GregP

Awesome. Hard to believe it only cost less than 50 Squid.

I don't know for a fact, but I suspect that the bits at Lowe's will be from the exact same factory as those from Home Depot. Home Depot (and probably Lowe's!) also carry Freud bits, though, which have a pretty solid reputation. One of my template bits is a Freud that's been working fine (though I haven't compared it to anything else yet) and the other one (bearing at the bottom instead of top) is a Lee Valley jobbie, so I'll at least have some sort of basis for comparison if/when I ever get around to using it. Surely the 1/2" collet will be more stable, no? Greg

Waitasec... 1.75" is thinner than 2", last time I checked my maths. On a separate note: nothing stopping you from going out of spec, if that's what you want. If you want a mammoth of a guitar (I wouldn't recommend it) you can go thicker, and if you want something more back-friendly you can go thinner and/or chamber it. Greg

Also, I believe that the direction of the 'rake' / 'spiral' is important. You want to make sure you get one that will pull your wood toward the collet, not push it away. That's just something I'm going on from memory, though, and it might be a poor memory. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong and there's no way to get one that spirals in different directions. Here's one I found at Grizzly: Example of shear cutting bit on this page Greg

I agree that practice is valuable. Proper learning has to be a combination of both, and jay5 has it right on the money He read up about a technique, then tried it-- failed once, but learned as he went. At some point in time he probably had a tearout, but 'felt' what he was doing wrong, and continued with the rest of the rout just to keep practicing the technique. By the end of it, he probably went, "AHA! Now I see what you need to do." It was a combination of having read up on something and THEN trying it out in practice. You can't JUST practice and expect to progress at anything more than a snail's pace (though of course you WILL progress... that's the nature of practice!). If Drak only wants to learn by practice, that's his prerogative. It's a valid way to learn. But it's not the quickest, and nor is it the ONLY way to learn. By the same token, and even moreso, you can't JUST read something and expect to be able to do it right out of the gate. There are those of us who simply don't have scraps to practice on a million times. I don't know if Big D is one of them, but I sure am. In the interest of both demonstrating my point AND contributing to the thread-- I have only worked on one project so far. No "practice practice practice" for me, and no scrap wood (other than construction lumber, which hardly counts) to practice on anyhow. BUT, because I'm very deliberate, ask a lot of questions, and try to apply what I've read as I go, I've had successes so far. Any small tearouts I've had have been from ignoring advice and (one of Drak's well-taken points!) being impatient. Techniques learned and then applied: 1. roughing as close to final shape as possible 2. 'back'-routing sensitive areas in tiny tiny passes 3. listening to and feeling for the router's motor's performance ---- I'm sure it goes without saying that you need a sharp bit, too. Otherwise you just have a thin "not so sharp" bit of metal banging into the wood and removing it by brute force. Greg

cerealk, that guitar is awesome! ditto for Seth! Maybe some day...

Great work!

I'm not a teacher because of failing at something else. I question why I chose teaching some days, though... the board I work for is notoriously difficult to break into with a contractual position. I'd probably be making more money schlepping hamburgers. Greg

Ah, the student trying to teach the teacher. Go back to school? No thanks, lice breakout on Friday. <ugh> Well, they're both undefinable. I'm still waiting for you to tell me WHY it's sweet or WHAT KIND of tone you have lots of. It'll amount to the exact same thing-- either your description of 'sweetness' will imply what kind of tone you have, or the description of your tone will explain what you find to be sweet about it. Sure, it's impossible to ever fully put into words what it is about your tone that is sweet. It's sound, after all, and not words! Yet, we do have the tools of language at our disposal to at least make a better effort than, "I have lots of tone and wet sweetness." This teacher gives your description a level 2. Does not meet provincial standards. Greg

That still doesn't help! Wetness refers to effects! A 'wet' tone is one with lots of reverb in most cases, though it's not always 'verb. Sweetness is another intangible! I know you have it in you to come up with a more descriptive... er... description!

None of the above. Trans Red or Amber. Greg

Has much more WHAT to the tone. You can't just have more tone! I'd like to try to build one of each, but I fear that my lack of equipment will hold me back. I need to get cozy with someone who has access to a nice bandsaw, thickness sander, and jointer! I wouldn't want to recommend one over the other. I don't know enough about anything. Greg

Ugliest headstock ever.

Welcome, Pete! I have no doubt that you'll contribute more, and more quickly, than me! I'm nothing if not deliberate.... Greg

I don't really want to do that-- the Dremel tool is on loan. My rotary tool is a SpinSaw. I don't want to buy an accessory for a tool I don't actually own. Thanks for the recommendation, though. Greg

The only thing I'm not sure about are the knobs. It might just be an optical illusion, but they seem wider and flatter than normal speed knobs. Am I just seeing funny? Absolutely love the finish and the execution in general, though. Awesome work! Greg

Cheers for that advice, Setch. Looks like it's off to buy more tools again. It's hard to grumble about that when I'm too busy chuckling. How deep does your 'scribe' line go? I know you said "good and deep", but just as an estimate-- a full mm? More? I DO have an 1/8" mini router bit that fits the dremel tool or my flex shaft. Are you using a full-on plunge router? erik: deliberate... paranoid... not sure which it is, but it's sure making this first project take a very long time. I've said it in other threads and I'll say it again: next project will have to be very simple so that I can regain my sanity. Flat-top LP with no binding is what it's looking like so far. Greg

Congrats!

I've been trying to figure out how to approach my block inlays. They're just rectangles... nothing fancy. Here's what I've tried so far, keeping in mind that my practice materials are soft pine and MDF, neither of which remotely resemble what it'll be like to work on ebony. I do have some 'scrap' ebony for practice later, but I haven't wanted to try until I at least get into the ballpark: 1. "steady hand" -- yeah, right 2. making a router base for my SpinSaw flex shaft. Isn't working out very well. 3. using a true Dremel and one of these: http://dremel.com/html/images/products/att...s/large/565.jpg Now, the theory is that the mini router bit is equidistant from the edge, so I just use a straight piece of wood, clamped further away from the actual border of the inlay rectangle. So, let's say the radius of the attachment is 1.5" including the width of the attachment itself, I put the straight edge 1.5" away from the target edge and clamp down. This worked "so-so", but I don't trust it completely. The attachment is 'just' flexible enough or wobbly enough that it can deviate by a half millimetre or so. Also, you have to be very careful not to tilt at all. What I'm thinking is: use method #3 just for hogging out wood, but don't go right to the edge. What I need to do, then, is find a way to 'manually' define an edge. I'm not entirely sure what tools I should use, though. A chisel comes to mind, but I don't have one and I'd be worried just as much about 'slipping' it past its target and leaving a nasty gouge across my fretboard. Ideally, I'd like a tool that works as close to "pen-like" as possible. Any ideas or different approaches for me to consider? Greg

As long as there are two skilled guitarists in the band, the roles aren't very clear-cut. Some people mistakenly think "lead guitarist = the better of the two" and "rhythm guitarist = not as good as the other dude." As a "lead" guitarist, you will often find yourself playing the 'normal' chords to back up the rhythm guitarist's riffing. He's the one who's got to hold down the groove, and if it's a riff-based song, it's very often his domain. Of course, if it's a chord-based song with a riff going 'over top' of the chord progression, you may very well find yourself a riffing fool. Greg

That'd be swell.

I dig it.

Dude, it's not like anyone was disrespecting you. Au contraire, I said many times that I support the way you do things. It's an individual choice, which is wonderful and I'd never argue with. It's just a conversation... hope it wasn't anything I said. Greg

Make it headless, call it a Steinberger, and you're set.

I boggle. I find a 24th fret an unecessary addition to the equation. <laff>