GregP

The scarf joint is really no problem at all, so I say go for it, for the headstock angle. Don't know about fabric finishes since I've never tried one. I've seen very few that I like the LOOK of, but if you have a pattern you already like, it's something to consider. I wouldn't do it just to cover flaws, though. Most of the areas where you're likely to make a mistake aren't going to be 'hidden' by the fabric anyhow. For example, your pickup cavities. Do it because you like the look of it. Don't plan for mistakes! My examples just showed all the possible areas of error, but I didn't mean to imply that you're definitely going to make them. You may very well end up doing an awesome and clean job! I DO think that a non-binded flat-top, bolt-on LP will be an easier project than a full-on LP; however, beyond that, I haven't much opinion or experience. Greg

Dunno about US. Here, depending on the degrees you get before starting, it can range between $37,000 and $41,000 CDN. It all depends on where on the "grid" you start at. Then you get steady and fairly substantial raises for the next 15 years until you cap at about $75,000 a year or so (don't have the grid right in front of me). As a department head, you also make an additional stipend on top of your base salaray. And then as admin (VP or Principal) you go onto a different grid entirely, which I have no idea about. I'd imagine you can make $120,000 or more as an experienced Principal. Greg

Awesome tips, thanks guys. In one of the tutorials, they mention using Dentistry bits. Since there are dentists in Canada (not sure about England, but it's worth looking into. ) there must be a way to get my hands on some of those bits. And yes, the main thing I was worried about in my gaps was being able to see the edge of the inlay. Makes it look wonky. TBH, I'm not TOO worried anymore about the block inlay, but now that I'm trying out slightly "fancier" stuff, I was thinking of inlaying my own headplate now, with a logo and the name of my guit-box. On the other hand, for the headplate at least, that stick-on crap is sounding mighty tempting <laff>. Cheers for the help, Greg

I don't think people truly understand how expensive it gets for foreigners to order from StewMac. Besides that, they won't ship CA over the border. Last time I had to order a bit from StewMac, it was the binding pilot bit. The cheap one without a bearing. I don't remember the exact final total, but somewhere around $50 CDN, which is almost double the 'list' price when you include duty and so forth. There needs to be a Canadian StewMac distributor. If I had the resources, I'd consider contacting them myself. Greg

Bolt-on, just so that you can replace customers' necks for warranty work. Greg

I'm no expert, but common sense dictates that almost everything about a (standard) Tele project will be easier than the LP. Keep in mind that I'm referring to a "standard" tele-- of course an LP shape can have tele characteristics and a tele shape can have LP characteristics (including carved top). Consider: 1. Pickups in a tele are mounted to the bridge and a pickguard. Even if you eff up routing, the flaws will be covered up. LP pickup and electronics routing requires more precision and effort. 2. Bolt-on vs. mortise and tenon construction. To some people, this is 'six of one, half dozen of the other' and to them one isn't really more difficult than the other. But, many others feel that set-necks require a bit more effort and precision. 3. Headstock construction-- no angled headstock to worry about. Again, (and having done one) a scarf joint isn't all THAT tricky, but it's still an extra step by comparison 4. Flat top of the tele vs. carved top of the LP 5. Binding is almost 'required' to make most LPs look good, though it's certainly not a rule. Teles, on the other hand, don't come standard with binding 6. No neck angle on a standard tele, compared to a slight neck angle on a standard LP. 7. Mounting a tele bridge is 'generally' easier than an LP because you don't have posts and bushings to worry about. Line it up, drill pilot holes, and screw it in. ------ Basically, Fender and his team engineered the Tele to be easy to make, at a factory, by unskilled workers. It stands to reason that a tele project would be easier to make. However, nothing's stopping you from: a ) being ambitious. I recommend against it, but not everyone will run into the same walls I have. Your mileage may vary. b ) making an LP shape, but using tele-like engineering/specs Greg

A loose nut won't have caused intonation problems; however, if the slots aren't cut low enough, the downward pressure as you fret a string can pull a string significantly sharp. You may need to file the nut slots, or if they're ALL really high, and you already have experience with a nut, you could file down the entire bottom of the nut. Greg

Just as I suspected-- buying more stuff. It never seems to end. Also need to find some CA. At what point in time does the ebony dust come into the picture, BTW? Greg

I have no basis for comparison, but it's what my first project is made with (white limba). It's very straight-grained, and I don't know if that's a contributing factor or not, but when doing pointy bits or bits with sharp curves, you need to go very carefully with your router or large chunks could fly right off. Other than that, I've found it quite nice so far, for a first project. There's been nothing particularly difficult that I've encountered at any rate. You will need to use pore-filler when getting to the finishing stage, but that's the same as mahogany and many many other woods, so it's not exactly an "exceptional" pain in the arse. Par for the course for many body woods, from what I can tell. Greg

If you've already moved them as far as they will go in their saddles, you're pretty farked without inconvenient modifications. There are usually springs behind the saddles. Remove those to give yourself an extra 2mm of play, which might be enough. Greg

The other option just seemed so boring-- practicing by inlaying square-ish blanks randomly into my scrap ebony. Yuk. Sheetoli is right, though. I might give to give the T logo one more try... but it wearies me. My eyes get all crossed from trying to do such tiny work, and my brain gets tired from the concentration it takes. Still, all in good fun while it's just practice scraps. The actual MOP part came out great, so I'm well pleased about that. It's just the mortises/cavities/whatever you call them that are buggering me up! Greg

Just popping in to say 'hi'. I've been following this thread, still, but it's like listening to Spock and Scotty talking to Jordy and Data. Greg

You can't -easily- combine active with passive. To the point where I wouldn't even consider it for myself; though, others have done it. Greg

I tried again... I was more successful (go figure!) but I had 2 very unfortunate gouge-outs. I wasn't even using the blade in what I thought was a strange way (like the horizontal thing describe above) but ZAMMO, some ebony broke out. Grr. Still, it's better. Time to move on and try a few simpler shapes instead, and then move on to the block inlays on my fretboard. Still need to know how people are filling in the 'gaps'.... Krazy Glue mixed with sawdust? If so, what's the best way to approach it? Pack in a bunch of dry sawdust and then saturate it with glue? Mix it all up in advance (won't it dry??) and THEN put it into the gaps? Something completely different? Cheers, Greg

Thanks. But believe me, anybody in the world with an Xacto and a Dremel could do as good or better. Follow-up note: I didn't like the way it was sitting in the little cavity, and since I have already decided to re-try it, I figured there was no harm in dicking around a bit with the existing one first, to see what I can learn. Here's what I learned: If you try to cut laterally (with the blade flat to the surface) you can and will tear out a huge hunk of ebony with ease. The space between the "T" and the "gear" got gouged right out like it was butter. D'oh! Greg

Not for the boot camp like those guys who show up on Maury Povich or Sally Jesse Raphael sometimes. Greg

'Fraid not.

<Looks teary-eyed at the Speedloaders> Wish I could help you out, man. I'll not find a deal like that again anytime soon, but the timing's off. Greg

Forgot to give you a sense of scale. The entire inlay is almost exactly the size of an American or Canadian quarter. Greg

Right, then-- Well, I wanted to practice, and happened to have some scrap ebony. But I couldn't just practice a little square, could I? Nooo... no no no... that would be too easy. So, using my wee little vice and some tools on the Dremel, I made a neato little inlay that's actually the Tracktion logo. Tracktion is a piece of software that I use a lot, and I belong to the user forum for. I figured, if I'm going to practice, I might as well make something other people can relate to and smile about, and I know those guys would get a kick out of my fanboi-ism. Anyhow, making the inlay was surprisingly easy using the tools I already owned. But then... the ebony... Oh, the difficult, sturdy, dense wood that is ebony... With much difficulty, I finally cut out a 'passable' shape, though it's pretty shoddy work at the end of the day. It looks absolutely horrible-- like a dog's breakfast-- when the MOP isn't sitting in there. Once the inlay is set in, it looks a lot better but still not what I would call a "clean" job. Sorry for the blurry photos... my camera doesn't focus well for close-ups, and too far away didn't give me any usable level of detail: Dog's breakfast cavity: Looking better but not great: The problem was that the shape is relatively intricate. It doesn't LOOK too complex, but all the wee little cuts you need to make made for a difficult job. I used Setch's masking tape and exacto 'scoring' method, and it was fairly successful. I can tell it would have worked perfectly for a block inlay. The problem was that even a 1/8" cutter was too large for this design, so I had to use an 'etching' cutter, which has a rounded shape to it. In order to see if I had scored properly, I took the tape off. I had NOT scored properly, so I worked at it some more. There was enough of an outline done properly that I just had to "connect the dots" so to speak. However, since the tape was off, I then exposed the ebony to the massacre of slipping the 'etching' tool out of the cavity from time to time. That's what the roundish 'dings' are. The scratch and the ding aren't actually deep, so sanding it all down to be level would have been fine, though not ideal. I'll be re-trying this, using the same inlay, and then I'll step it back a bit and try something more simple, before going to the fretboard. 2 questions, though: 1. Assuming that some day I once again need to use the rounded bit, leaving the 'floor' of my cavity a bit bumpy. What would you recommend as a way to 'level' it off before gluing down the inlay? 2. I will probably end up with the occasional "gap" between the cavity wall and the inlay itself, from time to time. I seem to recall that people mix ebony dust with CA to fill in those gaps. Does this sound about right, or do people have alternative techniques? Greg

Filing off the barbs is commonly done, too. It's probably in the link Southpa gave, but I didn't have a peek. Greg

Sounds like Ontario. What a sad state of affairs. Our Premiere just opened things up a bit-- grade 1 and 2 classes are now limited to 20 students in each, which creates more jobs in theory. In practice, though, it hasn't impacted ME, because there are already so many out-of-work teachers higher in seniority that are waiting to snatch those jobs back up now that they're available again. 'Sides, I teach grades 4-12, which means teachers in THOSE grades would have to move laterally into gr. 1 and 2 positions to open up a position for me. <bah> Greg

Bah, that stinks. I bet you'll find a computer, though.

New Zealand, Canada, the U.S., and many other countries require a Bachelor's of Education, which is post-graduate work. It depends on your state/province how to attain it, but commonly it's one year of specialized training after your Bachelor's. In some places it's two years of specialized training. Even in areas with the one/two year system, you often have the option of taking "concurrent Education" in which there are teacher-related courses interspersed throughout your normal Bachelor's degree. Then you still have one year of specialized training, but you are awarded a Master's of Education instead of a Bachelor's. When I taught in Mexico, it was preferred that the teachers had an Education degree in most schools (and required in others), but I went before getting my B.Ed. When I came back and did my education degree, I discovered that there ARE actually techniques to be learned (I was skeptical, I have to admit) that I wish I had learned before becoming a teacher. There was supposedly a teacher shortage in Ontario, too, but it must've been in any city other than Ottawa. I'd move away just to get a full time job again (other than supply teaching) but my girlfriend is here and I don't think she'd be all that pleased by that decision. Greg

The minor increase in price for the soulmate isn't enough to deter me, when I decide to build from a pre-made neck. Those multi-lammed, made-to-order necks seem like excellent value-for-money. Other than that, I'd be more tempted to go with the Carvin than the StewMac, given the reputation Carvin has for playability. Greg