Inisheer

Looking nice so far. I really like the body shape and you have some nice wood there too. Wenge seems to be popular around here lately. I'm like Greg, I almost always play sitting, so I'm not sure how that design would work sitting....but this is really looking great. Keep us posted.

I've slowly been working on this and finally have some progress to show. I have pretty much finished the body: pickup cavities, neck mounting holes, random drilling and sanding, etc. I made templates for the pickups from mdf, but stupidly I made them and routed them before I had even ordered the pickups.....so they fit nicely but there is a small gap on some of the sides. Here is a low quality picture (sorry) of everything in place on the body. Currently the body is being stained.

Not sure if this harbor freight cheapie is any good....but it looks like the stewmac one. Maybe someone could try this.

$7 for a neck blank and $15 for the fretboard? Where did you get these for so cheap? Also, if you don't have any yet you might want to order some polishing compounds to go with your finishing supplies.

Sorry to interrupt again...but for that switchcraft jack, how much thickness do you need at the edge of the guitar to support it?

yup, thats what i meant. is that what everyone uses here? thanks

I haven't made any recesses before, but this looks like a good way to do it. For my next project I was planning on at least trying this method. I think I have seen other members on this site using appropriately sized spade bits to drill out the space and then sand the edges to make it look nicer. Good luck with whatever method you try.

And yes... even for a tele that is ugly.

Do you mean like on carved tops to make it easier to turn the knobs? Hope this helps. link

I didn't mean to imply that anyone was wrong with their sizes....I just wasn't sure what size to actually drill, and Stewmac's info was a little misleading. I am about to drill the jack hole on my project as well, so thanks for this information.

What kind of jack are you using that you need a 3/4" hole? I thought this jack was considered the standard and Stewmac says it only requires a 3/8" hole.

Yes, the body shape might not be the best....I drew the design freehand. On my next project I will use a template to make the neck and body match a little better. I've got some work done lately: fixed the neck pocket (it wasn't quite deep enough), used an angle grinder to do a slight tummy cut, drilled the holes for the controls and started routing the electronics cavity.

I think I have a problem though....the body is 2" thick, most bolt on necks are usually 1 3/4" thick. Will the screws be long enough to go through the wood and make a strong joint. I don't have the neck mounting screws or any hardware yet so I can't really test things. I thought about an AANJ type joint, but I did more research and those are usually on thinner bodies...right? Not sure if I explained this very well but any advice would be appreciated, or am I just worrying unnecessarily?

That's looking pretty good! It looks like the top is carved a little. How deep is the carve? Also, did you carve just the top, or did you carve the inside of the top too since it looks thin where the "f-holes" are? Some pictures of the inside of the top would be appreciated.

Has anybody had experience with Finale Notepad? I use this program mostly for piano but it can be used for any instrument if you can read sheet music. I've used Notepad 2006 for awhile and really liked it so I upgraded to the 2007 version....but don't like it as much. With 2006 there was a way to select which part of the song was playing (left or right hand) and you could slow down each part and even pick other midi instuments to make it sound different. But in the new version there is no way that I can see to select a specific part of the song and change it. Anybody used this and can help?

I finally got a little bit more work done. I practiced a lot with my router, then attempted to do the neck pocket. It could have been a little better, but for my first try I don't think it's too bad. Also, since the body is fairly thick, I am thinking about do an AANJ type of thing to make it a little thinner where the neck attaches. Here is a picture of the body with the neck attached as of now.

Another full picture

Blurry pic of neck pocket

Awesome!

I can't say I really like the shape...but if you do then that's all that matters. Good luck with the build. And that's some nice looking wood, mind telling where you got it from?

The instructions that came with my router said to go in 1/8" passes....so that's why I do that. That worked well, so it may be possible to go even deeper than that. But if he is new to using a router, I wouldn't recommend doing very deep passes at first.

I admit that I am new and still learning though, so thank you for correcting me. Happy routing.

Always do it in passes, and don't go much more than 1/8" each time. If you do it all at once there is a greater chance of tearout, and the bit will not be as easy to control.

Is the plugging and redrilling idea going to make a strong joint? If you fill the hole with a dowel and then drill through part of that, won't it possibly make a bigger hole? I'm not saying it's a bad idea....I was just wondering how well it worked since I haven't tried it. I'm almost to this point in my project too, and want to know the best way for doing it. And I agree that keeping it simple is the best way.

Cool! I've been watching this build and its helped me learn about making neck-throughs, so thank you. It is also good how you were able to overcome different problems. This was a great build and I can't wait to see your next projects. Also, I thought it looked cool when you started finishing it, but now with that black burst around the edges it looks even better. Great job!

Hey everybody, I changed my name and thought I'd let everyone know. I used to be shredgtrfan, but now I am Inisheer. I don't really listen to shred stuff, or any type of rock really, so I didn't think it made sense to have the word shred in my name. Not that it matters, just a heads up in case anybody cares.

-the former shredgtrfan

I have a question. I ordered a bridge like this one and need to measure where to put the bridge before routing the neck pocket. My question is where do I put the bridge? I'm using a 34" scale so do I measure 34" from the nut to the back of the bridge, the front of it, the saddles, or the mounting screws? Any advice would be appreciated since I want the intonation to be set properly.

I found these bass pickups on ebay and was wondering if anyone had opinions on them. They don't look like the highest quality, but do you think they are at least EMG select level? Or are they complete utter junk?

Since I can't do much with my project right now (waiting for parts) I thought soon I could practice inlays. I have searched every topic I could find about inlays but could not find one thing. What speed does the dremel need to be when routing for inlays? My dremel is, I think, about 35,000 rpm. I haven't used it for routing purposes before and I don't know if this is too fast and will burn the wood. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

This site has some holographic stuff. Is that what you are looking for?