Southpa

If you want to loosen the glue holding frets down (if there is any), a soldering iron directly applied to the fret works well. You could also tape the wood along either side of the fret to help hold the wood down when pulling. I use a pair of end nippers with the face ground flat to pull frets. If you end up with fret tangs pulling wood out then save the chips and reglue them back into the fretboard asap. A good fret job shouldn't need any glue. Usually, the reason for the glue in the first place was because the fret slot was cut too wide. Glue is a pain in the butt and messy, especially for the poor sod who has to replace the frets next time. Fret slots can be cleaned out with a hook knife. If the slots are too wide you can buy "fret tang pliers" from StewMac or make a tool that will expand the tangs for a wider slot.

Whew, good thing I got free wood from working last summer. I spent some time in a boat building shop and was given some hefty chunks of Honduras mahogany by the head carpenter. Too bad the sizes aren't big enough to make a full body blank but I got one 4" thick piece sawn into 2 - 2" thick pieces, both 8 1/4" wide X 41 3/4" long. So I might be able to squeeze 2 bookmatched guitars out of those. I also have a 1 3/4X 8 1/4 X 61 3/4 piece good for 2 more guitars. Also have a 2 X 4 X 39 and a 1 3/4 X 1 3/4 X 39 piece. Thats 3 more neckthroughs.

Congrats on the baby! Better get started on that baby tele. I'd say a scale length of about 18" would be about right.

I was thinking of entering this month but I want to get some inlaying done first. Maybe next month. I'm currently looking for a small AC motor to attach a diamond cutting wheel for cutting/forming pieces.

Very interesting. You thinking about a solid block of 1/4" thick stainless (heavy and expensive)? Or stainless 14ga. to form a cap over existing fretboard wood? I'm not going to tell you whats right or wrong, its not my thing. You do what you can do and if any mistakes happen or it simply doesn't work, then I consider it a learning experience. I've done my fair share of metal fabrication and I can be sure about one thing, you have a real challenge ahead. Especially forming your fretboard radius and attachment to neck. If you plan on a cap I guess you could tack bolts on the back side and then run them thru your fretboard wood and attach with nuts. But ANY welding will cause some discoloration and warpage on your outside surface. Stainless can be very unforgiving. There will also be string wear and tear on the stainless afterwards. I made a solid 14 ga. stainless pickguard for my last guitar. It worked out very well. I glued a piece of particle board to the back face to cut my pickup holes with a jigsaw equipped w/ a hacksaw toothed blade. That prevented the piece from overheating and bending. Then just pulled the particle board off afterwards. The pickups mount directly to the pickguard which is well grounded with the bridge grounding wire.

Oh well, like I mentioned in the first post, this guitar is a (el cheapo) HONDO classical with no truss rod. I just put them back together the same way they were built. The owner was so happy with the results that he INSISTED on giving me a 50 dollar bill. I'm not in the financial position to argue with him .

Hey, I'm using the same bolts that were used to initially hold the bridge down. They came with the guitar. *** you think I'm using? bolts off my truck???

I recently repaired an acoustic (6 string) that had similar problems. The bracing inside was at fault which caused the area forward of the bridge to sink which, in turn, caused the rear of the bridge to pull out. Feel around inside for any bracing pieces that have separated from the top or any that might have split. In my case MOST of the bracing pieces had problems (some split and some separated). However, they were still in position. This fix was a BIG pain in the ass because all the glueing, clamping etc. had to be done thru the soundhole. You'll have to figure out various ways of clamping and will find yourself using a variety of different clamp types. Clamps with long jaws that can reach rear bracing pieces come in real handy. I also precut pieces of 2X4 and wedged them inside to hold pieces against the top after glueing. I applied yellow carpenter's glue with a medium sized syringe between bracing pieces and the top. Worked very well! Then clamp the piece down any which way you can. I also beefed up the bridge mounting. Most acoustic bridges are glued AND bolted down. For repairs like this I usually glue a strong piece of wood (< 1/4" thickness) to the underside of the top directly under the bridge mounting. Then drill thru from the top to complete the mounting screw holes and the holes for string hold-down pins. When bolting the bridge down I also like to use flat washers to evenly displace pressure when tightening. When glueing the bridge down I score the guitar top and the mounting surface of the bridge with 80 grit sandpaper. A good rough surface retains glue and makes a much better foundation. Be sure you put masking tape around the perimeter of the bridge patch on the top to prevent any damage to the surrounding finish.

Did you open it up and recheck all your wiring? Maybe one of your hot wires coming off the pickup is touching ground somewhere. Also, check the actual wires themselves.

Heres my latest. Clearcoated with Minwax polyurethane spraybomb. I have no complaints. Not as toxic or noxious to work with as laquers and its easy to fill, sand and polish. You can also brush it on with a foam applicator and it will settle out on a flat surface like a sheet of glass. Shine has been there for 2 months now and still shinin' on. http://pictures.care2.com/view/2/848983763

I was fantasizing about that a little while ago. It would be pretty damn expensive in the hardware area. You could probably take your strat body and split it right down the center of the neck pocket and then shape a piece for the middle. And you can copy the neck pocket "halves" to complete each pocket. I guess a much easier way is to chop up 2 strat bodies and glue them together . <--- Funny guy

You should be able to mount w/out the rings.

Usually the ring mounts onto the guitar and the pickup mounts onto the ring. Used exclusively on curved top guitars like LP's. You still need something to mount your pickups onto. If you have a flat top guitar you could make a pickguard and then mount the pickups onto that.

Deep holes? can they be sanded out w/out affecting the shape of the guitar very much? I had similar problems to work out and did some experimenting. I tried mixing mahogany sawdust with wood glue and packing it in. I realize I used the wrong kind of glue and didn't get the mix quite right. The filled holes were a tad lighter shade than the surrounding wood. You could try it with a clear glue, maybe epoxy? and your stain might mask it. So long as your stain and clear won't react with the glue-mix in those areas. The other option is go ahead and stain and then spotfill the holes with whatever clearcoat you are using. It would probably take more than one application. Damn, 4:30 in the AM and I just can't get to sleep.

The material itself averages around 1/16" thick. Then add another 1/16" (avg.) for depth of concave. I might be able to work some of it into the fretboard radius (12") but not much. Might be able to reduce it (depth of concave) some during the cutting process.

I never imagined this stuff could dull saw blades so quickly. Anyway, I have some nice Mexican abalone blanks (10 - 1" X 3/4" ovals) The problem is none of them are flat. They are all convex/concave and I'm afraid some of the larger pieces I cut won't sit quite right in the wood. I want to use the convex sides up, thats where the nice patterns are, but if I sink them into the wood with the highest part (center) level with the wood then the outer edges will be below level. How do you deal with this, just fill the edges w/ epoxy until level with the wood? Or do the pieces initially have to be flat?

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....corrrrrnnnn.... Welcome from Victoria, BC. I'm a relative newcomer myself and its easy to feel right at home. My kinda people!

Look around for Meguiar's automotive polishers. They have a big line of various polishing compounds, cleaners and waxes. I got an awesome "wet" look with the "Deep Crystal System" no. 2 polish when applied to my poly finish.

If Zappa was still alive I'll bet he could have been president, a real statesman. He had more imagination than any other composer/musician and he didn't bullshit around. I noticed a lot of women don't like his music because of his lurid lyrics and innuendo, sure, taken right to the edge, but still true with a huge dose of humor to boot. He was also responsible for giving a lot of musicians the break they needed, ie. giving them a chance to work with a master who arranges complicated pieces. They went on to form their own successful careers afterwards. His filmography like 200 Motels and Baby Snakes are masterpieces. I might add that EVERYTHING Zappa did live and in studios was recorded in one form of another. He had huge archives in his basement and was very secretive and possessive about his material. Saw him twice in concert and he was quite reserved. Kinda funny just seeing him sit on a stool at center stage smoking a cigarette with a cup of coffee while the rest of the band is going apeshit around him (TWO drummers). But when he steps up to play the guitar... WHAM. Just listen to the live cut "Son Of Orange County" on Roxy and Elsewhere and you'll hear what I mean. I never did like comparing musicians/guitarists, its like apples and oranges. Maybe Vai is the better guitarist (faster, whats "better" anyway?) but Zappa was the better musician and showman, handsdown.

A friend was helping another friend move. The person had a classical guitar that she was going to toss into the dumpster but my friend grabbed it and brought it to me to fix. I've fixed/rebuilt other guitars for him, for money, and I'm in between jobs right now. Its a Hondo H308 classical. Some buffoon strung it with steel strings so the bridge got ripped right out of the body. Otherwise, the guitar is in fine shape structurally and finish-wise and I see no reason to toss it. Just needs a new bridge glued and bolted down and new strings. Our usual agreement is that I buy the parts and he reimburses me and pays me for my time and effort. I like the experience but many of you might think this guitar is not worth the effort. Maybe I'll just charge him 20 bucks + cost of bridge and strings and leave it at that.

Is the guitar painted or clearcoat over wood? If the latter then its a reasonably easy fix. Just fill with clear and polish. If paint is damaged down to bare wood then you have to fill and touchup with a good color match.

You can buy "Contact and Head Cleaner" at your local Radio Shack. Lots of other products available that will do the same thing. I'll bet all that stuff comes out of the same vat. Just an alcohol based spray that loosens dust and goo between contacts.

I guess I'm sort of in the middle as "skilled" or "player" but not a "skilled player". Hard to judge something like that for yourself anyway. People ask me if I'm good and I'll usually reply, "Would you like it if I was?" But I have done some major renovations and rebuilds on acoustics and electrics for money. I've got one from scratch under my belt so far and will only sell if offered the right amount, but there will be others.

Well, I know what the results are when you vote guitar. And I'll never make that mistake again. If she says, "Come to bed" while you're working out that song on the guitar, you better put the thing down and "Go to bed".

OK, I'm assuming you are referring to THIS guitar: which has 2 single coil pickups and 1 vol/ 1 tone knob and a 3-way switch. Here is the closest schematic I could find . http://www.seymourduncan.com/website/suppo...one1switch.html Does the guitar work fine as is? If so, then I would just remember where everything went, replace your components and put it back together the way it was.