bscur

I'm looking for a recipe for making antique white using the stew-mac pigments in lacquer. I bought the Stew-Mac finishing book, but it doesn't have a recipe for that or daphne blue either. If you have one, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks,

Brad

Okay, I'm going to give neck making a shot. Now I just need a good tutorial. I have several guitar making books, but they seem to all show an angled headstock. I want to start out making strat and tele style necks. Are there good tutorials out there? I have searched this site, but haven't found one.

Thanks

Thanks for the encouragement. Maybe it's time I give it a shot.

Brad

you should really try to make a neck, it looks like you will be more than capable and it really isnt that hard.

try to remember that a lot of the specialist tools for fretting are not really neccisary. They make the job quicker but there is always another way of doing things.

The basic tools i use for making necks are:

Hand saws for splices

Planes

Router with parallel edge guide

Rasps

Radius block

Fret press caul

triangle files

I also have the stew-mac slotting jig and lots of fretting tools but they are recent purchases and i have done the same work without them in the past. You can avoid all the slotting tools if you buy a pre-slotted and radiused board to make your first time that bit easier.

Notice i have two sepcialist tools on my basic list. A good radius block is a must for me but even this can be homemade. I like to press frets and use the stew-mac caul in a drill press for this. There have been some good homemade cauls for this around here.

It is difficult to see how to make necks untill you try one for yourself - i garantee it will turn out better than you think it can!

Thanks (I think). Indeed, I did make them. Here are a few pics of the in progress work on the brown semi-hollow tele. I do have a router, band saw, table saw, etc. I don't have any of the fretting tools, fret benders, files, radiused boards, clippers, fret presses etc. I'd love to make my own necks, but it seems harder and I have has a difficult time seeing how it's done. If anyone has a good resource for information on making a neck without spending $500 on tools, let me know.

Thanks,

Brad

I don't have the equipment to make a neck yet, but I have been having success making nice bodies. Anyone interested in a trade? I need a strat or tele neck. I'll make a strat body for you. Let me know if you have any interest. Here are a few bodies I've made.

Brad

bscur@yahoo.com

Hello,

I'm trying to wire a fat tele style guitar and don't know the color codes of a True Tone Technologies 4 wire humbucker. Anyone use these?

Thanks

I bought one of those a while back, but lost the instructions. Can you tell me what the two wires do again? I remember there were only two wires to solder.

Thanks,

Brad

Help me out. What's star grounding?

Thanks

Ah, I see how they're doing it. That volume lug is normally "bent back" to touch the casing, in order to ground it. So, that's the volume pot's "ground". Possibilities:

1. You're not getting continuity between that volume lug and the casing.

2. If you DO have continuity, as per #1, then your volume casing might not be grounded. Does the volume work? The "Black wire from output jack" has to be soldered to the volume pot casing.

Or to put it another way, here's your tone capacitor's signal path as it currently stands:

Tone lug --> volume lug --> pot casing --> ground

Since it ultimately goes to ground, you can cut out the middle man by just wiring the capacitor right to the volume pot casing and making sure that the volume pot casing IS going to ground ("black wire from output jack").

----

Additionally, that wiring scheme would make for a very straightforward conversion to "star grounding". I mean, if it ain't broke, you don't have to fix it, but when I change electronics, etc., I always take the opportunity to make a star ground while I'm at it. If you want to give it a try, I'll hook you up with the knowledge needed. Otherwise, try my above advice and see where it gets you.

Greg

I have the cap going from the tone lug to the volume lug and then to the volume casing, as per the Fender diagram. I don't have a separate wire going strictly from casing to casing. Here's the diagram I used:

http://www.fender.com/support/diagrams/pdf...5300_02BPg2.pdf

The result is a very bright tone and no tone knob functionality at all.

Let me just confirm:

You have the capacitor only going from one pot casing to the next pot casing? Won't work. It has to be attached to one of the tone knob's lugs. Can't remember offhand which one.

Greg

No. The diagram didn't show ground going from the volume to the tone pot if you mean not on a lug, just from one dome to the next. Should I do that? Obviously I just connect the dots without much knowledge of why (I suppose I should learn).

I'll give it a shot.

Thanks,

Brad

Did you run a ground wire between the vol and tone pot casings?

I wired up a Nashville style tele todat and the tone knob isn't working. Any idea what this could be due to? I checked and double checked diagram (http://www.fender.com/support/diagrams/pdfs/DLXNASHTELE/SD0135300BPg2.pdf) right off Fender's website. The guitar sounds very bright and the tone pot does nothing. I rewired it twice using different pots. I'm using a fralin neck, sp42 middle, and an sp43 bridge pickup. Could it be the pickups? This confuses me because I've never had this happen before and I've wired up a number of guitars. Help.

I'm thinking of using some purple shimmer pearl metallic powder in my clear coat. I got the stuff off of ebay and wonder what a good color beneath it would be. Anyone used this kind of stuff? How much does it cover? How much will the undercoat color show/matter?

Thanks

I'm looking for two posts and an arm for the tremolo system on American strats (the one with two posts). I don't kneed the part that goes into the wood, just the posts that screw into those. Any idea where I can order these parts without getting a whole new tremolo system?

Thanks

Thanks for the kind words. The guitar is normal thickness for a tele, but the perspective is a bit odd in the pic. The body is alder (and the back is a burst of black on a brown stain) and the top is maple. It is chambered on both sides and quite light. I have a jamb (I think that's the spelling) gun that I got as a gift and am going to use when my Stew Mac lacquer gets delivered in thhe next day or so. The thin part by the neck cavity is pretty much a mistake in routing out the body shape. When I did the neck pocket there was the peninsula left over. I still have quite a bit to learn. When you guys spray, how long can the lacquer stay in the gun? Does it have to be cleaned out after each coat? Each day? Couple days?

Thanks again

Well,

This is my second build. The first one used spray cans of lacquer, but I'm moving on to a small spray gun (although I used a black spray can for the back). I watched the Stew-mac videos. Any suggestions before I get under way?

Thanks

Hello,

I'm looking for a 12 string electric neck.

bscur@yahoo.com

I'm building a tele and I don't want a pickguard. I've back routed the guitar, but am not sure how to get a good thin slot cut in the wood for the three-way switch. Any ideas?

The switch 0039003000 is different than the normal switches. It has 12 lugs in one straight line. I downloaded the wiring for the US Fat Tele and would like to follow that schematic. The tone it gives you are

1 n HB

2 n split coil

3 n HB + b single

4 n split + bridge single

5 b single

Can anyone tell me how to order a specific Fender part (#00390030000)? I'm looking for the switch used on the Fender U.S. Fat Tele.

Thanks

I got a copy of Cumpiano's Guitarmaking:Tradition and Technology book for Christmas, but I already have a copy. It's one of the best books out there. If you are looking to buy a copy or better yet, want to trade something for it, let me know. I believe it goes for about $35. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Books,_plans/B...Technology.html

Thanks,

Brad

bscur@yahoo.com

I'm working on a project and want a neck for a semi hollow tele. I like Warmoth, but they don't offer abalone or real mother of pearl. Any suggestions on where to buy neck with nice block inlays or abalone triangle in block inlays?

I noticed that original thinlines had only the bass string side routed, whereas today they seem to be routed on both sides. My project is an alder thinline. What would I hear different if I did either of these options?

Thanks

I bought the plans for the bending machine at LMI. Is there a cheaper source for the hardware than through LMI? I need the springs, screws, rods, etc.

Thanks

I've decided my current strat shape project will be a 12 string. What types of pickups work well in 12 string electrics? I have a set of Fralin Humbuckers in the garage, but would single coils work better? Are there normally two or three pickups? It'll be alder (probably semi-hollow with a maple cap).

Thanks

I have a Vintage 1965 Fender Twin Reverb Blackface for trade. I'd be interested in a tweed amp or possibly guitar. If you want to buy it outright, make me an offer.

bscur@yahoo.com