Southpa

HUH!? 1/14 HP? I think they better edit that. I'm assuming its 1-1/4 HP.

Sounds like a plan! First clamp it securely and check the neck angle, action etc. You can get more glue in by stressing the joint a little to open things up...but not too far!

The problem is the tail end of the fret board is not touching the body, it is approx. 1/8" off the body. Should he remove more of the base of the neck to lower the tail onto the body, or will it not effect the sound quality?

You have a little bit of measuring and thinking to do before you proceed. I was going to suggest setting up your bridges and necks and checking the neck angle, height etc. with a straightedge. But you'll have to do that after you've measured, situated and drilled out your bridge and tailpiece stud holes. If its a kit then the components should be prefitted, ie. no need to cut things further.

Well, you seem to have the right approach, trying to be systematic and thorough can be tough. Not all necks are alike and you might have a real "individual". Twist can also result in a non-Q-sawn neck when under string tension, especially long ones. With the strings off everything could be straight as a die, just add a little pressure and she could turn into a dog's hind leg. depends on the species, density, straightness of grain and cut.

The MOST IMPORTANT part of doing setup work is your assessment. You can look at individual frets and then you look at the overall layout of the fb, neck, bridge etc. I can usually rule out a few factors by simply laying a straightedge along the fb, checking where the deepest relief should be occurring (mid truss rod of course) and sliding the straightedge towards the bridge to check the neck angle. When do you start messing with fret levelling and dressing? I remove the strings and relax the truss rod. Theoretically and ideally, the board should be flat. I also check for gaps and pinch points (rocking the edge) that indicates uneven frets for whatever reason (worn, loose, etc.) There is nothing wrong with doing a levelling/dressing so long as you have plenty of fret "meat' left and its done in a competent manner. Even if its not nceessary, its good practice anyway!

In another thread on this board there are some utube examples of some guys doing things to various guitars. I guess they can make things work but I don't recommend learning from those sources. Simply adjusting the truss rod and then looking down the neck to assess relief is not good enough for me. I need something a little more tangible than my own "eyeballing". However, I DO like to see what effect turning a truss rod has on my neck. So the good 'ol straightedge tells me all.

To answer your question, relief is where you find it and where you like it. I have done LOTS of work on guitars owned by friends and acquaintances and I usually ask them how they like their relief. They generally, reply with "HUH??!" People who like to hit the strings hard need more relief for that big amplitude they are generating. People who press hard might like low relief to avoid "sharp" notes. Fret height plays a role in this as well. People who play with a light touch (both hands) like low relief, a few guys on this board have mentioned that they prefer flat boards.

If you've done a levelling and dressing already and things are not right then you should be questioning your methods of assessment and interpretation of your results. You mention the low B and E play fine throughout the register which indicates something is uneven or maybe twisted? How many turns of the trussrod have you got in so far from slack position? If needed you could shoot a little bit of WD-40 to coax a little more.

I know the feeling. A number of years ago I had my first project stolen from my truck on Xmas day! If you dig around in the archives you can get the details. I got the guitar back 4 months later by very slim odds. I wouldn't have been so fortunate had I not first stamped my name on the wood inside the control cavity and recorded the theft online at a very prominent website shortly after the theft. The guitar changed hands about 3 times before it was owned by an honest, good samaritan. The guy was a tinkerer and had never seen the design before (definitely a unique instrument) and he opened it up to look inside, saw my name and did a Google search and found the post I made at the Stolen Guitar Database WITH links to pictures and contact info. He promptly emailed me and we got together. He wanted to be reimbursed for the money he paid and I happily gave him the $200. Yeah, it was a bit of an insult, I mean, A LOUSY TWO HUNDRED dollars!? Thats ok, if it was $2000 I would have told him to keep it! Anyway, I'm just saying miracles DO happen, especially if you can increase the odds a little beforehand.

I also visited all the pawn shops in the area and supplied pictures, description(s) and contact info. If the thief shows up with the guitar, their policy is to offer the least amount of money possible and then contact YOU. If you want your guitar(s) back then you have to reimburse the pawn shop. They WILL NOT try to detain or apprehend the perp, they don't want trouble in their shop. And they WILL NOT call the police after the sale because the police will seize the guitar as evidence and the pawn shop is out the money. So that is another option. Its good to get the word out to as many places/people as possible.

Never tried it but the pros at work, ie. fibreglassers, painters etc. swear by a product they call "WEST System". That stands for Wood Epoxy Saturation Technique I've only seen it at work in the larger volumes (quarts etc) with special dispensing systems. But they do supply it in smaller quantities. Its good reading and the product specifically designed for doing this kinda thing.

Wetsanding a cured finish as opposed to dry sanding.

1. Water conveys sanded particles and grit away from the finish ensuring that striations do not occur.

2. Heat developed from friction is minimized by the coolness of the water. This allows your paper to last MUCH longer. When dry sanding the heat buildup literally melts the finish being sanded which will stick to the paper.

Nice guitar but its been done.

http://www.lgmguitars.com/guitars/leviatha...ns_exotics.html

A guy at work builds oilcan guitars. He goes on ebay, buys antique oilcans and does them up nice w/ a maple neck, TOM bridge and single pup. The last one he built sold for 500 bucks. I can assume the originator of the Wiki article would say the same about what Bill does. So lets just chalk his comments up to ignorance and let him continue swimming in it, K?

Hmmm....Rustoleum, eh? Sanding is optional. http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGResourceCenter.asp?sn=sur I don't see a problem with making sure you have a little additional mechanical bonding, just make sure the previous coats are cured well.

is there anyone else on here that cant pass up on a nice piece of wood even when you dont need it

...every morning...

I'll never pass on a chance to get free wood. I look over the woodbin at work to see what the shipwrights have tossed out. They play with mostly plywood and veneers, but occasionally there are useable sized scraps eg. mahogany, maple, purpleheart etc. I talk to a lot of people about wood and know people who know what I'm looking for. I'm working on getting local maple and also have a friend who is going to buck me some 2" alder billets from 14"-16" dia. logs. Gonna make some nice 1-piece strat bodies. So far, I've got no. 5 from scratch guitar in the works (all mahogany scaled -down Flying V) and never had to pay for a scrap of wood yet. Be vigilant and keep your wood radar tuned in.

I'm currently working on getting a supply of maple for future builds. Victoria, BC is right in the heart of Bigleaf Maple country. There are guys at work who are literally cutting it down and burning it in their woodstoves and fireplaces at home, totally ignorant that this wood is much sought after (by us). I'm trying to convince them that they are sitting on potential goldmines. If I find what I'm looking for I just might open up the market a little bit.

I'm partial to smaller bookmatched burls.

The original Hagstrom III employs the use of 3 independent sliding switches to give all pickup combinations possible. The Hag III uses one volume pot and 3 add'l sliding switches (2 tones and a mute). You might be able to work something out from this site for your 3 toggles.

Outstanding work, DougK! Definitely one for the GOTM contest!

Stick your amp into a kitchen cupboard and play the song Houses of the Holy. Thats how Page got the "sound" for that song when they recorded Physical Graffitti. They did all kinds of experimentation back then.

Are you doing conventional spraying or rattlecan? Rattlecan has higher solvent content and it could affect underlying coats, even if poly, under the right conditions. Another factor might be temperature and ventilation, especially with things colored black. Black absorbs heat more than anything. I've had massive bubbling occur from spraying an already hot finish. The clear skinned over real fast and couldn't gas off. The bubbles formed, some up to 1 cm across. Any one of those factors can give you trouble. If you are using rattlecan poly then drying time should be longer because of more solvents needing to gas off. Thinner coats are also wiser, once again, because of solvent content which might reactivate previously laid coats if not fully cured.

My condolences Daniel. It always seems to have to happen on Christmas. My grandfather died on Christmas day 1972. And just yesterday morning my uncle passed away. He lived a hard life, ie. drinking, smoking and eating to excess where he spent the last years of his life in a wheelchair and bedridden, also with gout, diabetes and a colostomy bag. But he had some highlights, he helped win the Memorial Cup for the Peterborough Petes in 1959 under coach Scotty Bowman, used to scout for a number of NHL teams (Montreal, St. Louis etc) and finished his hockey career as Asst. Mgr. for the Flyers under Bobby Clark in the 80's. I am sort of thankful that my uncle and I were rather distant, no tears shed and I imagine all my cousins (Gary's kids) are expelling a collective sigh of relief to know that his suffering (and theirs) has ended. But its a shame to have to make funeral arrangements (huh, Gary wants a fiddle player at his wake) when you should be celebrating Christmas.

You can round off to 2 decimals and not really worry about any intonation problems. And 2 decimals, whether in inches or cm, is measureable with the right ruler. I've used different methods to mark those points on a piece of paper. Digital calipers are accurate enough. Spread them open until the number shows and then mark it along a straight line, repeat the process with each fret. It takes a bit of patience and you must be consistent. By far the most accurate is with ACAD. I actually draw the entire fb in CAD right down to 3 decimals and do 2 "print screens" in actual size on 8.5"X11" paper. Result, when taped together is a perfect fretboard template ready for overlaying and slotting.

I coulda been a contender! STELLLLLLAAAAA!!!! I got a guitar finished but the final touches need something to be desired, namely, taking decent pictures of the damn thing. Presentation IS one of the most important aspects of showing your work. Lousy pictures just don't do it for me, so don't bother I won't look very hard. The best lighting, angles, backdrop etc. as well as attention to detail (not only in the workmanship but also in SHOWING it) as well as not showing (hiding???) those flaws (Gawd forbid!) that hopefully, can only be seen upon closer inspection and only the builder is aware of anyway.

WezV, you got my vote, that guitar looks cool and I'll bet it plays cool too. I dunno, the fanned-fret, multiscale (whatever ya wanna call it these days) has not shown up in any stores in my neighborhood AT ALL. I've never held one in my hands and played it and when I've asked those sales lackies about them all I get is "Huh!!?" So I guess the only way to find out is to build one. BTW, the rest of yous guys? You suck...nawwwwww just kidding! All nicely done but those original lines on the Vociferator (gonna have to find a dictionary) put it over the top. T'would look even better in a voodoo finish, but what can ya do?

And, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Yup batty, I see neck angle and string height issues if you mount a TOM on a strat. You need a neck angle or you will have to damn near bury the bridge into the body of the guitar to get it playable.

Some are hinged and articulating , some are rigid. Either works so long as you use conventional anchoring. I've seen styles that employ anywhere between 1 and 4 anchoring screws. Here is a 70's Empire I cleaned up and refurbished a few months ago that uses a Bigsby style trem as part of a hinged tailpiece, material is cast aluminum. The end piece has a hole in the middle for the strap button and is anchored with 3 woodscrews.

You also have the choice of making a rigid tailpiece with a simple metal bracket between your guitar and your ebony. Whatever you do must be able to overcome the tensile strength applied by the strings...and then some. I'm not sure if I would use wood screws to hold the bracket or hinge to the tailpiece. I would probably drill through and use small nuts 'n bolts with something on both sides to distribute the clamping pressure, eg. decorative washers or plate.

You'll likely find .047u in single coil guitars (usually with 250K pots), and .022uf with humbuckers (usually with 500K pots).

Lets make sure we aren't getting things backwards here.

I've done a couple strats up with the second diagram. However, I substituted the push/pull for a separate on/on dpdt mini-toggle.