DannoG

Hi Marty, so you made the move. Welcome to Oregon! I was up in Salem today for a job with the state. You'll have to come down to Eugene and see my shop as an example of how NOT to do it.

Wood would work. I'd stay away from metal-although the magnet wire has an insulating layer to keep it from shorting to other winds of wire, it is very thin and can breakdown over time. You could wrap tape or some insulating material around the bobbin, but some adhesives actually eat through the wire insulation. The few bobbins I've made are out of ABS plastic and I haven't tried potting them yet to see how they handle 150 degree F wax.

Welcome. It's a truss rod, it keeps the neck from bowing under the strain of the strings (rather than breaking) and while it is not an absolute requirement, it's pretty close. Use the search function and you'll learn all you need to know.

I think the problem with soft maple is there seems to be a lot more variation in wood density within the type. I have several pieces of it in my stash, some are almost as dense as hard maple, other radically lighter.

I have a couple small pieces. Are you needing a top-sized chunk? What I've got is more headstock top size.

I don't have any insight into the laquer/glue issue other than letting you know that glue does have a shelf life. Was this flesh glue (ideally less than a year old, certainly less than 2-3)?

In an attempt to get back on topic somewhat, I'd advise SS (Mr. Squirrel) to do as RR says and get building. Aside from the debate about tonewoods/metal and all that, remember that each piece of wood is unique. While samples of the same type of wood will have similarities, there way too many variables in an organic product to be sure of getting tonal qualities dialed in as you seem to think will happen. If you bought twice as much wood as needed and built two otherwise identical guitars they would not sound identical. Close at best. This is good though, the quest for the Grail (of the moment).

Okay, not to pile on the new guy, just to add a little safety note regarding oil filled heaters. I have one and I assume it is similar to the one GG is using (the link didn't direct me to the product, so I gave up, sorry if the proct differs). It has two wattage switches and when you switch them I've noted a spark through the vents in the cover. Thus, I'd never turn it on or off when any fumes were present. Only to preheat a space - spraying later after it was off - or much, much later, ie: no fumes, for drying. On the safety issue as a whole I think the idea is for folks with experience (I don't have anywhere near what quite a few of you do) to be sure to err on the side of caution when making posts. Don't assume that the whole forum has the body of knowledge to avoid hazards, obvious or subtle. GG, I'm sure you'll contribute to the community here.

As others have noted, the scale length is so central to the design that it would ideally be determined early on. My thoughts about a 28 inch scale with standard tuning are mostly about string tension and neck stiffness. Using anythinh other than extra light strings (8s) wuld mean very high string tensions. Playing bends could be a major problem. And the string pull on the neck would need a major truss rod and/or stiffeners such as carbon fiber rods. I'd think a bass truss rod would be in order. Like the others, my comments are not meant to discourage you from building this concept, just let you consider where those choices may lead you.

Sounds like we need a third opinion. Paging Dr. Flexner to the woodshop...

There was a thread on the Pickup Maker forum about this a few months ago: http://www.firebottle.com/fireforum/fireBB...m=pmgd&enter=go Scroll down a ways. Jason, who is on that site fairly often, never responded, but others said he just let the book lapse w/o the intention to do more. maybe you can find a used copy or get your library to find a copy. I am keeping my copy.

My sander has a 17inch wide drum, and is otherwise basically the same idea as the Uke builders. I checked around for quite a while before gathering up what I needed. The MIMF has several threads that deal with thickness sanders and also some plans, mostly in CAD formats. There was also an article in an old Fine Woodworking that showed how to make one. Mine will have a 4 inch diameter to the drum, I've seen plans with really big drums (like 12 inch diameter!). Until I can get something in other formats, I have the general plan in Mac Freehand. Mledbetter, you should be able to deal with that (graphic designer to graphic designer, if you're an Illustrator dude, I could save it that way). I can also do a a pdf. The file is quite small in digital size, but the layout is full size (over 36 inches tall) and has a side and top view. PM me if you'd like me to pass it along now. Once I get a tutorial or at least some documentation, I'll post a link or two for general sharing.

I agree on the planer/drum sander issue and that the 12 inch planer is too narrow to do guitars. A 13 inch model would be the minimum for most electrics. You can sometimes lessen the amount of tearing in figured wood by lightly dampening the surface with water. The idea is to swell the grain just a little bit to make it lock together, then run it through. You can still have problems, so I would never try to plane down right to the desired thickness. That is what the sander is for. So, I'm about half way through building a drum sander. When I get around to it, I'll try to post some pics, maybe a tutorial. As to the time/skill it takes, if you can build a guitar, the sander is not hard. With some scrounged parts (1/2 hp motor mostly) it will be well under $100 USD.

Happy birthday Setch! (waves in general direction of London)

Remember the paisley teles that Fender made? This reminds me of those, but with the natural organic figuring. So much better.

I'm also a graphic designer and would echo mledbetter's basic feedback. The logo just doesn't match the quality of the guitars. Since you have some brand equity with the Stewmade name, maybe you could retain that as the company name, while giving your actual guitar line a new name. Something like Malibu Guitars by Stewmade. Pay a pro to do the logo (maybe give him/her a discount on a guitar?) and have the Stewmade part be a small, subscript portion of it. And I'd get it off the body and onto the headstock. I didn't bring up these before, you seemed pretty down about the reactions and I didn't want to dump more on you. BUT, you do have real skills as a guitar maker, so keep doing that and try to keep the rest of the stuff from deterring you.

It is NOT hard to stain hard maple. It accepts stain quite readily. The only issue, which in this case is very important, is that you'd need to strip off all, and I do mean all, of the existing finish to stain the wood. And then recoat it again after the staining. If that is too big a job, you could buy some toner laquer in a rattle can and apply that over the neck. Most of those finishes are not very transparent, so if you wanted to build up many cots, you'd lose any figuring.

On the subject of the Iroko, I know it has been used on guitars, but I'd like to hear if anyone has first-hand knowledge of it. I bought a big chunk of spalted Iroko and it looks very nice. The guy I got it from called it African Teak, another of those confusing, made up names. And the guitar looks beautiful.

On the subject of the Iroko, I know it has been used on guitars, but I'd like to hear if anyone has first-hand knowledge of it. I bought a big chunk of spalted Iroko and it looks very nice. The guy I got it from called it African Teak, another of those confusing, made up names. And the guitar looks beautiful.

You can buy a fret crowning burr fron Stew-Mac and make your own handle for it. I made one from an old toothbrush handle, which cost significantly less than the one from SM. Here is the link: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_suppl...wning_File.html

I wouldn't try to make the sanding room the spray room.

It has been a while, but I remember reading on the MIMF site that DF in an acoustic top was "harsh". I'm not sure if the topic was using fir or if it was mentioned as an aside in a related topic, so it may not show up in a search. The disscussion, IIRC, talked about guys who had built many guitars and should have been able to produce a good sounding instrument being unhappy with the tone. Not just preferring the usual spruce and cedar and mahogany, but not ever wanting to build a DF one again. I was interested because I have some cool Douglas Fir. It actually has some really wild grain and I never would use it for an acoustic. But as a top of an electric, it might be pretty cool. I thin layer on a electric with a more mellow main body wood (mahogany or limba?) might sound fine. At my rate of guitar completion though, it might be 5 years before I find out. Not on the top of the list...

Ground the covers to reduce hum, yes, but lack of grounding is not going to cause microphonic squealing.

Repotting sounds like the way to go, but since this problem came up after adding covers I think the tutorial might not tell him enough. If you dunk the assembled PU (with cover) in the wax, be sure to keep it in long enough to let the wax get fully inside - maybe lower the polepiece screws first to provide wax access. If you can move the pickup around to dispell any air bubble, that would help. Two other things you can consider: take the cover off, fill it with wax and reassemble the PU while still hot - wearing gloves. This would address squealing just caused by the covers; you can preheat your PUs a little before dunking, so they don't cool the wax on immersion.

Did you have enough clamps to apply pressure all along the seams? And/or cauls to spread the clamping pressure? Just wanted to bring this up in case you try again with the same result.