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My latest disaster.
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=24019		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  SteveSmith [ Fri Oct 02, 2009 8:11 pm ]
Post subject:  My latest disaster.
Finally finished #1; changed the pickguard, polished it out some more and finished intonation and setup. No words for this one tonight, I'll just deal with it later.
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Author:  Edward Taylor [ Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
Yikes, I feel your pain Steve I had that happen on a telecaster neck... though its a little easier to switch one of them out.
Author:  Steve Saville [ Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
Been there, done that.

Sorry Steve.
Author:  David Newton [ Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
Feel for you...
Author:  Lillian F-W [ Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
Ouch!
Author:  Mike OMelia [ Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
I feel your pain. Put it away for a while, let the emotion subside and start looking at your next project. Get some advice on removing the neck. I am not sure I would try to salvage the finger board (for FB use). But if the FB is ebony, save it for rosette work (and other inlay work). The tuners are good. The truss is good. Maybe buy a pre-carved neck.

I have a project where I installed the top incorrectly. Only discovered after I tried to to install the neck. Pissed me off to no end. Took me 2 months to come to terms with it. Mean time, worked on other projects & jigs. Eventually I was able to approach as if it were someone elses problem. Objectivity works. New top is almot ready to installand I learned a lot from that error! BTW, the error ocurred on one of those puppies like you see in my avatar.

This is fixable.
Author:  SteveSmith [ Sat Oct 03, 2009 9:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
Thanks all, I sure appreciate the support. Unfortunately the Luthiery Fairies didn't drop by last night so I still have to deal with this. I've been thinking about it duh and I may not be as bad off as I thought.

The cons:
- I obviously took too much off when I shaped the neck. The wood is only about 0.080" thick instead of the 0.125+" I had planned.
- The two 1/4" carbon fiber rods under the fret board probably didn't help when I tried to straighten the neck with the truss rod.

The pros:
- This is an adjustable neck and I can remove it in about 5 minutes.
- Before I adjusted the truss rod I had about 0.020" relief in the neck. More than I like but I can probably live with it until I get around to making a new neck.
- The carbon fiber rods should keep it reasonably stable without the truss rod.

My plan for now is to relieve the tension from the truss rod and glue the break with CA. If it looks like the neck is going to be playable without using the truss rod then I'll repair the finish and move on. If its not playable then I'll hang it on the wall until I'm ready to put a new neck on it. Either way I'm going to start working on #'s 2 and 3. I will not use the hot rod truss rods again, they just take too deep of a slot. I'll be going with Allied on the next ones. edit- I'll sure pay a lot better attention next time I'm shaping a neck.
Author:  Edward Taylor [ Sat Oct 03, 2009 9:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
So glad to see someone else that thinks those hot rods take too deep of a slot. I had a helluva time with one on that tele neck... you just cant get a thin profile neck with them, and I like a thin shape.
Author:  woody b [ Sat Oct 03, 2009 10:21 am ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
If it's your personal guitar, and you want to save the neck, just take the tension off the truss rod and repair the back like you said. Pull the frets (keep them in order and you can re use them) and plane the finger board for the proper relief. The CF rods should keep it straight. You might have a truss rod rattle though.
Author:  SteveSmith [ Sat Oct 03, 2009 11:04 am ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
Woody, thats a good suggestion. This is a prototype and there are too many flaws/fixes so it won't be sold. That said, I might give it away sometime in the future after I get something else built to play. It does have a really good sound.
Author:  Terence Kennedy [ Sat Oct 03, 2009 11:11 am ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
It's interesting that you had too much relief with the carbon bars in the neck. I usually have the opposite problem (3/8 x 1/8 bars) and do the final leveling with some tension on the rod to insure I'll get adequate relief. Just a thought but maybe you need to look at your fretboard leveling sequence as well. Before you fret you can support the headstock, put 6 lbs of weight on each shoulder, and get some idea of what the neck is going to do under load. You can level accordingly with the neck on the guitar. 0.020 is a lot of relief for a guitar to pull into right out of the gate.
TJK
Author:  SteveSmith [ Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
I admit I didn't carefully measure the starting relief but there was a bit more than I wanted, it looked like about 0.020" to me but may be less. I've released the tension on the truss rod and glued/clamped the break. After I removed the clamp I snugged the truss rod down just enough to make sure it doesn't rattle and the relief is 0.012". The action is still a lot better than what I played for most of my life. I can live with it so I'm going to clean up the finish and call it good.

Terrence, it would seem to me that my 1/4" carbon fiber tubes would have a bit more flex in the vertical direction than your 3/8" x 1/8" bar stock. Regardless, it makes sense to check the neck while leveling the fretboard. Thanks for the suggestion.
Author:  SteveSmith [ Sat Oct 03, 2009 1:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
So far so good. Even with more relief than I like the guitar still plays and sounds good. bliss

Here's what I did:
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Author:  Edward Taylor [ Sat Oct 03, 2009 2:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
Looks good! Hope it works out in the long run for you. Did you post any pics elsewhere of the rest of the guitar?
Author:  SteveSmith [ Sat Oct 03, 2009 3:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My latest disaster.
Thanks Edward, here's the rest of it: http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=23791

There's been a few changes; pickguard is now clear, finish is buffed out, and tuner buttons are black.
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