Starting out in guitar building - There will be questions!

SteveF · August 2023

To drill the truss rod access - I am worried about catching the headstock.

SteveF · August 2023

A la this video https://youtu.be/LzWREJGtUR4

SteveF · August 2023

I decided to mask up the face of the headstock with a load of layers of tape and be really careful. Seemed to just about go ok. Ever so slightly off the centre of the adjuster but I can get the Allen key on there so that’s the main thing.

Today’s lesson learned came in the form of dots. Really small dots.

If you need 10 side dots, for goodness sake order more than 10! They are fiddly little buggers and you will drop some and you will not find them.

WezV · August 2023

Top tip.... watch where small parts fall, don't try and catch them.

Roland · August 2023

… and listen too.

davros · August 2023

Neatly done with the truss rod. I have been using a bullnose router cutter to do the face of the hole then drilling though, as I find it makes centering the drill much easier. Although I've been building angled headstocks rather than Fender style, I imagine that would work here too.

SteveF · August 2023

I did a brad point at 45 degrees initially and then shallowed the angle before moving to the long drill bit. Part of the inaccuracy was due to me forgetting which way up the truss rod was installed and thinking the adjuster was at the bottom rather than the top. Either way, it works.

WezV said:

Top tip.... watch where small parts fall, don't try and catch them.

Roland said:

… and listen too.

I’m normally pretty good at that, but they kind of pinged and bounced off a tarp that’s over my bikes. 2mm abalone dots on a dusty garage floor not mixing well!

elstoof · August 2023

Aircraft extension bits?

davros · August 2023

elstoof said:

Aircraft extension bits?

ooh, i think you've got it! That's what stewmac are calling them. I've always wondered that!

WezV · August 2023

I wouldn't worry about finding 2mm abalone dots on the floor.... you won't see them in the side of a guitar neck either.

They are marginally more visible than black pearl, which can totally dissappear

SteveF · August 2023

davros said:

elstoof said:

Aircraft extension bits?

ooh, i think you've got it! That's what stewmac are calling them. I've always wondered that!

Huzzah! That’s the badger! Done for this time on this build but at least I know for next time!

elstoof · August 2023

Handy for strat trem claws too

BillDL · August 2023

Have you been tranquilising horses, or is that a solder sucker?

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/5d12eb4849ae182739a6a3b74d1d192de96170ae18df39d31f

SteveF · August 2023

BillDL said:

Have you been tranquilising horses, or is that a solder sucker?

Haha, yes, it's a solder sucker. I was using my tweezers from my soldering gear to put the side dots in

SteveF · August 2023

Scary bit today. Wanted to get onto the neck carve.

First I built a neck carving support out of a bit of leftover timber from my bench build. I wrapped a PVC pipe in sandpaper and used that to sand a concave radius into the top to support the fretboard, then covered it in cork. The cutouts are to enable me to get calibers in at the 1st, 6th and 12th frets to check the depth. I drilled a couple of holes at each end to enable clamping and used another offset with a dowel in to create a riser for the headstock support which can be moved to either end in case I want to rotate the neck. (easier then moving the whole jig around).

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/025d281ec9f8277b84e833408160b9e7dab87c964744117ba9

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Then I made a couple of templates. I printed them off the internet, cut them out and drew round them onto MDF before cutting them out on the bandsaw and then using the spindle sander to finish them off. I then put some water thin CA glue to harden the edges and prevent fraying.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/e20de2f5a8642371313c624e8bb517fc70f9d8303b620d65d0

SteveF · August 2023

Next up the carve. In the end it went ok I think. The neck ended up a touch thinner than the templates. I think I went all the way down to finish dimensions with the rasps and by the time I had smoothed it it ended up a bit thinner. Still feels ok. How much leeway do people give themselves when trying to size things to a particular dimension? Should I be leaving a mm or half a mm for sanding etc?

You may also notice todays lesson in picture 3... Apparently I drilled my fretboard locating hole too deep

Luckily I used a wooden stick to locate it, so now it just looks like a knot or a birthmark!

It shall serve as a reminder.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/d77cbd4e833448087359393e581a9ca56c24a933286d5e3dfd

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SteveF · August 2023

Not sure why those pics came up in that order, but you get the idea.

Actually starting to think I might pull this off. Lots still to do and plenty to go wrong, but this almost looks like a thing:

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/bf75afb80f9491efcef746de61a221d00f3828f3e36404ea87

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WezV · August 2023

Try and make that flat triangle on the heel as short as possible, I do it with half round rasp, file and finish with scrapers to almost hollow it out. Might be worth drawing some circles/curves on as a carving guide.

The nut end looks like it's got a similar flat spot that could do with rounding out.

The transitions are always the hardest to perfect and get flowing right.

SteveF · August 2023

Thanks Wez, appreciate your guidance. I will revisit and finesse a bit.

I wasn't sure how far to push it. The template had some lines roughly following that triangle that I assumed was supposed to be flat. Going to have a look at a couple of my guitars too to try and see how their transitions are.

SteveF · August 2023

Did a bit of reworking today, but forgot to photograph it when finished but hopefully get the idea - it's a lot smother than that now. Managed to get the triangle down to about half the size. Also sorted the headstock transition. I did a bit of work around the heel of the neck pocket too. Nothing major, just a slight angled chamfer, but it makes a big difference to the comfort.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/a063554f69f214ba84b1ec1554a2e551fe1c49825363d8c5b6

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/2cb1352b781110516c0dcaa825e19997e33b905b78ed63f3b4

WezV · August 2023

That looks better.

These days I always do neck carves in a couple of sessions as there is always something to smooth out

SteveF · August 2023

Thanks Wez.

Starting to think about the fretwork now. A couple of questions if I may.

1. I have a few options on tools. I have a 6" fret levelling file, a 1" x 3" x 18" (I think) aluminium section that I could use as a sanding beam or I could use the 18" radius beam that I did the fretboard with. Any advice on the best approach to try for a beginner?

2. Should I glue the frets in or just hammer them in? (also, is it worth radiusing a piece of wood and practicing putting in a couple of frets, or is it fairly straight forward with little to go wrong?)

3. Deepening fret slots. Should I cut them flat to a set depth, or try to match the radius of the board?

davros · August 2023

For cutting the fret slots, I would stick a piece of wood to the side of the fret saw as a depth stop and deepen the slots to a little more than the tang length. This would follow the radius of the board.

With an unbound neck I would hammer in the frets dry then wick some super glue in the ends to fill the cavity under the slot and the ends of the slot.

SteveF · August 2023

Frets in, gaps filled with thin superglue and rosewood dust, frets levelled, crowned, ends dressed and all polished up.

Decided to go with the file for the levelling, then used a sanding beam for fallaway. Tried a couple of ways to crown the frets, but I didn't really like the type that does both sides at the same time. Didn't feel as controlled and couldn't see what I was doing. Ended up using a triangular fret crowning file and found that much better.

Certainly a learning curve. Probably ended up taking a little more off than I would have with more experience but they were tall frets anyway and all seems level and smooth so fingers crossed for when it's all strung up! I also think I may have overdone the bevel slightly in places - hopefully not enough to cause a problem.

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PhilKing · August 2023

They look great

TTony · August 2023

Nice work there @SteveF ;

BillDL · August 2023

You did a great job at recrowning and polishing those frets. Wow!

SteveF · August 2023

Thanks all. @BillDL for the last step i used a dremel with a felt polishing bit and some honing compound that I use for my planes and chisels. It’s green veritas stuff but I’m not sure what grit that equates to.

PeteC · August 2023

Nice work. Did you round off the fret edges when you did your bevelling if the fret ends ? - it might be the picture but zooming in looks like there are a couple of sharp corners that might feel better rounded off. Hard to tell from the photo

you’ll probably find yourself making lots of tweaks like that anyway once its strung up and you can play it for a while and see how it feels - I certainly did on my first few builds. Its great to be able
to make these adjustments and finesse the playability - you learn an awful lot about what makes a guitar play well.

Lovely job - looking forward to seeing it all come together

SteveF · August 2023

I did, some are a little more subtle than others though to be fair - I'll get more consistent with practice I am sure

The top pic of the full neck is before I did the levelling and fret end dressing. Only the last picture is after the whole process. I wasn't 100% on the best order so I did:

- Frets in
- Beveled the ends, then realised I needed to flatten the little bits of tang that were proud that the bevel wouldn't touch, so did that and ran over the bevel again.
- Leveled the tops
- Crowned
- Dressed the ends.

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Starting out in guitar building - There will be questions!

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