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I received a package from John Watkins the other day and have been trying to put some pics up so everyone could see his nice work. Unfortunately I am having trouble with my website and it took a while to get them up where I could post them.

The first two pics are of a peghead jig that John made for me. It uses vacuum to clamp it to the headstock and then I can use a pattern routing bit to cut the shape. It also has drill bushings installed so the tuner holes are always in the right place.

I just wanted to say that John and I worked this out in about 15 mins over the telephone and I sent him a really crummy photocopy of my old plywood jig to work from. John cleaned up all the curves, figured out what all was needed for the vac setup and milled it out of a nice big hunk of aluminum. Thanks for all your help John!

Oh yeah, here are the pics.

The front.


The back.


I am still trying to get some pics of the neck I bought from John up here also. It is a walnut neck with a maple/mac ebony/maple center stripe. If I can ever get it loaded to my website, I'll put it in this thread as well.

Thanks again John!!!

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Very Cool!!! Nice work John...and Dave too. I assume the bushings are loosely fit, and when you pattern rout the beadplate they are easily removed?

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Man that is sweet!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

[QUOTE=JJ Donohue] I assume the bushings are loosely fit, and when you pattern rout the beadplate they are easily removed?[/QUOTE]

You are correct JJ. The bushings pop right out for the pattern routing and then when the routing is finished you just turn it over, pop the bushings back in and drill the tuner holes.

Can you tell I'm very pleased with John's work?

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Looks very cool. How do you align it? Is there a centerline on the jig?

John, you did it again.....a real winner!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Thanks for the nice comments, guys. I'm glad you're happy with the fixture and the neck, Dave.

Tom, yes there is a centerline engraved in it as well as a zero fret line. The fixture extends past the nut to avoid gouging the neck when pattern routing.

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John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

Thanks for answering that John, I've been out of the house for a while.

The only problem with alignment is the centerline is on the vac side of the jig. I am just going to use a square and a scribe to mark it on the ends of the jig so I can see where to center it.

Did I mention, I love this jig!

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Finally, here's a pic of the neck John made for me. It is walnut with a maple/mac ebony/maple center strip and a mac ebony backstrap on the peghead.



Pretty cool, huh?

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Bump.

Just wanted everyone to see one of John's necks.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Here is some more of Watkins handy work!
Just got these yesterday. The slot head is for my little Cocobolo Redwood 0-12 and the ebony is for an OMFS.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Thats a great lookin' neck Dave and your headstock jig is really something!!Great work as usual from John W.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Very nice Lance! I really like your logo!

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Thanks Hesh! The neck is going on a mac ebony b/s dred with an adi top. I think it will be a nice combo.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars