Guitar Fetish Warehouse Sale
- Thread starter Johnny
- Start date
Well, I haven't posted in awhile, but I have been working on my project. The body and neck are pretty much sanded smooth and pretty much ready for finishing. One thing that has me concerned is the fact that this is a 25 1/2 inch scale and it appears to me that the length from nut to where the strings would cross on the Floyd Rose is going to be a little longer than that. I'm not exactly sure how far back the strings rest on the FR, but it looks to me like the length is going to be an 1/8 to 1/4 inch to long.
I'll probably order the hardware in the next day or two from Guitar Fetish which includes the FR, so I should know next week if I have a problem or not. If I do, I will be removing some wood from the end of the neck which will be a pain but otherwise shouldn't be a problem.
On another note, I found a dremel on Craig's List today for $50 - complete with a plunge router attachment. I'm going to pick it up tonight.
I'll probably order the hardware in the next day or two from Guitar Fetish which includes the FR, so I should know next week if I have a problem or not. If I do, I will be removing some wood from the end of the neck which will be a pain but otherwise shouldn't be a problem.
On another note, I found a dremel on Craig's List today for $50 - complete with a plunge router attachment. I'm going to pick it up tonight.
Last Friday, my order from Guitar Fetish arrived. For pickups I went with their Power Rails for the bridge and I purchased the set of three Lil' Killers for the single coil routes. I also purchased their LFR. I know, it's not a Schaller, but I'm on a budget with this one.
Now that I have a FR, I was able to sit it in the guitar and I quickly determined I was going to have to recess the FR. Sitting flat against the body, there is a slight rise to the top of the saddles. This gets considerably worse once you line the FR up with the studs. This is especially true with this tremelo because of the plate holding the studs together. Not sure why that was done because, for me at least, it's forcing me to recess a little more then I would otherwise have to. I thought about getting other studs, but since I have to route the thing out anyway, going a millimeter or two deeper doesn't seem like an issue.
I went to StewMac's website to look at their templates and noticed in their instructions that they specify that the studs should be 25 inches from the nut for a FR. Mine are 25 1/8. So, I am going to (somehow) trim about an 1/8 inch off the heel of the neck. If you look in the pic with the neck sitting upside down in the pocket, you can see that the heel of the neck is rounded while the pocket is flat. Obviously, this neck was not built for this body, so taking a little off also gives me a chance to flatten out the end of the heel. A whole separate issue is the fact that both the body and neck are shaped for Ibanez's All Access Neck Joint except that they don't line up, so I will be reshaping that part of the neck at some later point. Have I mentioned that this stuff is not Warmoth quality? :icon_smile:
Rather then wait a week for an order from StewMac, I opted to make my own template to recess the FR. So the last pic is the FR sitting in the template. I will probably do a test tonight to see how it works out.
I went to StewMac's website to look at their templates and noticed in their instructions that they specify that the studs should be 25 inches from the nut for a FR. Mine are 25 1/8. So, I am going to (somehow) trim about an 1/8 inch off the heel of the neck. If you look in the pic with the neck sitting upside down in the pocket, you can see that the heel of the neck is rounded while the pocket is flat. Obviously, this neck was not built for this body, so taking a little off also gives me a chance to flatten out the end of the heel. A whole separate issue is the fact that both the body and neck are shaped for Ibanez's All Access Neck Joint except that they don't line up, so I will be reshaping that part of the neck at some later point. Have I mentioned that this stuff is not Warmoth quality? :icon_smile:
Rather then wait a week for an order from StewMac, I opted to make my own template to recess the FR. So the last pic is the FR sitting in the template. I will probably do a test tonight to see how it works out.
I was able to route the top for the FR; however, the bottom still needs to be routed to provide clearance for the nut on the bottom side of where the arm attaches. Basically, the current route through the body is not wide enough. I routed down 8 mm at the front. Probably a little more then most FR routes, but was needed because of the plate between the two studs. I've also redrilled the stud holes deeper.
I was also able to trim the heel of the neck down to where I should now have a 25 1/2 inch scale length. I need to do a little more sanding to clean it up after which I'll post more pics.
I was also able to trim the heel of the neck down to where I should now have a 25 1/2 inch scale length. I need to do a little more sanding to clean it up after which I'll post more pics.
I'm getting pretty practiced at making router templates. It seems everytime I have to make one, it takes me two attempts to get one right. In any event, I made one to route the tremelo hole through the guitar big enough for the bottom of the FR. All in all, I'm happy with it, but I did have a couple of mistakes.
After the first route of about 5 mm, I pulled the template off and routed deeper. I wasn't real careful and the guide bearing slipped up over the edge causing me to route a little dimple in the side. Of course, this mistake carried all the way through as a routed deeper. Doesn't affect the mounting and will be hidden under the tremelo, so no big deal.
Also, as I routed deeper, there was no side support where the body was routed out for the springs, so I messed up a bit and have a couple of small cuts on either side.
At this point, I think the body is pretty much ready to be finished, though I will probably do just a little more sanding.
After the first route of about 5 mm, I pulled the template off and routed deeper. I wasn't real careful and the guide bearing slipped up over the edge causing me to route a little dimple in the side. Of course, this mistake carried all the way through as a routed deeper. Doesn't affect the mounting and will be hidden under the tremelo, so no big deal.
Also, as I routed deeper, there was no side support where the body was routed out for the springs, so I messed up a bit and have a couple of small cuts on either side.
At this point, I think the body is pretty much ready to be finished, though I will probably do just a little more sanding.
OK, so not only was November busy, but so was December and January. I've been tinkering with the neck. First, the neck had a plastic nut on it and since I'm putting on a FR tremelo, I feel compelled to put on a locking nut. I had to sand down the nut area to give me a flat surface to mount on. After doing that, the nut (of course) sits too low. So I bought a piece of Padouk and fashioned a shim. I'm a bit worried about the thinness of the neck in this area, but hopefully it will be alright.
The other thing that I've done is attempt to resolve the loose fit in the neck pocket. The pocket was about 1 mm wider than the neck itself. So, I routed about 1 mm off each side of the neck and used some of the Padouk to make some shims for the sides. Odd (to say the least) but the neck now fits snugly and I'm generally happy with the results.
I'd like to use threaded inserts on the neck, but not sure I can. The holes drilled for the neck screws are 3/16 inch and the All Access Neck Joint style means that one of them aligned a little close to the truss rod. As a result, I think I'll have to suffice with some #10 wood screws.
The other thing that I've done is attempt to resolve the loose fit in the neck pocket. The pocket was about 1 mm wider than the neck itself. So, I routed about 1 mm off each side of the neck and used some of the Padouk to make some shims for the sides. Odd (to say the least) but the neck now fits snugly and I'm generally happy with the results.
I'd like to use threaded inserts on the neck, but not sure I can. The holes drilled for the neck screws are 3/16 inch and the All Access Neck Joint style means that one of them aligned a little close to the truss rod. As a result, I think I'll have to suffice with some #10 wood screws.
