Melvyn Hiscock

Gibson generally work on 2/14 in width for their neck blanks so 3 X 3/4 for a 3 ply neck and so .45 each laminate for a 5 ply.

The original Casino's are great guitars and basically a Gibson 330 with a slightly different headstock. Made in the same factory with the same parts as a 330 and if they are not collectible then I will happily take any that are being disposed of. Just listen to the intro to "Paperback Writer", Epiphone Casino (played by Paul) through a blackface Fender Bassman. A great guitar sound. It is a P90 guitar, Of course it is good! As for wiring, unless you are really ready for a major headache then don't play with it (the American-made Casino reissues will rise in value) as you have to get everything out as a wiring loom through te f hole snad pickup holes and, more to the point, get it all back in again. Pot values on the originals were 500K log. The reissues may have 250K log tone pots but there is no problem there. The caps may be different but that is not going to make that much difference. MH

"Standard" tele routs are 5/8 in for the neck slot and the pickups.

Whilst everyone else is arguing about how long things take (they take as long as they need to!) I would just suggest that for a first guitar a rosewood board might be easier. It should be easier to fret as the wood is a little more oily and it is less likely to chip, especially if you ahve to take a fret out and reseat it, which is quite possible on a new guitar.

I love Cedar (as you may see in the search function). it makes good guitars, is plenty strong enough without having to put a spine into it but it does mark easily. It is similar in workability/knockability to Poplar but is nicer to work. Veneer the front if you want some extra protection and be careful when you are working it. My last guitar was cedar body wings on a douglas fir neck through with mahogany facings. It is great fun. It also smells like you have been attacked by a box of pencils when you work it.

OK, think about this. You fingerboard blank is uniform thickness. You have tapered the board. You radius the board so that the height at the edges remains even and the depth is not altered in the centre. Compound radius.

Zctually Douglas Fir is not really cheap. It is more expensive than say hard Maple. One way or the other the cost difference will be a matter of a few dollars tops, and you shouldn't worry about cost as much as what wood you prefer for your project. Peace,Rich That depends if you are in the UK! It is much cheaper here than maple.

*cough* No, I wouldn't. We're looking at around to 150 pounds of string tension on a 6-string bass. Do the math on a similar scale instrument (most Stick's I have seen are 34") with possibly more strings. Nothing wrong with some inexpensive woods such as Purpleheart or Maple with stiffening rods. That's a good point but you need to remember that a lot of wood is removed from a guitar or bass neck in the shaping and much of this is left on for a Chapman stick. There is much more mass there as it remains much squarer. I would say it is worth a go, based on my experience on this guitar and a couple of others I am doing. Certainly I wouldn't worry about using it as part of a laminate. Go on, give it a go, it's a good way of learning! MH

Not yet but there may be soon. MH

Not used ordinary pine in bodies myself but have read a lot about it from other people. I may have a play with it soon to see what happens. I liked the pictures of the pine Tele that were on another thread. I have used Parana Pine and that is a good wood for bodies. Very similar to Alder which, despite something posted on another thread, is not that easy to find over here at the moment. The yard where we used to get it no longer does it as it is not used for much else and so not economic. I wouldn't use poplar for a neck. But then I don't like it for bodies either and hate working with it. It may be OK, it all comes down again to whether it is stiff.

You are going to have a hell of a job posting them over here to me! Can you imagine trying to get a Cedar tree down to the post office????

Thanks for buying the book and I am glad you like it. I have used redwood on acoustic guitar fronts and it is nice. I would imagine it would work on a body but if it is quarter sawn send it to me and I'll make acoustics out of it, it is hard to get over here! Redwood may be strong enough for a neck, it depends on the piece. Remember that not all douglas fir is going to be good enough. I chose a tight-grained quartered piece that was obviously quite stiff.

I love Cedar. I have a tele with a 3mm maple front (just to stop damage as Cedar is soft) and that sounds great. Very ringy and lots of separation between notes. You should try it.

Further to the posts on here some months back I have now more-or-less finished the Douglas Fir neck guitar. This is a neck though with Fir that was sold as "D" grade. A pick through found some pieces with good straight and tight grain. I chose a quartred piece and made the centre laminate from two pieces of Fir and a 1/4 piece of Sapele in the centre. The sapele was only used because it was free (came from a stick between some planks) and was the only pice 1/4 thick that I had that was long enough at the time. Body sides are Cedar with a 1/8 facing of mahoganu on front and back. The board is ebony and the truss rod was a twin tod (rick-style). I like it. The neck is certainly as stiff as most other guitars I have and there are no apparent problems. The neck needed very little adjustment and it was cretainly easy to carve. There is little point talking about the sound as there are so many factors and this one has an unusual bridge arrangement but the overall feel is resonant and bright. Not too pingy and great fun. I have started another with a totally Fir neck and have some more waiting for me to start on them. You should try it, it is fun. Melvyn Hiscock

You can't do it on a normal push pull switch as they are only double pole and so can deal with two pickups. If you are using a strat-style 3 or 5-way switch then it is possible as you use one side of the selector switch to feed the coil tap. There is a diagram for this in my book. Melvyn Hiscock

13/16 is fine with a 3/16 board. As Guitar2005 said, final depth is 1 in and the neck pocket is 5/8in. It is a good idea to do the fretboard, radius it, nail the dots in and fret it before you do any shapting on the neck as you will find the frets go in much easier. Hope that helps, MH

A strat neck, including fingerboard, is 1 in. The neck recess is 5/8 in (there is a book with all of this in y'know) which makes the neck 3/8 in proud of the body. Trust me, it is not rocket science and the information is out there. If you put a 3/16in board flat onto the front of the body of a guitar with no neck angle you will be 3/16 lower than you should be. Hope that helps.

That's what I already said Almost, there is a world of difference between a thin coat and a dust coat. If the guy hasn't done it before and puts anything more than a light dusting then it can crinkle. I just thought it needed clarifying. The stuff needs to go on as dry as possible, like Mike Bavarro has said.

Look at an old Fender, the decal is over the top of the finish. This is because nitro is NOT compatible with decals and they will crinkle and lift if you put too much one (been there, done that). Leo's genius was in making things simple so rather than have to mess around covering the decal in stages he just put it on the outside. When you put a sealing coat (and preferably two or three) over the decal these need to be dusted on so they are almost dry. Putting a wet coat on CAN lift them. HTH MH

You then have to refer to this as a 'feature' and you can even have fun thinking up reasons why you 'intended' to do it in the first place!

Had some Wenge delivered yesterday and there is way too much for me to use. The surplus will go onto ebay as neck blanks, fingerboards and body facings (both 1/4 for flat tops and 1/2 in for carve tops. Could be cut to order (depending on order!) so email me melvyn@melvynhiscock.com

Yes, Melvyn, don't you ever get nervous sometimes? All those angry wives and girlfriends out to get you Not the first time I have heard this theory. I have not had any problems and if I did I am sure my natural charm and devastating good looks would cause the wives/girlfriends to melt into my hands. This could then cause problems with the husbands/boyfriends who would be home making guitars. But how do you know this isn't happening? . . . The only female that has been a problem is that lovely Kiera Knightly. I have had to have a court order issued to stop her stalking me. I have told her "Kiera, you are a lovely girl but I will not have a wild passionate affair with you so stop stalking me".

But then you probably don't know all the word to all the songs so that is fair!

Yup, neck through, fir/sapele/fir with just a 1/4 in of sapele to get the width (deja vu, did I say this before . . .) Small neck angle, 24 and a bit scale being sprayed at the moment. I have high hopes for it. MH

You could try Poplar for bodies but is it not that much fun to work If they use it for coffin's then obviously Poplar is good for bodies. (Should have had another bad joke alert) Brian. It has a stiff quality.