Prostheta

I pretty much agree GM. Whether it does provide any practical protection against frets being unseated through moisture is moot. However, in theory it will provide more protection than as not. +1 to unslotted binding there.

I think that sealing - even if the tangs do come to the edge of the board - should be standard practice of care in instrument making. It's like not putting dust caps onto tyre valves when it leaves the factory. In reality it probably doesn't make a difference in 99% of the cases, but I think given the choice, Perry and other professionals would like to eliminate that 1 in a 100 that spits it's dummy out! :-D

Plus on a personal note, I prefer not to see the tang ends so all other opinion is therefore worthless as I'm not practical and prefer the superficial advantages!

Anyway. Make with the guitar dude, and get that mother strung up!

I would hazard that you're correct there Mick. I suppose "deep set" neck tenons may well be deeper depthwise as well as into-the-body-wise. On the mockup bass I built, I created a "T" shaped tenon which dips almost as deep as the heel "to the outside world" and further up at the edges. That is as solid as anything even without glue :-D

Okay. You need the forward voltage of the LEDs. You also need the average current recommended for them.

R=V/I

Ohm's Law.

R is your resistance value in Ohms.

Voltage is your battery voltage minus your forward voltage.

I is the current.

That is all.

I still have this PDF up which (if printed to scale) gives you a decent set of gauges for this task.

The VWall site seems to be down, and the domain pointing at some generic search page crap. I presume he's still trading?

At least my valve amps will be fine in case of local EMP.

Given that I already have an edge in the S1640FM that I'm more than happy with, I think I'll stick with that if I can get ahold of one. Plus I already have a perfect example of it set up, and the routing required :-D

Have you any more leads on places to acquire an Edge Pro Wes? I think that I have plenty of time to spend finding one so I might as well get on the case if they're harder to come by now.

I wouldn't have high hopes mate. Low end companies compete in low leagues for no prizes in the end of it all. It's like comparing writing your name on paper in pen as opposed to scratching your name in ****. You'd best avoid the maker in general and aim higher in the recognised and reliable.

I'll leave it till when I'm ready to purchase in that case. I presume the routing is pretty much same as what I have in the S1640FM, so I can measure and template in CAD from there?

As an aside, what is better from the version I have to the one you're referring to?

I think you need a frame of reference to have before you build one though L.E.F. I would personally recommend a Squier, Epiphone, low-end Ibanez or whatever takes your fancy. Can't go wrong with a cheapy Squier Strat as a first instrument!

Argh! vwallguitars.com has been eaten by the dreaded domain searchsite monsters!!

It's a very stable system for sure. Shame it's in gold and not in black though :-D Sounds like we have a contender! How do Ibanez trems compare to Schallers, etc?

Sorry, I meant S1640FM. Guitarlexia.

This is my baby 1

This is my baby 2

This is my baby 3

This is my baby 4

Hey, don't knock my duck tape man. Mine's black and worth the world to me.

Considering heavy trem usage is near enough an integral part of the design spec, I see how compound would work....on the topic of radius progression through the string length, I presume that the radius would reduce itself through from the nut (10") to 24th (16") so if the taper is linear, I'd expect 12th fret to be a 14.5" radius, and the bridge to be something like a 19" radius. If so, bang on the mark there Spazzy (have a banana sticker!).

I've still to decide whether to go neck through or set (academic) but knowing the technical bounds is the first 90% of the work I reckon. I've never done a floating trem instrument before, but same as everything - can't approach it half-cocked!

On perhaps a different note - what is the practical differences between Gotoh, Schaller, Lo-Pro, "real" Floyd-Rose, etc. trems? Obviously material quality (Schaller?) and simple things such as how the arm mounts in the bridge go a long way. I can't fault my Ibanez RG1640FM's unit for that one. Pop in and pop out with no screwing around :-D

Thanks Wes - much appreciated. I think I'd rather cater for crazy amounts of pull-ups so perhaps using the Stewmac compound board and a 10" nut would be a good idea. I'll have a look around LMII in a bit and figure out how it works with the rough I idea I have in my head.

We're talking some kind of Dime star, BTW :-D

Incidentally, we covered Domination at the gig last night and destroyed the place! Oh yeah!

</duff man>

Considering a floating trem build (later next year, too much work right now) and something got me thinking. The Schaller Floyds have a nut radius of 14" which is a pain as the pre-radiused boards Stewmac sell (for convenience, don't get me started!) are 12" for 25-3/4" and 10" through 16" for the compound radius 25-1/2" boards.

How far off perfect would an incorrect radius on a locking nut to the fingerboard be?

Alternatives I've considered are:

- modifying the radius of the 14" nut by deepening the existing slots (PITA)

- altering the radius over the frets when levelling, closer to 14" (would require very high fretwire?)

- ordering an alternative radius nut (cost)

- dealing with the fact the setup won't be perfect

Additionally, what radius nut would you use for a 10" through 16" compound radius? 10" at a guess.

Until my current projects are complete, this is purely academic although worthwhile knowledge to plan around of course :-D

TIA,

- Carl

How about a scorched finish on the wood a la Slabbefusk's RG? That way you should be able to darken bits of the wood instead of hiding it. Well, maybe not. But darken it anyway.

I can't see why not as long as you're not reducing the mechanical stability of the glue contact areas of the tenon and mortise.

I will for sure. I think it's very positive to have how-to's based on existing builds, and the results of what the tutorial has to give. You've got a deal Mike.

I wasn't on the street man, I was in front of my computer. That's probably why.

Got it from a Warwick dealer, hence why I've already routed the mounting points :-D

Apologies for the low quality images. I really should get some sorted in daylight to indicate progress as artificial light and flash makes unfinished work look mega rough.

I am currently routing out padauk from the back to fit the neck tenon, plus I'm cutting the recess out of the front where the fretboard will emerge. I've calculated the angles accurately so that the bottom of the board emerges straight onto maple, and I've left enough play to hang the board over the far edge to disguise the join :-D

I didn't have time to complete the work tonight, so a sneak guess at how it's going to look is all I have. The bookmatched and pinstriped veneer for the headstock was a success (yay me!) and has been Titebonded on with yet another pinstripe underneath. This is being rounded over at the edges an smoothed towards the centre (too slight to call it a carved headstock top!) to tie in the organic carves of the body. The headstock is deliberately quite thick as I'm going to dish the tuner locations down just beyond the pinstripe and paint the wood revealed underneath black (roughly 4mm). The edges of the dishes will be smoothed over also. On that note, I plan to buy a 1" dished router bit to make the control pot locations. So much to do, so little time.

I figure that a black sandback with deep red dye over the top will make the headstock veneer look super awesome with the dished and recessed tuner bushes.

To make life simpler for me (in case I cock up) I'm going to make the headstock inlay a simple signature of abalone, inlaid into an ebony circle which I can easily install. Can't afford to go wrong inlaying abalone straight into that maple!

(ps. the image size is smaller than 640x480/307200 pixels!)

Oh yes - I'm very tempted to paint a black line down the centre of the bass over the maple only after I've done the black sandback as an afterthought, to tie the body in with the pinstripe on the headstock. Still malleable on that one.

Much appreciated Erik. I'm planning on taping off the lower edge of padauk prior to finish sanding the top edges, and shellac'ing them to mask them off prior to dyeing the top. It's also why I insisted on a small black pinstripe between the top and back to give me a little bit of a break, therefore more to work with :-D

How long did it take you to make them, Pukko? That's some fantastic work.

Indeed - thanks for reminding me....

I have the padauk to radius and round over on the back yet. And the neck tenon to install...