Xanthus

Obligatory buffer post I wish my lumber place carried wenge. It's such a pretty wood, I'd love to work with it. The grain patterns you got when you carved out the neck were killer!

First of all, FIND THE CENTERLINE. That's key. Take all the hardware off the body, and find the centerline. Score it on there nice and deep so you have something to work with. If the neck pocket is too big, you most likely bought an incorrectly-sized neck. Measure the dimensions (L*W*D) of the neck, and draw the footprint out fullsize on your body, after you fill in the neck pocket. Remember, after you route it out, you're going to have to redrill the holes. If it fits, buy one. And Bygde is right, you don't NEED a template bit, but it will help. And the larger diameter of the cutting edge, the less stress on the router, and cleaner the cut. I got a carbide but for $22. I don't really see how clamping a piece of wood in the neck pocket is so difficult. My courtesy 1-minute Google search brings up "clamping guitar neck" Just replace the neck with an appropriately-sized block of wood. But honestly, it sounds like you don't know the first thing about any of this. Read the forums, day and night, if you expect this to get off the ground at all. You might even be better of just buying a chunk of wood, a template, and a good template bit.

Those longer screws won't affect moving it around at all? Now that you can't get the full 360 degree rotation out of them... Still impressed with that tolex, hahaha. I couldn't do it myself If I build a cab, I'll probably just stain it!

Oh wow, that bridge and tailpiece look amazing! Really really classy. I've seen a lot of these around the forums, and one question has always nagged at me: If you're only carving the top into a guitar like on your first pic, how do you set up the two bodies so that they match perfectly, just a lot of setting up and trial-and-error? I can see it being really easy if you're starting with a block of wood, but when you've got a body shape to deal with.....

That's quite the target weight to shoot for! Very impressive. And I thought my V was something to smile about at just under 5lbs

What tape are you using? A good automotive dealer will have pinstriping tape that you can get in various thicknesses. I used it to tape off the bevels on my first build and it worked well. I think I would be more worried about splotches or runs in the binding than getting it to be the exact same thickness all the way around. The one pic looks fine to me, but then again it ain't the best quality either I figure if you can't see it from arm's length away, it's no big deal. This, coming from a perfectionist like myself, haha. I learned that I was very overcritical with my first build because I had spent 9mo or so staring at it from less than a foot away and critiquing everything and so on and so forth. I was getting into issues with the damn thing that I realized later only I would be concerned about. So long story short, the pic you posted looks fine to me.

I think the best part about this is that you can cut as much of it quartersawn as you want!

I was thinking the same thing, but it's better that the curve be on the bass side, because the tension of the bass strings will pull stronger. And the bass strings being closer means less string that is pulling on the tailpiece. I didn't notice the grain situation, and its possible implications, though. I dunno, though, ebony is one tough mother of a species; he might be ok. I'm anxious to see this one done, though!

Mmm, I'm the same way. I only use Windows because I don't want to be bothered having to script my own OS. I got a copy of Ubuntu a while back, and tinkered with it, but it was all too over my head. My Office was free as well Actually, I haven't bought any software in a few years, barring a game or two here and there. Though Apple has put me in an armbar, because I really want one for music production..... All the best software comes out for OSX, it ain't fair! And my iPod broke for good last week, so I guess that's two that Apple has over me

I don't really think a .03 difference in post spacing really makes it that much harder to get on.... I drilled the Stewmac dimensions for my build and they were fine. I'd rather them a bit snug, personally.

Don't you dare let her. You're the dad, you've got executive veto powers and all that jazz Tell her to think about all the kids in Africa who don't even have bubinga!

Man, you've got to have some patience to get that tolex perfect. I applaud you for that. I made a floor box for my PodXT Live, so I wouldn't have to worry about it getting knocked around. I bought a similar material to tolex, and it took me maybe 3 tries with each piece to get it to fit right!

I think it looks pretty cool, though I think it would take a certain type of player to really get it to work onstage The paint job in particular is what I'd like to see more pictures of, though I agree with Arie that when you make a neck, I'd leave the fret markers off.

I agree with Rick; this doesn't seem like something you couldn't fix on your own with a decent straightedge. But before shelling out money to strangers to fix your problems for you, you could spend some time reading up on free information right here on our forums. It sounds to me like you jumped right in without knowing the first thing about what you were doing. Bridge placement in relation to your fretboard, for instance. One tip on not making a neck pocket too big: tracing the shape/dimensions of the neck you're using before routing out anything.

You should see what I did to my old GAX70. Or, maybe you shouldn't

Well, walnut will need a finish, and I've never seen it used for a fretboard. Bubinga does NOT need a finish, and is used for fretboards all the time. The math seems pretty simple for me. If it's a bass, I'd make the whole thing out of bubinga, if it were me.

Which pickups are you talking about? Active pickups are usually covered with the covers we were talking about painting over. It was just a harmless dig at the actives, that's all.

It's all about not supporting The Man, not ordering from the big companies that upcharge everything. I'd rather shop at the little guy like Carvin and Stewmac and companies that still are big companies, just online... I know I'm rationalizing, but still Carvin is a great company, and I try to give them as much business as possible, but I think that overall you can find much better deals on craigslist and ebay than Daddys and GC.

I dig the splayed scalloping, Perry. Are they the same depth all through, or is the depth varied as well?

Shameless bump: Updated the previous post with pic links for the tutorial. There are more pics that I didn't include, in the album. Finishing: I bought a can of ebony flavored dye and tru-oil, both from Minwax. I started sanding some scraps, and by tomorrow, I'll have 4 options to pick from. -With filler -Without filler -With filler and dye -Without filler, with dye All of the above will be sanded to 320 before staining/filling, and covered with a coat of oil. As you can see from the pics, there isn't much difference, if any, between the side with grain filler and that without. I'm really confused as to why. I might even make another swatch and leave the filler on longer. It is filler from last year, when I finished the first guitar. This might have something to do with it, as I don't know how long it keeps for.

Sorry to hear, man I'm in a constant struggle with the same thing every time I order something online. It's a big "cross-your-fingers" moment until the product gets to your door. But at least I'm keeping to my vow to never buy anything major from GC or Daddy's. That's gotta count for something....?

A hinge like a Bigsby, or a fastener cord, yes. Check it: Read up! Stewmac goes into how it works. If you go the cord route, you'll need a friction buffer point thingie so the tailpiece doesn't put too much pressure on the corner of the guitar and scratch it up.

I dig. What bridge pickup did you end up putting in it? And your gunstock oil finish came out well! I'm leaning towards doing one for my build. Did you fill the grain with filler before applying the oil, or is it just straight oil?

I liked that the maple pickguard went well with the headstock and bridge assembly, so my vote is for maple or something similarly lighter-colored. But Walnut would definitely work as well. In either case, I would be prone to keeping the pickguard wood, because the whole rest of the guitar is natural wood.

3 posts by 3 different users in under 30 seconds? Pssh. You guys are third on my list of "things to check out when I wake up," second only to my e-mails, hahaha.