dpm99

As to this bucket of water thing, I'm gonna weight in and say I don't really care personally. I think the lesson to be learned here is that you should never let a guitar sit in a bucket of water for two days. -Dave

I can see why it might do that. I'm glad I asked before I moved forward. Thanks everyone. -Dave

Ok guys, you got me. I don't know how to use my plane properly. I have one, but I just make messes with it. Fortunately, all the time I've wasted was at work. Thanks for the tough love. -Dave

I've been trying to figure this out for a while, but just can't get it down. I use router rails to thickness small pieces of wood, but I'm trying to get four pieces of a sandwich body really flat, and I'm having some trouble. I have to thickness an acoustic top too. Ideally, I need a drum sander. But my workshop all fits in a cabinet, and has to go down a flight of stairs any time I want to work. My latest idea involves clamping router rails to wood at both ends, securing it all to the work surface, and moving the board from underneath while the router stays stationary, kind of like you would with an overarm pin router. My fear (obviously) is that it wouldn't be very safe. Then again, if I clamp it down really well with a lot of clamps, it might be ok. Really there would be less than 1/4" of bit exposed below the rails most of the time, so even if it tried to suck up my hands, I'm not sure they could get through the small open space to the bit. Here's my plan. What do you think? Thanks, Dave P.S. The illustration doesn't reveal this, but I'd clamp the whole thing to the table too.

Too much? Did you determine that by tap tuning?

Nice bracing. Were those pre-shaped, or did you do them yourself?

That's exactly what I think it would look like if a Tele and a Junior had a baby. Well done.

Really nice.

That's what I needed to hear. Thanks!

Um...I think Walnut is an awesome neck wood. But if you have a crappy piece, you should abandon it before it brings you real trouble.

I'd go the route of that Danelectro. As long as you leave a big hunk of wood under the bridge, you should be fine. Acoustic tops are strengthened by bracing and by the fact that they're radiused. For what you're trying to do, I don't think all that would be worth the effort. Also, I think it would be a really cool guitar. I say go for it. -Dave

Oh yeah? Well, the other day I was working with a random orbital sander at the end of a long day of work, and found myself asking, "I wonder if this would hurt if I touched it." So I did. And then I decided I was too tired to work safely anymore.

You have to think of it like art. I don't think there's an easy way to do it well, but I don't consider myself much of a visual artist, and I've designed two body styles that I really like. I designed each one differently. Here's what I did. The First One: I started off with a book full of graph paper and just started sketching things until I made something I liked. Then I traced it on to another piece of graph paper with a minor change or two. Rinse and repeat about twenty or thirty times, and there you go. The Second One: I found a picture of a guitar I liked on the internet and opened it with Paint. Then I traced the outline, and erased everything else. (A little time consuming, but it goes quickly, and for some reason, I find that process relaxing.) Then I did the same thing I'd done on paper. I changed one little bit at a time until I had something I liked. If you're better at this than I am, you might just sketch something you like and be good to go. I'm sure some people probably do that. If you want to go with the geometric approach, you're probably best off to look into the work of Bo Diddley.

All his videos are worth watching. I subscribe.

Determine the length from the inside edge of the nut to the twelfth fret. That should be the distance from the 12th fret to the break point on your string saddles. So the active string length (the scale length) is twice the distance of the nut to the 12th fret. -Dave

Maybe someone will have some different insight, but given the way you mean to do it, I don't see why it would cause any problems. As for your thickness question, as long as it's thin enough to accommodate your tuners, you're fine. You want to check that though. -Dave

I have nothing to add to these glue wars, but I wanted to recommend two excellent YouTube videos on different adhesives that I'm not some here have not yet seen. -Dave

I saw this post and was hoping it was a question on the advantages you gain from giving up the 23rd and 24th frets. I've recently developed a definite preference for 22 frets.

Do you mean you want to make a headstock out of an entirely different piece of wood? I don't understand. I'm assuming you haven't added the truss rod and fretboard to your neck yet, right?

Welcome! If you chosen guitar building as a hobby, you must hate having money. I know I do. EDIT: I was going to ask if the scale length on the body and the neck matched, and then realized the bridge isn't routed. Anyway, make sure that if you don't understand what I'm talking about, you find out soon! Good luck! -Dave

Benvenuto Libero! Get that camera fixed so you can show us your work!

That seems sensible to me. I'm going with 16" on my current build anyway. It does make my hand tired a little easier, but it's probably worth it.

You ought to just give it a try. You can probably get it done in under a half hour.

I was actually fine through the cutting process. They kept breaking during sanding. I could have remedied that by reinforcing both sides with a supporting piece of wood, but I didn't. Live and learn. I'm really thinking that I want to make an mdf template, rough cut inside and out with the coping saw, and route to shape with the dremel. If I don't like that, I think I have another way to do it. I'm leaving the BRW aside until I get my technique down.