DannoG

Well, I'm almost done with the pre-finishing work on the neck and body, so if I can get the dye job done soon, it will have time for finish coats, cure and be buffed out/assembled. But I'm going to be gone the last week of December, so it's not a sure thing getting it for January first.

Other projects... really, since you WOD'd a couple of the Teles, I figured you'd have plenty of time. Slacker.

Assuming you have plastic binding, take a small scrap of leftover binding and apply acetone. This will soften the binding. When it has gotten gooey, put it onto the dented area and let it set up. Once it hardens, you can trim, scrape or sand to make it flush. You can do some trial sampling on your scrap before working on the actual guitar.

1.) The simple truss rod you describe does need an arched channel - deeper in the middle. It also requires a reversed arch fillet to fit on top (closest to the fretboard). The rod itself will be bent slightly to fit into the arched channel, but will only exert straightening force when tightened. 2.)Since the fillet will be under compression when the rod is tightened, it should be made of a fairly strong wood (ie don't use poplar or basswood). No treatment is needed other than avoiding excess glue stopping the rod from acting. 3.) Use the actual fret measurements and adjust intonation at the bridge. If this is your first neck (and maybe beyond, I still use them), I'd go with a pre-slotted fretboard.

Well, I didn't realy get going on mine until a few weeks ago, but it is in process. I did some color testing during the summer, hopefully I can wrap it up in time.

All string length needs to be compensated for beyond the basic scale length. The compensation increases with string thickness (wound and unwound strings differ however) - a theoretical string of zero diameter wouldn't need compensation, except you also have added string length caused by the strings needing to be raised off the fretboard. Lower action can effect the amount extra that is required. The string length is always twice the distance from the nut to the 12th fret, plus that extra for compensation. All guitars need it, not just Gibsons.

Ah, to live in a world where it is all so simple...

Perhaps it's Wenge. Much darker than bocote. Is it a dark brown?

There is no typical, but: Early Fenders were 7.25" Later Fenders were 9.5" or 10" Most Gibsons are 12" Most Hamers are 14", IIRC Don't really know about all the Ibanez and such, but I think they are at least 12" -15". What kind of guitar do you play/like the feel of the neck? Sorry to not have the metric equivalents...

The wood source is Gilmer, not Gilmore (that's my last name...) www.gilmerwood.com

I have a board of G A sitting around in my stash for neck use. No definate plans, but I have enough for 2 necks and it was not very expensive. My main concern when I do get around to using it will be getting a good glue bond, so I'll be using naptha or something to clean the surface just before glue-up.

How accurate is the color in the photo? It looks kind of like tulipwood to me, only more reddish than yellowish. It's quite hard. Just a guess though. Can you take a photo that shows more grain, ideally a closeup that is in focus?

No. It won't work if it's a different scale.

I suspect that the folks using 1/4 bandsaw blades to resaw were wanting to get a high enough tension on the blade that it couldn't wander in the cut. Some bandsaws don't have enough range of tension adjustment to really tighten up a larger blade. Small/well tensioned is better than big/poorly tensioned.

Drak, I usually don't post when you show us some of your creations, mainly because words don't do justice to the guitars. Now I'm in that same situation multiplied. Thanks.

First thing (and maybe last as well) - fumes can be explosive. Laquer is very much so. don't just use any fan. Explosion-proof fans and lights are expensive, but so is blowing up your garage. Other potential problems could be local laws prohibiting spraying certain substances and the need for a good respirator - not just a dust mask. Now that I've rained on your parade, I too am hoping to do something like this at some point and am not sure how to do it cheaply, easily and safely. If I can do it with one of the first two plus safely, I'll let you know.

1.) An angle in the range of 12 -15 degrees is pretty standard. There have been 17-19 degree necks, but I believe those are not current. What you're trying to do is get a good downward break at the nut towards the tuners. Anything less than 10 degrees won't be getting you much break and anything over 15 means the nut itself needs lots of fall-away to lessen string contact. I do 13 degrees. 2.) Never tried that. Check to see whether mahagony and walnut have similar expansion characteristics. 3.) I have helped people make guitars using walnut for fretboards. It seemed to work fairly well. The drawback I saw was a tendency for the wood to have some compression to it when being fretted. If the frets were driven in too forcefully, the walnut deformed more easily than say maple. This could lead to real difficulty in fret leveling. And since I didn't see how the wood held up long-term (they were done about 2 years ago) I am not sold on it being as durable as rosewood or other standards. I think it would work, just don't want you to be stuck with replacing the FB in a few years. Let us know if you do use it. Maybe check the MIMF on the walnut FB issue.

Not sure what you mean by "just glue a piece to the bottom of it then cut the head". Do you intend to make angle cuts before gluing up to make a scarf joint? Or are you just going to glue two slabs together to get a thicker chunk?

It says lots of things. The one you chose is only one. Most questions of this type offer too few answers to really establish anything.

Scarf joints do have a serious advantage-greater strength-than a one piece neck. The short grain in a one piece is a weak point where the angle occurs. However, if you are just starting in guitar-making, a one piece is easier and if the guitar is taken care of it shouldn't matter. Drop it and that's another matter...

While I would not want to stop you from using spruce, as must have been mentioned in some of those links, it is very soft. It will be difficult to keep from denting or other damage.

I did recessed knobs on my DC not too long ago. I just hand sanded the transition from top to recess after using the forstner bit. I would be very leery of using a router - the chance of tearout is too great.

Here is another link: http://www.missionamps.com

Okay, I have no MM neck experience, but I can answer several of the questions. 1) Without seeing the neck I can't be sure, but this sounds like the neck finish on most Fenders. Usually less finish is better than more, but you can strip it and put on your own finish, heavy if you like, but: You will need to strip and finish the whole neck to get it to look very even. If you just do the back it will be hard to hide the section where it transisions to the original. Id leave it, but if you do strip: 2) I'd but a few cans of gloss laquer. Available many places, just be aware of it's fumes and thus potential to explode if sparked. Check out the various titorials and threads. 3) Where did you come to the conclusion that you couldn't stain maple? It is one of the easiest and most commonly stained woods. On to 4), it sounds like you want a polyurethane finish, which can be sprayed on or brushed on. It will be hard, thick and fairly glossy, but it can be a pain sanding thick coats down. Good luck and get some photos.

I didn't mean to make a big deal about the string access - just thought they'd choose a photo that only showed the positives. More of an advertising critique.