Jupiter

Hey Jreemy, why do you call the guys at Guns, Girls, and Guitars butchers? What about their nickle plating ruins a guitar? And how did Fender do the crhome finish on that series of chrome Stats they made? Ben

My friend played an entire gig with that guitar tonight and had zero unwanted feedback ! It's great to know that this process will work even using $2 candles! Ben

Haha, funny you mentioned that! I was actually very tempted to use scented candles. Mmm, apple cinnamon....

Hey guys! A while back i posted about my friend/bandmate's RG7620 with the squeeling Dimarzio Blaze in the bridge.Well, last night, we decided to wax pot it. We also decided to try an alternative method.... working under the { probably false } assumption that wax is wax is wax, we melted down a couple of those miniature 'tea lights'. You know, those cheap little disc-shaped candles that you can float on water. They're just paraphen { sp? } , i think. Melted them in a ghetto double-boiler { juice glass in a saucepan of water }, dipped the pickup even though the temperature was a little too high { about 160 degrees }, pulled it out a while later, rewired, and tried it out... The pickup is totally feedback-free! Even with tons of gain and volume on his 5150, no squeeks, no squeels. This is a really really cheap { the tea light candles costed about $2 }, easy, and essential mod. Go do it now! { Arnold voice } DO EET NOW!

Guitarfrenzy: My board was rosewood.

I did pretty much all of my scalloping job using simple round objects { dowels, pens, markers, etc.. } of various sizes wrapped in sandpaper. Start with a coarse grit like 100 or 120, and work your way down to 300-400 grit. Like i said, just find a round object that will fit in between your frets, cover the fretwire with several layers of tape, then go to town on it! Hope this helps, Ben

Wow! Great swirl! Congrats! I'm thinking of doing a swirl on one of my guitars, too. What kind of paints did you use? Where did you get them, and how much did they cost you? I'd appreciate the help! Ben

Aloha! Had an idea that i'd like to share with you guys... Okay, basically my idea is to start with a neck from a regular bolt-on guitar. Would it be possible to basically add { by gluing/bolting } a piece of wood to the end of it that would run through the entire body? Then you'd put 'wings' of another wood on either side of it, just like a neck-thru. I can't think of a better way to explain it... well, it's pretty much just doing the closest thing to making a bolt-on into a neck-thru, i guess. Doing this, you could have a super-skinny neck joint of a neck thru with the tone and stablility of a bolt-on guitar. Does this make sense? Anybody tried it? Ben

Hey guys! I'm debating about doing a swirl finish on one of my projects. I looked at the swirl tutorial, and all that it said i needed were 'oil paints'. What does it mean? Is it like the oil paints that i use on canvas when i paint, or like model car paint? Where can i get it, and how much will it cost me? Oh, and how much will i need of each colour? Thanks ! BEN

While we're on the subject of mixing and matching woods here... I was told by my woodworking grandpa that i wouldn't be able to make a body that has a piece of maple down the middle and walnut on either side because the grain patterns and pore differances in the woods wouldn't let the glue bond them together, basically. How much truth does that statemant hold? I'd have to imagine hardly any at all, considering how many neck-through guitars use this method. He seemed really convinced that it wouldn't work, though... again, stubborn old guy.... Are there any special tricks to getting two different types of wood to bond together?

Thanks for all the tips, guys!!! You all rock! I think i'm going to try to make this body out of the pine i have anyway. It couldn't hurt to try! If nothing else, i'll learn a lot from it. I think the wood is actually very pretty. It has a lot of straight vertical lines in it, kinda like Zebrano. I'd like to do a natural finish on it, but there's a few places that i'm going to have to fill, so that may not be an option. I think i may even attempt a swirl! I'm thinking if i do, it will be neon green/black or black/white/silver. Wish me luck! Ben

Well shoot. I went by Grandpa's to cut the body today, and he said that the wood has too much moisture in it to use right now. He reccomended i let it sit upright for a few years . I'm not trying to be a punk and prove him wrong or anything here, but how can i tell if the wood has too much moisture in it? I know you can check it with one of those moisture checkers for wood, but i know he doesn't have one of those. I'm not too sure how old the wood is or anything like that. It came from a local hardware place's lumber. Should i conctact them and ask if they know old/dried their woods are? I'd like to use this wood or something else cheap if possible. That way, i don't run the risk of messing up a really nice piece of walnut or something. By the way, i'm sorry i ask so many questions! I think i probably post more quiestions that anyone else on this board! Guitar building is just something i really want to learn more about, and hopefully be great at. Thanks for the help and patience! Ben

Well, my friend and i went to Wal Mart yesterday to try and find canning wax and beeswax. I didn't expect them to have beeswaz, but they didn't have canning wax, either! This may be a retarded question, but would it be possible to just melt down an unscented, neutral-colored candle and use that?

Thanks!Alrighty, that doesn't sound too bad. Anything else i should know?

Hey guys! I have a question about my project that i'm working on right now. When it comes time to route the pickup cavities, route the neck pocket, and screw the bridge in, how do i make sure that it will all line up? This is something that has me pretty worried. Please help soon! Ben

Thanks Rye ! Although i love the look of carved-top guitars, i don't find them to be comfortable to play. I really like having the big forearm contour that most strat-style guitars have, that just makes a guitar so comfy to me. I'll be using a string-thru fixed bridge on the guitar. It'll have a two humbucker configuration, one volume, one tone, and a three-way toggle. The body design is a variation on a bass that i saw a while back... i don't remember the maker, but it was nicknamed the 'Claw' bass. Anyway, i took one of my Dillion RG-style 7-strings, traced it onto posterboard, then basically worked that platform into kind of what that bass looked like. I ended up with a body style thats slightly smaller than your average electric guitar, very curvy, and has equal parts evil metal/shred monster and classy axe It's very different, but thats what i like about it. I'll definatley find a way to post some pics and see what you guys think about it. Well, if the thickness won't be an issue, then i may just leave it be. It'll have a mighty skinny neck joint! Forgot to mention, i'll be routing this thing out to use the fully scalloped neck from my Schecter 7-string. Should be sweet. Well, even though i'm not going to do the carved top, i'd like to know how it's done! Please tell. Any tips are welcome! Ben

Well, i started working on my first custom guitar today! Like i mentioned in my other thread, i'm making it out of some pine that i found in my garage. My stepdad helped me cut the board into two usable lengths, then we took it to my grandpa's shop, ran the edges that were going to be joined through the joiner, glued it, and then clamped it using 5 clamps. The only problem is that my grandpa, being a stubborn old man, will only use Locktite wood glue. I bought some Titebond, and i told him i had it, but that stuff is all he'll use.... will it be okay? Here's another thing... The pine that i'm using is only 1 3/4 inch thick. I measured my other guitars, and they're all a little under 2 inches. Should i consider putting another quarter of an inch of wood on top of the pine? Grandpa has some cherry, walnut, and i think even some oak around the shop. Or should it be okay at 1 3/4 inch? Thanks for the help, wish me luck! Ben

Wow, thanks for all the info, Jeremy! I'll definately buy some Titebond II when i start the project. Ben

Okay, sweet! That's great to hear. For some reason, i'm still a little concerned about the stability of pine, so i'm going to try to do a biscuit join between the pieces of the body! I don't think it will be going anywhere after that... By the way, i know all of you guys are Titebond devotees, but will Elmers Wood Glue do the job? What makes Titebond better? Thanks!

Okee dokee, great! I think we'll try to do it ourselves. I think someone posted some links to some pages on wax-potting a while back... i can't seem to find them now.

Hey guys! The other guitar player in my band recently got a '97 RG7621bk. He plays though a Peavey 5150 combo amp,and whenever he uses the guitar and puts the toggle on position one { bridge pup }, it squeels like a banshee!It's awful, extremely loud, and it doens't stop. It's not the amp or his cables, he plays through the same cable and amp with different guitars, and it doesn't do it. It also seems to not squeel whenever he plays at low volumes. I think the pickup may need to be wax potted. Could there maybe be a bad ground, or maybe something isn't shielded properly? We'd like to fix it soon, he just got the guitar, and now he can't really use it! Thanks, Ben

Hey guys! I found some thick pine boards in my garage. They're about 1 3/4 inch thick, just right for a body! I think i'll try to make a body out of it, just for practice. If it seems like a doable job, i'll use nicer wood next time. I'll probably route it to fit the neck from my Schecter. I also plan on making it like a 4-piece body, seeing as how pine isn't the most dense of woods. I don't know anything about pine in terms of stability or tone, but i think it's good practice all the same. Anybody ever worked with pine? What were the results? Wish me luck! Ben

Hmm, okay, neat! Wes, you ARE the man! I don't think there's ever been a topic that i've started that you've not helped me out with in one way or another. Haha, keep up the good work! Thanks again, Ben

Hey guys! I know there's a jillion kinds of caps that you can use with wiring guitars, but what difference do they actually make to the tone?

Update! Well, as per the suggestion of someone from another forum, i called Schecter's toll free line a moment ago. The tech, Derek, was very helpful! I told him how i had it wired up, and he said i have everything exactly right... He thought maybe the volume or tone knobs were shot, too. SO, he's sending me new ones for free!!! Yay! Let's hope this fixes it. I think i'll go ahead and replace the cap while i'm at it. It's a little dark green rectangular thing. Can i buy a new one at Radio Shack? Thanks, Ben