Denis

That looks like it'll be a fun project. I am mulling over thoughts for a twin as well. I think I'll wait around and learn, so please keep the progress reports and pics coming! Denis

WOW!! What a great thread - Thanks My only experience with Piezo's was building a cigar box guitar kit from Bill Jehle. With only a piezo - no preamp - it sounded great thru my Marshall playing the sort of dirty blues slide that I built it for. Encouraged by that, I bought a couple of crystals from here. and tried one just taped to the soundboard of a steel string accoustic and it sounded pretty good. The best result was from taping one to the bridge of a friend's accoustic bass - really rich tonal sound that we both loved. Based on this thread, I'll get the bits and build one of the small preamps and see what difference thay make. Thanks again Denis

If you are in the UK, Axminster stocks them here. I have used them for about 4 years and they can be awkward in getting the pieces in between the wood bars. Sometimes it feels like you need 3 pairs of hands. What I do now is that I have a sheet of ply covered in pastic. I lay the glued up boards on that, and put it on the bench on spacers so there's room for the lower part of the clamp to fit under the ply. Much easier that way. They are also good for gluing up doors - I had a production line going when I was fitting out my workshop, and could make a panelled door in well under half an hour. They are a great piece of kit. Denis PS And the Axminster ones are cheaper that Harbor Freight - that must be a first

I just had a random thought. There a few bits and pieces I'm thinking of ordering from the States, and it's the shipping cost that's putting me off. Is there anyone in the UK in the same position? What about combining orders and sharing the shipping costs? I am in the North West near Preston, but I could mail you your stuff easily enough. Any interest? Denis

Daniel Please make me first in the queue when you are ready to sell them - I am SURE I need one more than most Denis

A friend of mine sent me this. I certainly need at least one. We could start a list of everyone who is as much in need as I am, and maybe get a bulk discount if we can discover who makes them Denis

I hate to be controversial, honestly, but there is another route other than Melvyn Hiscock. I got started by reading a much simpler book called "Make your own Electric Guitar and Bass" by Dennis Waring and David Raymond. It's published by Sterling. It only describes one bolt on neck 6 string and one thru neck bass, but it worked far better for me on my first (and only so far) build. IMHO, there's more detail, better descriptions than Hiscox. Also, for my first build, I decided that making a neck was beyond me, and bought a Strat type neck from ebay. Given that I always knew that my first was never going to be a masterpiece, doing that let me concentrate on the body, pickups, wiring, finishing - everything else, in fact. I have since made a cigar box guitar - thanks to Bill Jehle - and in doing so, realised that the neck won't be beyond me. I guess what I am trying to say is that the way I work best is by taking small steps towards a goal. If the steps I try to take are too big, then I tend to get discouraged. However you decide to go, Ryan, HAVE FUN Denis

Flippin' Ada, as some folks say this side of the pond, All I wanted was some help with a veneer and I seem to have started WWIII! In the process, I have got some really useful advice. Thanks Before I retired (hurt) I was a qualified Counsellor. If anyone feels lthe need to explore their anger or other issues with me, please do it by PM. Denis (- shortly before retiring to his nuclear bunker to get on with trying to build a guitar)

So what's your recommendation re adhesive? I thought of using PU as that's really waterproof, but there's always a slight foaming as it sets and I thought that might compromise the bond - and even as I write that I realise how much BS is in this old head I will keep you up to date - this is a great way to learn Denis

Read and noted. Thanks. However.......... I am planning on spraying KTM9 - water based acrylic. Does it sound like I shouldn't? There are no solvents to "flash off", so there will be more exposure to the wet lacquer and therefore more chance of it lifting. I am working with a test piece right now, so it isn't that important, and I know that I need to make my own mistakes. What I am thinking if I follow your train of thought is that the first few thin layers of whatever lacquer "seal" the veneer and it's adhesive from the heavier coats that are to come, so the same logic applies with KTM9. Is that the right track. FWIW I used a fast grab PVA adhesive that claims to be waterproof, on the grounds that that might help. Just want to say that this is so much more productive and even fun when I have you guys to share my issues with. Thanks Denis

YeeHaw!!! Couldn't wait, and unclamped my test piece after 15 hours - Flat as a drum!! Thanks soooooooo much Drak for the tips. I followed them all. Now all I have to do is try spraying the KTM9 and see that it stays flat. I am optimistic for once. Denis

Chris, Thanks for that After my first failure, I did scout around and ended up buying Ian Hosker's book on veneering. I am sure he does know what he is talking about, but I found the book short on detail and long on how to French Polish! I know that hammer veneeriing is the traditional method for cabinet makers, but to me it sounded a lot of mess after having gone through a very long learning curve with an expensive thermostatically controlled glue pot. It isn't that I am looking for short cuts, it's more that I am 58, and that doesn't leave me very long to hone the basic skills I have to acheive what I want to do as far as building guitars is concerned. As I said, I am going to go for drop tops to get closer to the effect I want without the (same) pain, but I am also continuing to try veneering and have a test in 18 clamps as I type!!!! I'll keep you posted Denis

The only time I ordered from LMI, I sent them an email with what I wanted, asking for a shipping quote. They got back to me the next day, and it all arrived within a week. AND...............customs didn't get me!! Yippee.

Just when I thought it was safe to start work again..........................!!! Please Drak - a few words of wisdom would be welcome.. Denis (off for a short sleep while he recharges his batteries)

When I had a disaster trying to do a veneered top on an unprofiled body, I found a furniture maker with a drum sander (maybe called something different in the US). It's a powered sander where the drum that is loaded with abrasive is 24" wide. It took all of 3 passes to get all the veneer and glue off, dead flat and hardly a trace of sanding swirls. He did it for free, too, although I did give him enough cash for a few beers!!

Well, I can't pretend that I have been through all Drak's posts, although there is some fascinating stuff on this board. It is an amazing knowledge and talent pool! Thank you. However, I have decided (I think) that while I will carry on practicing veneering and trying to get it right, my answer lies in getting a drop top and going from there. It feels like it's an easier, less fraught route, and if and when I manager to veneer and finish a test piece sufficiently well to have built my confocence levels up, then I may try it for real. I did find some nice things on ebay. Tried doing a search on here for him but without any success, in spite of being sure that I'd seen a positive reference to him in the Drak thread that I have been pouring over all day.This is his Ebay store burl.quilt. Have any of you got any positive experiences of dealing with him? Denis

Drak Thanks so much for those tips. I have started the search you suggested, and like anything on the web I am finding it hard not to get sidetracked!! Judging by the amount of good stuff I have seen so far, I'll still be going thru it when it's warm enough to spray the top of the first ax. Thanks again Denis

I am probably making a rod for my own back, but here's the story so far. In the mists of time in a land far away, I had a dream and wanted to build a guitar. I did a heck of a lot of research here and elsewhere, bought a couple of books, planned it all out. In short, I did everything I normally don't bother to do. The dream involved making a solid maple body with a bird's eye veneered top. I made a few mistakes along the way - actually fewer that I expected and all looked fine. I found the tutorial on veneering a top and followed it to the letter and then got really hacked off when the weights came off as the veneer was wrinkled to hell and had to come off. Before it did, I assembled the beast and it was really nice to play. I have just found someone to sand the veneer off, and as soon as it gets warm enough to spray with KTM9 I'll get her finished. Meanwhile, I thought I'd learn from my mistakes and try to plan the next one - Rock maple top (veneered with bird'seye) over a mahogany body and tele shaped. This time, I though I'd go an easier route and use iron on glue film. Wow - straight on, flat and perfect. At the same time I used the same stuff on some test bits of MDF to trial some colours on the birds eye. Some looked better than others after being sanded thru a bit, so I wondered what they would look like with some KTM9 sprayed on. As soon as the KTM9 touched the veneer, it lifted and curled in places. 48 hours later it has shrunk back a little, but no way enough. If fact, it feels like the KTM has set it in the buckled state. I am now thinking of using epoxy as a glue with maybe one of these presses here . Any comments. suggestions would be really welcome. Suicide seems a little drastic at this moment, but I am not far short!! Denis

As a fellow newbie, my opinion is that you are trying to do a lot of quite difficult things without a lot of knowledge - That adds up to a load of risks. Applying veneer has been a very steep learning curve for me, and that was on an uncontoured body. So steep that I decided to forget it. It's even more difficult for you with a contoured body AND inlays. As far as I know, the only reliable way to apply veneer is with a vacuum press, and those are not cheap this side of the pond. As far as measurements go, youv'e got them - use the S470 as templates. That's what I did wirh my first build, and I intend to use the drawings from the Fender website when I make my next. I don't want to damp your enthusiasm, but I would do a lot more research and maybe get some cheap veneer from ebay and try out the techniques before getting to grips with your Ibanez.

Can't seem to find the thread, but I am sure it was here that I read that damping the channel with a little water worked really weel. It did when I tried it on my first (and only) strat like ax. Denis

Thanks so much for that. I found it here and I have just ordered a tube. Thanks again everyone Denis

I thought I had done all the hard work to bind the top of my first solid body build, but no. I bought some plain plastic binding from Stewmac (item #5791) assuming I could attach it with CA as they won't ship their weld-on cement to me in the UK. Tried it on a test piece today, and while the initial tack seemed OK, any pressure just loosened it. I tried using a kicker, and no better results. The CA was the very thin stuff - would a thicker CA be better? I also bought some acetone thinking that might be the holy grail, but the plastic didn't even get tacky. Any/All suggestions would be very welcome - I feel that this build has aged me enough already!! Thanks Denis

What a long time since I last posted. Well, I decided to put the beast together without finishing it just to make sure everything worked. I was particularly worried about the pickups, as they were secondhand from ebay. It sounds great. I used the wiring diagram from Dennis Waring's book, with coil taps and a blend pot, and the range of sounds is well beyond my expectations. Here it is - Unfinished - the bridge is off line, and there are one or two other tweaks to do, but I am very pleased so far. I also got some KTM 9 from LMI - what nice people to deal with - and I have done a test piece of maple with the bird's eye maple veneer. Left the 10 coats for 3 weeks before trying to sand and finish it. I sanded it out to 1200 grit tonight, and then polished it with some chrome cleaner, and It looks pretty good. I will sand the guitar with finer wet and dry, but at least I have a good understanding of the process. I also decided to bind the top, and have a router bit set up that lets me do a good job - a 3/8" bearing on a 1/2" bit gives just the right depth for the binding I got. So, all I have to do is tear myself away from the beast, strip it apart and take my time to finish it before I start on the next one. What a learning curve!! Denis BTW I made the cigar box guitar I mentioned in the last post. I found it a really good way to break down some of my apprehensions about making a neck from stratch. I plays and sounds OK, considering it cost me $30 and a 2 x 1 bit of maple that I had lying around. I've bought 3 more cigar boxes from ebay - look out, you might be getting one as a xmas gift!!

Hi, I wondered if anyone has any tips for using KTM9 other than spraying it. I have a test piece on the go, birds eye maple on rock maple, and so far it's looking OK. I want to take it thru the whole process before applying it to the guitar itself, and I wondered if I could pick the brains of anyone who has brushed rather than sprayed? Thanks Denis

I haven't a clue whether you can use aniline with polyeurethane, but if you are going to buy and use the poly anyway as clear top coats, why not do a trial with a cupful of poly and a small amount of dye? The you'll know for sure. Denis