AI guitar templates review

[mgaut051]

Hey all,

Looking for some accurater-than-StewMac templates (it's a word - I looked it up) for Strat neck pocket for my cherry BMTish copy.

There's these guys on eBay http://www.aiguitars.com/luthiertools.htm but I can't find any reviews of their stuff online or people who'll admit to using them.
I like the fact that they're transparent, and that they have a midline, but I'm seriously leary investing a 20$ bill on their product without any recommendations.

For all I know, it might come from Nigeria.

Should I just use StewMac-Ultra-Engineering-Overtolerance-Template?

I could also do the bondo and sticks thing I did for the bass neck pocket...

Martin

 

[Cagey]

We know the StewMac template is wrong, so that's a waste of money right off the bat. But, AIGuitars doesn't give any dimensional data on their template(s), so you're right to be suspicious. If it was me, I'd use the contact data they provide and ask the question. The dimension that usually changes from one supplier to another is the width, and it even changes from one factory to another or year-to-year from Fender. But, it's supposed to be 2 3/16" (2.188" or 55.563mm) wide. That's the spec, and is what Warmoth builds to.

 

[Alfang]

Well I have the stew mac templates and they work fine, I don't know what you see wrong with them......

 

[Cagey]

Well I have the stew mac templates and they work fine, I don't know what you see wrong with them......

The template itself is a fine thing, and well-made. But, the width dimension is wrong. If it was just me, I'd bitch at them and get another one done right, but I've heard from several sources that they get the same results. I'm not going to bother StewMac only to get another part that isn't right. They're not expensive, so I just wrote mine off as a bad deal rather than get into a pissing contest that ends up costing more in shipping than it's worth.

Besides, mine hasn't gone completely unused. I used it as a stage for the router when I lowered the floor of the neck pocket on my mahogany Strat. I used a shorter template follower bit that rode on the walls of the existing pocket so I didn't have to rely on the perimeter of the template.

Don't get me wrong; I have other templates from them for pickup cavities and pickguard holes that are fine, and in general I always get excellent service for great tools from StewMac, so I haven't given up on them at all and bear them no ill will. I know Fender's neck pockets aren't consistent, so they probably have some justification for the dimensions they use on that template.

 

[rapfohl09]

Oh hey! I missed this thread. I have bought three different templates from them now. A P-90, a telecaster control cavity, and the neck pocket one. Firstly I want to say that the templates look amazing. They have etched (not just drawn) centerlines in both parallel and perpendicular directions. They are obviously laser cut and extremely acccurate (well sort of)

-P90, works great, fit the P-90 I have perfectly
-Neck pocket template...ehh...It looks great. I wanted to use the tele pocket template but it was huge. Like way huge. maybe a 1/16th of an inch on both sides of the neck. The strat side looked great though, and it seemed to fit my squier neck. However, I dont have a Warmoth or Fender neck to test it against.
-The control cavity one I used as just that, a control cavity. It is gonna work just great I believe. I can't attest as to how accurate it is against the standard Fender one though.

I will probally buy all my bought templates from there.