Recommendations on roasted maple neck finishing - done!

[daizee]

Did some of the googles, cross-referenced screw specs and learned the Squier neck screws are #8's. Checked Warmoth neck pilots again, and they ARE 1/8", but snug. I hand-reamed them with a bit, waxed the screws, and.....:

I'll try to get a better shot with more light (on the guitar) tomorrow.
Strung it up with EB Regular Slinky (46-10), vs. the 42-9 set it came with.
Took the opportunity to re-seat the bridge about 0.025" in the "right" direction, and with careful pressure on the neck while bolting/adjusting, got string alignment very very good (better than factory). Did a little re-intonation and cranked it up.

It looks really good. It's THE RIGHT DIMENSIONS, OMG. My open chord accuracy is through the roof and no cramping vs. with the narrow stock neck. The fretboard edges are much sharper than any of my other guitars, but not uncomfortable. I can actually play folk music and sea shanties on my Tele now!

The overall sound SEEMS much less bright to me, but I also changed string gauges, so... *shrug*.
Went with the heavier strings because I figured the large SS6150 frets would give me too much room to bend things sharp when fretting over enthusiastically. We'll see though, Might go back to 9's.

BTW, this 1.75" standard thin, 14" radius neck with SS6150 frets and staggered Gotoh tuners is 3oz heavier than the stock 1.650" wide, heavy-finished CV neck.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[daizee]

Here she is with better light.
Also my after-strings fret polishing technique. Should have done this first, but they felt pretty good. It's not so much a question of finish level as finish *direction*. The finish should go along the long axis of the fret, not across it. The SS is much harder than the other frets I've polished this way, so I'm going to have to get a fresh nail buffer. The other side that I'm actually using is clapped out. Takes about 10 minutes. I can gently dress the fret edges the same way, tho I have a different type of buffer handy for that.

Just spent another half hour jamming on it w/ various drive pedals to get a feel for the new, different sound and feel. I'm REALLY pleased.

 

[mayfly]

Nice work!  I like the cabinet made out of an old end table 

 

[daizee]

Thanks!

Haha yeah, that's got a 1x10" Weber in it. A bit dark, I think. My buddy made the cab and the enclosure for the tube amp on top, which I don't use because aggravating.

There's a Hotone Nano Legacy Mojo Diamond on the pedalboard right behind the guitar neck that drives the cab. MUCH more reasonable (and reliable!) for a piece of furniture that will never leave the library/studio/office.

 

[daizee]

Was at CVS tonight and picked up a fresh soft-core nail buffer. 15 minutes on the couch with the detuned strings propped up on a sharpie, and my new SS frets are glassy smooth like they should be. Clarity, volume, and sustain all up up up.  :headbanging:

No fret leveling or other major adjustments were necessary other than setting the relief flat with the heel adjustment before installation. Very very pleased.