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SoundGround >> Any interest in watching me work?
| 7/3/11 7:34 PM | |
Demitrius Barbito
40 
Member Since: 1/1/01 Posts: 2080 |
Awesome... |
| 7/3/11 7:55 PM | |
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goodandevil
Member Since: 9/13/02 Posts: 7843 |
Very cool. Would you be so kind as to include some pics of a truss rod, I have never seen one and would like to. |
| 7/3/11 7:58 PM | |
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Too Rude
29
Member Since: 9/19/05 Posts: 3538 |
In that last pic are those lines just guide lines or are they already cut fret slots? |
| 7/4/11 3:01 PM | |
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Racer X
11
Member Since: 5/17/01 Posts: 22779 |
Too Rude, Those slots are already cut. My customer found a guy that would make custom fingerboards with special scales slotted in. He bought four of them, so if he likes this one I may get to do a few more! The owner of the guitar is checking out this thread. If he decides to sign in perhaps he could supply some info as to the scale divisions you see here. I know that the second fret placed close after the natural note is to do quick jumps similar to the "stabbing" bends I hear from Sitar players. When I'm back in the shop Tuesday I'll post more pics. The neck is glued and being final shaped, then the frets go in. See you then, have a Happy Fourth! |
| 7/4/11 5:11 PM | |
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Too Rude
29
Member Since: 9/19/05 Posts: 3543 |
Thats pretty neat, i never heard of that before. Ive seen the True Temperament frets that Vai uses/endorses but not what your doing there. Also i wanted to ask how hard it actually is to build your own neck from scratch? Say like a 5 piece neck. I was thinking about getting a warmoth body and building a neck myself with a profile that would fit me perfectly, but i dont have tons of experience with woodworking and would have to get tools for the job |
| 7/4/11 9:30 PM | |
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Racer X
11
Member Since: 5/17/01 Posts: 22784 |
Well, I'd say building a neck is the hardest part. Wood selection,accuracy, and some knowledge of how the truss rod will work are essential. Honestly, having Warmoth build a neck to your specs and building the body yourself is a better way to develop your woodworking chops. A lot more room for error in the body, the neck demands holding tight tolerances in order to do it's job when you're done. |
| 7/4/11 9:34 PM | |
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Racer X
11
Member Since: 5/17/01 Posts: 22785 |
OK, so now we have our neck relieved of all trace of it's original fingerboard. To make joining the two easier, I first want to narrow the FB to closer to the width and taper of the neck. A green pencil makes a line on rosewood easy to see:
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| 7/4/11 9:37 PM | |
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Racer X
11
Member Since: 5/17/01 Posts: 22786 |
Cut it OUT! ,Yes, I know my hand looks awful. Chronic Dishydrosis from exposure to lacquer volatiles. Dry hands forever. Sucks. |
| 7/4/11 9:42 PM | |
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Racer X
11
Member Since: 5/17/01 Posts: 22787 |
So, how does one keep a FB from slipping around under clamping pressure? I use very small brass brads, picture hanging hardware or hobby store stuff. By drilling through the board and into the neck at fret slots at both ends of the neck, then tapping the brads into the holes once glue is applied, I can concentrate on even clamping pressure instead of chasing alignment around. i |
| 7/4/11 9:44 PM | |
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Racer X
11
Member Since: 5/17/01 Posts: 22788 |
It's very important with a task like this to remember that you want the truss rod to still work. With this in mind, I fill around the truss rod adjustment nut with soft floor wax. Blue painters tape keeps the wax off glue surfaces. |
| 7/4/11 10:16 PM | |
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Too Rude
29
Member Since: 9/19/05 Posts: 3545 |
Racer X - Well, I'd say building a neck is the hardest part. Wood selection,accuracy, and some knowledge of how the truss rod will work are essential. Honestly, having Warmoth build a neck to your specs and building the body yourself is a better way to develop your woodworking chops. A lot more room for error in the body, the neck demands holding tight tolerances in order to do it's job when you're done. My passion for the last 10 years has been guitars in one way or another. I have the knowledge of the technical aspects and i could lay out a design and in theory i could build it. Its just in practice that it could/would fall apart lol. I never was too much of a craftsman, but then again i never really tried my hand at it. I think i might get some cheap maple and rosewood and give it a shot just to see, worst case i lost out on a few bucks of material, best case, i get a new custom made neck for my ibanez with my perfect profile shape. How did you get started as a luthier? I would really like to get my hands into it, even if just as a hobby. Sorry if i seem to be hijacking your thread :) |
| 7/4/11 11:09 PM | |
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Racer X
11
Member Since: 5/17/01 Posts: 22789 |
No Hijack, it's what the thread is for! First, I reccomend getting a couple books that will help a LOT with neck construction. Melvyn Hiscock wrote a book called Make Your Own Elelctric Guitar that outlines three methods for doing so. It will fill in a lot of bits of info you'll need. Also, lmii.com, the Luthiers Mecantile, is an excellent source of materials,tools, and knowledge. Stewmac.com is another badass supplier of guitar building/repairing stuff, including books. You cannot read too much on the subject. Find EVERY source you can before you build your neck. You never know what is going to click with you and make some important aspect clear. I got started in high school doing modifications to friends instruments. I have my dad to thank for being able to do damn near anything given the right tools. He was an industrial arts teacher back when that meant something. He made sure I was proficient wth every metal and wood working tool we could get our hands on. That has helped SO MUCH in critical problem solving. The way he taught me to do any job was to really look at the objective and plan, plan, plan before picking up any tools. Thanks Dad. Hope you're watching! When you want to make that neck, make a thread. We can do it here! |
| 7/4/11 11:14 PM | |
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Racer X
11
Edited: 07/04/11 11:14 PM Member Since: 5/17/01 Posts: 22790 |
To maintain consistant clamping pressure, I'm going to skip conventional clamps and bind the neck with nylon cord. To help distribute the pressure, I cut dense rubber strips that I happen to have(helps to be a pack rat) into a pattern that just fits over the FB. T |
| 7/4/11 11:22 PM | |
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Racer X
11
Member Since: 5/17/01 Posts: 22791 |
Smith's All Wood Glue is an epoxy with properties that suit this job nicely. It penetrates hard woods like the maple and rosewood used here,has a near two hour pot life, 95% set in eight hours, full cure in 24. It dries as hard as the wood itself(or harder) making it an excellent glue where transfer of high frequencies is paramount. Being non-water based it also has the benefit of not introducing moisture to the joint, which can be a good thing when bonding woods that react differently to water. |
| 7/4/11 11:30 PM | |
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Racer X
11
Edited: 07/04/11 11:30 PM Member Since: 5/17/01 Posts: 22792 |
Another cool thing is that it is pretty forgiving of small errors in proportion of it's parts. Many epoxies are hard to mix properly in small batches, resulting in poor bond. This stuff can be gauged by eye in a graduated cup and be just fine. Mix by weight on a gram scale if you want to be sure.  |
| 7/4/11 11:35 PM | |
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Racer X
11
Member Since: 5/17/01 Posts: 22793 |
Epoxy is  applied to both surfaces and allowed to soak in for better "bite".Then the bondage begins!  I cannot stress enough, keep epoxy off your hands. I went through three sets of disposable gloves to keep clean. It's worth it, that crap does NOT belong on you. |
| 7/4/11 11:37 PM | |
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Racer X
11
Edited: 07/04/11 11:38 PM Member Since: 5/17/01 Posts: 22794 |
And there we have it, all wrapped up and getting set for the next stage, shaping! another view  |
| 7/6/11 3:34 PM | |
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whaledog
11
Member Since: 1/1/01 Posts: 6864 |
Any update? |
| 7/7/11 9:19 AM | |
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Racer X
11
Member Since: 5/17/01 Posts: 22797 |
More later today! |
| 7/7/11 10:51 AM | |
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Ali
330
Member Since: 1/1/01 Posts: 8428 |
This is a great thread, RacerX. Pulling back the curtain a bit! I haven't been on these forums in forever until a day or two ago, really happy to have a look in again! |
| 7/7/11 12:08 PM | |
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Rawbass
Member Since: 7/23/03 Posts: 2229 |
Interesting! |
| 7/8/11 12:08 PM | |
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Ponyboy
8
Member Since: 1/1/01 Posts: 17919 |
Holy crap...!! This thread exploded into awesomeness. |
| 7/8/11 4:35 PM | |
HeHitsMeBecauseHeLovesMe
150
Member Since: 8/6/06 Posts: 4444 |
Yeah, that is really really neat. |
| 7/8/11 11:01 PM | |
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Georbraham Linkington
Member Since: 8/7/05 Posts: 10027 |
Should have done these threads a long time ago Racer! Liven this place up with some worthwhile content |
| 7/9/11 4:57 AM | |
|
Too Rude
29
Member Since: 9/19/05 Posts: 3548 |
very cool progress so far. Couple more questions, this time relevent lol. When you tied the fretboard down, wouldnt some of the glue gotten into the truss rod/truss rod cavity? Ive always been under the impression that you want the truss rod unglued in the channel. And also, are you doing any inlays for this? |
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