biliousfrog

Yamaha are supposedly quite helpful with supplying parts, it's a veeeery long shot but it might be worth sending them an email or calling them. You could also look into having a new one CNC'd from aluminium, there's a lot of guys on here that have them or access to them.

I was under the impression that ebony has a very bright attack similar to maple.

If you had actually read the information available on the net & in books you would have known that the neck isn't an anomoly & how to fit it correctly.

yup, right through to the bridge a lot of that will be removed to allow for the top, something that I could have done earlier but I prefer to deal with things one step at a time.

quick update: haven't got too far with it but I've got the neck roughed out with the trussrod channel, added some sycamore accents to the headstock & fingerboard & roughly cut the body outline. I started to sand the edges smooth but my vac died yesterday so I'm holding off until I find a solution. Scarf glue-up Headstock veneers Headstock cut out Parts layout

Sanding sealer isn't always used & is sometimes frowned upon as it's only purpose is to build a thick, easy to sand finish fast. If you're going to use a solid colour then normal primer works just as well & should finish harder, some people use clear laquer, epoxy or shellac. Sanding sealer is purposely soft when dry so that it can be sanded smooth easily.

The bridge height is determined by scale length, bridge & neck angle, the process is the same as working out the neck angle. You're not having a neck angle & you've decided to recess the bridge so you need to work out how high the neck is going to be raised off the body & how low you can get the bridge whilst still allowing the action to be adjusted. This is something that only you can work out by drawing full size. I personally go by the bridge being level with the fingerboard minus frets when set to it's lowest position, then you can raise it to the correct action.

http://guitargeek.com/rigview/119/ He seems to have a Whammy after a DS1 & an Eventide in a rack but neither of them are last. The manual that comes with the Whammy suggests placing it first & the booklets that come with Boss pedals recommend pitch-shifters first. There's no set rules but even trying to play two notes at once or bending a string can made a pitch shifter go screwy so giving it the cleanest possible signal is best.

I'd go with: Octave - EQ - Distortion (- amp modeller?) - Delay - Chorus Why?...because pitch shifters & envelope filters need a clean signal to track properly otherwise they can make some wierd noises so octave first. Next I'd go for the EQ but it can go either in front or behind the distortion. I usually put chorus before delay & then phaser's or flanger's after but they can be swapped also. The delay will repeat anything that is fed into it so it depends whether you want the chorused sound repeated or the repeated sound to be chorused. If I had just chorus & delay I'd put the delay first. The amp modeller is tricky, if you're just using it as an OD/distortion pedal then put it with the other one. Ideally you want the chorus & delay in an effects loop unless you're plugging into a clean amp & using only outboard overdrive, otherwise you'll be distorting the delays.

wow, now that the mirror is on it I really like the shape! maybe it's the angle of the pic or something? looks great

When levelling the frets with the strings on I presume that the nut will be on also? In which case, isn't there a possibility that the frets nearer the nut will not get levelled fully? Now that I've typed it it seems like a really stupid question as levelling means to make them all level but I'll try to explain what I'm trying to say. If you plane a long piece timber you ideally want a long plane to make sure that the plane remains as level as possible & to apply pressure at the front when starting the stroke & move the pressure to the back during. When levelling frets I thought that the same principle applied so that you run over the frets in a long, smooth, even motion?...if the nut is there, it wouldn't be possible to apply equal pressure throughout the stroke as you would have to consciously stop at that point much like planing timber without enough "exit" space. If that is the case, you would no doubt get a level playing surface but maybe at the risk of having lower frets at the body end? Maybe a stupid question but it has me wondering.

strewth, calm down! I said that because the page you linked to was on your ebay shop...which is usually where people sell stuff. Sorry that I was wrong, just mentioned it because it looked like you were implying, "here's a guitar I made, click here to buy it!" but as you said, it isn't for sale. You did a brilliant job & thanks for sharing your work. I must have been in an over-analytical mood that day or possibly just thinking that everyone had a hidden agenda. Sorry.

well considering his first post was titled "I'm a finishing newb" only a few months ago I imagine you're right

congrats & nice guitar

put a neck & hardware on there ...no seriously, draw the neck & hardware, it's hard to visualize how the guitar will look just by the body

Nothing wrong with a grubby maple neck in my book... http://www.evhgear.com/

Use what you're familiar with. If you are an engineer like a lot of guys on here then you will likely have access to CAD programs, If you are an illustrator, computer artist or graphic designer you will likely know how to use illustration &/or painting programs but personally I like pencil & paper. If I have a design I like, I will pop into photoshop or Lightwave to play with finishes. The design comes from the person & the quality comes from the familiarity of the tools.

Great production, cheesey story. It looks very proffesional & it looks like the budget has gone in all the right places, I'd be very pleased with it.

I can feel a " " coming on

Why was it recommended to sand the frets, are they damaged, worn or uneven or just too high for you? The frets aren't usually sanded but levelled with a special file or oil stone, however it can be done with sandpaper when backed with something straight & level such as a radius block. The main reasons for doing this are to get all the frets level after a refret or if some have worn down, causing the strings to buzz against a fret other than the one being fretted. Once the frets have been levelled they need to be re-crowned which means putting the radius back onto the top of the frets after they were flattened by the levelling. This is usually achieved by using a crowning file which is the correct width for the fret, the idea is to round the edges of the fret without removing any from the very top of the fret as this would make the frets uneven & they would need re-levelling. Once they are all crowned they will need a polish to remove the scratches from the filing. The process isn't difficult to perform but is very difficult to become proficient. Like most tasks it becomes easier with experience but unless you are regularly maintaining guitars & performing fret dress's it is unlikely that you'll get it right first time.

As long as you like it, that's what's important after all I can't say that it does anything for me personally, the main offender I think is the neck. The neck looks really nice & the body is, well...a completely different style. It looks a bit like a thunderbird with a PRS neck, it doesn't seem to balance very well visually. I think that I'd be more inclined to go with a Fenderish style neck & keep that one for something more LP, PRS, Hamer'ish. At the moment it looks more like a parts guitar than an original.

head over to guitarnuts.com & read through the wiring & shielding sections. It sounds like a grounding issue (or lack of) but rather than going through every possible problem & solution it might be worth reading through those articles to get a better understanding of how the wiring works & you might be able to troubleshoot it yourself.

I believe that Gordon Smith uses it on his guitars as a mahogany substitute although I just checked & it isn't mentioned anymore.

You used to be able to get stretchy straps but I have not seen retractable ones, I personally fit strap locks & remove the strap when not in use. for some reason firefox pops up with a search box when I press the appostrophe key?!?...back to proper grammar then.

I have a Mexican Strat with no hole so how does that work?...actually I've never seen a Mexican strat the same as mine so maybe it's a Fender made partsocaster You should be ok with a Mighty Mite body as they are licensed by Fender as are Warmoth I believe