i neeeeeed heeeeeelp

[sundin4prez]

so, ive bought a body ash body blank from warmoth a while back and finaly i had time over the summer to cut out my body shape and such(looks like a lp on the left side of the body and a prs of the other side). so ivedone everything my book says to do now it comes to routimg the neck pocket. i have no idea to do this :sad: :sad: can somebody help me oot by telling me how to do that and also fill me in how to cut out the control route???




thanks.........also does anybody know how to make a neck as i have a 5a flame maple neck blank that is just sitting here

 

[nathan a]

Take my advice with a few grains of NaCl because I've never actually done this neck business (but I'm planning on it). For the neck at least, I'd seek out a good book. I have a few of the 'classic' guitarmaking books written around the 70s for classical and acoustic guitars. Those books are standards.

There's probably one out there for electrics. If not, the acoustic books will still be invaluable, you'll just need to change some numbers like nut width, scale length, etc.

Good luck, you're undertaking a very fulfilling project!

 

[SkuttleFunk]

for routing a neck pocket, I suggest you obtain the following:

* a good routing template of the proper profile that matches your neck heel. something like this is what you're looking for

so that you can do this

* a good router with the capability to fine adjust the depth

* a good pattern bit for routing the pocket.

* templates for routing the pickup cavities

for the control route, what specifically are you looking to do? is this a top route only design, or will you be routing a rear control cavity, or will it be a combination of the two? they also make templates for rear routing the control cavity and cavity cover recess

all the best,

R

 

[sundin4prez]

i have this book that i just recently bought that has some necks being built but i dont think it is enough.......



so i am going to buy the neck pocket template... but from where??? and i do i just us the pluge router because i recall the somebody on another website used a drill and a couple chisels.




last thing is that my local guitar store also sell ready to be cut wood and i am eyeing a two piece blank of solid purpleheart will it work, will it sound alright,,,,,,,,thanks

 

[RLW]

Right here...

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Routing_templates.html

Pick up some double-sided tape while you're there, you're going to need it to secure the templates for routing. And don't be prissy about using enough, if the template slips while using it, it's guaranteed to ruin your day.

 

[Alfang]

you dont need a plunger router, those are handy, but not  absolutely necessary.  You can pre-drill a start hole, or if your carefull just ease the router down at an angle, into the wood.

You really should set up and practice a couple times on a cheap 2 x 4 or some similar piece of lumber.

Good Luck

 

[DiMitriR33]

thanks.........also does anybody know how to make a neck as i have a 5a flame maple neck blank that is just sitting here

that's something better left to the pro's but if you must i know they make jigs to cut the fret slots. try stew mac.
i'm a machinist not a carpenter but i guess you could hold the blank offset in a lathe to rough out the back contour. shaping by hand would take forever. for the finger board radius make some radiused sanding blocks. and for the truss rod good luck. i can think of a way to do it if you want the fender style skunk stripe involving a homemade jig and a router. maybe you can find a book to help with that. also some war era acoustics had no truss rod. the military bought up all of the steel. the neck had some built in back bow that was corected when the strings were tuned to pitch. this can be accomplished by bolting the neck to the body and suporting the head stock, then put sand bags or other weights on the body to simulate string pull(i couldn't tell you how much) and level the fret board like this(before the frets are installed).
i have had plans to build my own for some time but lack the tooling. when my enlistment is up maybe i'll buy some.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

if you're going to do any construction yourself, I would highly recommend this book - Make Your Own Electric Guitar (2nd Edition), By Melvin Hiscock

it's available from Warmoth - http://www.warmoth.com/supplies/supplies.cfm?fuseaction=books

for building a neck I'd suggest reading, re-reading, and re-reading the book ... then go to Home Deopt and buy some poplar or other inexpensive wood and practice the methods outlined in the book. once you're satisfied with your carving, fretting, and radiusing skills then proceed to using your nice piece of flame Maple for the real deal. building a neck isn't hard if you have solid woodworking skills and the ability to work to tight tolerances. if you are learning how to use tools and/or how to work with wood, a neck isn't what I would recommend for a first project ... something like a body would be significantly better to learn on

building your own neck is very rewarding, but it takes a load of time with the right tools, skill, materials, and focus to come away with something playable. if you don't already have the tools, it'll definitely be less expensive to order a neck from Warmoth

all the best,

R

 

[Alfang]

Thats a good Book, I have it,( and recommend it as well) I have  about every guitar building book out there,,,

But heres a better book than that one  "Build your own Guitar"  by Martin Oakham
Very well put together with very good detail pics, drawings, everything. He spends a lot of time on createing and using router templates

Another good one for its very detailed descriptions of  construction and how and whys is "Building Electric guitars" by Martin Koch

Everytime my wife drags me to the local book store, I spend it looking at the guitar books, to see if theres one I dont have.