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Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 4:47 am
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Hi Jack: seem to have missed recent developments on this thread. Catching up now. Sounds like it's a done deal regarding the fingerboard and fretting, so let's leave that.

Far as the crowning tool is concerned: that's comparable to the one I use and I find it a good option, though not the only way to go. Couple of things: you must use the right size for your frets or you will dig grooves into their sides rather than crowning them. I expect the medium/wide one is probably what you need, unless you have very narrow frets. Also, when using it you need to declog the teeth very frequently - every few strokes. Naturally, Stew-Mac will sell you a little brass brush just for that job, or I find one of these that many of us have around the household just as effective:
Image

In addition to that, I find this tool to be my fave for dressing the ends of the frets:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_su ... _File.html

Regarding grain filling:
JackSteel wrote:
My specific question regarding this process is what the "difference" is between filling the grain and spraying... or not filling the pores and spraying multiple thin coats to get a flat surface? I hear nitro melts away at each previous coat to smooth itself out.

Almost everyone uses grain filler for the very simple reason that it saves vast amounts of lacquer, time and money. You could indeed do exactly what you say with the finish, and that is what Ed Roman does - that gentleman seems to have an evangelical dislike of grain filler. I know of nobody else who agrees with him.

If you try and fill pinhead sized holes with nitro you will be amazed at how many layers you have to spray and sand back before the pores are full and level. Compare the cost of grain filler and lacquer - and it's a no-brainer.

I know you are thinking at the moment that skipping the grain filler will be eliminating another tedious stage of the process, but it just ain't the case. I promise you, grain filler is the way to go.

To sugar that pill, here's some handy tips. Once the job is done it doesn't matter whether you got there with oil based grain filler or water based. But having done it both ways personally I much prefer water based, for reasons I'll get to in a second. My exact brand of grain filler is apparently not available where you are, but you will have something comparable. If you can't find anything nearer home then plump for Stew-Mac's waterbased grain filler - it will save you far more than it's cost in lacquer!

Here's what I use:
Image

As you see, it comes in powdered form; you just add water to make up a paste. Then you smear it on with a plastic spatula, a bit of old credit card, or a wad of cloth:
Image

Once it is dry you can sand it back smooth, but better still is to take a slightly dampened ball of cloth as you see in that photo, and then with light circular motions you just polish away at the surface. The moisture on the cloth reactivates the filler and you can gently lift it off the wood where you don't want it, leaving it behind in the pores where it is required. Here's the result (this was a fire damaged, wrecked body I was restoring. It was getting a solid finish on the back so we're not worried about visual appearance):
Image

That's as easy to get right as any grain filler method I've ever come across. That is an unusual version of the product and just in case it actually seems worth importing it here's where I get it from:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... e=1&jump=0

That price is equivalent to about Canadian $10.13 - far cheaper than Stew-Mac's filler. That little tub will do you lots and lots of guitar bodies. I have no idea what postage would be.

The best thing about that powdered water based grain filler is that it is entirely reversible, making it ideal for a first-timer who is not quite confident about what they're doing. You just can't get this one wrong!

Long post - any help?

Any more questions, just ask.

Good luck - C

EDIT: typos (curse these homonyms!).


Last edited by Ceri on Tue Jun 22, 2010 2:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 1:12 pm
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Ed Roman is a thug of a dealer. He just set up shop in the right place and right time. He has his own guitar line that is marginal at best. But he does a great job knocking everyone else out there. He also short sells new boutique builders and more the doubles his mark up. Yeah, unpleasant is a polite way of describing that man.

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Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 5:59 am
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excellent, the grain issue is settled. I wasin't looking for a shortcut it was an aesthetic debate. Considering the impracticality of not using filler, i'll do it right.


As for photos of the neck work, I will tidy up tonight and finally post something...once again I've been out of town (Montreal) and too busy to "build". Not to mention the nut and other pieces I am waiting for have not arrived yet. :roll: Quite the waiting game.

When setting the Nut is any particular type of glue better then the next? As you can see from the photos...the old nut had quite a bit of excess glue leaking on the sides. There was obviously some done work on this beast before I got my hands-on it.

Cheers,
Jack


P.S: To those still whimpering about root beer, I'll be drinking something a little more appropriate tonight.


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Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 9:15 am
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JackSteel wrote:
P.S: To those still whimpering about root beer, I'll be drinking something a little more appropriate tonight.

Hi Jack: root beer really barely exists my side of the Atlantic, but I met it many decades ago when I spent a summer in America as a kid. I found it kind of odd - but I quite liked it! I wonder if I can locate some over here - and then find a cocktail to put it in? :lol:

I'd just use a single blob of white carpenter's glue (Titebond Original) under the middle of the nut. Just enough to hold it in place, but not bond it for all time. I believe I've also heard of people using a dab of super glue in the same way.

Good luck with it! - C


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Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 4:20 pm
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Ceri wrote:
JackSteel wrote:
P.S: To those still whimpering about root beer, I'll be drinking something a little more appropriate tonight.

Hi Jack: root beer really barely exists my side of the Atlantic, but I met it many decades ago when I spent a summer in America as a kid. I found it kind of odd - but I quite liked it! I wonder if I can locate some over here - and then find a cocktail to put it in? :lol: ...

- C


Captain Morgan and White Birch Beer is delicious. Better to use the Diet White Birch beer though as it is a pretty sweet drink.

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Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 6:25 am
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White glue sounds like a plan. I read up on the super glue and it is not recommended, as you say..you don't want it binded for all time.

I unfortunately could not get my hands on grain filler last night. Neither one of the local home improvement stores (Home Depot, Lowes) caried it.
Soo I'm gonna have to track that down asap.

Although I received the box of shoes I had ordered from Montreal no more then a day ago, I have yet to get the package from AllParts which was shipped on the 11th. My patience is wearing thin, but what can you do?

Jack.


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Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:33 pm
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I found a website were a local guitar tech in Detroit fixed some fretboard damaage...

http://www.dajosguitars.com/pbassgal.htm

It appears he may have used saw dust and glue to recreate the proper look to the fretboard...

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Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 6:12 am
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Ahh dear readers, the frustration...I received my package last night. To my absolute surprise...my SG body is not the same size as a traditional gibson?! The maestro taipiece is simply too long.

but I digress and will carry on in these hard times. I've requested to return the piece and I will be getting a Bigsby B5 to strap on. The B5 is much more similar to the knockoff Bigsby (if not exact) that was previously on the guitar.

Pictures for real tonight :roll:

Ciao,
Jack


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Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 6:20 am
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Awesome, can't wait to see it. If you go to Angela.com, there's a ton of good parts on there. They even carry Squire parts, you might find something that will fit on your guitar.

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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 1:02 pm
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Update!! :!:

So I got the wood grain filler in, after trying to apply it the first time I quickly read up about it...and turns out it's not the best product for this line of work...but it works well if you completely disregard the instructions on the can. ---> Apply at large.

Image


That being said the body is all done and ready to go into the shop for a couple nitro coats.

Image


With the neck, I attempted to tint the clear grain filler with the dyes I previously mentioned. Odd result..not recommended. I'll dye the nitro lacquer accordingly. I figured it was best to try it on the neck and sand it out, then to try it on the body.

Image


That just about does it for the "refinishing" step of the build. Nitro lacquer on the bits and all is well. Any tips for spraying and tinting lacquer will be usefull at this point.
:idea:



I am unfortunately still waiting for my Bigsby (I know..unbelievable) so that will have to wait. What I'm curious about is wither I should slap the Nut on before or after the bridge comes in (lining things up??).

Also I had been working at the Nut shelf and was starting to ask myself questions as to what the repercussion were going to be if i lowered the shelf to fit properly. (compromising nut height??)

As you can see by these shots...the nut isint quite sitting flat YET. Should I shoot for a glove like fit? Or is conserving nut height going to require shimming instead of filing down?

Image

Image


Soo..a little more patience and this thing should be done. I ordered a hum canceling p-90 neck pup from Fralin and a pure PAF humbucker bridge pickup to compliment it. It should sound fierce when its all in one piece!



Image

Cheers,
Jack


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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 8:28 pm
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Already Double posting to catch up !! (That's the spirit)

Love receiving packages in the mail. :wink:

Image

Pretty self explanatory...the Bigsby B5 came in tonight! Cool looks good and shiny, and thats the bridge that I settled on. Roller bridge, fully adjustable saddles, excellent for vibrato tail piece.

but first take a look at the old setup!! Spot the difference:

Image

The old setup had a middle man, a roller bar separate from the tailpiece.
To be specific, it also does not quite have the same mounting screw locations as the Bigsby (don't forget the rollers are at a different distance from the bridge

Here they are stacked, with the miss matches highlighted:

Image

I chose to line up the actual string mounting roller assuming this would guarantee I'm keeping the same "scale length". I use the term with caution because I'm not too sure exactly what that indicates to begin with.

To summate....What does it all mean?

Which roller from the previous setup do I line myself with? I'm gonna guess the south-sided bottom roller. Or do I Line up with the old middle man roller, because it is the determining point of string contact for scale-length.


Cheers,
Jack


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Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:00 pm
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Trouble Shooting: I am slowly researching and solving my problems.

What height should the nut be fit to?

By mesuring the distance between the fretboard and current nut slots I can approximate which nut height is desireable. I will also account for the fret high by measuring that and comparing it all to factory SG nut slot specs. Should work?? Unless the bolt on neck makes the specs different?? :roll:


Which tail peice roller do I line up?


I spoke to the local guitar tech and they said: "as long as your string pitch going up from the last roller to the break point on the bridge is angled enough you should be fine."
That means I will most likely line up with the front neck side roller to ensure similar pitch to the original setup.

What to do about the sparying of nitro?

Well I also spoke to the shop about that...he wants to charge me 375$ to do the neck and body. :!: abit much really. He also mentioned he would be putting vinyl sealer before hand to ease the bonding of the nitro to the wood?? (TRUE OR FALSE)

I would much perfer to save myself the cost and do this myself. Can someone give me some detail as to what vinyl sealer will be doing for me ? Or if it should be used at all.



Thankfully,
Jack


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