Desopolis

ill add that the porter cable tries like hell to lift, so the clamp is actually holding it down. and at times I thought had a mech. so it had to go all the way up to go back down.. so like I said, take it back and check out another one..

i didnt need it, but I cant tell you how helpfull it was for my project... some times you just need to trim somthing, and clamping down everything so I can jigsaw it wasnt even entering my mind as I kicked on the power and was allready done cutting. plus the shear speed you can cut.. once I get a stable shop it will definatly be there, but for now Im down to weekends at a cabinet makers...

yeah that natural is pretty awesome.. good looking piece! what color hardware?

true about the filler, but I was also thinking about the stain/finish.

im thinking about filler in the portions where you wont see grain(IE under the edge between the the pickguard and the body) Most of my mistakes are hidden but it still sux to make them.

if you bought it from a store Id take it back. while your still in the 30 days.. if it happens with another one its that model.. if not, it just happened to be that one.

I guess it depends on the size of the channel.. or you could allways put tape just over the channel and glue over it.. would still have enough surface to hold. my channel was 1/2" wide and 3/4" deep and is still fine.

I cant see the lock from that pic. but I was using a porter cable router and if you didnt snap the lock all the way over it would be loose enough for me to push down on it and have it change. scary when you were making sure not to go through your body.

I have seen people tape it, or they scrape the finish off the binding before clear coating.

if you were thinking about it too, you could allways route the channel through the back and add a coverplate. like my BC Rich.

also, another old metal working trick, find a friend with a welder run a good piece of copper to the top of the screw, then on the other side(missing the head) tack a piece of steel to the bolt. may burn the edge alittle, but its coming out. I can say I havent tried this on wood, but on steel its awesome and is now my #1 try..

safety... glasses and a mask at all times... last night I had teh glasses on my head(not over my eyes) so i could see somthing else, I didnt even realize and went back to routing. yep.. shot in the face.. took me forever to get a little piece out of my eye. and then it still felt like it was there. Im using swamp ash, and its really easy to work with. From what I understand it used to be fenders main stock(in the 50s) another thing, is to plan your steps.. otherwise you'll be routing over curves and edges, when if you had done that first, it would be perfect.

So here's where we are. The body was shaped, first with a bandsaw and then for a few HOURS by hand with a block sander. I drew the neck profile on the wood and had a basic cut out for the pickguard area. I went back out to the shop this weekend with a few more tools in hand plus a box of stuff from stew mac.. No real use for anything yet, except for the fingerboard to calculate distance, and the truss rod for the channel. but it looks like I got purchase happy and just saw “fender standard” and bought the one with the bolt on the pocket side instead of the headstock side. I don’t know if I could get it to work so I’m probably getting another one. Now I totally did everything in the wrong order, and now I completely know the error of my ways. I can totally see why peoples first guitars aren’t the ones that shine. although I can get this to look pretty nice as a finished. I should of routed the neck pocket, pickup cavities, and trem pocket before doing anything else. then routed my pickguard pocket. Not what I did. First I rounded off the edges using a ¼” roundover and a table router. Then I routed out the pocket for the inset pickguard cavity. at some points I realized I had routed out the base that the router mounts on, and you can see my slip I then spent about an hour shaping the pickguard to fit in the slot I created. All the while I should of done the complete opposite, and made the guard perfect, then routed the pocket so it would fit. hindsight, 20-20, and all that. I then cut out she shape of the neck based on the fingerboard and my estimate of the taper I got pretty damn close to the line with the bandsaw and I can see that biting me later(as I block sand, I may go over the “finished” line. ) I then decided that the pickguard needed to be cut so I could remove a portion and keep that flush appeal and not need pickup rings to cover the route hole. once again I should of thought all the way through, because I removed portions that are going to be edged in pearl. No matter, I think I have a solution. But that’s later. and here's the two edges being glued up.

ha! I know, my friend tells me that all the time.. I should have the "pickguard" inset and the neck pocket routed here soon as well as the neck being down to tuners and nut.

excelent thanks.. how far are you extending your heel?

ok... I mean, As long as I keep the bridge 25.5" from the nut, I can place it wherever I want. I can have it right at the back of the guitar and join the neck at the 5th fret. or I could do the oposit and have it join at the 24th fret. it would still keep the correct scale length, and the fretboard would still be the same. The neck would be shorter/longer based on the bridge location to keep the correct scale. Obviously because of bowing and the truss rod you would want a balance, so that the body carys some of the bow strength, and the truss rod isnt doing all the work. on page 20 he says fenders standard is to join on the 16th fret. and I can use the chart in the apendex and figure the distance from the 16th to the nut, reverse it and get the number for the bridge. like he points out on page 39 his guitar joins at the 20 so he can reach the 24 frets and not have a long joint. Would a 24 fret be weird long on a tele body? on page 110 he says its 3" long and 5/8 deep. BUT HOW WIDE? do I just use my taper calculation that my bridge is 2 and 1/16" and my nut is.. whatever the hell it is.. plus 1/8 on each side? use the same taper? so the pocket is 3" but how far from the body should I extend the heel? a tele looks like nothing but a strat has a few inches. Do I have to expose the neck in the heel? or can I just leave both sides covered with a thin piece of the body? on a fender, there IS a direct relation to the neck pocket and the bridge location. there doesnt have to be on guitars, but to keep that "standard" it does. as long as the joint is at the 16th fret. Ill just draw it all up, I just figured there might be a image or somthing with tele dimensions the cad file im using shows the fretboard, so the pocket is just a guess. also the depth can vary as well, depending on what size wood/fretboard I use, fender looks like a inch at the apex of the radius to the bottom. you dont HAVE to awnser, I can find it.. but figured someone allready knew..

yeah, I used the overnite method first... but then we used Titebond 3 and he told me just wait a hour.. I waited one and a half and its still perfect.. im kinda sketchy on waiting that short on the fretboard though look at the bottle, it even says dont leave it clamped to long.

I used a drum sander after I band sawed it to get a smoother line. then I started using a block sander by hand to be perfect. and thats taking forever.. looks good though!

go to http://www.seymourduncan.com and you'll be able to listen to them

just the plans are 26.95

yeah thats what I did, just joint up 2 or three boards of poplar or alder

WHAT??? what shops have you been to?!? Id sue over somthing like that.. and I did a total rewire on my strat in alittle over a hour. Only took that long becuase I had to modify the pickguard. anyway, the only hard part will getting the sodder to pool on the pot casing.. wires and joints are easy just wrap the wires or the wire arround the contact, put your iron at the base, and then the sodder from the top. a big blob forms, and gravity keeps in on the gun, just drag it under untill you get the coverage you want.

sweet thanks.. what was your width of your pocket? I apreciate the help!

yeah I really like it too. how are you going to refind the drill holes after clearing? and are you putting a pickguard back on?

the word "inlay" kind of gives it away.. a sticker or whatever will just rub off. you can allways do it yourself but be carefull, dont want to replace the whole fret board.