daddy ray

i buy my rods from stewart mcdonald they always send an info sheet with them i believe this page is available on their web site check it out dr

interesting thread kinda got off the original question topic of how & where to recieve your education as a luthier i started playing about 4 yrs ago when i retired from a 30 yr technical career playing guitar was something i had long wanted to do being mechanically inclined & a hard core shop rat i knew up front i'd want to do my own repairs/mods to my guitar so i started with yard sale specials my first one was an old black cort strat knockoff that a friend of my son bought at a yard sale for $5.00 cause it had a duncan invader in it my son ended up with it (minus the duncan pickup) & gave it to me to start with for play/repair practice couldn't tell the difference between it & a nice guitar at that point as a player plus i didn't want to practice tech work on an instrument of value for obvious reasons i bought erlewine's book "guitar player repair guide" & his video "how to assemble a solid body guitar" these two items covered virtually every aspect of construction & repair to various degrees i now own virtually every book/video title he has published plus others as well kinda pricy but cheaper than tuition/travel/lodging for a school plus all of the info with visuals (nothing like visuals to make a concept clear) & text explination are always here for review started with setups, fitting/cutting a new nut, basic electronics & on to fretwork, etc. started as a hoby but i kept getting better & better then players in my network started calling wanting me to do this or that to their ax & it is becoming an exponential thing long story short...in the last week i've taken in over $600 in work to be done ( 2 fret jobs & an assembly from parts) not enough yet to support myself but heading in that direction i'm now into acoustic neck resets (more books/videos) etc as well as the solid body stuff the key to being a technical artisan if your going to work for yourself is that you MUST exercise self discipline to study/work in this arena their isn't a boss to crack the whip if you can't motivate yourself to work you'r doomed before you begin another thing...focus on absolute quality in your work & the $'s will be there as a byproduct of competance hope this gives you practical input for thought dr

i do know how to send photos via email attachment be happy to do that if it's cool with you dr

no...it is actually stronger the more laminations you use...as long as you make a proper lamination(clean,tight joints,good glue spread) i have a neck blank i built that is for an in the works neck through 7 string baritone 5 maple 4 purpleheart the key to good glue joints is to fab. a glue press i built mine out of corner angle brackets screwed to a hardwood 2x6 & then screwed to my bench top on the other side a floating 2x6 that moves in as the clamps are tightened the 2x6's are important to spread the pressure evenly on the neck strips also it's important that one be screwed to the bench...it can be set perfectly straight with a straighe-edge as it's screwed down & this alignment then transfered to the neck as it is pressed & drying use lots of clamps for even squeeze wrap your glued wood with wax paper to keep from gluing everything to the press & bench cause their will be some squeeze-out i'm just a hobby shoper & no web page...i'd be happy to post pics if someone could tutor me dr ps...i checked with alembic & they also wipe their woods with acetone as a prep before gluing this is especially important with oily woods such as cocobola (did i spell that right?_

thank you so much... i was pullin my hair out trying to find these i'm gonna order a bunch just to have them on hand dr

i'm out of shims for rose saddle blocks need some to finish a job stew/mac has advised they no longer stock this item anyone know where i can get them thanks dr

a lot of the glue thing depends on how spongey & soft the fingerboard is some rosewood boards i've worked that had been played a lot were somewhat pithy almost didn't want to hold the frets in spite of expanding the tang on the fretwire i feel it may be due to acids etc in sweat over a period of time the glue on these boards to hold the frets down has a hardening effect on the wood as well happy playn dr

it may be that the swelling in the wood caused by moisture/heat in the partial steaming caused the cracking i agree with brian on the brittle factor in ebony this would tie in with my huntch & i would suspect the cracks are at the border between the expanded area of the wood & that which did not heat & expand as far as replacement being necessary if you are happy with the results of the partial steam & the glue line gap is gone to your satisfaction i would flow a little water thin super glue into the fractures and play the pup happy playn dr

while reading alembic's site i noticed in one of their shop threads they mentioned they wipe cocobolo with acetone before gluing i had also read that this wood was difficult to glue due to oils i emailed them to get the skinny on it all they were most gracious & replied that this is the secret also they mentioned sizing or pregluing as also being condusive to a successful glue up happy playin dr

is it a jackson floyd i have one that has inserts at the contact points as that one appears to have also the string clamp screws are the same happy playin dr

jumbo wire definately helps all of my players have dunlop 6000 wire (.018/.058) i could tell the difference in all of them after doing the refrets i also find it easier to bend with larger frets & can play with a much lighter touch as well i also feel that heavier strings due to more mass help sustain somewhat as well dr

i have coupleahundred pics i don't have a web page don't know how else to load them is there a way? dr

try milling the face of the headstock thinner...milling channels & laying carbon fiber rods across the break...veneer the headstock with compatable wood to bring headstock back to original thickness...strong & clean...only visable clue will be the glue line on the side dr

lovely piece of work i use sanding drums of various sizes in my drill press for squaring dr

dunlop will sell to you i buy my wire by the tube but i don't think they have a minimum order makes a pretty fair wah pedal as well dr

JIM DUNLOP he's got the largest selection of wire sizes/materials i've found dr

bottom line tho is all about paying attention if something doesn't look/measure correctly then it's probably not right & needs to be addressed before moving on with the job the neck jig makes it much easier to see what's going on dr

you otta have sustain out the ying yang on it! dr

got me wonderin... how much this is gonna weigh i'm building a laminated neck thru 7 string baritone neck's bout 2" wide at the nut purpleheart & maple in the neck mahogany & purpleheart for the body wings have a feelin it's gonna be a chunk to hang around my neck maby i should stack everything on a scale... might want to chamber it a little for weight sake dr

that's what sells most of my work... handing em one of mine then showing photo documentation of the work when in progress talks cheap...definately play some of their work before leaving your ax dr

just "see" it mentally as part of your weight training program dr

I've seen lower prices than that . And I've seen higher . Binding, finishing, scalloping, etc etc , add more $$$ Also depends what kind of action you expect. If you are super picky , get someone who uses a StewMac type "neck-jig" or check out "PLEK" if you suddenly get a wad of extra bucks to spend. Your location should make the price low, except if there's so few guys doing it, then they can charge more than if they had more competition near them. The internet sure makes it more competitive the average where i live is about $250.00 i have the stew/mac neck jig in my shop it is a definate asset in doing fine quality work dial indicators let me see everything that the neck is doing as frets are pressed into place dr

i'm workin on a site lots of pics from lots of projects i've tried to load them on the forum previously keep doin something not right dr

i use a fret slot miter box from stew/mac has depth controll...works good if you'r doing a standard scale length they have tepmlates that eliminate need for calculating & laying out dimensions dr

depending on what they are might be worth buying for the pickups the one on the bridge looks like my dimarzio super 3 dr