Woodenspoke

I would like to protect an autograph on a guitar. The signature was done in indelible ink. The guitar is an older Takamine and I'm not sure what the clear coat is. Theory is schellac then to Acrylic clear over it ???

Alcohol most likey will not be a good choice as it does remove things like sharpe, meaning it acts as a solvent. Plus you will need to spray what you do use.

So I picked up an inexpensive guitar which I am using for a rebuild project. I stripped it down and repainted, and am planning to replace the plastic nut with a bone nut.

I have the nut roughed out, but have this problem -- I tune the string to pitch, and confirm that the harmonic at the 12th fret is also in pitch, but when I fret the note at the 12th fret (or fret any note for that matter) the pitch is sharp. To confirm the problem didn't lie with my new nut, I put the old plastic nut back on... and same problem.

So what's my problem? Is it string height? The strings are kind of high.

So your saddle in in the wrong place. Funny how that happens on cheap guitars...

That is the very reason no one used brass or copper for inlays because it will change color and oxidize. No inlay except wood expands and contracts with the wood. Unless you coat the whole board it will be a real pain to coat only the inlay with finish.

As far as finish it is really a moot point that you want to be Eco friendly. Acrylic like any other finish is toxic no matter what you do. You really want Low VOC (Volatile Organic Chemicals) or the stink that rises from the finish. You would be better off just using a water based finish in the standard flavors of lacquer or Poly. Even these are toxic and emit a light ammonia smell for a short time.

There really is no safe finish except for Shellac but I dont suggest drinking it...

Would mounting the Grizzly jig at an angle give you a greater radius? If you mounted the neck side an inch lower on the edge sander than specified by the manual, but kept the bridge side where it's supposed to go, would you now have a 9" and 16" compound radius?

A radius is a radius. Does not matter how you mount it you are still going to measure off the top of the belt or whatever you are using to cut through the wood.The problem with thegrizzly jig is the limite adjustability, you can enlongate slot in the swing arms or custom drill holes 6" off the surface into the swing arms. Its all about where the pin is reletave to the cutting surface. Nothing else matters. If you offset the jig at an angle to the centerline it may not look like a FB whem its finished..

All radius jigs rely in some shape or form on distance and swing. I have made rough swing jis and a post was done here on what some have made. The biggest differene with the grizzly and using an 80" belt is you can do the whole FB in one shot. Most other methonds require you to move the jig or a router and cut incrementaly. The result is les than ideal as transistion marks usually occor and the board will need final sanding to remove the marks. A single belt has none of these drawacks.

As far as design its not rocket science. Room to swing and adjustable piviot points. Anyone with welding skills can make an arn similar to the grizzly.

Hi all, been a while for me, but I need some advice/opinions.

I've been building another guitar (please forgive me for not posting progress pics (I will soon I promise!)) and have finally I glued the fingerboard to the neck using Titebond.

When I unclamped it, I checked the fingerboard for straightness - because of the way I clamped it for a few days, it now has considerable relief.

How much? about 2mm (0.07" or 1/14th') at the 9th fret.

ok, so i'm still a noob

Neck is very deep set laminated blackwood-walnut-blackwood-walnut-blackwood. Laminates glued with Titebond.

It is 25.5" scale length slotted bound fingerboard. Binding is the same timber as the fingerboard glued with Titebond.

Fingerboard not yet radiused but fingerboard and neck are tapered.

It has a LMII Double action Truss rod and two CF rods. Rods glued with epoxy.

I am installing LMII Jumbo Evo Gold Fretwire - eventually.

As it is now, I can get rid of just over half the relief by adjusting the truss rod as far as I'm willing to.

The neck has a long tang, so I can clamp the tang and headstock down so the fingerboard is flat.

When it is clamped, the fret tang feels like it will go in ok, ie: i don't think the slots are too wide or too small.

I really don't want to heat/remove the fingerboard because I believe it will delaminate the binding and the neck laminates.

I think some relief in the neck will be good for my playing style.

Am planning on using Optima Gold 10-46 strings.

I am thinking of the following course of action:

1 clamping the neck so the fingerboard is flat.

2 radiusing the fingerboard and cleaning/deepening the fret slots

3 fretting

4 unclamping and hoping that the backbow from the fret tangs evens out the relief, maybe with a little help from the truss rod.

am I kidding myself? and if so what is my other option? The fingerboard is reasonable thick so could be sanded to level, but it would look a little funny being thinner at each end.

Thank you,

Fraser.

answers receive a photo in the soon-to-be-created-build-progress-thread

2mm is a huge drop. Get out a sanding beam and flatten the neck. No good will come from attempting to fret a bent neck. How will you flatten the frets after they are put in? Next time think about the weight of clamps and what effect the may have after you glue on a fretboard. I always have my necks clamped sideways so the weight cannot warp the FB. Even if you flatten the neck right before you glue (which is what you need to do) you should expect a small amount of change from moisture and clamp pressure so the neck should be straightened again. I always radius after glueup. Then flatten the board when the radius is finished.. In short flatten neck w/sanding beam, glueFB , radius FB. flatten FB with sanding beam. Fret slots are always cut first and inlay installed

Some use rubber surgical tubing (sliped over the pot shaft) rather than string. Its a bitch, been their done that, not fun..

It works by creating the center point of the circle on two sides. Each side is at a different setting to make the compount radius FB. So a 16" x 7.25" cpmpound radius would be set at 16" on one end and 7.25" on the other.

So you lay the FB onto the belt (You need a big belt) attached to the bottom of the swing arm. then adjust the pins on the swing arm as mentioned in the example above, form the top of the belt, using your fb in line as part of the measurement process.

We have no iea what side the FB will be attched to that board. Not that the pict is really showing anything but a huge mistake and not a chip.

If the FB in the far side of the picture I wouls just shape the neck and forget about it. Since I cant tell if the near side is the FB side it may need to be fixed.

Honestly it doesn't pay to have to cut your wire real close to the FB when you install it. I noticed that even with a good wire cutter you can mash the ends a bit and you certainly dont want to have to install wire that is mashed into a clean slot. Ideally I like to see 1/8- 1/4" over hang on each side. Also gives me some exposed wire I can tap sideways to lock it in. The additional time expenditure playing with the cut more than offsets any additional cost benefit.

Is it really too much to buy an extra 2 ft, how cheap can you get?

You didnt say what you are doing??

You can thin epoxy with achohol then apply. Too much CA will gass you out so I suggest a safer product. This is assuming the wood is punky. If you are filing use only epoxy.

Clamp then apply a thin CA.

In short my opinion is remove the frets (especially when they are not seated) and start again. Use a soldering iron to apply some heat as they are removed. It would be so much easier that messing with a disaster.

My first fret job was a mess so keep practicing. If your press device provides enough pressure and the the radius insert is the right size, then the slot prep is the issue. the wire must also be properly sized to the slot. On any refret dont expect the original wire to exact match the tang on the new fretwire. You may have to widen the slot or adjust a smaller tang to fit in a larger slot. It is never a matter of banging in new wire.

If you are in the states I believe Grizzly.com sells a standard fret file for cheap.

maybe the best thing is to find a video on the process so you can see how its done. Again in the states smartflix.com.

Good luck

I sell fret wire and always sell 6 ft of wire, That way even if you make a mistake you have some extra. Covers bass as well as guitars beyond 24 frets.

One mistake and you might as well have paid the few extra dollars in the first place?

Lets start with the first issue

Are the frets in tight?

Buy a fret file, even a cheap one will be miles better than a 3 corner file. Also grind down thr edge of the file so it does not rip up the FB.

Use a razor blade to scrape inbetween the frets to remove the marks.

or Remove the frets and the board and start again using better tools.

In the link you provided, the author is suggesting CA glue for the ears, to avoid introducing moisture into the neck wood. What do you think of this? I can see wanting to use CA glue simply to eliminate the drying time. Once I get the ears on, I want to flip it and machine the back of the neck without delay.

In all honesty I had never considered using CA in a wood to wood joint like that before reading that writeup. That being said, if Kevin Ryan says its good I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to follow suit. As with any joint I imagine that the precision of the surfaces is key to having a strong, invisible glue line. Keep in mind, Ryan uses a veneer on both the front and back of the headstock.

I would also hesitate to consider the typical "ear joint" a truly structural one, especially when veneering both sides. I cant really imagine a significant stress on the joint unless you have a tuner hole right through the glue line. Look at most headstock ears out there. After all the machining is completed there usually isn't a ton of material even left. No more structural than a heel cap IMO. That's assuming a "typical" headstock size I suppose. Certainly not the rule though, I'm sure you could devise a scenario which would ask a lot of said joint if you tried. Like anything else its definitely an operation worthy of care and precision.

Just my opinion....

Structural if you add tuners onto an ear or on the glue line.

You can get various string angles with a straight HS by varing the drop from the nut. But you also increase the size of the blank from a standard fender 1" to maybe 1 1/4" thick. String trees are really the solution here if you think about it. But with trees the drop from the nut to the top of the HS is important not the HS angle. So the drop and posistion of the trees determines the break angle on the nut.

Your best bet is to draw it out and see what you get, play with the blank size, HS angle if any, the string tree location and the drop. Then make us a graph so we dont have to do it..

Hopefully this makes sense.

Pictures will overcome your lack of a discription on what is chuck of neck and beaten mean? Take lots of pictures and get back to us.

I would never trust CA for structural glue ups, use epoxy instead. My opinion is CA breaks down over time if used in this Fashion. My experience is with gluing broken household items together not wood. But why chance it. Yes i use cCA on inlay and repairs without issues. But these are small spots not glue lines.

The jig is nice and the poster is using wood glue. However not sure how it works with nothing between the neck and the board (like wax paper) to keep the neck from being glued to the Jig?

A more expensive and probably longer lasting solution is an aluminum plate. IMO

The clamps can be found using Destaco as the manufaturer.

What you are investing in are tools you will grow out of once you realize how low end they are. Better spend your money once rather than twice and buy a tool you can use for years. You will in fact spend more money in the long run opting for cheap..

Everyone has HF tools even I do, just not not the tools your buying.

Look at the first three pics here;

http://ryanguitars.com/theworkshop/Buildin...Ears%20Face.htm

also,

make it pneumatic and then your talking..Great pict.

Well, at times, when someone wants to join two pieces, butt up, together, they drill and run in dowels between the pieces. It aids structural rigidity, and in this case, I would certainly think clamping everything up would be easier, cause now it can't slide all over the place. Here:

That make sense?

The big reason is when you cutt out a HS shape you have a dowel sticking out the side. Its not necessary at all to pin or dowel.

your not going to find it here, Do a google search for the pickupp makers forum.

I just plane them to the same thickness as the headstock, then use spring clamps to keep it level with the headstock piece, and in place... then clamp. Pretty simple to me?

Buy thicker neck blanks, thats even easier...

I use my used bandsaw blades to poke holes in my garbage bags so the sawdust comes out when i pick it up..