another doug

Good to know. Thanks! I'll give them a try.

That is a good price! I'll have to check them out. How are their fills? My main problem with loop cds has been that there aren't enough fills to make a fully convincing track for my songs. One of the reasons I went with Drums on Demand was that their volume 3 had a lot of single hits and separate tracks for each drum/cymbal, which made it easier for me to cut and paste in order to get a drum track that fit my songs well, rather than just close-enough. Sorry if that's a hijack!

That's not necessarily true. You can use a neck angle or you can raise the fretboard, but either way you need to figure out the right angle or height based on your bridge. It's pretty much the same as planning any other guitar in that regard. On the same note, you don't "need" to angle the neck on a bolt-on or set neck, but you will have to work out how high the fretboard needs to sit. In some ways, I see a neck-through as less forgiving, since there's no way of putting in a wedge or shim if you miscalculate or goof up a cut, but that's no reason not to make one.

I only use my computer as a sketch-pad and songwriting tool, and use an antique Cakewalk program and a $100 audio card (the audiophile 2496), but I have a couple of comments: First, I am a big fan of my PODxt. It sounds decent, and it saves a lot of screwing around with amps and microphones. As far as upgrades and cost is concerned, I bought it several years ago for about $300, and that is still the going rate today. Plus, if you have the USB hooked up, you can download any software upgrades for free from Line6 (although you then have to go through and tweak all of your sounds, which is a bit annoying). If I recall correctly, my last update actually included new amp models and effects. I wouldn't worry to much about them becoming obsolete or going down in price that much. That said, I have a Spider 210 that is now completely obsolete (and damn near worthless)! Also, I use acid loops for drum tracks. I have been using products from Drums on Demand. They have discs for various styles, and have enough loops in various tempos to make a pretty convincing drum track. Just my (relatively low-tech and inexperienced) 2 cents.

I don't know about a ready-made template, but you should be able to work it out yourself. If you know your string spacing at the nut and bridge, scale length, what fret you want at the neck/body join, how much space you want between your e-strings and the edges of the fretboard, you can draw it out full size on a piece of paper, incorporating a tenon to match your mortise. You'll probably want to draw a side view as well, taking into account any neck angle you may need to incorporate. If you haven't already, you'll also want to pick up Melvin Hiscock's "Make Your Own Electric Guitar." It's the bible around here, and covers all the basics. As we're learning in another thread at the moment, it's a good idea to double-check all your measurements, even with store-bought plans and templates.

Wow, this is a tough one. In terms of workmanship it's a tie; each one of these instruments looks completely professional, and I would be completely proud to own any of them (and I would probably explode with pride if I had actually BUILT one of them!). My gut led me to vote for oz tradie. The only thing that I don't like about it is the jack location (and the fact that it's backwards ), but that is a very (VERY!) minor quibble, more than made up for by the quality of the wood and workmanship. I had been half following the build thread, but I didn't realize that that body was ONE PIECE! Absolutely insane, and absolutely beautiful. A very classy guitar!

When I made the guitar in my avatar (from top to back: padauk, maple lam, bloodwood lam, maple core, bloodwood lam, maple lam, padauk), I found that my maple did turn a bit pink when sanding. However, I don't know if the padauk or the bloodwood was the culprit (or if it was both). I ended up sanding the sides along the plane of the laminates (if that makes sense), so that the red dust didn't get on the maple. I also carefully sanded the maple core being careful not to cross into the colored woods. The maple laminations are still a bit pink, but I think I could have avoided this by going over it with a scraper. Maybe wes' denatured alcohol suggestion would have worked too, but my instinct tells me that this would have embedded the color deeper (but my instinct has been wrong before, so I'm probably wrong on that).

My opinion is hardly an expert one, but I would be tempted to leave it alone after seeing that pic. Sanding may be difficult (or at least tedious) without pulling the frets. Also, even if it does take the dye well, it might be difficult to get a clean line at the edge, since there is no binding. I don't think it looks that bad as-is, so it may not be worth the risk and effort. I'd just clean the fretboard, and maybe wipe on a fresh coat of oil. Just my 2 cents. If anyone has dyed an existing fretboard successfully, I would trust their word over mine.

I can't tell you whether or not you want to dye it, but if you do: I assume your inlays are either pearl or plastic, in which case the dye wouldn't penetrate (I've used it over both). You just wipe it on, and wipe off the excess. When you wipe off the excess, it should come off of the inlays. Even if there's a bit of a film left over the inlays, it should come off pretty easily. Watch out and be careful, cuz that stuff can be a mess! Edit: It just occurred to me that, if the fretboard is oiled, it may affect the penetration of the dye. I don't know this for a fact, but it seems likely. Even if it hasn't been "oiled" as such, there may be natural oils from sweat. Please keep in mind that I have only done this on new, unfinished fretboards.

Heck, it looks neater than the ROUTED cavities on my first! Very nice work, travis. Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

Replacing an existing fretboard goes beyond my experience, so you'll probably want to wait for more expert opinions, but the short answer is yes. Take an equal amount off of both sides so the radius is still centered.

I think it's unlikely that you'll find a pre-fretted fingerboard, but Warmoth has pre-slotted 24 fret fretboards. However, you would have to cut the taper down to the size you want, fret it, glue it onto the neck, and fit the nut yourself. That is just the one source that I know. Hope it helps.

I just bought a Blues Junior this weekend. So far it seems like a great little amp!

whatshisface's guitar When I brought up the Grateful Dead in your other thread on this subject, I was just trying to give you a bit more information. If you like the shape, go for it. It shouldn't matter who played one as long as you like it, but my point was that some people do care about that kind of thing, and I didn't want you to spend a small fortune on a Warmoth only to be embarassed by your "hippie" guitar (although IMO the shape is kinda metal). As verhoevenc said, there is no reason to leave the forum if you can play nice. From what I've seen, people here are more than willing to help (and they don't need to). As long as you are doing your share of the work, such as searching (and researching) before posting, not being dismissive of advice given (even if you don't ultimately use it), and being relatively polite, people will be happy to help. A lot of these people REALLY know their stuff, and share their expertise freely (and for free). I'm still kind of a noob here myself, but I've read a LOT of posts, and if I had known about this forum earlier, my guitars would be MUCH nicer than they are! It's a great resource.

I'm not an expert on Warmoth, but I think you may have misread the site (or I am mis-interpreting what you said). The top doesn't have to be the same wood. You can still get a mahogany body with a maple top in that body style. That doesn't mean it will sound exactly like a Les Paul though, since the top would be thinner (according to the site, 1/8", practically a veneer!), and the overall thickness would be less. Plus there's the scale length, hardware, pickups, and a thousand other factors to take into account. I'd recommend calling Warmoth; from what I've heard they can be very helpful. On a side note- in case you're not aware, the GD in WGD stands for Grateful Dead (the shape is based on Jerry Garcia's guitar). I only say that because there are a lot of GD haters out there, and if you are one of them, you may want to take that into account when making your choice. Good luck

If it's any consolation, Melvin, I actually have two legitimately purchased copies of your book! I bought the first version about ten years ago, and recently decided I needed a copy with less sawdust caked between the pages, so I got the new version as well. I'll also be vigilant on your behalf!

If you check the stewmac calculator and type in a scale length of 24.75 (for example, I don't know what the true scale of the guitar in question is), you'll notice that the treble-side post should be located at 24.811" give or take .030". You want the high E saddle to sit at the scale length when it's adjusted forward, so the post needs to sit a little further back.

If you type your scale length into the StewMac Fret Calculator it gives you the drilling locations for a variety of different bridges. That, measuring several times to check that it will be correct, using the right tools, and a bit of common sense, and you should be in good shape. Edit: make sure you know the TRUE scale length. Although Les Pauls are usually listed as 24.75", they are often slightly different.

Looks pretty classy to me! I'm not sure about the clear cover and I agree that the neck heel still needs a little work, but I REALLY like how you put the extra knob and miniswitch in the old jack rout. Did you cut that cover yourself?

My first lacquer finish was brittle like that. Turns out I sanded to too high a grit before spraying.

I'm not a finishing guru, and I don't know enamel at all, but you may want to take the tuners and truss rod cover back off until it's fully cured. They may sink into the finish.

If your cavity is grounded, and the miniswitch makes contact with the foil/paint, wouldn't that be enough to ground it?

I used the spoke wheel on my neck-through bass. I routed the truss rod slot to end at the end of the fretboard, then routed and chiseled a cavity large enough for the spoke wheel, so the spoke wheel is right at the end of the fretboard. I'm afraid I don't have a good pic handy, but I hope you get the idea. I've also seen a couple basses here recently that had a spoke wheel cavity in between frets. A pretty neat idea. Personally, I wouldn't do it with the slotted or allen head truss rods though, since you'd need a big cavity to get the tool in there (unless you rig it so that it can be accessed by removing a pickup). One word of warning: I installed the truss rod and fretboard before final sanding and finishing, since I wanted the neck to be square when I clamped down the fretboard. I had to be real careful about the spoke wheel when sanding. I masked it off, but still ended up nicking it a little bit. Just something to take into consideration. Hope that helps.

My first double post!

I can only comment on my cheapo saw and my experiences with it, but it has always wandered at least a little bit, and I've tried different tensions on the blade and adjusting the guides various ways. That *could* just be the fact that I'm a woodworking noob, though. It came with a guide a la tablesaw (dunno what it's called), as you mentioned, but that doesn't guarantee accuracy. That said, from what I've read around here, most people use a bandsaw (even a good one) for rough cuts that they later clean up by sanding, planing, jointing, or using a template and template following router bit. Even with a perfectly straight cut on the bandsaw, you'll still need to clean it up. I've cut fretboard tapers on my bandsaw, but have always needed to plane or sand the edges true. *Keep in mind that I'm a noob, and there are many here who's word I would trust before mine (including Myka) Hope that helps at least a little! Doug