# Deegatron build #5



## Deegatron (Jun 27, 2015)

Well, the wife finally caved... and I'll be dammed if that doesn't mean I'm building another guitar.

I'll apologize in advance as I'm a painfully slow builder... 

My last 2 builds have been multi-scale and I'm sad to admit. I just didn't nail it like I had hoped. I'm not sure if I don't like multiscales... or I just don't have the skill to build to the same level that I can build a straight scale guitar... either way... 

The plan for this one was simple. Chose what you liked about previous builds... strip it down into something simple but very metal... Focus on a good CLEAN build for this one... the fancy bells and whistles can wait for the next one....
Sadly the plan went out the window when I found an epic piece of limba at Windsor plywood... then of course, the wife bought me all of the tools to do inlay for my b-day. so yeah, looks like this one is balls deep Valhalla be dammed...

spec's are as follows.
Blackmachine ish shape.
White Limba body. likely painted black with faux binding.
5 pc Wenge/padouk neck. Ebony Fretboard with maple binding on headstock and fretboard.
25.5" scale length. 24 frets. 16" radius
black hardware
Hipshot hardtail bridge.

fretwire - undecided
Pickups - undecided
Bolt on construction 

Name: undecided... possibilities are "leviathan" or "meat bag"... I'm also open to suggestions...

Soundtrack for this build is likely to be Monuments "The Amanuensis"

Drawings still need a smidgen of work but 90% there...




my pile of wood




and the classic "in progress" shot


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## Taylor (Jun 27, 2015)

Did... Did you say "meat bag"?


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## Mehnike (Jun 28, 2015)

Acknowledgement of the imperfections in your prior builds only shows you mean business. Holding your standards high is what excellent craftsmanship is all about. I'm looking forward to seeing this build come together.


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## Deegatron (Jul 6, 2015)

small status update.

Ran into my first mistake... already... 
This my friends is why you measure TWICE and cut ONCE.



Cut the danm laminates too small... had to drive 1.5 hour round trip to the west end to get a new piece of wood... and they were all out... so I called in the next day to find out when they were getting more and the chick found a piece... so I drove another 1.5 hour to get the danm wood.
*hands head in shame*
Either way, it wont show in the finished product so I'm happy about that... 

moving along
making good progress on the body.
Used the router sled to bring her down to thickness... 1.625". then band saw'd that biznatch.



Looking good!!! bought some new blades for my Ryobi band saw... what a difference... cuts are smoother, straighter, just plain better.... the only weakness is the danm throat is too small to cut the lower bout on the body... had to transfer the template to the other side and cut upside down... which was a little nerve racking... such is life... got er done and looks good...

end grain is looking hot.



I'm having a hard time thinking about painting this body.... but I've got time to think about that later I suppose...

That's all for now. currently working on templates and getting the neck blank ready for glue up. it's the danm rough milling of the wood at the start of a build that gets me... I just don't have the right tools for it.... but so far I'm making due rather well...
IF only I had room for a thickness plainer and a nice big bandsaw, and a CNC machine... and a car lift... and a hot tub... bitches love hot tubs... stupid garage is too small...


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## stevexc (Jul 7, 2015)

...I think we need to hang out, just so I can osmose some of your building skills. Looking good!


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## Steinmetzify (Jul 7, 2015)

Neck joint? Good. Scarf joint? Good. Name plate? Good. Drop top? Yeah. Inlay? Dope. 

In, dewd. Subscribed. Good luck!


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## TamanShud (Jul 7, 2015)

Moar pls


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## FIXXXER (Jul 7, 2015)

DO NOT PAINT IT FFS!


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## Blue1970Cutlass (Jul 7, 2015)

Deegatron said:


> I'm having a hard time thinking about painting this body...



That would kind of be a shame... that's some nice looking end grain


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 7, 2015)

What's that lil section on the body above the neck?


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## Deegatron (Jul 7, 2015)

Thanks for all the comments guy's.
Looks like I wont be painting the body. clear finish it is.


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## Deegatron (Jul 7, 2015)

TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> What's that lil section on the body above the neck?



It's a name tag of sorts.
I plan to put the "model name" or an inspirational Viking quote or something in there.. maybe a serial number... not 100% sure yet. saw it on someone else's build a while back and rather liked the idea.... so the rapper within me took over... and I stole it... I FEEL NEITHER SHAME NOR REMORSE!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 7, 2015)

Deegatron said:


> It's a name tag of sorts.
> I plan to put the "model name" or an inspirational Viking quote or something in there.. maybe a serial number... not 100% sure yet. saw it on someone else's build a while back and rather liked the idea.... so the rapper within me took over... and I stole it... I FEEL NEITHER SHAME NOR REMORSE!




Interestingly enough, I'm debating on branding my bodies with the company brand, and then putting just the model info on the head-stock, omitting the truss rod cover entirely.

I sourced a metal sticker company some years back that did labels similar to the ones that Warmoth had, but I need to research again to see if they are still in business.


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## BlackMastodon (Jul 7, 2015)

I'm digging this. I say leave it natural because I love the look of Limba.


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## Renkenstein (Jul 7, 2015)

No paint! Lookin' awesome, Deegs!


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## Deegatron (Jul 8, 2015)

The build marches on!
I don't get much time during the week to use the router but got the laminates for the neck done over a couple days.

so without further delay mmm mmm mmm neck blank sandwich




I forgot how slippery .... gets once you apply tightbond... that stuff makes excellent grease until it starts to setup...

either way, got er done and she looks fairly strait. so all is well.

planning on ordering shell for the inlay tonight... plan is to go all ninja on that ..... fretboard is Macassar Ebony. which I find doesn't come as black as some of the other types. which is okay with me... Looks more like wood. it's a very dark brown with a couple lighter streaks... and that's black enough for me. Plan is to use Black MOP for the inlay. that way it wont be super obvious until the pear catches the light just right and you get that flash of green/gold/pink. it's either going to be INCREDIBLY BADASS or confusing and awkward.


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## TamanShud (Jul 9, 2015)

Loving the inlay idea, subtle ones are best IMHO


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## electriceye (Jul 10, 2015)

Looks really cool! BTW, most darker ebony boards are stained black.


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## Deegatron (Jul 10, 2015)

electriceye said:


> Looks really cool! BTW, most darker ebony boards are stained black.



That's good to know. I've never used the expensive Ebony and assumed it could be gotten in "black enough to make batman proud".


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## Deegatron (Jul 11, 2015)

Got a few uninterrupted hours in the garage today. was very productive.
Routed the body to shape
Made templates for the fretboard and neck blank.
Cleaned up the neck blank
a little of this, a little of that....
cleaned up the shop...
learned kung fu....

yeah yeah, pics or it didn't happen...



Neck blank cleaned up nice. the stringers are nice and perpendicular to the face.. I was worried they'd come out a little off kilt but I got lucky.

wasn't paying enough attention and the bit caught the horn while routing... tiny bit of tearout... feeling some shame... this should not have happened... I was sooo carefull while routing everything else... just let my guard down....




ran into my first design flaw... stupid trussrod interferes with one of the neck bolt inserts... stupid... shoulda seen that coming....



not a huge deal, im going to rout the trussrod slot first and then I can move the insert a little... just pisses me off that I missed this in the design phase... I feel like a noob some days... 
Overall im happy with the progress tho... kinda stuck on how best to do the scarf joint with the tooks I currently have... built a jig for the router sled to do the angle... but it didn't work for ....... so a new plan is needed.... I think i'll go sit on the toilet and ponder that...


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## Steinmetzify (Jul 11, 2015)

Dude, gonna happen. Mistakes are how you learn, don't beat yourself up. If I told you how much money I spent replacing cabinets doing kitchen remodels you'd .... yourself. 

Dig the body shape and I'm really starting to like dark woods with lighter fillets for necks. This is gonna be good.


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## pettymusic (Jul 13, 2015)

Yeah, don't be hard on yourself. The important thing is you caught it before you drilled. Looks really good!!


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## immortalx (Jul 14, 2015)

Nice work again man!
You can use a shorter truss-rod and leave the insert where it is! It won't make a huge difference in adjustment after all.


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## Deegatron (Jul 14, 2015)

Im still working on templates but I think I managed to salvage the situation. I've got some room to move the trussrod ahead and I think if I play my cards just right i'll only have to move the insert 1/4" or so. so it should work out just fine... I hope... Templates are taking forever as I only have about 10 minutes per night to use the router while the wife reads a book to the little guy before bed. otherwise I'm SOL.

decided on pickups as well.. I'm going with dimarzio D activators . Will order a set this weekend (nobody in town seems to carry them). sounds like they have very tight bass response and nice crisp tone. so im going out on a limb.


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## Humbuck (Jul 15, 2015)

Love the way this guitar looks! Following! No paint!


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## Deegatron (Jul 16, 2015)

Today the Deegatron brings you...
The five stages of Scarf joint!!!

Stage 1 - denial.
Symptoms include 
-I don't have all the tools I need to do this scarf joint, maybe I should wait till later.
-I don't need a scarf joint. I can just use a strait headstock angle.
-I'll build a jig to scarf joint... yeah... next week.
-what's a scarf joint?

Stage 2 - Anger.
Symptoms include
-Who's %[email protected]#%@# idea was this
-Goddammit. %$# ^%# $#@
-%[email protected]#ing scarf joint can suck %$#@% while his sister %$#@# him right in the %$#@#$
-I need a holiday from my hobby.

Stage 3 - bargaining
Symptoms include
-PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD JUST LET THIS END!!!
-Just kill me.. then I wont have to finish this... I'd have a power sander in heaven right?!?!?
-this is close enough right?!?!?!?!

Stage 4 - Depression
Symptoms include
-Im never going to finish this god danm scarf joint....
-heavy drinking
-loss of hair follicles
-sadness

Stage 5 - acceptance.
aiet, aiet... i'll get er done....




I finally made it past stage 1 and started on my scarf joint.
This is when I realized that my "clean it up with a hand plane idea was a bad idea... for I have no hand plane skillz... literally none whatsoever... my handplane game is weak son.....




wee bit of sanding left to go. by this time... I couldn't feel my hands and resorted to wearing gloves... just for the cushion...




dry run




and finally... possible victory?!?!?! not 100% sure until she comes outta the clamps... but it looks like a major win... 
I've never used the 1 pin on each side method before... it's %[email protected]$%@ beautiful. WHY HAVE I NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE?!?!?!?! it was soo much easier than my last attempt... don't get me wrong... I had great results... but this was like taking candy from a midget!!!! 

That is all.


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## BlackMastodon (Jul 17, 2015)

That snide, candy eating midget never even saw ya coming! And don't feel bad, hand plane skills are hard to develop. Seems like one of those lost art things.


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## Hywel (Jul 17, 2015)

Good to know I'm not alone in my hatred of scarf joints.


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## Steinmetzify (Jul 17, 2015)

[email protected]

Looks great man. Saw that pin thing done on a few (ok a lot more than a few) builds here and marked it for if I ever get the guts up to try this. Glad it worked out so well for you. Digging that neck still.


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## Deegatron (Jul 17, 2015)

BlackMastodon said:


> That snide, candy eating midget never even saw ya coming! And don't feel bad, hand plane skills are hard to develop. Seems like one of those lost art things.



THANK YOU! I feel like I should apprentice to some ancient uber plane wielding ninja. where I only get to make rice for his sushi for the first 20 years. BAH, aint nobody got time for that!


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## Deegatron (Jul 18, 2015)

Went into the garage today.... THERE WAS A FIREFIGHT!!!!!!!!

Started the day off with my trussrod slot.



VERY LIHGT first pass. the idea here is if it's not 100% right I can take a skim off the top and it's good as new. 
Luckily all of my measuring and re-measuring paid off and she was right up the middle.
so I stayed the course and got er done... routing trussrod slots always makes me nervous as I do it on my router table and it's a blind rout so there is always the possibility of disaster and you wouldn't even know until you finished and lifted the piece. 

Next on the list was to drill the adjustment hole.
I've never gotten this 100% right. so this time I built a jig to try to help... 






It lined up pretty danm good... not EXACTLY where I wanted it... but it's a clean hole and it will work and look good... so im pretty thankfull for that.



Next order of business was to rout the neck and headstock. no pictures of that in progress as it was pretty standard. template... check... router bit... check... ear plugs... check... break dancing moves... check... better krump that .... yo... that's what the kids which are it, and or with it are doing these days right??? Krumping??? 







WHAMO!!! not gonna lie... this build is going well... a little too well...


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## Deegatron (Jul 24, 2015)

BEHOLD! ZEEEE METAL!!!!!
more progress.... 





finished the tummy cut.
also completed the forearm contour... I may need to make them both a little deeper... not 100%.. they feel very comfortable so I doubt it...





Also finished my neck pocket/pickup/bridge hole template... I should be able to rout everything tomorrow and do a decent mock up....





Also got some work on the neck done.





Got my binding glued on.... I think I've decided to abandon the 12th fret inlay. its just not... classy enough for this build....

drilled my tuner holes and thicknessed the neck blank at the heel...




im going to avoid my issue with the insert running into the trussrod slot by simply having a slightly thicker neck blank... this will allow for both items to fit without interfering... I hope... 

that's all for now... Ordered my bridge pickup yesterday... could take a couple weeks to come in... no rush I suppose... still need to order my neck bolts and inserts... blarg....


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## TamanShud (Jul 24, 2015)

This is going to be just ridiculous


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## Deegatron (Jul 25, 2015)

Another day of big progress.





Routed the neck and pickup cavities.
I may need to deepen the pickup cavities and I will for sure need to deepen the neck cavity but they're started.....





Testing the neck fit... perfecto!









Next came the neck ferrules and contour. I don't have the fancy piloted bit like everyone else does... so I had to guess the depth and then deepen as neccicary while carving... a bit of a pain in the wang but totally worth it... 

For the love of everything holy I cant seem to decide on a control layout... either volume + 3 way or volume / tone / 3 way... 

Let me know what ya think...









At this point in time, I've shot myself in the foot... I don't want to continue with the neck until the inserts are in... but I haven't ordered them yet and if im not mistaken... they take a while to come in... so... I'll just need to finish the body for now and do my inlay.... I've decided on a couple of dots at the 12th and 24th fret for the fretboard... nice and easy....


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## Hywel (Jul 25, 2015)

Damn that's looking fine!

I like a tone control just in case so I'd vote for volume, tone (with a no-load pot), switch.

Get those inserts quick, I'm looking forward to seeing the fretboard on


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## Steinmetzify (Jul 25, 2015)

Echoing above on the speeding up of this whole thing. I hate waiting and wanna see it done!

Kidding dude...take your time and do it right. For me on the controls it would depend on what it was for.....I have guitars just for rhythms and some just for leads and some for both. Rhythm guitars just have a volume.


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## TamanShud (Jul 25, 2015)

Volume and toggle looks far cleaner


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## Deegatron (Jul 25, 2015)

For me, this build is all about stripping it down to the bare essentials and focusing on a clean build... I suppose volume/toggle only would suit that much better....


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## Lemons (Jul 26, 2015)

+1 for volume and a 3 way switch, although I like to us a push-pull volume to get a little more versatility with some split sounds.


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## dankarghh (Jul 26, 2015)

Tone knobs are for losers. I'd consider using a mini toggle too. This thing is incredible though man.


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## JYNX2 (Jul 26, 2015)

Looks great man! When routing your body try and remove as much of the wood around the edges as you can that way it will have less likeliness of tearout.


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## Deegatron (Jul 26, 2015)

Thanks for the tip.

Unfortunately my bandsaw is incredibly undersized for the task at hand... so there is only so close I can get... Worst part is... even if I had the money for a new bandsaw... I don't have the room... so skill and practice is all I can work on.


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## JYNX2 (Jul 26, 2015)

Deegatron said:


> Thanks for the tip.
> 
> Unfortunately my bandsaw is incredibly undersized for the task at hand... so there is only so close I can get... Worst part is... even if I had the money for a new bandsaw... I don't have the room... so skill and practice is all I can work on.



no problem man honestly your doing a great job. when you get more room and money definetly get one of those cnc machines their alot of fun plus you wont have to worry about tear out


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## Grif (Jul 26, 2015)

If you actually use a tone knob, even if only rarely, I'd recommend doing what misha did to his sig, with the push pull tone knob the has it either active or bypassed, but if it were me I'd just have no tone knob as I basically never use it

EDIT: unrelated, but i really love the headstock you're using, reminds me of Searls's headstock, not that it's a bad thing


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## Deegatron (Jul 27, 2015)

JYNX2 said:


> no problem man honestly your doing a great job. when you get more room and money definetly get one of those cnc machines their alot of fun plus you wont have to worry about tear out


 Good god what I wouldn't give for a small CNC machine... 
if for nothing more than doing templates...



Grif said:


> If you actually use a tone knob, even if only rarely, I'd recommend doing what misha did to his sig, with the push pull tone knob the has it either active or bypassed, but if it were me I'd just have no tone knob as I basically never use it
> 
> EDIT: unrelated, but i really love the headstock you're using, reminds me of Searls's headstock, not that it's a bad thing


 
I simply don't ever use a tone knob... ever... so I cant imagine why I wouldn't exclude it... especially if it makes the build look a little bit cleaner... it does look kinda cramped when you cram it in there... 

Thank you, it's a compilation of every single reverse headstock that I like... stole a little here, little there, and tried to keep it as small as possible while still keeping strait string pull. I had to sand down one of the edgest to get rid of a little bit of tearout... now it looks even more angry/aggressive.


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## Grif (Jul 27, 2015)

I'm with you, it looks clean, classy, and pretty aggressive too. 

With that being said then, I'd just forego the tone knob. Worst comes to worst you really want to have a tone knob and it can just go on your next build; I don't really see you ceasing to build unless you have to so imo it's a non issue


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## Spicypickles (Jul 28, 2015)

I've always dug separate volumes for each pickup. That may be an option.


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## BlackMastodon (Jul 28, 2015)

No tone knob is the way I'd go, as I'm also one of the ones that never uses it. If you ever decide that you do want it you could always get a concentric pot for Vol + Tone in the same spot. They are a little bulkier but look better than the extra knob imo.


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## Renkenstein (Jul 28, 2015)

Awesome, Deegs!!! I switched to the same type of templates for my neck pockets, and it's so much faster. I use them on my pin router and after hogging out the bulk of the material on the drill press, I do one pass on my gnarly down-cut bit, and BOOM...done. 

So much faster, and exponentially more clean.


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## Deegatron (Jul 28, 2015)

for me the big advantage of this template system is that I have put all of my templates into one. my neck pocket, pickup routs and bridge holes can all be done in one step and they're guaranteed to be perfectly lined up unless the template slips. which in this case there is 1 template to slip rather than 4.... the template has a larger surface area so it's also less likely to slip if you spread out your double stick tape properly... I cant for the life of me figure out why guy's would use a separate template for each operation...


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## TuffyKohler (Jul 29, 2015)

I just thought I would toss in my scarf joint jigs... I don't think you have a table saw though? The glue jig may help out someone though. I tried a few different things before settling on this... 

This is the jig for cutting stock at 15*.








The base at the end if this jig is also at 15*. The neck get's clamped on the left, and the stop at the far right keeps the headstock from getting squeezed out of the way. A pencil line drawn on the base allows you to get everything lined up on a dry run, then glueing and clamping is easy after that.

Note that this is a Ukulele neck, and the neck and headstock are swapped left to right... I didn't trim the headstock length until after I could clamp it down. 

But you could do the scarf joint either way, 'hidden' under veneers at the headstock, or exposed and ending around the volute.






Clamped --


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## dankarghh (Jul 29, 2015)

I have pondered using a table saw for the scarf but couldn't wrap my head around it. In the top photo you have a straight edge on the left and 15 on the right. Doesn't the saw cut through the jig when you push it along the fence? Sorry, confused.


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## TuffyKohler (Jul 29, 2015)

Yes it does. That pic was before first use. 

I can get another picture that may be more explanatory. 

The fence is taller than the saw blade, so the jig isn't sliced all the way through.


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## TuffyKohler (Jul 29, 2015)

So here are a couple more pictures that should explain what you were asking about

The saw blade is taller than the neck stock






and here's the slot that does go all the way through the jig, and I made a handle for the jig too.


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## dankarghh (Jul 30, 2015)

Thats awesome. Thanks heaps man!


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## Deegatron (Jul 30, 2015)

That is indeed a fancy looking scarf jig!
Looks like your results would be both consistent and almost ready to glue. that's a great jig. Sadly I have neither the room nor the want for a table saw. I distinctly remember coming home from school one day and noticing a loonie sized hole in the garage door. Turns out my dad was ripping a piece of wood... the table saw grabbed the cutoff and propelled it through the garage door. Not to say my father is a man of Extreme care and attention to safety... but it seems like a lot of the major woodworking injuries you hear about are tablesaw related. "I cut myself on the bandsaw" vs "I cut off my hand on the table saw"

Sorry for the lack of updates on this one guy's. Last time I used inserts I bought them from a local company called "Fastenal". apparently they're recently made the switch and no longer sell to the general public. I cant find anywhere else to buy inserts... even tried McMaster carr... but its not looking like they're willing to ship to Canada. I may have to call from work and order them under a fake PO# or something. stupid Fastenal can suck a nut! wooo no pun intended but it actually worked out great cuz Fastenal sells nuts... and now they can suck their own product.


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## BlackMastodon (Jul 30, 2015)

I found T-Nuts and hex screws for them at Home Depot back when I was still in Ontario. Go take a look and see if you can find them there or at a Canadian Tire or something.

These style:
Tee Nuts - Nuts - Fasteners - Hardware -  The Home Depot
Everbilt #10 x 24 tpi x 3/8 in. Stainless Steel Socket Cap Recessed Hex Screw (1 per Pack)-805208 - The Home Depot


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## TuffyKohler (Jul 30, 2015)

Deegatron said:


> That is indeed a fancy looking scarf jig!
> Looks like your results would be both consistent and almost ready to glue. that's a great jig.



Yes, parts are just about ready to be glued after being cut. Just a few swipes on a granite block and it's ready.

This is the ukulele neck after being glued, before sanding it perfectly flat on the granite. You can see the table saw blade marks near the joint. About 10 swipes and it's done. The joint was sanded slightly before gluing. I can take a picture of a freshly cut piece if anyone is interested. 






I agree about the dangers of the table saw, however, it's extremely useful for so many things. I always assume it's going to chew me up and spit me out, so I treat it with a huge amount of respect.

The glueing jig makes doing multiple laminates MUCH less stressful too. No wiggling, no drilling pins to secure everything...


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## BlackMastodon (Jul 30, 2015)

A tablesaw is no joke, that thing will take a finger or several if you aren't careful. It is immensely useful as TuffyKohler has shown, though, so as long as you treat it with the proper amount of caution (all the caution, you can never be too careful with these) then it should be fine. And never stand behind your work as it make kickback and destroy your crotchal region, always stand off to the side if possible while still having a good grip and a lot of control on the piece.

I tried using a similar jig for cutting scarf joints but I need a bigger blade as I always had to finish by hand and then use a hand planer and power sander to level the pieces. It was a b*tch to do but it got pretty good results. If you can make due without a tablesaw for your scarf joints then more power to you, but it does simplify the whole thing.


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## Deegatron (Jul 31, 2015)

Alrighty gentlemen,
Almost zero updates this week... freaking kid picked up a nasty cold... gave it to the wife.... by the time it made it to me it had mutated into the freaking antichrist. Of course we're short staffed at work... so taking time off isn't an option... so, suck it up and in ya go... long story short... still not back on my feet... but I finally managed to order inserts, bolts and a tap to help with install... what a nightmare... finally found a seller on ebay that had em.... so done and done... prolly be a couple weeks.. but that's okay... I still have some to do on the body yet...


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## Deegatron (Sep 8, 2015)

Alrighty,
So, a couple of small updates.
The tap that I ordered literally took forever to get here... I swear they hired a pack mule and an old guy to walk / swim it here from China... that's how freaking long it took... and when it showed up... I had to go pick it up from the post office because they sent it requiring a signature... really... on a $10 tap?!?!?! REALLY?!?!?!? come on China... get your .... together....

Long story ....... I did battle with the bottom side of the neck and wound up here....




This was a bit of a learning experience for me... the tap worked great... for the first 1/4"... then it bottomed out... so I had to cut the tap with a dremmel to turn it into a bottoming tap... what a freaking job that was... anyways, enough complaining... got er done... worked out great... inserts went in beautifully... 

Here's the funny part... the insert didn't interfere with the trussrod at all... it was VERY VERY close... but I got away with it... I cant believe it... 

Note to anyone planning to use the hipshot hard tail bridge... it's short.. really really short... shorter than you're average fender style bridge... 
you almost have to use -ve neck angle... it's crazy....

2nd issue I had to overcome... the fretboard... I had glued maple binding on and simply wasn't happy with it... the maple just didn't look right... and I botched the side dots to boot....
so, I tried to iron it off.... failed miserably... that .... was on there good... (I had used super glue to avoid getting glue in the fret slots....)
Eventually I resorted to cutting it off... 
glued on some ebony binding, made a jig for drilling side dots... glued in some MOP dots and glued the fretboard on there....

couple of mock up shots to end the day..






I've got 2 weeks off here, so I'm hoping to have some epic progress here... should be able to get her ready for finish by then... hopefully....


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## pettymusic (Sep 8, 2015)

Looking really good! 

I just finished the inserts in my neck. I actually got away with it without using a tap but, I thought I might use one the next time. I had to use steel ones this time though. My last build, I busted about 3 brass ones, lol!


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## dankarghh (Sep 9, 2015)

I was just thinking about this build last night. Looks reaal nice man. I'm too scared to do the neck insert thing just yet, and i don't want to spend a stupid amount of money getting stainless steel ones from the US with like $80 shipping.


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## THB430 (Sep 9, 2015)

I notice you put your inserts in the same way I did (with the slot facing out). I was told that they were backwards and the slot was a cutting grove. Well mine are holding up and yours seem to b ok so i guess it really dont matter. Great job so far cant wait for the finshed product.


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## electriceye (Sep 10, 2015)

I see those table saw jigs, which are a great idea. But why not just use a chop saw (if you have one, of course)?


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## Deegatron (Sep 10, 2015)

THB430 said:


> I notice you put your inserts in the same way I did (with the slot facing out). I was told that they were backwards and the slot was a cutting grove. Well mine are holding up and yours seem to b ok so i guess it really dont matter. Great job so far cant wait for the finshed product.



Honestly,
I put them in that way on purpose. the slot doesn't do a lot as far as cutting is concerned. I find that if the threads aren't properly cut when you start putting in the insert... your going to have problems regardless of which way you try to screw them in. the major advantage of putting them in slot up is that you can as a last ditch effort get a washer in there (of the correct thickness) and screw them out if they become stock or lodged... you can also do the same to get them just a hare deeper if they get stuck towards the bottom. I used this on all 4 of the inserts.


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## BlackMastodon (Sep 10, 2015)

electriceye said:


> I see those table saw jigs, which are a great idea. But why not just use a chop saw (if you have one, of course)?


If you're going to use a seperate piece for the headstock and then route/plane it flat with the rest of the neck, then a miter saw/chop saw can work with some finesse. But if you want to use a piece from the same neck blank for the headstock then it's a good chance the saw won't reach that far out.

A table saw is probably the best way to do it imo, just need a tall enough blade to cut through all the way.


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## electriceye (Sep 11, 2015)

BlackMastodon said:


> If you're going to use a seperate piece for the headstock and then route/plane it flat with the rest of the neck, then a miter saw/chop saw can work with some finesse. But if you want to use a piece from the same neck blank for the headstock then it's a good chance the saw won't reach that far out.
> 
> A table saw is probably the best way to do it imo, just need a tall enough blade to cut through all the way.



Sure it would reach. You'd have the blank laid on it's side to make the cut. You'd have a good 2" at least of blade sticking out.


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## BlackMastodon (Sep 11, 2015)

electriceye said:


> Sure it would reach. You'd have the blank laid on it's side to make the cut. You'd have a good 2" at least of blade sticking out.


Depends on how big the saw you're using is but this is just from my personal experience.


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## KnightroExpress (Sep 11, 2015)

I've built a quick jig to use a chop saw for this task. It works decently and is easy to do...however, like BlackMastodon said- I couldn't get the blank far enough into the saw to have a cutoff big enough to flip and scarf. I'd rather use a table saw with a jig.


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## Deegatron (Sep 22, 2015)

I'm still alive.... and somewhat kicking....
Took 2 weeks of holidays... wound up helping my father move, having a hot water tank kaniption, and finding out our house rough grade is fubar (meaning our final grade and fence were also fubar).
So basically I got about 1 day to work in the garage over my 2 week holidays.
Got some done tho.

Got the neck carved... I used a cabinet rasp for most of the job. No matter what I try I cant seem to get a sharp enough blade on my spokeshave to cut Wenge nicely without epic chipout. this lot of wenge seems to be particularly more splintery than previous batches as well... either way, the rasp worked beautifully... 










Next was frets.
I have to admit... im not 1000% happy about this. I used an ebony fretboard with ebony binding to cover up the fret ends. This required me to file the fret ends before install... I find that when I do it this way the very edge of the frets never sits down as I overcut them ever so slightly.
Next time i'll do no binding with undercut frets and just fill the fret slots... which is nearly invisible on ebony.

They did go in fairly flat tho. SS jumbo.




To anyone that doesn't feel like SS fret jobs should cost double what a NS fret job costs. you should see my fret end nippers. I bout a pair of uber nippers from Canadian tire... and they're trash after maybe 2 fret jobs. SS is VERY hard on tools... lesson learned.

Moved on to various items on the body.
Control cavity and cavity cover complete... just needs some magnets.







Very happy with the fit on that. its loose enough to remove but tight enough that there are no large gaps. 
I used a template on the wenge wood and routed to shape. had EPIC tear out on my first attempt and a small fixable tear out on my 2nd attempt. I've never had issues like this with Wenge... must be a particularly bad batch... or my router bits are getting dull...

This is how I drill for the jack hole....




Pondoman drills these by hand... and to that I say... pondoman obviously has nuggets the size of grapefruit. even with my drill press setup I was sweating like a one legged man at an ass kicking contest.... but got er done... and it looks real nice....





Started modifying the pickups to fit in the cavities but not done on that yet... slowly getting there... hoping to have final mockup in the next week or two and then tear her down for finish(tung oil).

Deegatron out.


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## Steinmetzify (Sep 26, 2015)

Looks sick. I love that headstock man. Can't believe you're already up to #5!!


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## Deegatron (Sep 28, 2015)

steinmetzify said:


> Looks sick. I love that headstock man. Can't believe you're already up to #5!!



Yeah, man. Time flies when your suffering for your art... ha ha.

Almost ready to apply a coat of sealer to the neck and body and then string her up to test action and the neck profile. should happen this week....


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## Deegatron (Sep 28, 2015)

Final mockup before finishing today.












Neck still needs a smidgen of work but should be ready shortly... other wise its slathering on layers of tung oil and waiting....

soon to be NGD


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## THB430 (Oct 2, 2015)

What kind of input jack is that? I like it!


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## Deegatron (Oct 2, 2015)

THB430 said:


> What kind of input jack is that? I like it!



It's the Electrosocket jack mount from Stew Mac
Electrosocket Jack Mount | stewmac.com

Intended for Telecasters. I like it because I can locate the jack just about anywhere I want within reason without worrying about lining it up with the control cavity and I don't have to do the Ibanez style input jack cover... you just drill a 1" recess and drill the rest 7/8" to fit the jack... then drill your wire hole and your good. it's simple and easy. a little nerve racking drilling the holes... but alls well that ends well.
It's also nice that it uses the std style jack... so it can be repaired easily rather than replaced if it starts to get loose....

Sadly not 100% my idea... I saw someone else do it first....


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## KnightroExpress (Oct 3, 2015)

I loooooove my Electrosockets. Beautiful work, dude!


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## Deegatron (Oct 5, 2015)

KnightroExpress said:


> I loooooove my Electrosockets. Beautiful work, dude!



Thanks for the kind words. 

Small update... I've applied 2 coats of polymerized tung oil sealer and 3 coats of high gloss polymerized tung oil.
been leveling with 400 grit every 2nd coat or so. it's not building up terribly fast but im okay with that... trying to get it very smooth / shiny.


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## Spicypickles (Oct 6, 2015)

Looks amazing, no frills just a badass musical apparatus. 


How much you want for one?


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## Deegatron (Oct 10, 2015)

Well,
I hate this part.
The journey is nearly at an end.... and that makes me sad... but... I've built a guitar that I'm screaming proud of. by far my best work yet.
I still have a few tidbits to clean up... but they'll have to wait until I'm done playing her..... could be a bit....

















Action is screaming low without any complaints about buzzing or fretting out while bending.
Action is set at aprox 1 mm on treb side and 1.5 mm on bass side.
I LOVE the control layout... volume and 3 way... that's it... so simple... yet so effective... @$#^# tone knobs.... 

Sadly by the time I got her together, the gremlin was in bed so I haven't had a chance to put the dimarzio's through their paces yet... not overly worried about that tho... I'm sure they'll sound great.....

Im considering doing a earvana style nut... but not sure if it's justified... the intonation is very good in most places so im not sure how much it could possibly help


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## Metalworker (Jan 18, 2016)

Nicely done man! Enjoyed the read and love the finished product.


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## shadowlife (Jan 18, 2016)

That came out absolutely incredible. Congrats on finishing, and i enjoyed following the process.


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## jeremyb (Jan 18, 2016)

Sick work man, love it!


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## Genocyber (Jan 18, 2016)

Wow! That looks fantastic! Classy but metal at the same time...


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## J_Mac (Jan 18, 2016)

She is immense. I'm so impressed! \m/

How many guitars have you made previously dude?


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## Deegatron (Jan 18, 2016)

Thank you for the kind words gentlemen!

Classy but 100% metal was the goal on this one. (basically the goal for every guitar I build... I just did a much better job this time around) I see soo many guitars that are very metal... but just a little too "out there" for my tastes... don't see a lot of classy understated guitars that "speak softly and carry a big stick" if ya know what I mean. not that I have an issue with guitars that make a visual statement... just personal preference I suppose....

This would be guitar #5. I just finished dimensioning lumber on #6 the other day... will likely start a build thread for her once I've got the scarf joint done and the real work starts.

Alder body (im thinking painted white).... 
Roasted maple / Wenge neck with Wenge fretboard.
chrome hardware
same shape / layout as above except 3+3 headstock.


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## KR250 (Jan 18, 2016)

Cool build, very clean and nice wood selection. Question, where did you get the concave washers for the threaded neck inserts? I see links for the T nuts and the threaded bolts, but curious on the washer/insert part (or whatever you call it). I want to do that on my next build.


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## Deegatron (Jan 19, 2016)

Im assuming your after the Neck ferrules?
Stew mac
Neck Mounting Ferrules | stewmac.com

The holes for the bolts are about 1/16" too small for 6mm bolts. I just drill them out at the drill press... works great.

the bolts sit just a hair proud of the ferrules, but I prefer this to being too small.

YMMV


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## J_Mac (Mar 11, 2016)

Super thread. 

Now, noob questions: 

- how did you make your template? I'm trying to make templates at the moment and struggling to make accurate location measurements based on another guitar. Pickup cavities, neck pocket, etc. 

- how do you rout the neck pocket straight? What part of the guitar body do you use as a reference?

- neck pocket depth: is this a black art?  do most people start shallower than needed and cut depth to each individual build?

Thanks if anyone can help


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## Hywel (Mar 11, 2016)

This came out so good. I love that heel, looks really neat and comfortable!



J_Mac said:


> Super thread. Now, noob questions:



I'm not OP but I'll have a stab at answering if that's ok.



> - how did you make your template? I'm trying to make templates at the moment and struggling to make accurate location measurements based on another guitar. Pickup cavities, neck pocket, etc.


I can't speak for Deegatron but I tend to draw them to scale using Adobe Illustrator (Inkscape is a free alternative) and then either get them laser cut or print them out at home full size and then cut them from MDF. Once you set the units in the software to mm or inches, you can make very accurate plans. No reason you couldn't do the same with paper and pencil though.

You can print fairly accurately at home by gluing/taping 2 sheets of A4 paper together across the top and then making the double length sheet a custom paper size in your printer options. Only takes 2 sheets then for a body or 1 for a neck/fretboard and since the join is done before the printing, it'll remain accurate(ish) for tasks like fret slotting.

My neck pickups directly join the base of the neck (the neck pocket and pickup cavity run into each other) and I position the bridge route centre at the 50th fret. Fretfind2d .svg files can be imported directly into your drawing program to help design the neck etc.

I size neck pockets by making the final fret line up with the lower cutaway and extending the heel out to about fret 17/18ish. Width is determined by the fretfind2d neck design.



> - how do you rout the neck pocket straight? What part of the guitar body do you use as a reference?


If I've got the templates laser cut then its lined up on the template and I just use that. If I've hand made them then using a laser level to line up the center marks at the nut and end of the body works well.

Not my pic but illustrates what I'm on about.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac54/TimeCapsuleCreations/IMG_1346.jpg

The neck pocket template is made after the neck and consists of 2 long straight edges thick enough to run a router bit bearing on and an end piece to stop the bit at the correct point. Put the neck where you want the pocket and surround it with your template pieces so they're nice and snug around it. Clamp them down and remove the neck. Use the clamped edges as a template to route against. If you put some tape around the router bit's bearing it'll make the pocket an equal thickness smaller than the template. That should make it a really tight joint (although if its too tight, remove some tape and go round again. If you have to use tools to get the neck in it's too tight). Another stolen pic for illustration.

6.jpg Photo by jwells393 | Photobucket



> - neck pocket depth: is this a black art?  do most people start shallower than needed and cut depth to each individual build?


16-18mm deep is common but mine always seem to end up around 20mm. Anything around there will probably be fine and can be tweaked to suit the neck you've got.


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## J_Mac (Mar 12, 2016)

Ah sweet thanks man  that helps a lot! Thanks for taking the time to answer those \m/


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## Deegatron (Mar 14, 2016)

J_Mac said:


> Super thread.
> 
> Now, noob questions:
> 
> ...



I do everything somewhat similar to Hywell and somewhat different.
I use Draftsight for drawing my templates. it's similar to AutoCAD... surprisingly similar.... but it's free... so if you can wrap your head around doing things in CAD it's a stellar program for the money... ha ha....
Templates are drawn 100% to scale and printed off at 1:1 ratio.
BE CAREFULL WITH YOUR PRINTER. mine likes to print 100% in the width and about 99% in the length. I trusted the template on this one and my bridge is 1/8" or so further ahead than I'd like it to be. intonates fine... but pissed me off something fierce... 

I print out my plan on std 8-1/2 x 11 sheets and tape them together for the body. for fretboards I use Hywell's tape 2 pcs together and use custom size paper trick tho.

Once printed the templates are glued down to 5/8" MDF with super 88 and cut out using the band saw. I then use a drum sander in my drill press to get right up to the line. 

I have a total of 3 templates for the body.
1st template is for the outside profile and small pilot holes for neck screw locations.
2nd template has pickup routs, neck pocket forearm contour and bridge placement (so it all lines up. the OD profile for most of the guitar is there so I just line it up with the OD on the body blank and it "centers itself"



3rd template has control cavity and cavity cover templates.

I can get better photo's of each template later tonight if you would like.

When making the templates, I find it's rather important to cut almost to the line and sand to the line on curved shapes. for strait lines (pickup routs, neck pockets etc) I cut almost to the line on the bandsaw and then double stick down a strait pice of mdf (I use my router table as a jointer to get straight edges) this way all of your straight lines are crisp. let me know if you need more explination on this as well.

Neck pocket on the template is done as follows.
line up neck template on top of body template #2 per above. clamp it on.
Check alignment with bridge location and pickup cavities location. if im happy with the alignment I then double stick tape 3 pcs of MDF around the neck template. 
Neck template is removed.
the neck pocket is cut out on the band saw aprox 1/4 - 1/8" small being very carefull not to touch the pices of straight mdf that are double stick taped on there.
Router is used with bearing to rout along the edges of the neck template.

BOOM! Perfectly aligned with your bridge and pickup cavities.

Neck pocket depth is not rocket science.
long story short. if you have the bridge, know the action you like and your neck is done... it's easy as pie.

First off, set your bridge up with aprox middle action. so it's not as high as it will go, but also not so low that the adjustment screws are sticking out the top... you want a little adjustment up or down.
Now measure the height of the bridge from the base plate to the sadlle with a digital caliper. if you don't have a digital caliper... buy one... they're that usefull.
Now measure the thickness of your neck including the frets.
now draw both out in autocad... a very simple drawing will do.
add your action at the 12th fret and nut... 
Now draw a straight line between the two... 
Extend said line until it meets the bridge.

Decide if you need neck angle or not...
if no angle is needed just use autocad to determine how low the neck needs to be in the body and shazam.

hopefully that's clear...

typically I find I need a little bit of guess and check with the neck height on most builds.... so rout it a smidgen shallow and then deepen as needed.


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## J_Mac (Mar 14, 2016)

thanks so much for the help! \m/ 

Can you have neck angle as a preference? Or is it sometimes required? Or both?

How do you cut the neck pocket with a bandsaw?


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## Deegatron (Mar 14, 2016)

J_Mac said:


> thanks so much for the help! \m/
> 
> Can you have neck angle as a preference? Or is it sometimes required? Or both?
> 
> How do you cut the neck pocket with a bandsaw?



Neck angle is typically a direct function of the bridge you choose. tune-o-matics sit up higher off of the body so they require the neck to be very high off of the body to get your geometry right. the better option is to angle the neck slightly away from the body to allow proper geometry. 

Fender style bridges typically don not require any neck angle.

You could also recess a tune-o-matic bridge so no neck angle is required.

I was referring to the neck pocket on the template is cut with the bandsaw before routing along the edges of the scrap pieces of MDF double stick taped to the top of the template. this just saves your router bits (which are expensive to replace when they wear out)


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## J_Mac (Mar 15, 2016)

Ah cool ta dog \m/


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## capnutslot (Mar 16, 2016)

Deegatron said:


> .... so a new plan is needed.... I think i'll go sit on the toilet and ponder that...





... seems like that's all I do anymore


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