if this would affect anything. There is a separate ground wire to the bridge. There is no longer a constant humming, only when you touch the volume/tone knobs. I don't know what to do....maybe take it apart and start over and do it exactly like the diagram.

Finally done! I've finished the final sanding and assembled everything. Here are some pictures (multiple thumbnails are allowed, right?). They are bad pictures, the bass is actually more of a dark red, and there is a spot on the camera in the fourth picture. I realize that this is not a professional level instrument, but for being my first build I am fairly happy with it. I have learned many things that will help me to make my next project much nicer, I hope. -I learned how to use all the tools, especially the router -I learned how to do the spraying/finishing (I will be more careful next time around) -I learned that I should make detailed plans and templates (I am already making templates for future projects) -And lastly, I learned that building is more fun than playing actual instruments...well, maybe Any comments would be appreciated. Also, everything plays well, but I have some questions about the wiring (link). If anyone can help I would be most grateful.

I just completed my bass and got a friend to help me wire it (PJ pups, 2 vol, 1 tone). He wired it last night and I strung it all up and plugged it in to see if everything works. I was happy.....it worked.....sort of. The volume and tone knobs work, so I can play the bass plugged into the amp. But there is a lot of noise. There is constantly humming, especially when I am not playing anything. Then even worse, whenever I touch the vol/tone knobs there is a very loud buzzing noise. I am not an expert when it comes to wiring, so I have no clue what is wrong. One time, the ring on my finger accidentally touched one of the strings and the hum stopped....? I thought since this had to do with metal touching it it has something to do with the grounding...but I don't know. Any help please?

Show us any pictures you have! I enjoy looking at pictures of the process just as much, if not more, as pictures of a completed guitar. You never know when one of the pictures will help someone. For my next project I am planning on building a PRS style guitar, so I will be watching your progress for any info. Keep up the good work.

http://store.guitarfetish.com/fistbasne24f.html Not sure about the quality though.

Looking great so far. It looks hard enough carving the top of a guitar, but carving the inside looks even harder...I'd be worried about sanding through. Keep us posted.

Thanks for the advice, I'll plan on wearing gloves. Any specific type of soap you use, garehanman? I would prefer not to use mineral spirits or naptha if if possible, although it seems some of you strongly reccomend that. Mikhailgtrski, so you recommend that I just use water, and keep the excess water away from the spots with bare wood? Also, if it matters, I used Deft to spray the body, and its been drying for a few weeks now.

It is about time for me to do the final sanding on my bass, but I have a question first. I plan on wet sanding up to 2000 grit, then using rubbing compound and polish and all that stuff. My question is about what lubricant to use while wet sanding. I have heard of people just using water to wet sand, Hiscock's book says to use soapy water, I heard of one person using only soap, and some people have claimed that oils are best. Are there any reasons to use or not use any of these as lubricants? I was planning on using water, would this be detrimental to the lacquer in any way? Any input would be appreciated as always.

Within the next week I will be finishing my bass and will attempt to do my first wiring job. I am using the EMG Select PJ combo from Stewmac. My trouble is that wiring codes confuse me enough as it is....and the wiring codes that came with the pups are really confusing, and the diagram from stewmac is not color coded and also confuses me. I am using 2 volumes and 1 tone, so could I use this wiring code from the Seymour Duncan site? It looks like what I want.....each of the two pickups has two wires like in the code (1 white, 1 black) so I should be able to use this, right? Any input would be appreciated.

Here is a picture of the semi-finished body. It has been stained and received all of its clear coats. There is plenty of orange peel/ugliness that needs to be evened out when I do the wetsanding. There isn't much for me to do now but wait for another few weeks.

Not sure if this helps.......these are the only bird inlays I could find. Link

I believe that it depends on what type of wood you are using. On my current alder/maple project I just used the Colortone dye from Stewmac and then did many clear coats of lacquer on top and so far it seems ok. In this case the lacquer acts as the sealer so no additional materials are needed. Hope that helps.