Morben Guitars

Forgot to mention that I've had good luck sealing signatures in using "EF Lacquer"...waterbased stuff I got at Rockler for a piece of furniture. Not a huge fan of Waterbased lacquers..but this actually worked well. I used the sanding sealer then a satin topcoat. Came out well with both a paintpen and a sharpie.

Bondo machines quite nicely (not that I've ever made a mistake and had to use it )

Does it Hum at high volume settings? If there are two dots of solder holding the cover on...that's easy to remove. My vote is dead coil, hence the price you paid..

If they sign the bare wood - it will bleed in and look like crap in 3 months.. You need to have the body sealed first. Use a Vinyl Sanding sealer. This is also what you will want to experiment with to coat over it... TEST ON SCRAPS FIRST!! Nitro and nitro based sanding sealer will both eat a sharpie alive. You could go to the art store and buy a paint pen...but I still wouldn't use any nitro/poly topcoat directly on it. They are all nice guys - I have met them a few times. Steve's guitarist is a friend of mine...he got to play my Guitar of the Month a few weeks back..

Good memory! That was me and it was about 4 years ago! Finishing over holes isn't a problem...in fact it may help when you are wetsanding. I now seal the inside of the holes well with lacquer. I actually try to drill most of the small holes after the finish is on (pickguard, pickup rings, etc.) I have used wax to seal for the wetsanding process...but as it has been pointed out..wax BEFORE finishing will create problems.

Is there a neck angle?

Well no on is hopping in here - so I guess I will.. I bound two f-holes on my last guitar, and mitred all the edges. First step is to buy more binding than you need! I ended up using about 2 feet of binding trying to get the mitres just perfect. Here's how you'll do this: Test fit a piece of binding, I'd recommend the side pieces first. Tape it on and use a razor blade to mark the 45 degree mitre where it needs to be. Cut the mitre with a delicate hand saw and test the fit. If it's good - glue it in and tape it down. Clean up any glue run-out in the mitre area..you'll want that flat and clean for the next step. Do the same for both sides of the headstock, and wait overnight. Now for the fun part - this is where you can use a lot of binding..it's basically a cut and fit, repeat as necessary step. You can remove small amounts of binding by sanding - but sand with the paper on a flat surface (glass works great) or you'll have gaps in your mitre joints. I've found it helpful to keep a piece of binding sitting in a cup of acetone. This will give you a "touch up" piece of binding..you can fill small gaps easily with this. I also recommend using the Duco Cement because like the old model cement - it actually melts the binding and bonds it with the wood or the binding..superglue just kina sticks it there and doesn't allow the binding to conform to irregularities in the joints. Once you have the piece of binding cut and mitred so that it fits, glue it in..wait overnight agian and cut/mitre the last piece of the puzzle...this is the tough one.. Good luck!

Chicken or the Egg? Unless you're dead set on drilling yourself - I may just have the shop install the nut AND the neck...let it up to them. If you make a mistake, it will cost you more in time and/or money to fix it... If you ARE set on drilling yourself - I'd suggest installing a temporary nut - doesn't have to be fancy as long as the string spacing is correct. It could even be a piece of wood with just the E's cut into it. Using the centerline method described above will be a little difficult since you don't have a saddle in the middle position OR a tuner to align it with. Best to use the actual string angles that will be present with the guitar is complete.

Here's a tutorial I did titled "sunbursting with analine dyes" http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...wtopic=6194&hl= (not sure how to post links - so can someone fix it for me if it doesn't work?) -Ben

Shellac is really the only finish you can "make" at home. I haven't seen the powdered version, however I've used the chip or "flake" form to mix my own. It's pretty straight forward.

That's actually my prefered way of applying a dye. However there are some issues to address - What type of Dye are you using? When you say "Stain", I'm assuming you're not using a "Minwax" wood stain. You'll have issues with that since they mix in a sealer/oil with the dye. The other point to note is what type of sealer you are using. The Stew Mac sanding sealer is Nitro based. This has a good bit of solvent in it and *can* disrupt the dye, making it blotchy. I've switched to a Vinyl Sanding Sealer (but you'll need spray equip..) I also use alcohol based dyes. Bottom line - you need to be testing all of this on a scrap.

Yes, just follow the same steps with the exeption of using a bigger bit on the body. It can actually be a little more difficult to center the holes properly since you're drilling a small bit through a larger hole. In the past, I've used a brad point drill bit in the same diamater of the holes in the body, put it thorugh the hole and given it a good tap. Then I've removed the neck and drilled it on a press with the correct size bit where the marks on the neck are...esentially using the bigger bit as a coutersink/centerfinder once the neck is aligned on the body.

You read correctly, and I quote Stewie Macdaddy: "Gibson's standard 24-3/4" scale is a compensated length based on a true scale of about 24-9/16". Our fret spacing matches Gibson's most common spacing. Many Gibsons have other scale lengths — measure your guitar before ordering! For 20-fret necks, simply cut off the two highest slots. "

I love that babygrand from Hipshot...can't wait to use it on a future project... Another option is to use a tele bridge. I really like a humbucking tele bridge on my guitars..adds that little extra "twang" to the sound - and works with a string through.

I'm assuming that holes are missing from both the neck and body.. Here's what you want to do: 1. Mount the bridge 2. Install the two E tuners to the peghead 3. put the neck in the neck pocket 4. hold it in place using C-Clamps; BE SURE TO USE WOOD SCRAPS BETWEEN THE CLAMS AND THE GUITAR & FRETBOARD! 5. string up the two E strings and use them as an alignment gauge while you slighly adjust the neck side to side. Once it appears you have it aligned, tighten the Clamps. 6. now using the drill bit designed for the size of the screw, drill your holes. You can use the Neck Plate as a guide, or simply trace the circles on the guitar beforehand (I'd recommed that). 7. You can now unclamp. But you're not done drilling yet. Jump up about 3 bit sizes and drill the holes in the body. You don't want the screws to screw into the body AND the neck...just the neck. They should be able to move around in the body. This will allow for the fine adjustments often necessary after mounting and stringing. You've got the right idea with using a depth gauge! Don't want to drill through the fretboard!! Hope that helps. -Ben

Best way is determine fretboard length is to measure from the nut to the 12th fret and double it. 12th fret is exactly 1/2 the distance between nut & saddle (on the high E string).

Drill the holes out with a slightly larger bit, then glue in a dowel - should be a very tight fit.

If you're cloning an existing body - then you already have your template and measurements right in front of you!! make a MDF template from your existing body, include all holes, and you're all set! Also, the holes in the body should be large enough for movement of neck. In other words, you're not "screwing" the neck screws into the body...they should just drop in with some play. This allows a small margin of error when drilling them.

$400...and they often have a $50 rebate...I got mine for $350, and it's more planer than I need. http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/product_detai...=7&filter=delta I have lots of grizzly equipment. My home in PA is close to one of their monster stores...huge building. My uncle has a full A++ shop with almost ALL grizzly equipment. Their deal is that they design everything here in the US, then have it made in Taiwan, but use oversized everything...bearings, etc. Tough as nails equipment - excellent customer support - and you can't beat the price. Get their catalog, it's like the Sears Wish Book for guys.

In fine woodworking, Lacquer is often referred to as the "rolls royce" of finishes. It's what professional refinishers use when the job needs to be A+ such as in finishing a grand piano. It's depth and clarity is difficult to match with any other finish. It's use in the luthier world is due to a few reasons. First would be that when guitars and violins were being made 150 years ago, there wasn't nearly as much choice in finishes...poly's hadn't been invented yet. Secondly, Lacquer, unlike many of finishes, allows you to repair the instrument w/o the need to refinish the entire instrument. Lastly, I think that the appearnce of a glass-like guitar is appealing to many. Individual preferences will vary, but most guitars have a shiney finish for a reason - people like it. While I'll agree that a thick coat of ANYTHING will dampen the accoustic qualities of tonewoods, It's much less of an issue with an electric guitar. With an acoustic it can make a noticible differance. Still, not a reason to put a thick finish on..and most skilled finishers will keep the lacquer as thin as possible. As an individual builder, if take great pride in a wonderful finish, and spend a lot of time insuring that I obtain one. Of course it will bet beat up if played hard - But if you wipe down an 1960 nitro finished les paul...it still looks awesome. I guess my view is...anything worth doing, is worth doing well.

do a google image search for "mary kay finish" I think that's the look you're after. It's a translucent white. Reranch sells it in a rattle can I believe.

Depends on your neck joint (neck through, tenon, bolt on?) as well as the necessary depth for your specific pickups. Since the main purpose of building a semi-hollow electric is to reduce weight, hollowing out a thinner body will have less of an effect. I went with the standard 1.75" thickness (1/4" cap on a 1.5" body). You probably wouldn't have any issues going with a 1.25" body and a 1/4 cap, but I don't know that I'd go much thinner than that. Per your pine question, we just had a post about this. Can you build a guitar out of pine? Sure. Would I ever recommend it? No. There are many other woods of similar price with much better qualities. Alder and Basswood come to mind.

I couldn't be happier with my new Delta 13" planer. I spent a good bit of time weighing the options of the 12" and the one I bought. It is my first planer. I've used other since I bought this one, and don't know how I would live w/o some of the features. Granted, I used it for much more than guitar building, but the bells and whistles of this machine were completly worth the extra bling. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Yes, it is typical for us to thickness plane the wood before building. Often we use sizes that are not common...and it's always a good idea to start with a known flat surface. Instead of dropping some serious cash on a planer (espically one that will require you to cut your body blank in two), call around your area and find a cabinet maker. They will have the correct tools and will often do it for a few bucks.

I've never seen anyone carry Pearloid Binding in any color other than white... I purchased mine from Warmoth.