Bertbart

I liked the playing and the tune. I also liked "Still got the blues" equally as well.

Here's a link to that article Soapbar was talking about: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Machining/...ustremoval.html

I have used Walnut. I am pretty sure Ovation has used Walnut fingerboards over the years.

Really nice looking work.

I agree with you Godin. It sounds like the finish wasn't cured. I sand to 1200 and use the Mezerna fine and then extra fine. I hand rub the cutaways with either Meguire's or 3M finesse II. I'd stay away from any compound heavier than fine. I wait two weeks after sanding with 800 before going over it with 1200 and then buffing. I feel like leaving it with the finish opened by the 800 lets it vent out more thoroughly. I shoot lacquer always.

I'll be glad to help Greg...anytime.

Well I got it all working properly with one EMG switching jack using the pb-2 EMG pre-amp on the piezo along with 25K vol. and tone. (The piezo from Fishman said it required 20K's but the 25K's work just fine) I installed a mini "on-on-on" switch to engage either the EMG's or the piezo or both. It sounds great in all three positions. I also put and EXG EMG on the SA's. The tones are seemingly infinite especially blending the piezo and the magnetic pick ups. Thanks everyone for all the input.

Not necessarily in this order: Duane Allman Steve Morse Eric Johnson Brent Mason Ray Flack Ted Greene Michael Lee Firkins Albert Lee Pete Anderson Duane Eddie Leslie West (#11 for having the most recognizable intro lick ever..."Mississippi Queen"

Yea, I'm going to use a pb-2 EMG pre-amp on the Fishman piezo and save the Fishman input jack pre-amp for another project. I ordered the Control X from Baggs so it's on the way. I've installed a Control X on another weird system before. It was a Telly with EMG's and a Fishman Telly Power Bridge. I was some what disappointed in the so called acoustic sounding Power Bridge. It doesn't sound very acoustic to my ears at all. I tried EQ-ing and a different amp and still disappointed...too thin sounding...brassy.

Thanks Greg, I have checked into both of those and I think I'm going with the control X by Baggs. Bert

I have a customer who wants a piezo acoustic pickup in addition to the magnetic pickups. He doesn't want a six saddle bridge with individual piezos. What he wants is a bone saddle with a Fishman Matrix. The Fishman has the input jack pre-amp. He wanted the under-saddle pickup mounted where the tune-a-matic was. I have built a wooden platform/bridge and slotted it for a compensated bone saddle with the pickup underneath. I have hard wired it externally and strung it up and it works surprisingly well...sounds very acoustic. The problem is that I need to wire the magnetic EMG's into that single Fishman pre-amp jack. It's a stereo switching jack to turn the nine volt battery on so it can do both. He also wants a volumn control for the Fishman so he can adjust and blend the two systems. The Fishman instructions say I need a 20K potentiometer for a volumn control and the EMG's require a 25K potentiometer. He also wants a switch to run either magnetic or piezo or both. I could install two output jacks and run two separate systems but I'd rather run one single jack with a switch instead of un-plugging one and plugging into the other. Can anyone help me out with this problem?

I've seen people try with some German made ebony stain Ebenholtzbeiz (Spelling?) and it looked like Doo-Doo. I had some once that a violin repair guy gave me to try and touch up an ugly white streak on an other wise nice ebony board. He said that's the stuff the violin repairmen use. It did cover the streak up but not for long so it isn't permanent.

I saw the procedure at the Kalamazoo Gibson plant in 1976 on a week long warranty seminar. The fingerboards are thicknessed and sized to a rectangle. Then the inlay recesses are cut. Then the the inlays go in. Then the radius is sanded cleaning up the inlay glue. Then passed beneath a gang saw to cut the fret slots. Then at another station I watched a woman set the inlay-ed and slotted rectangular fingerboard on thick slab of steel and using quick clamps held it down. She took a sponge and wiped what appeared to be "Titebond" over the fingerboard thereby filling the slots. She took another sponge and wiped the excess glue off. Under her table were cardboard round containers with different size rolls of pre-bent fretwire. She'd grab the end of one and with a modified pair of end nippers (The end nippers had just the head of a four ounce ball peen hammer head tig welded to one side of the nipper jaws) She would set the wire across the fretboard then tap it in just the end at the very edge and then tap it at just other end...then clip it flush and move to the next slot. After all of the slots were filled she would turn around. Behind her was a hydraulic press with a radius-ed shoe as long as the fretboard. She'd index the fingerboard on the bottom plate and step on a trigger pedal. The upper shoe press would come down and force the frets to seat stopping before crushing the board at some preset pressure the returning to the open position. She would then stack the freshly fretted board on a cart. To continue 24 hours later after the glue dried to the next operation which was cutting the taper of the fretboard with the frets in it. Then the taper was cut with a sliding table saw fixture with a carbide blade. Then the tapered board went to another station where another lady glued on the binding which extended above the height of the frets on the fingerboard. Then on to another station where the excess binding was scraped down leaving the little caps on the edge of the frets. I asked my host, the assistant plant foreman, why they didn't undercut the frets and install the frets after the binding was put on. He offered that they had tried it both ways and after a time study it wasn't feasible to undercut the frets after the binding was installed. Also it required skilled labor to dress the fret ends and dressing the fret ends also contributed to slowing the process down. Also there was an increase in failed part inspection during the study.

Robert, Very interesting link. Thanks for the information.

T C electronics +1

I went to the site and it caused problems with my computer. It took forever to close the program. I finally had to cold boot to get rid of it. Just a heads-up.

I have always been under the impression that either end of the truss rod were on the same plane and the middle of the channel was 3/16" to a 1/4" below that fixed plane in the middle. That is the way I have always done it in the past. It requires building a jig that captures the router base (Side to side) with adjustable ramps that the bottom of the router rides on made of aluminum strips approximately 1/2" wide and 3/16" thick. (Hardware store) You fix the aluminum ramps with a countersunk flat head screw in the middle. On either end of the aluminum ramp you use four bolts with stop nuts coming up from the bottom to adjust the height of the two ramps on either end. I would set the ramps and use a scrap of pine wood simulating the neck blank to test the route depth in the middle and either end. Once set you can leave it alone unless what you're routing is a different scale length. I'd show you a picture of it but I threw the jig away when I discovered double acting truss rods. I switched over to them and never looked back.

WD-40 works for me even better than the spray contact cleaner sold at electronic stores.

Lower bouts...nether region...

Jungleboy, sorry I don't speak Portuguese. I have an uncle who lived in Sao Paulo and he spoke fluent Portuguese if he was still alive I could ask him to translate. Good Luck!!!

You have to keep in mind it is a commemorative piece of Martin history. IMHO it's awesome! I've done one traditional "Tree of Life" inlay on a Brazilian finger-board and I'll probably never do another. It took three months overall. I worked as much as I could stand every day some times only an hour at a time. I got headaches and soon after I had to start wearing glasses for close up work. I have nothing but respect for the guy. As long as that guitar survives he will be remembered in history.

That is the exact set up I have Rick and it works for me. But after seeing the hold-down quick clamp I may revise mine. That is an excellent idea Bobz.

Jungleboy, I would go to a real hardware store one of the oldest in town and search through all of the mill-smooth- bastard files they have. They usually have them in a box individually wrapped in brown waxed paper. The big box home improvement stores will not let you open the packages. I prefer an 8 inch. I pick each one up and sight down both faces looking for the flattest I can find. They are not all created equal. Then I put the file in a vise after scoring a cut where the tang (Pointy part) joins the file body with a Dremel sizz wheel. Then smack it with a hammer and it will break off cleanly. (Wear eye protection). Then I stone grind the end smooth. I find an 8 inch long scrap of flat suitable wood, usually Maple and again look for the crown side of the file before using two part epoxy to glue the file, crown side up to the piece of wood. Then I belt sand the handle flush to the edges of the file. I also grind a slight bevel on the leading tip of the file. You can get art-sey/fart-sey and grind finger grip dimples into the sides with one on top for your index finger and coat the wood with lacquer if you're into that kind of thing.

You ever build something and didn't like it when you got done because you had a brain fart in the planning? I spent all day Saturday designing and building a wall mount for my, 12" wheel, buffing arbor. I wanted it to come off the wall at 45 degree angle so the bearing housing's retangular base wouldn't interfere with the movement of the object I am buffing. (Guitar) I wanted it sturdy as well. I accomplished everything I set out to do but with one terrible exception... I built too close to another wall to use the left side when buffing a guitar with a set neck. There wasn't enough room between the wall and the buffing disc. DOOH!!!!! So Sunday with my Grandfather's and my Father's words echoing in my head..."Anything worth doing is worth doing right or it ain't worth doing and always sign your work with excellence". I spent most of the day disassembling and re-locating the damn thing to another wall. I had mounted the heck out of it so now I have to fill holes in the sheet rock where the old spot was and re-paint. It also means I have to re-locate the drill press, joiner, long belt sander and the band-saw. In other words I have to lay out the entire shop differently. Lucky for me I had just built a rolling platform for the band-saw because I got tired of musceling it into different positions as required by the cuts I was making so moving it was a piece of cake but not the rest. I also had decided to build a dust-lint collection system because those cotton flannel wheels really sluff off a lot of lint. I started late last night when I was really tired and did something else stupid. The sides forms of the brackets for each buffing wheel semi-circle enclosures are directional. I had another brain fart. I was gluing and nailing the framework support ribs between the sides and put one bracket on backwards...I had to take a hammer and knock one side off and flip it over pull the nails wipe off the glue and re-glue and nail it...Well at least I caught it before the glue set up. I should have known better than to try and work when I'm butt-ass tired.

Different and beautiful!!!!!