Cameroo

I have no idea what you mean by that, but it sure sounds cool! You must be a real perfectionist if you have 50 dud necks laying around! I'm gonna have to check out some of your work. Welcome back!

I was picturing something like this when I agreed with the red and black idea (Jason's SG)... You're right though, grain filling might be pointless in this case

I think this would look awesome! Just keep the burst fairly thin so you can still see that nice wood! I'd just mix a little black into the red for the burst.

Do a neck-through!! It's no more difficult than any other type, and as far a sound goes, it doesn't get any better than that. Even with a neck angle, as long as you draw it all out (including a side view, that takes into account your fretboard thickness, bridge hight, etc.) you shouldn't have any problems. You need to do this to find out what your neck angle will be, but once that's done, the rest is easy! As everyone else has suggested, get a copy of Melvyn Hyscock's book, it tells you everything you need to know. If you have any questions, you'd best ask them here BEFORE winging it... unless you like paying for new wood! Don't get all excited just because you have some parts, you really need to think everything through before you start. And good luck! I wish I would have started building guitars when I was 13!! Cam

It looks like a plucked turkey!! Just kiddin. But I have to agree, the body does look a little big. And I'm not sure if it's just the picture or what, but it looks like the neck isn't exactly parallel to the center line on the body... looks kinda weird to me. Looks like it was built well though. What are you going to do for a finish? Cam

I have been going over this thread for about an hour now trying to make some sence of it (Ya, I know what you're thinking... Get a life!) The thing that I couldn't wrap my head around was this: At first, I thought this was a bunch of gibberish and contradictions (no offence), but after much pondering, I think I know what you were trying to get across. This is how I interpret that (I'm gonna throw in some random numbers, just cuz that helps me explain it): Say you have a scale length of 25 inches, and another 3 inches of string from the saddle to the body/ferrules. With a very sharp break angle on the saddle, there is a lot of friction at that point. When you strech the string (by fretting or bending, etc.) you effectively only have 25 inches of string to stretch and absorb the increased tension (ignoring the string behind the nut). Now, if you reduce the break angle across the saddle, this will obviously lower the friction at that point. For the sake of argument, let's say it's eliminated. This effectively gives you another 3 inches of string to "absorb" the increase in tension from fretting/bending the string. In my mind, this would have the biggest impact on the strings feeling "looser". So what Rich said about having to bend the string farther to get the same pitch (with less break angle on the saddle) makes sence, because there is more string to stretch. So thanks Rog, for making me think!! Your explaination, as confusing as it was to me, was probably the best one! Cam

I think your finish turned out great on this one. I really, REALLY like it. I just built an SG that I need to finish yet (check out my posts and let me know what you think of it), and my dad suggested doing a red burst into black. I had something else in mind, but after seeing yours, I think I might try it. I hate to say it, but that 19-fret fingerboard sticks out like a sore thumb. I was wondering why someone would do that, and then after reading further back in your thread, I realized that this was a mistake. I really wish you would have considered your other options before chopping the end off of the fingerboard, like cutting a block to sit under the protruding end of the board. I think it would have looked much better. But hey, hindsight is always 20/20... But on the bright side, the finish is awesome, and it plays well, that's all that really matters. I guess it really is a "custom" guitar. Nice work! Cam

Cool, I've never even heard of one of those. Any chance you can post some sound clips? What's it sound like? That's a pretty heavy gauge "string"! Cam

Looks nice! I really like the headstock, I've never seen one like it.

Question - how'd you get the truss rod cover to stay on?? I don't see any screws. Did you use magnets or some kinda clip underneath it? Whatever you did, it looks NICE. That inlay is sweet too, especially for a first try. Did you use any special tools for that? Cam

I wasn't suggesting that he should buy one of these, just an easy way to make one. I don't think that the cost of a six inch piece of 2x4 is going to break the bank This tool works much quicker than trying to do the same thing by hand, because it keeps the file in exactly the right spot, and puts a perfect bevel on all of the frets. I'm just saying that, for me, doing this by hand would have taken much longer. Cam

You probably already know this, but I'll mention it anyway - since your nut will be slightly farther down the neck than originally planned, make sure that you compensate for this by moving the bridge farther back, to keep the same scale length. Otherwise your intonation will sound like @ss! I don't know if you have to change the pickup placement at all, you probably won't notice much difference in the sound, but it might look a little "off". Also, for cleaning up the fret ends, I made a tool similar to this: Fret Beveling File I just used a piece of 2x4, routed a thin channel into it, and jammed a flat bastard file into the slot (after cutting the pointy tang off of the end of the file, so it doesn't get in the way). This turned a 1-hour-or-more job into about 10 minutes of work. It gets the frets all flush and beveled in a fraction of the time. Have fun! Cam

You could add a piece of wood on the other side of the nut like Simo did, I think that looks awesome

Thanks for the comments guys. Vinny - I actually have gotten into building recently, I built an SG-type baritone guitar from scratch. I started last October, and have it pretty much finished now. I have some pics posted in another topic if you want to check them out. Building is pretty addictive though, I'm already thinking about the next one... probably a Les Paul-ish guitar, semihollow neckthrough! I want to get a little more fancy with binding and inlays on this one

I'm new to this forum, just joined to get some feedback on an SG I built, and I thought I'd post a pic of another guitar I re-finished. This was done with Tremclad spray bombs and some tape. I used the Tremclad "hammered metal" paint and also Tremclad clear coat. What do you guys think? Any comments?