guitman32

Am I going to need a special bit on the router? I also saw this Drill Press Planer on Stewmac. Its price is about half a cheap sander at HomeDepot, and a special router bit might be the same. Maybe I should just go with a sander of some sort, although if that Planer bit from Stewmac works, it might be a cheap solution for my planing duties.

I am currently constructing a Jem style guitar, and am at the stage where I need to slot the FB before gluing to the neck blank. I ordered the boards from LMI (Pau Ferro), which are nice and square, only they are too thick! I was hoping the FB would come already planed down to the 1/4in thickness listed, but it is instead around 3/16th too thick. This presents in interesting problem, as I do not have a planer. My current tools list are a bandsaw, bench saw, router table, plunge router and fixed base router, drill press, and misc hand tools. I do not have much hand planing experience, and I do not have any sort of power sander. I am considering the purchase of some sort of power sander, either hand held belt sander, or a table mounted sander. My question is, what would be the easiest way to get the FB down to 1/4in, preferably avoiding the 2-3 hours of hand sanding?

RGGR- That CAD would be great...Thanks for the advice. What I meant in that last post was that Im going to definetly make the template as perfect as I can before I route the body. I am considering purchasing a table sander of some sort for general smoothing/leveling purposes, but until then, I want to get everyting good on the template first.

Thanks RGGR...I was looking at the joint and seems that mine protrudes a little too much. I will make changes, which I think only involves taking material off my existing template...The neck joint, the way I have it, looks like it would be way too big, probably negating the effect of the AANJ to begin with. I think the rest of the body looks fine to me. Really though Im not too concerned with making it a perfect copy, I just want to use that general body style.

Well, the scarf joint is fine! Pics to come soon. BUT - I cut the frackin headstock too thin...rather than the 9/16th I was going for, I hit a little less than 7/16th. 2/16th deviation is bad, I know, but does this seem like an acceptable thinkness, or should I suck it up and glue a thin veener onto the bottom? I should note that the wood is quartersawn maple so its pretty strong, and that I cut the headstock to thinkness from the back, not the front.

Personally, I think the body contour looks fine...who care that it doesnt looks 'exactly' like an RG or Jem...it looks fine. Now the headstock is another story...Cud is right about he G hitting the B. I see..yessss....dowels in your near future! The Clairvoyant guitman32 has spoken!

Update: I have cut the headstock to necessary thickness, and glued the angled headstock on: Pic of bandsaw and guide set up for cutting headstock piece to proper thickness before gluing it to the rest of the neck: Pics of the gluing: I think I am going to take the clamps off after about 1.5 hours to scrape off excess glue...is this advisable???

I think the body will look gorgeous! The question is, are you going to make a laminated neck??? If you did, the guitar would be an explorer to end all explorers!

Hello again all... I am in a little bit of a bind in deciding my headstock shape. When I cut the scarf joint, I messed up and had to remove a substantial amt of wood from each piece, effectively shortening the total length my headstock can be. Here is a pic of the headstock piece... The dimensions of the flat face you see in the photo are 5 3/4 x 3. This is the side I will use for front of the headstock. What kind of headstock do you all think would go well a Jem style body? I would appreciate your wise and valued input on the matter. Thanks!

I took some pics of the bridge I am going to be using on this project... Black Hipshot Hardtail... Seems like a pretty nice piece...one thing that is a bit weird is that on Stewmac (where I ordered mine from), the hipshot bridges are cheaper than ordering them directly from Hipshot...a little odd maybe?

I ended up going with the angled headstock, contrary to my lazy bones protesting. Here are some shots of the un-glued neck pieces. You will notice that the smaller headstock piece is a little short - this is because I screwed up the first cut and had to take somewood off the end of each piece. They werent perfect after this, but when I stacked 'em, clamped 'em and leveled 'em using a spokeshave and sanding block, they ended up nice and flat. I initially thought I was down the crapper with regards to how much would be left for my 27in scale on the long piece of wood, but thankfully there will be enough neck for the full FB length. I am a bit miffed about the short headstock size. I wanted to use a classic Ibanez/Jackson style headstock design, but I cant now unless I glue some more wood on the end of the headstock. This might be a blessing in disguise, however, forcing me to be original and use my own design. Now I have to decide if I want to take the thickness of the headstock piece down now, or after I glue..what method do you all use???

Personally, I think what youve got now looks pretty nice. If you want the ESP camo youve got to add more shades of grey.

Metal design--the first one I mean. Go for that one. I saw 24 frets, 25.5 scale, black... I have 3 Bill Lawrence pups coming my way - two L-500XL and one L-500R - cant wait to get them installed...

jay5: No, actually I did not. Quite nice of them though. After a busy weekend, I finally sat down and worked on the body template. I used 1/4" plywood purchased from my local hardware store, rough cut it on the bandsaw, and finished it with a rasp and file... To make the AANJ I took a drawing of a JEM777, traced the body onto the piece of ply, and then drew the joint by hand. Does the AANJ contouring look alright? I think I made it a little bit bigger than a normal Ibanez joint, but I dont mind. My other dilemma is whether to make the headstock on the neck straight or angled. Other than the usual string-pressure-on-the-nut reason, I am leaning to angled mainly because making the trussrod access slot/hole seems like it would be easier with an angled headstock. I must admit, however, I am a bit lazy, and maybe kinda slightly trying to avoid cutting the scarf joint. What do you all think??

And here are those pictures I promised: Here is a shot of all the wood I received from LMI. NICE! The body blank came with an LP body tracing on it...Im gonna copy it onto a piece of plywood and make a template from it. Thanks LMI! These are 1st grade Pau Ferro FB blanks from LMI. The grain is pretty straight, and in my humble opinion I think they are quite beuatiful. The little dot on the lower section of the rightmost FB was a spot of wax that I scratched off with my fingernail after noticing it. Heres another shot of the FB blanks. The maple neck blank is almost all quarterwawn. Now is this an actual quatersawn piece of lumber, or is it just a choice piece of flawsawn that appears quartersawn? I almost forgot to post this pic of the neck blank.

Very beautiful job...

After a long while reading and learning from the forum, I have found the time and motivation to begin my first project. I recently ordered wood and components from LMI and Stewmac, and received them a mere four days later. The plans are as follows: - LEFTY - Alder Body to be adapted from a Jem 777, minus the monkey grip, with an AANJ. I opted for a 3-piece body from LMI as opposed to a one or two piece because this is my first project, so I'll hold out on the nice woods until I have more experience. - 27" scale length - Hipshot hardtail bridge - Maple neck, 24 frets, angled headstock - Pau Ferro FB - 6100 Fretwire - Hotrod Truss Rod - Headstock shape still undecided - Dual HB's - 1 vol, 1 tone, 3 way switch control config. Sound good? Any thoughts or ideas? I will post pictures as soon as I familiarize myself with the forum pic posting rules, but for now, I will link my first guitar build, a Warmoth Flying V. Warmoth Lefty Flying V

So my buddy was having a problem with his Jackson RR5 (SeymourDuncan JB in the bridge and neck). His neck pup would work fine, but when he switched to his bridge pup, it had very low output. I opened up his guitar and checked the wiring, and everything looked fine. Only thing is, the wiring is nothing like the recommended wiring on SD.com. I figured it might be the volume pot for the bridge pickup, and replaced it, but had no luck. I then decided to re-wire the guitar as per the '2 humbucker, 2 volume, 1 tone, 3-way' diagram on Seymour Duncans site. After doing this, the bridge pup worked fine, but the problem moved to the neck pickup (when selected, it has very weak output). I looked around for a short somewhere, but did not find one. I then replaced the other volume pot (500k) with another one I had...and once again had no luck. Then as im playing it after replacing the second vol. pot and comparing the big difference in output bet. the neck and bridge pups, the bridge cuts out, and now both pups are very weak sounding. I am suspiscious or the 3-way selector (which visibly looks fine), but want to know if you all have any ideas before I go out and pick one up...does it sound like there is a short somewhere? I am at a loss, and appreciate and suggestions.

The measurment from wing to wing is 17" exactly. I took this measument by laying a ruler on the end (bottom part) of each wing so it touches both, and then holding a straigtedge perpendicular to it on the side of each wing, taking my measurment where the straightedge meets the ruler. The guitar is a Warmoth flying V, which fits into my Gibson USA V case perfectly...so I assume the dimensions are similar if not identical. Finally, the scale length is 25.5". Enjoy! Ohh, you can check the guitar here: flying V

I am going to be building a 27" scale baritone, and I am wondering if I need a longer than usual truss rod. As of right now I am planning on using a stewmac Hot Rod, but I am unsure what length I should use. With a 27" scale, the total FB length, from the nut to the end of the neck, will be 20.629 inches (that is including an imaginary 25th fret for the extention past the 24th). Should I go with the 18" scale length rod, or should I make my own and go a bit longer? I was also thinking of using some carbon fiber rods to reinforce the neck...what do you think?

Assuming a fixed bridge is what you want, and since this is your first project, the TOM is a great idea. I got my gotoh TOM bridge and stoppiece from Warmoth for cheap, and they are great pieces of hardware. The only thing that would make me not go with a TOM is that it needs the neck angle. If you want a great bridge and no neck angle, I would go with the Hipshot bridges. They dont need a neck angle, they are easier to install than a TOM (on account of the fact that you dont need to drill post holes), and they feel good on your hand. Also, since they are a fixed bridge and are string thru body, their sustain is great. Here is a link to their site. Hipshot Products

This first link is to the Guitar ReRanch. This is where I purchased all the supplies I needed to finish my guitar in nitrocellulose lacquer. Very good products, especially the grain filler he sells. This is the link that will answer all your questions. It outlines a basic finishing schedule, and if followed, will yeild a perfect finish as you said you want. Reranch Refinishing 101 This is the guitar refinishing and restoration forum. It, like this forum, will prove and invaluable resource when you need info on guitar finishing. I finished this Flying V using ReRanch products, to give you an idea of the result.

Well, if were to make a 1 piece out of padouk or the wenge, it wouldnt be thick enough for an angle (at 1 inch thick). I dunno how thick yours was Curtis, but at that 1 inch, the angle would be pretty small no? I If I were to laminate it though, then it would be no problem. So ive been checking out pics at warmoth, and I kinda like the look of the W/P/W laminate...the red down the middle looks prettty sweet, like in the pic Primal posted. I see what youre saying A_M...so since I am using pretty hard woods for the neck anyways, make it so you can see the laminate without a separate FB. Interesting idea, but that whole truss rob scheme could get a little hairy....

I dont think its that big a deal where you place them. You shouldnt put it too close to the nut though, which would result in a lot of tension on the tree and the strings. I would just go look at a fender and copy it.

I think this has been said before, but regular TOM's are a tried and true option. I have no personal experience with TonePros, but I would not pay that much more over a regular TOM...I just dont see the difference in sustain being all that much. As far as not having to intonate when changing strings cause of it locking and all, well, I dont usually intonate after every string change anyways, so that doesnt really matter to me. Just my 2cents......