Geo

Or... more than one neck. That's what I would do.

Finally got this thing bound and started applying the tru-oil. Sorry for the poor pictures, the lighting is terrible down there and the flash makes it look different as welll; but you get the idea. No finish yet, just shellac (I just love that grain. Yes, a gigantic scratch across the grain. What the hell.): http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1960.jpg Tru-oil: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1962.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1963.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1966.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1968.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1969.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1970.jpg Merry Christmas, and thanks for checking out my project!

Finally, it's the home stretch with this project. Gluing the neck in: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1940.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1939.jpg In larval stage: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1942.jpg Heel and cutaway roughed out: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1943.jpg Color! http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1944.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1949.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1948.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1947.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/IMG_1946.jpg The blue is a little dark on the neck and the front. I'll be sanding it back and maybe doing another light application of stain. The back turned out well, sort of blue-black.

Thanks very much for all the help and advice!

Brilliant. I'll fabricate something. Let's face it, that should NOT cost $8.

Just FYI, you can buy it from the manufacturer. Just search on google.

Thanks woodenspoke.... I'll investigate what you suggested. I'm surprised magnets wouldn't be strong enough. I have some pretty strong magnets. Also, the brace doesn't really need "moving". It will sit flush with the top on its own, it's just disconnected. But perhaps I misunderstood you. Just to clarify: essentially, you're suggesting to clamp the box outside and support it from the inside.

Wait, I just answered my own question. I'll use magnets.

The ones I use are ~10 teeth per inch I think. Just get one that's for wood (not for metal--it will take forever).

If you don't like the grain going at an angle to the centerline, just rip it down the middle, flip one piece on its axis and reglue, i.e. with the grain now converging towards the headstock.

Here's a demo at normal speed: You can use any blade you want, but tripping the mechanism ruins the blade. You also have to replace the brake. Personally, I'd rather be out about $200 than one of my fingers. The idea is that you never want to have to use this safety feature, but it's there if/when you need it. Kind of like airbags, I suppose. In that example, it took a pretty big chunk out of the hot dog. It's not losing a finger, but man, that would still be a mess!

Send the cocobolo to ME and I'll... well, just send it to me.

I'm fixing a guitar that was accidentally sat on. The soundboard received a long crack on the pickguard side, running with the grain. Because of the placement of the crack, the last ~2.5" of the x-brace on the lower bout treble side has come away from the top. I glued the crack in the soundboard. I tried sliding glue under the end of the brace with an index card. I gave it some pressure with a piece of wood wedged between the back and the x-brace. Unfortunately, when I went to test the repair, I still got some flex down there, and I can feel that the x-brace didn't take. The crack is fixed but there's still a fair amount of flexibility down there because of the last 2.5" of the brace being disconnected. Any suggestions? I've built an acoustic but this is my first attempt at repairing one. thanks.

There's a reason quartersawn wood is used. Check out a book about acoustic guitar building, it will explain it right at the beginning. Melvyn Hiscock's book about electrics explains it as well. Basically, it's more stable than flatsawn wood.

But remember... tone is in the player's hands too. Think of Jimi... he played a Strat, but his tone is WAY thicker than a normal Strat tone, even played through the same amps. Just something to keep in mind.

Absolutely. My sketches always change dramatically when I transfer them to a full-sized scale length.

Great job! Your design really "flows" into and around the basic elements of the guitar.

This is possible. Mark a centerline on the neck before shaping it. Then use this centerline to line it up with a centerline on a blank piece of wood that's still square. Stick the neck to the square wood with double-sided tape and you can use it in a miter box with a fret saw. That's how I did my last fingerboard. It worked very well.

Agreed, that's the easiest way at this point. All you have to do is: 1) secure the neck, level relative to the workbench 2) establish a level plane above the neck on which the router can ride 3) leave room on either side of the neck so the bit can do its work

I usually go with ~8" to be safe. This is longer than necessary, but leaves you extra. Also I always keep the neck blank longer than needed on the other end. I've found that in cutting and laminating a scarf joint, you lose a lot more length than you expected (about 1/4" I think?). It's easier for me to mark out the length of the neck blank and the length of the headstock from the start of the head angle, after it's been laminated. I agree with J though, you should be working from a plan before you start cutting wood... unless you're leaving your headstock shape up to your artistic whim when you go to cut it. There's nothing wrong with that as long as you know what you're doing and have your tuner positions plotted out.

Now, of course when you draw the actual full-sized plan, you start with the nut/bridge/string taper... but I don't see a problem with sketching ideas on notebook paper. The important thing is to transfer a sketch into a workable design. This sounds like a headache. I think there will be a lot of trial and error and a lot of erasing. My suggestion: Draw your bridge line (the theoretical bridge-end of the scale length), draw the nut, draw the string taper and the edges of the fingerboard. Then redraw the body around this. It will come out differently from your sketch, but it MUST come out differently, because a sketch hides dimensions that won't work on a full-size guitar. Keep looking at your plan from above, so that you can see the whole guitar. Your eye will point out things that "don't look right" as far as the shape goes. Keep in mind principles of balance etc. Lastly... you seem to show a lot of initiative. While you still need to do a lot of reading, I would encourage you to go ahead and build your own neck. It's not that hard and then you have control over the feel of the guitar. You can carve the neck to fit your particular grip or playing style. It's also a great learning experience. You'll make a lot of mistakes but your next neck will be much, much better. EDIT: I don't know if you're considering a one-piece bridge/tailpiece, but this is a good choice. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailp...und_Bridge.html

As long as you don't spend a lot of money, I see no reason not to mess around with it. I have to agree though, by the look of the rosette, this is a toy classical guitar, probably meant to have nylon strings. You should be able to tell easily by the width of the nut slots (the high E, B etc. slots will be about as wide as the bass strings.) I don't think there's a missing bridge. The neck joins the body at the 12th fret, and the tailpiece looks to be the same distance from the 12th fret. If you keep your expectations low, you could enjoy this project. You could also use it more as an oppurtunity to teach yourself some guitar repair/modification skills. I'm guessing though that it will sound horrible even as an electric because of that wonky bridge/tailpiece thing. OR, if that's what you want, it might sound awesome to you.

Next time... perhaps route the taper before radiusing the board. This time... maybe flip the neck over? Is there any flat surface left? Well, I suppose that won't work if it's an angled head. Consider using a hand-held router with a bearing bit. Instead of riding it on the radiused fingerboard, set up two rails on either side of the neck, slightly higher than the middle of the fingerboard.

reported

Wait a minute, do the first two pictures still have masking tape? I like it with just the red and gray... but honestly, the color scheme of the first two pictures is much cooler!