hotgoalie11565

Has anyone ever used the Wagner Safe-T Plane? I'm considering buying it to plane down Strat headstocks.

Have you considered just setting up a router jig to do it? It would be free and from the sounds of it safer if all your using it for is strat headstocks, could be a little time consuming for other stuff.

Well, I never really thought of building a jig to do it because I assumed that the plane worked quite well, but from what I'm reading it's not that great. I'll probably design some kind of jig or system to do this quickly and neatly.

I did a headstock today and took a few pics. The jig takes 3 minutes maybe to make, I'm thinking of making a permanent one though since I build one of these like once a week at least. I used to use a jointer for the headstocks but it's too easy for it to chip and this only takes a couple minutes longer. It's also great for backplates and veneers since my planer is a hand feed one it's a lot of work to use it for something this small. I use doublestick to stick the neck down and use a 3/4" bit since it's the biggest I have.

http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr266/g...er/IMG_2853.jpg

Man, that's a great idea. Thanks!

Yo can buy crowning tools at stewmac or lmii...

Or you can use triangle files...but they require more finesse..

Yes you can. But I would strongly recommend rounding off the edges of the triangular files so you lessen chances of gouging the fretboard. If you do that and tape between the frets you should be OK. I'd even do a couple of layers of something like masking tape. I've even used duct tape because it's more durable and has a lesser chance of gouging the fretboard.

But after you level and crown, I would go over them with sandpaper, the 0000 steel wool as DC Ross mentioned. As a final step I go over them with silver polish.

CC, to answer a question you had asked about pine as a tone wood, it has been done in the past. As a matter of fact, some of the first Fender Broadcasters had pine bodies. But it's not the first choice for a solid body electric. And definitely DO NOT use it for a neck. Pine can not handle the stress that steel guitar strings put on it. For necks you want harder woods like hard maple or mahogany to name a couple.

I'm glad you changed course. But don't give up. Just read books about it if you're really serious and keep soaking in the advice of people here.

I have a gordon smith GS1. Its a fantastic guitar, and I got it for a great price, but the previous owner had it refinished in a horrible bright yellow.

As my 1st ever project I'd like to strip off the yellow finish , restore it to its original natural mahogany and put some kind of satin (not gloss!!) type of polish/finish/stain on it.

Here it is as it looks now.

Can anyone give me a few pointers or advice ??Its my 1st project, I'd like to keep it as simple as possible and try and get it right!!!

You can do one of two things rather than sand until your arms fall off.

One way would be to use a chemical stripper like Zip Strip or something like that.

Another way would be to take a heat gun to it and heat the finish until it is soft enough to scrape away with a paint scraper.

Thanks, Keith. I should've put two and two together and figured out that's why the plug is at the top of the headstock.

I've decided to build my own 50's strat neck. That means , of course, it'll be solid maple. But I do have one question.

As you can see, the truss rod adjustment is at the heel. How did Fender anchor the truss rod at the top?

It's a matter of personal preference.

There are a couple of things you can do depending on what look you're going for. If you want a yellowish tinge to the guard and knobs, you can try the neck amber from Guitar Reranch. Or if you want a brownish tinge, try letting them sit in coffee. Just make sure the coffee isn't hot though. I made that mistake and ruined my knobs and pup covers.

If it was me, I would see if they would fix the frets. If not, then absolutely walk away.

Do you have any pics of the top? I'm just interested in how much flame there is on it.

You can pick this one up on ebay. But you better hurry before someone else snaps it up.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Homemade-Elec-Guitar-n...1QQcmdZViewItem

About the only way you'll really know if two finishes are compatible is by testing them together on a scrap piece of wood.

I did try out the torch tip files from Grainger and they did a good enough job on a plastic nut. But for me the real test will be when I go to make a bone nut. I'm almost afraid to try it on bone, especially the thinnest ones for cutting the high E.

Let us know what you decide to build and what woods you get.

~David

I talked to Marc at Gilmer Wood. Super nice guy to me, very helpful. I am going with an ES-335. After talking to me about what I wanted, he recommended Mahogany or Maple sides and back (I went with Mahogany for a warmer sound), Mahogany center block (quartersawn for a bassier, rounder sound), Mahogany neck, and Spruce top. He seemed very excited and enthused about getting me the wood with the best tone and tailored to my personal specs. That got me very eager to do this project and to really do a nice job on it. I should hear back from him about the wood this week or next. Dealing with Marc was a very pleasant experience.

Hopefully the Benedetto book comes this week so I can start reading in greater depth on the process. I need to read the book and I will ask Marc how long I should let the wood sit and acclimate to my environment before using it. That should give me a nice timeline for when I can safely start this project.

Thank you for the encouraging words and advice thus far!

-Cheers

Yes, do keep us posted on your progress. I for one am very interested in what you come up with.

Was it au naturel or medically aided? Sorry, dude. Had to ask.

That has some nice grain to it.

I've used baking soda and super glue and I've had really good results. Just put some baking soda in the hole until it's about half full then put the super glue in.

I have a basic set of the StewMac files. But, I don't know what a torch tip cleaner is ( ), so I'm curious. Pics or reference?

Sorry, I didn't even think about attaching a link.

Granger

Home Depot, Page 6 of their welding supplies section.

Just a bunch of little round files, plus a little flat file. Nothing fancy.

Peace,Rich

Thanks, Rich. These should probably work OK for me.

A lot of people have already given you some good advice, so I'll just say heal up fast and get back in the game, bro.

Do you have pictures of the body? That would be helpful.

But the short answer is yes, you can do it.

If it's a standard routing for a strat you can do a lot of different pickguard configurations. If it's a routing just for 2 humbuckers you can do that too. You may need to do extra drilling for the wiring, but either way you can do it.

Dollar bills seem to work well for me.

Seriously, is the finish nitro or poly? If it's nitro you should be able to use a milder chemical like Zip Strip. But if it's poly you've got a hell of a job on your hands. You may have to use several different methods to get from point a to point b.

If you're going for a natural look, the freezer method would be the way to go. It would look a lot more natural IMHO.

Or if you used nitro that does not have UV protection mixed in, you could put it in a tanning booth or leave it in the sun for a while.

This was a tough one but I narrowed it down to a Strat. Not far behind would be a Tele, Les Paul and a dot neck 335 in cherry red.

I don't have an overdrive pedal at the moment, so I just go with what's in my amp. BTW, it's a Marshall MG 10 CD.

As close as I've come is naming my guitar, which I'm sure a lot of us do anyway. Mine is King Mojo.