JohnJohn

That would be a lot of work.First you would have to lay down a snakeskin pattern.Then using thin tape lay out the flame pattern.If you got to http://www.damonsmc.com/PhotoGallery/Flames/flames.html you can get some good pics of flames to use to lay out the graphic.Personally,I would suggest to remask the flame and spray the drop shadow next.Then you'll need to pinstripe the edged of the flame.You can cheat with this if you don't mind spending a bit of time laying out and cutting the blue detail. Hope some of this helps.Please keep us posted if you proceed. Oh,I remember reading an article from Jackson a few years ago where they used the plastic that is used to luine drink trays in bars,(only place I've seen it ),to spray through to get the snakeskin pattern.

Welcome to the forum. Any pics? I doubt this would be a sanding flaw.Wood usually maintains it;s colour and feel all the way through.Unless you aggressively sanded against the grain.It could be a defect in the wood or some kind of additive under the finish.Basswood is generally fairly uniform wood in terms of it's look and workability.

Have read about it and wanted to try it.But I was never sure how to due it.Thanks a million to the forum and Scott Rosenberger's tutorial.Wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Carving the top however.......

I've never used a router for neck shaping,spoke shave or rasp.

Doug Pinnick from King's X uses them as well.

Very nice.You have a great eye for wood.

Good call.I get so excited sometimes that I just block everything out around me while I work. True story-was airbrushing a poster one day cross-legged on the floor.Sat hunched over masking spraying and mixing for 5 hours.Stood up for a potty break,took two steps and fell flat on my face,(legs didn't have to pee I geuss ).I swear my wife laughed for 5 solid minutes.

I have a friend that used them-hated them. My question is-how do they expect them to stay if you oil fretboard?Plus oil from your hands.

Yeah you can replace inlays. First,tape off each dot.Then mark the center of each dot,drill it with a small bit-but only about an 1/8 of an inch deep at most.Put a tiny drop of laquer thinner in the hole and wait a few minutes.This really should be done on a drill press so you can set the drilling depth acurately.Some people use the center hole to pry the inlay out,others drill it out with a bit that's 1/2 the size of the dot and chip the rest out with a sharp knife. One guy I saw would do the center hole then crack the inlay with a center punch and chip it out with a knife .Don't think I'd advise that one-little hard on the neck. Hope this helps,it'll be cool to see what others say.Ijust replaced all the inlays on a neck and I want to see other methods myself.

Looks killer. try this link. http://www.airbrushaction.com I think it might help you get a link to zero in on an artist or good art supply shop that can recomend an artist in your area.

Yeah,it was about 3:30 a.m. when I wrote that,(I think).I'd been cutting for about 4 hours at that point.Sadly it didn't really look like a ton of progress.Oh well,best to take time until I get enough exp. to move a little quicker.

Welcome to the forum Marko.I think someone mentioned a program that lets you print off logosin another thread recently.

I agree with what Greg said and those links are killer Whenever I cut a neck I always start by drawing a center line.then mearsure the fretboard length and mark it off on the neck.Using the centerline I mark of the bottom width and then the nut width.A quick triple check of all measure ments is always a cool idea . From there I sketch out the headstock and cut the truss cavity,(another use for the center line). Now here's where people differ.Some people like to fully construct the fretboard,(frets and all), and attach it to the neck before final shaping.Some people like to attach the board blank to the neck and do all shaping and slotting. I'm in the middle,I like to cut the fretslots and radius then attach to the neck,(sometimes rough cutting the neck sometimes no.This gives me the option of adding a little extra width by flaring the board.),then do the shaping and any inlay or binding. It'll be cool to see the responses,this thread is going to be a great learning experience . Also BLS was kind enough to give me this link to a question a few weeks ago,maybe there is some more info there as well. http://www.guitarbuild.com/modules/mydownloads/

Didn't really realize the time until my eyes started to feel like dry saucers.Oh well,back to cutting Does this happen to anyone else?

Thanks a million,that site is cool

Last week I pulled a neck out of the clamps and started trimming right away.Over excitment sucks.The replacement comes out of the clamps tommorow .Oops.

I remember reading about an ancient Greek trick of soaking stuff in vinegar to make it pliable.But it would have to soak for quite awhile I'd imagine.

It should work.Someone had a tool a few years ago something like this.It shouldn't be too hard,a large jaw vise grip clamp,(I forget what the box shaped ones they use for welding are called),with a series of presses for the top and a couple of different pieces for neck shapes on the bottom.Aircraft aluminum for the arbours is fairly simple to work with. Loads of pics would be cool.Can't wait to see the updates. A friend of mine built a press using the folding part of a heavy duty display stand mounted on a cradle,worked pretty good.

It also depends on what type of machine it is.Some can work 3-d some are just 2-d. I haven't worked a 3-d but the 2-d I trained on was pretty simple,you just had to plot the x-y-z axis.

Depending on what kind of pick-ups you put in it.Or you could use the old pick-ups to play with the magnets.

I just added that to my favorites.The music blurp gave me a chuckle.

Some people feel that after purpleheart is cut and sanded it needs to be set aside for awhile for the grain to fully re-establish. But like Dave said it can vary depending on who you talk too.Maybe do a small patch test on some scraps to see what effect you like best.

Just to add to what MKG said,do a tap test in the area.This will give you and idea if anything has come loose or if the laminates are starting to separate.It rarely happens,but a quick check won't make anything worse.

Does anyone have the layout for routing a Tele?

Welcome to the forum.Looks good.Hey if Fender can use,(used)a piece of Borden wallpaper,why not fabric?Cool pattern too,gonna look funky when it's all assembled.