Setch

It's been a long time since I've logged on or posted here, or done much in the way of instrument building (real life - what a PITA) but I wanted to draw members' attention to the current situation with Amy Hopkins, who is facing significant medical bills, following open heart surgery for a congenital heart defect. http://www.indiegogo.com/AmyHheart Amy is a long time contributer and volunteer on the MIMF, a talented lutheir and instrument repairer, and a lovely human being, who has given freely of her own time, money and extensive skill set to help those in need. Right now she could really do with recouping a little of the positive karma she is owed. Doubtless those users who are already MIMF members will have heard of this and given what they can afford to help Amy out, so apologies if this all old news to you, but if not, please consider giving as much or as little as you can afford to help Amy at a very difficult time. Every penny helps her focus on her health and recovery, instead of having to hustle to pay the bills. Contributions can be made via Indiegogo, or directly to Clint Searcy's payal account (searcysw@gmail.com) if you want to avoid the Indiegogo comission. Thanks in advance for anything you can give, and for taking the time to read this.

Wes, that is looking superb - I love your treatment of the heel. That said, the gap in the top would bug me, I'd be very tempted to inlay a line of veneer to match the back, or mask and spray a pinstripe of black lacquer, which will be indistinguishable from an inlay. If you go the latter route you can always spray it after a few coats of clear, and it will be totally reversible if it doesn't work. PS: The comments about clean work are spot on - this has looked surgical throughout - good stuff!

Superb work So far BD - I've been away from PG for ages,(not done much guitar work recently) but this thread has sucked me back in. The headplate looks great, I was concerned the clear would show up differences between the stained wood and the black filler, but it has popped it and unified it beautifully.

Are you asking about trimming the binding nibs, or remving the tang from the fret so it can overlap the binding? If it's the former, just prep the board as normal, with a radius block and straight levelling block, and you'll remove the nibs automatically.

Sweet!

Define warped. Post pics. Anything else will be entirely pointless to discuss. EDIT - OOPS - Where were those pics before... That looks like quite severe bellying. Take a look inside and see if any of the braces have separated from the top, and consider taking it to a pro if anything has come loose. There are many things you can try to repair it, but apart from humidifying it a bit (see the link the previous poster added) there's not a lot I'd recommend to an inexperienced person.

Beautiful inside and out - I look forwards to seeing more!

On an Epi it's 100% not nitro. You can drop fill that with CA glue, then carefully scrape flat and polish. Alternatively you can leave it alone. I recommended the second approach by a country mile.

Different joint, more surface area, and usually no void at the end of the tenon to allow steam to reach all faces of the joint. Also, unlike a dovetail, a straight mortice and tenon won't become loose as you pull it up, because it isn't tapered, and it will have a large, inaccessible area at the base of the joint which is glued, unlike a dovetail or mortice and tenon on an acoustic. In short, you need the fretboard off to have a decent chance of removing the neck cleanly and without damage.

You won't find any plans - Ric are very active in defending their trademarks, and will send cease and desist letters to anyone who offers plans for anything even heavily Ric influenced. You'll have to make your own plans, based on photos or examining the real thing.

Looks like a bang on job DJ - nicely done.

They must be one of the easiest shapes to cut yourself - no corners, and easy to route too!

Imade one from glass filled nylon, simply because I had some available. UHMW or a decent dense hardwood would work OK too. The slot needs to be 1/8" wide to accept the insert, the rest of the dimensions can be adapted to fit your specific needs.

+2 A conventional dowel will strip out quite easily, since you'll be screwing into endgrain. Like Wez sez. a plug cut dowel with the grain correctly oriented is the way to go.