Southpa

Dunlop nylon picks have roughened grip area. One trick I used to do is just take a one-hole paper punch and make a hole in the center of the pick.

Regardless, in order to intonate it properly you will end up moving the bass string saddles back. If you install it straight across you might find you don't have enough play in your saddles. It happened to me and I had to plug the post hole and redrill. I would angle it at least 1/8" .

When it comes to building guitars language is not really important. A picture says a lot. Nice pics and nice work.

Thanks Brian, looks like 9.5 but I'll know fer sure when I yank the strings. Gonna play it for a few hrs. first, cheers!

I rebuilt the top on this guitar a few years ago and it plays OK. 1960's Fender Newporter, made in Santa Ana , Calif. I realized something odd just last night. Strings are higher one either side of the neck than in the middle, more noticeable in the upper neck area. I came to the conclusion that its because I put a flat profile bridge in the saddle which doesn't conform to the fretboard radius. duh I was wondering if anyone knew, off the top of your head, what the fretboard radius on Newporters would be? It looks fairly small. If not, then does anyone have a handy way of calculating it so I could either buy a bridge of that radius or carve the current one to make this guitar even more playable? Its basically a 3/4 size dreadnought with a strat style bolt on neck, scale length is 25.5".

You kids...whatever happened to the ye goode olde fashoined Christmas hold? A hand fulla NUTS! Any little guy could win.

Yes, the last TOM (Schaller roller bridge) I installed was 12" radius. You can buy pre-rediused/preslotted fretboards. It depends on what floor you want to get on. You can start with flat rosewood, ebony or whatever stock and buy a radiused sanding block from StewMac as well. Whatever you do make sure you have fun and think it out.

If you think the finish under the paint is still intact then try Brian's idea. A word of warning, most times you have to let the acetone soak in to loosen the paint. That means holding a dampened rag on the spot for up to 10 minutes. The acetone might go farther than you want it to and your end result could be bare wood. If the guitar is not a vintage, Made in USA collectible then I would suggest stripping the guitar right down to the bare bones and get out some 180 grit sandpaper and have at 'er. The acetone might work well on getting the paint off the pickguard, otherwise you can place an order at StewMac while you get parts for your neckthrough, if you haven't got everything you need for it yet.

VERY NICE, I love the finish. I'm currently refinishing an old EKO archtop and its coming out looking very similar, sort of a "denim" color. I'm using blue clothing dye, lol. I also like the recessed knobs. It saves on having the use the extra long (3/4") shaft pots.

Yeah, grab a soldering iron and pull it all apart piece by piece. Find out what you have to work with and what else you need to make what you want. There are a zillion wiring schematics out there to choose from for all kinds of pickup and switching combinations. Here are a couple good sites. http://www.seymourduncan.com/website/suppo...chematics.shtml http://www.hotrodguitars.com/WireCode.htm

Look at your grounding circuit as an entirely separate system from all your "hot" wires. You can't have any loops, that is, a ground wire coming from a component and then attached to a ground point and then a ground wire going back to that component from somewhere else. I set up my grounding circuits similar to a river system with tributaries running into it with the end result going to the ground lug of your output (plugin) jack. Choose an area to use as a central hub, usually one of the volume pots, for pickup selector switch and bridge. Your bridge must be grounded with a separate wire pushed into a bridge post mounting hole then soldered to a volume pot. Pickup grounds soldered to their respective volume pots. Pickup selector switch ground wire soldered to your central hub. The most important part is bridging all your pots in series. I usually take a longer piece of wire and strip insulation off at intervals and then solder those bare sections to each pot so I have a continuous run. Finally, a wire running from the last pot to your output jack ground lug. Also I bend in and solder the third lug of each pot (ie. 3rd one going counterclockwise) to its casing. Thats about it. Since you are using humbuckers there is no need to use any shielding tape or paint in cavities like you would with single coil pickups.

Too bad, my all-time favorite bass players are dead. Gary Thain of Uriah Heep dead at 27 yrs (damn drugs) back in 1975, John "The Ox" Entwistle aka "Thunder Fingers" died last year at 58 yrs. But hey, Jack Bruce (Cream) is still alive but don't know if hes still making music. All those guys were unique and worked very intricate fills into the bands music. If interested check out: Uriah Heep's "Magician's Birthday", kickass wahwah solo in the title song by Mick Box too. The Who "Live at Leeds" and of course, "Crossroads" by Cream I still can't figure out why the good ones have such a short lifespan.

I guess I may as well post what pics I have. I may not have the guitar any more but I'm still its creator. I hope the SOB who stole it from me gets diagnosed with AIDS and cancer all in one day. Sorry, I'm still waiting for the effects to wear off, will take a while yet. heres my entry. The guitar was a real player. I intentionally extended the fretboard out from the body so everything was fully accessible. As it was a neckthrough design I had no worries about cracking at the neck to body area like the old SG's. There was a little problem with balance as a result. But I fixed that by pouring a bit of lead into the control cavity and replaced the Grover full-size tuners with Grover minis after the pics were taken. Total weight was about the same as my '88 Strat, 8 lbs.

Well, I guess I've done all I can do for now. Filed a report with the Burnaby RCMP and contacted numerous pawnshops in the Greater Vancouver area by email, along with the BC Pawnbroker's Association, which has numerous members, with description and pictures of the guitar. I sure hope they spread the word. I will also post messages in alt. guitar and alt.guitar.beginners newsgroups. Hey its a longshot, but I will leave no stone unturned. After filing the police report I actually took a half hour drive around my mother's neighborhood in hopes of seeing someone walking with a guitar case. I definitely had VEHICULAR HOMICIDE on my mind at the time! The local pawnshop I visited before heading home told me that they can't restrain anyone who is bringing in "known" stolen goods. All they can do is offer the smallest amount of money possible and then contact me. I would then have to reimburse them for what they paid, yes, to get my own guitar back, and then call the cops. The pawnshop requires picture ID for any transaction so then the perps could be nabbed. But if they called the police in the beginning, the cops would take the guitar and the shop owner would be out the money he paid to the ratbastard who stole my guitar. Thanks muchly for the sentiments my guitar building brothers. Oh, BTW @ Brian will you be updating the download section with my ACAD drawings anytime soon? My next guitar will be along the same lines with a few minor changes. I swear, that guitar was a real player!

Thats right its Christmas Day and I'm currently in Burnaby, BC at my mother's place talking to you thru her gawddamn primitive dialup connection. I'll be back home in Victoria, BC tomorrow afternoon. The parking lot at my mother's apartment was full so I parked at the building next door in the underground visitor's section. It was around 5 pm, went up to have dinner w/ my brother and his wife at my mother's. Went back down to move the truck to the front of my mother's building around 7:30 pm. The truck has a canopy on the box with a working lock but I found out thats not very secure. Its an older truck, btw. All you have to do is reef on the tailgate and it will pop open. I didn't know that until now. Anyway, my project guitar was gone along with a bottle of rum my dad gave me. I'm putting the word out to all you guys in Vancouver area, the link in the link below better work. If not I'll fix it tomorrow when I get home. Been booted off this connection 3 times and I'm about getting sick up and fed with it. I'm going to contact as many pawn shops in the area that have websites/emails, sending pics of my guitar. I already filed with the Burnaby RCMP. If you see the guitar call the cops and refer to file no. 2003-68029. I'm going to the closest pawn shop a few blocks from here and talk to the owner tomorrow morning. I'll describe the guitar as best I can and try to get pics to him later. Who knows! Maybe the SOB will try to pawn my guitar right there in front of my face! What a Fantasy! What are the odds? If I DO see my axe I'll roll up my sleeves tell the shop owner to call the cops AND an ambulance. I guess I'm still in shock, but I sure know what I will do if I see my guitar again... ACT HARD AND FAST. If you pull off the backing plate you will see my name stamped into the wood, "ALAN GENDRON". The police have a detailed description. Its unique. But I have a hunch I'll never see it again, this is a big city. Also gone is my only electric guitar case, black rectangular coffin style w/ blue interior, yellow Dean Markley Guitar strings sticker on one corner. I had my Fender strat trem arm inside as well as my tiny Fender Bassman (~6"X6") practice amp made of yellow plastic and a Yorkville guitar chord w/ white sleeves on each end. Oh, and just realized, my headphones in there too. I tell ya one thing, I'm gonna lose it when I see the pics I took of that guitar, just barely holding it together right now. Pray it doesn't happen to you and believe me, even if you have the SLIGHTEST DOUBT about leaving your favorite axe somewhere it might get stolen, BRING IT INSIDE. I should know better. Doesn't matter if you lock up or not, they can still get in if they want something bad enough. I WILL get some relief one day. I'll probably see some guy breaking into someone else's vehicle and thats when I will go ballistic. I don't care, you don't steal from individuals. I can already hear his bones breaking like a chicken's. But for now I have to carry it with me... it really, really hurts man. I guess I better get started on the next one. http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...?showtopic=3449

Unfortunately...that department is redundant, . You guys have a merry one, gone for 3 days.

I've used the spar urethane and the fast drying polyurethane, high gloss. They also come in spray cans. There is good and bad with anything you use. The poly makes a very hard, durable coat but will not flex with expansion and contraction of wood joints from temp/humidity changes. It will crack instead. Good side is the poly is UV protective so your finish won't yellow over the years like it can with laquer. Applying laquer requires good ventilation and breathing protection. Both will polish to a nice high gloss. My experience with poly involved several coats and wetsanding up to 1500 grit. Then polishing with Meguiar's Step 2 polish, got an unbelievable "wet" look as a result. It looked like the bar top at my local drinking establishment, .

Not a link, its a text file I made. I can cut and paste it in here. Some folks might do it differently. But this way works fine for me. Let me know if I left anything out or if you simply don't agree with anything. I'm interested in learning as much as the next person. Fret dressing Tools leveller - 6" to 8" long stone (course/fine) or ft. long fine bastard file black marker triangular file (2 edges ground smooth) masking tape 1 ft. long steel ruler 3" long steel straightedge 400 grit sandpaper 600 grit sandpaper 1200 grit sandpaper 000 steel wool Optional tools but not really crucial sanding block with matching fretboard radius diamond fret crowning file from StewMac (76 bucks!) stainless steel fret protectors Assessment This can only work on guitars that have fully functional necks. If there are any problems like backbow, twisting or truss rod doesn't work etc. then you have to address that problem before fret work. Neck Your best results come from working on a straight, flat surface so you have to first see where the neck is at and then adjust the truss rod accordingly to lower the relief to as near flat as possible. I like to leave the strings on the guitar at this stage because its easier to decide WHICH WAY and HOW FAR to turn your trussrod to achieve no relief. Remember the string tension adds a bit to the relief so you don't have to turn as far as you think. Remove the strings and double check for overall flatness with the steel ruler. I like to work with a lamp for backlight, then you can see light shining thru at the gaps. See if the ruler rocks on any high spots, could be on individual frets also could rock across a group of frets = BACKBOW. If your neck is backbowed then you have to work out some way to get it flat. Most guitars are built with a single truss rod only allowing for forward curvature, loosening entirely just renders the neck straight, at least thats how they are supposed to work. I like the bi-flex truss rod (double rod) which allows correction both ways. If its a slight backbow you might be able to work around it and string/trussrod tension can set it right. A little tightening on the truss rod might fix it. If you have a severe backbow, and trussrod adjustment isn't enough, you have to fix that before continuing. Clamp it, heat it, steam it whatever it takes. Frets Visual inspection for: dimples/indents caused by habitual tight vibrato motion at the same place. Flattened areas from repeated bending in all those "sweet spots". Overall lack of height from previous fret dressings. This is where you have to decide whether or not a few frets need replacing, a total fretjob is needed or just a dressing will do. I'll just continue with the dressing assuming there is still some "meat" left on the frets and they are all firmly seated. Just in case, check around with the 3" straight edge, spanning 3 frets at a time, for high or low ones. You might find one that needs to be tapped back down. Or you might find a few that need to be replaced. I can't really say in numbers how low they have to be for replacement. Thats up to you, just compare with the others. Dressing 1. Double tape the wood fretboard between the frets. 2. Ink the top of each fret with the marker and support the neck evenly. I like a folded up beach towel. 3. Run your stone, file or sanding block (w/ 400 sandpaper) along the fretboard while curving side to side to follow the radius. Even pressure, steady speed, even contact throughout. Keep an eye on how the marker ink wears away. Ink still showing = low spot. You have to continue until that ink is gone working EVENLY over the whole neck. Don't just concentrate on that low area. This is where the results of your initial assessment are important. If you feel you are taking too much off the other frets then that low one should have been pulled and replaced first and then filed down to match up with the others. 4. Re-ink the tops of the frets. They should each have a small flat, course landing on the top. 5. Now you want to recurve (crown) the top of each fret. I've been told the diamond file will crown in only a few swipes, but it IS an expensive tool. I use the triangular file with good results. Use the surface of the file with the 2 dulled edges straddling the fret. This way you can touch the tape on the fretboard without tearing it and eventually messing up the rosewood or whatever is underneath. Run the file flat along the fret while "curving" it EVENLY up each side, end to end and crosswise. Eventually you will see the ink disappearing. Stop when you see just the faintest line of ink running down the exact center of each fret. 6. Rip a small piece of 400 grit paper, fold it and smooth the top of each fret by sanding end to end. This should take out the heavy scratch marks left by the crowning file. 7. Repeat with finer grits. 8. Polish with steel wool. 9. Tear off the tape, restring, adjust truss rod to your preferred relief and setup. 10. Play that gittar! End note: If you have a crappy little noname guitar laying around its good to get a little practice in on that before messing with your $2000 LP.

Sent you a private message! Someone in another forum asked about dressing and crowning so I typed out my step by step method. Hope it helps.

Nuthin' like a good handjobbed guitar. My favorite part of the building process is handsanding the body with a foam pad. I'd even consider doing a time-lapsed photog series while sanding mahogany. You can actually see the wood grain move around over time. Now that is art at its finest. The smell of freshly sanded wood and that rasping sound. I could spend hours doing that on my backyard tool bench on a nice summer day.

I bought a spin saw kit (Mastercraft) at Canadian Tire a while ago. It came with attachments for cutting circles, plunge routing, freehand routing and dremel cable extension included. 2 speeds at 20,000 and 30,000 rpm. I assume most routers will suit your needs. Its actually the bits that will break your bank account, if you buy cheap you will get cheap. A kit of 8 good bits could cost as much as the router. If you plan on buying a used router make sure the bearings are good, ie. no wobblies in the shaft. Check all your height and angle adjustment screws if equipped with a plunge base. I found that the higher rpm the better for making clean safe cuts. I've learned my lesson there, going too fast at low speed will tear the wood, .

Have a look at the capacitor(s) soldered to your tone pot(s). The standard cap that most manufacturers use for humbuckers is rated at .047 ufarads, single coils normally come with .022 ufarads. You can brighten your output by installing a different value capacitor. If I'm not mistaken, the lower cap value results in more bypass of high frequency, so a bigger value cap should take some of the muddiness away, ie. allow more highs to bleed thru in your output.

I agree with Page being a little sloppy on stage and I feel the same way about Blackmore. But their studio work was awesome. Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Martin Barre (Jethro Tull), the late Rory Gallagher, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Mick Abrahams (early Jethro Tull), Mick Box (Uriah Heep). Most of those guys were doing stuff in the 60's but didn't really get any recognition until the 70's. But they were all unique, they were the pioneers, riding the crest of a huge wave. No comparing, btw. How about Canadian guitarists? Randy Bachman (Guess Who), Frank Marino (Mahogany Rush), David Henman (April Wine) and Kim Mitchell come to mind, any others?

rsera, whoever sells mini-mite dremels should carry a variety of collets, otherwise they can point you in the right direction. I bought a small package of 6 with every size from 1/32" to 1/4" shaft for about 10 bucks Cdn.

LOL, I wouldn't worry about 7/32" exactly throughout the slot, only on the ends where the blocks set in. You should have seen my very first truss rod slot, crooked as a dog's hind leg but still functional.