djhollowman

Flat, don't bend it.

jem.

Wow..

You have every right to be confused. That part of that tutorial is just plain wrong. That truss rod needs a straight, flat channel. Wonder where he got the idea to curve it like that?

Excellent, thank you guys!

That is what I thought. I confirmed this by reading up [again!!] Melvyn Hiscock's book, and I also have an old Hohner strat-copy neck in pieces which was deffo made as I thought.

Now I'm back on track, thank goodness!

Hi all,

I've bought a truss rod for a neck I'm making. It's a single rod inside a U-shaped aluminium channel, anchored at one end and adjustable at the other.

Am I right in thinking that the channel I need to router in my neck will have a FLAT bottom, and be the same depth as the rod's aluminium channel?

I thought this was the case until I read this:

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/neck.htm

where he makes a neck, and in some of the photos (esp. the very 1st one) the rod he's using looks very like a U-shaped channel type one. In this tutorial he installs it into a curved channel, and uses a wooden fillet on top of it!

So do I really need to force my rod and it's aluminium channel into a curve??? It's flat at the moment - ie there is no curve in the aluminium channel.

I know this is necessary with the Gibson-style single rods, but I bought a U-shaped channel type rod to avoid having to do exactly this!

I thought I understood the principles of truss rods until now!

Man, I'm confused!!!

Please help me someone!

Thanks,

DJ

What is that white strip on some guitars that hold picks on? EVH has one, heres a pic

Below the lower horn

Does anyone know where I can buy one?

EVH has not aged well has he?

The fact you're going a seven string , 24 frets and a 25.5" set up is enough to tell me you want at least an 18".

Any less and you're asking for dramas.

cheers, Stu

Yup, that's pretty much what I thought!

There's just no point in going to all those lengths of building theneck if there's any doubt over the rod really.

Thanks for your thoughts guys!

DJ

Hi all,

I've bought a truss rod for a new build with a bolt-on neck, but it's at least 2 inches too short.

I'm intending for it to be head-adjusting, but it doesn't even reach the body!

Can I still use it? Or do I need to get one which overlaps the part of the body where the neck joins?

I suspect the latter.........

What would happen if I did use it?

Thanks,

DJ

What is the make and actual length of the truss rod? What kind of guitar? Bass? what? More info is needed to actually answer your question. Assuming you are building say something with 24" to 25.5" scale then somewhere from 17-5/16" to 18" is what you need?

Let us know and we can go from there.

MK

Hi, thanks for your reply!

The rod is a single rod in an aluminium u-shaped channel. The overall length including the adjustment nut is only 16".

The guitar will be a 7-string solid body electric, 24 frets, 25.5" scale length. The neck to body join will be at about the 17th fret, meaning I reckon I'll need a rod of about 18" in length - this to allow about 2 inches of overlap at the neck-to-body join. Even if I move the rod a bit closer to the body end, so that the end of the adjustment nut is half an inch nearer the first fret, the other is still only at the 19th fret - which puts it right about where I'll be having the neck screw that'll be furthest away from the bridge (hope that makes sense!)

This would make the centre of the rod's length at about the 11th fret.

If I don't have that 2" overlap at the neck-to-body join is it still safe to use this rod?

I'm thinking "no".........

I've simply goofed and ordered one too short, eh?

Don't really see much point in trying to compromise here, I may as well be patient and get the right rod - unless I can use the 16" one I have and be confident it'll work ok!!

DJ

Hi all,

I've bought a truss rod for a new build with a bolt-on neck, but it's at least 2 inches too short.

I'm intending for it to be head-adjusting, but it doesn't even reach the body!

Can I still use it? Or do I need to get one which overlaps the part of the body where the neck joins?

I suspect the latter.........

What would happen if I did use it?

Thanks,

DJ

Hmmm.....

As a noob myself I had exactly the same situation.

What I did was to make a comprehensive list in a spreadsheet (to allow easy edits!) of EVERY single component I would need....and I do mean EVERYTHING! I broke it down into headings like BODY, NECK, ELECTRICS etc. For instance, it lists not only the screws needed, but how many, which size and type, and which colour. Some items were just a Y/N, like eg. Headstock binding Y/N? If Yes, size/colour/#plies etc etc. If you just sit down (ideally with some actual guitars to hand) and pour over every tiny detail, making a list as you go, I found it really clarified what I would need to get/think about/etc.

Not only did it serve as a buying guide, but it also helped to organise my mind!

It also helped me to decide on colours for the hardware, and to make sure it would all match up. I mean, no point having chrome tuners and a gold bridge really eh??

I have yet to find anything like this on the 'net. I've never seen a useful list/tool where you just pick the options appropriate to your desired build. Maybe I should do something with this.....hmmm!

If do decide to go down this route, be advised that the list starts to get pretty long!!

I haven't even mentioned tools, sundries etc!

Hope this helps!

Surely the ultimate answer is to just have a fretless 'board???

There. Simple. As. That.

Vai's gonna use these????

Really?

Better buy shares in that company pronto then!!

DJ

Hi all,

Please help!

I'm very confused by the whole truss rod thing.

I want to get on with my project 7 string, and I'm making the neck now.

I'm uncertain about how to install the truss rod. I have one that's in an aluminium u-sided channel.

Do I router a flat bottomed channel in the neck for it? Or is it curved?

This is my first build.

Appreciate any help at all!

Thanks,

DJ

Hi all!

I'm struggling with the truss rod installation on my project.

The guitar will be a 7 string, 25.5" scale length, standard tuning with something like 9's to 52's, tune-o-matic bridge.

I've made a single compression rod to sit in a curved channel in the neck. Then I worked out the size and shape of the channel to router out, and the fillet size and shape. So, I then went on to rout out the shape into a practice neck using homemade router guide rails, and it worked reasonably well.

Here are my two questions:

1. On trying to tighten the rod (which is at the headstock end, and anchored at the body end) without the fillet present, I noticed the rod was trying to bend up out of the channel - shouldn't it try to go deeper into the channel?? Or, is it simply cos I didn't have the fillet there to hold it into a curve?

2. Also, I broke the weld holding the anchor end onto the rod, so I'm seriously considering just buying a rod in an aluminium channel and routing a flat-bottomed channel - could anyone advise if this would be a sensible idea for this instrument?

Really appreciate anything helpful!

Thanks,

DJ

**EDIT** regarding question 1, actually I think it might have been the other way round........I'm not certain now!

Perhaps the rod was trying to go deeper into the channel when I was tensioning it........... I'm confused now!

Ahhh.......I see it now!

Thanks guys!!

DJ

Welcome to the forums!

I can't recommend highly enough Melvyn Hiscock's book "Make Your Own Electric Guitar"!

In it, one of the guitars he makes is an 8-string bass which is a neck-through, and he goes over the necessary info regarding its neck angle etc.

Also it could be worth having a look at this guys site:

http://users.pandora.be/marnix.ghesquiere/

He made a 7-string at 27" scale, and goes into some of the calculations regarding scale length and string tension.

Regarding neck length etc, bear in mind that if you plan on using a longer scale neck you might well end up having to make your own truss rod too! Although, I believe there is a certain amount of "flexibility" (no pun intended!) about the exact length needed.

Hope this helps!

DJ

Hi all,

I've only ever worked with tremolo bridges before, but I'm building a string-thru with a tunomatic bridge.

I'm assuming it gets earthed? If so, how?

It's a new-build, so I can pretty much do anything with it still- ie, there are no existing holes, measurements etc to worry about.

Appreciate any help guys!

Cheers,

DJ

Has anyone used white dot inlays on a maple fingerboard? I was wondering how that would look? I will be using a tinted clear on the neck as well. Does anyone have a picture of this?

Won't the tinted clear affect the colour of the dot?? ....which could make it look even less distinct??

Just a thought...

DJ

... i live in australia but hopefully stewmac will post here cos my local guitar shop near me is a waste of time and the ferrules on the site look good.

Hi Shane,

I should have said Welcome To The Forums as well!!

StewMac do delivery internationally. I've just bought body ferrules from Guitarheads.net in USA, their site is worth visiting too!

I know what you mean about being nervous - I got flush-fitting rear ferrules for my project 7 string (BTW it's a bear trying to buy things like those in sets of 7, without wanting to buy two sets of six! Same with tuners etc, but with some perseverance....)

Since you're in Oz you could look up this guy from these very forums:

Perry Ormsbury

goes under the user name rhoads56 on here

www.ormsbyguitars.com

Here's an example of his stuff:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...13723&st=75

Check his website for guitars and parts, top stuff!

Hope this helps!

DJ

Hi,

I am hoping that someone will be kind enough to share their knowledge with me. I am doing up an old SG Copy labelled 'Diplomat' which was apparently manufactured by the Ibanez factory way back when and imported to New Zealand where a distributor labelled it Diplomat. The following link will take you to another one just like it that was distributed as CROWN obviously in the US http://jcguitars.com/crownsg1.JPG . Its a rad old guitar though the bigsby style tailpiece is a mess, and I don't really want it. I have a couple of zebra pickups in it now, one from an older Epiphone Les Paul JR and an old mighty mite... so far so good... not the best but it has character. when i finish full time study I will be buying some Duncans for it I think...perhaps Dimarzio's... I am a novice haha.

Though my problem is that instead of a standard tailpiece I really want through body ferrules. Can anyone offer a link or directions to do this correctly. I imagined being able to buy a ferrule as thick as the guitar quite easily, doing some careful drilling and just pushing them in...though it seems this is not how it works. So far the only ferrules I can find a maybe 12mm long. The guitar body is roughly 35mm thick...

Anyone who has seen an ESP or another guitar with the string thru body will understand what I am after. I am completely unsure how to do it and would love to hear from someone who may be able to help...please.

Shane

Hi,

I'm kinda in the same boat here, except I'm making a guitar from scratch.

I also started by thinking that it was done with one big ferrule thru the body, but having looked into getting the parts etc I'm pretty sure it's done by having upper and lower ferrules. This would kinda make sense to me in terms of explaining how different thicknesses of guitar bodies could use this method.

You can use the 12mm ferrules you mentioned for the underside, and you get body top ferrules for the top (obviously!), which can be a different width and depth to the underside ones.

See this: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Hardware,_part...p_Ferrules.html

I've just ordered a set of top ferrules, which haven't arrived yet, so I'm pretty interested to see how exactly it all goes together. I don't think the upper and lower ferrules meet - I'm assuming that there must be a few millimetres inside the body where the strings don't actually connect with anything???

I would also welcome some more experienced thought on the matter!

DJ

Ok, i'll try and do it. Im under the pump right now, so i will try and organise it, but i may not get it done. It will be a week or so between staining, lacquering, editting the footage. I MIGHT get to staining on friday.

If you are real lucky, ill do a burst too

...gets into Homer character..... "Woohoo!"

That's certainly something I'll be looking forward to!

Just visited your website and was blown away by the look and quality of your instruments.

Actually, it's slightly intimidating now that I've seen how good those ones are....

Never mind, I'm only just starting, and every journey of a thousand miles etc etc!

DJ

Here, if you can't figure out the whole stain concept, this is a link that shows how easy it is, though I wouldn't expect similar results

Stain Link:SuperStrat

I went searching for that link the other day as I was starting to plan my finish so I can start buying some of the stuff and everytime I go back and read that thread I am shocked at how easy the process is and how nice it turns out. Simply amazing stuff.

WOW! That superstrat is BEAUTIFUL!!

Im doing a blood red finish next week. If i get time i might make a video for youtube.

Excellent stuff, thank you guys!

Yeah, a video showing how would be very useful, I'd certainly watch it!

DJ

Thanks for all those replies!

Can anyone point me to a good online tutorial showing how to do a stain like this?

(I've never done one before....)

Thank you,

DJ

Stain it black or tobacco brown.

Sand it halfway out.

Then stain red.

Then clear coat.

Ahhhhhhhh.................intriguing!!

Cheers for that!

DJ

I realise that this is a computer mockup, but I would really love to know how that finish is achieved!

I'm thinking crimson stain on flamed maple, but is the dark tint done by using clearcoat with a black tint?

Appreciate any thoughts!

DJ

Howdy,

It's normal for the figuring to be perpendicular to the grain. http://www.bassemporium.com/images_product...ulus060290f.jpg

If you want to see the figuring better, ie, to get a sense of how it will look after you finish the guitar, rub some mineral spirits on it. It won't hurt the wood.

There are ways to get the figure even more defined when you finish the guitar by using dye, but make sure you like the figure before you try that. This site has a tutorial on using dye to show off figure.

Todd

Wow, two replies between my read and response

Thank you Todd!

That's completely normal. You'll never find a piece of flamed maple where the figuring and grain go in the same direction. Also, a joint where the grain goes across the joint and not parrallel to it would be an end grain to end grain joint, which would be very weak.

Phew!

Excellent, thanks for that man!

DJ

Hi all,

I recently bought some 3/8" bookmatched AAA flamed maple top from a supplier here in the UK.

When it arrived and I looked at it, the first thing that struck me was that the grain pattern goes ALONG the centre join.

I haven't worked with flamed maple before - is this normal?? I expected the grain to go ACROSS the two halves.

So, am I just being stupid?

I later noticed that although the grain goes ALONG the join, you can see some light figuring going ACROSS the wood when you look at in certain lighting conditions.

I've done nothing to the wood yet, in case I need to return it. Does the figuring become more obvious with sanding?

What I need to know is - is it normal for the GRAIN to go ALONG the join, with the FIGURING going ACROSS the wood?

Or should the grian and figuring go in the same direction?

Is what I've got going to be useable for making a guitar top where the figuring goes across the body, not along the centrejoin?

Will the figuring improve with sanding etc??

I've included a photo here to try to illustrate what I mean!

You can clearly see the join line running vertically, and also the figuring (esp.on the righthand side) going horizontally.

(The figuring looks like undulations in the wood surface but it is actually really flat)

Would be very grateful for any helpful comments guys!

Sorry if this seems a bit dumb......