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Well I have made one of my dumbest mistakes so far! I was trying to string up and set the bridge on my mandolin and didnt realize until i had the strings on it and the bridge wouldnt stay in place that the neck was set on at a slight angle and the tail piece was NOW 1/4" off line ! NOW that I know its there , IT STICKS OUT LIKE A NEON SIGN !



If you look at the back of the fret board and the x bracing in is OBVIOUS . Shhhhhhhhessssssshhhhhhhh

Shhhtuuuuuuutupid !

The tops on , its finished, lacq, sounds pretty good , but has a glaring ooofduhhhhhh !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Thank you for mentioning it. I will be joining the neck and soundboard this week and a reminder is appreciated. It still looks good with only a small flaw.

I bet that you won't make that mistake again for a while.

Bob

sorry man... I know exactly what you mean, just did it myself in the other post.

_________________
Chris Oliver
Infinity Luthiers
...in the shop.

live every minute...

I did the same exact thing, even AFTER reading this! Oh well. Come on paranoia, do yer stuff......

A good thing to do. Make a slot through your neck block and the mould you use to fit the sides to it. Then make a slot at the end block at the same thickness yada yada yada....so the slot runs through the form behind your neck block, through the neck block itself, and then into your end block and stick a steel bar the same thickness as the slot, in the slot ( ) and use that bar to line the whole thing up. After that fill the slots up with scrap whateva you got to fit the slot neatly and you have a neck and tail block that align perfectly! As far as aligning the neck up to your perfectly aligned body, TAKE MORE CAREFUL MEASUREMENTS! Hope I helped SOMEONE out. I know I was real giddy when I thought up that one. I'll have to do a pic tutorial on it during my next build. I do believe I will!

Me thinks there may have been some beer involved in the alignment process .

what was it the old phrophet said . EAT , DRINK , BE MERRY for TOMMORRW we RESET !




weeeeell now i understand better the effort involved in " resetting" a neck !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Ian... by chance are you an engineer??

Easier way... use check list...

1. apply glue
2. shim to pull cheeks tight
3. get neck angle/height correct
4. have drink, admire work
5. ooops... make sure the neck is centered/straight!

Using compound dovetail this was not on my list during glue-up... just apply glue, clamp, done.

Using one-dimension dovetail system, such as the one Hans presented, shims during glue-up can change things... must follow all steps. What did I forget?

_________________
Chris Oliver
Infinity Luthiers
...in the shop.

live every minute...

You can fix it or call it an asymmetric bridge placement technique used to create a stronger bass response. Show us some pictures of the finished instrument, crooked or not, it is still a cool design and I am sure it looks great.
Rob

_________________
http://shastaguitar.com/
http://www.kalimbakit.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/comfyfootgr ... ature=mhee
http://www.facebook.com/robert.renick.7

Ah, nope, not even out of high school yet....but thanks!

Ian, continue the good work. Critical thinking and real world problem solving are qualities that schools have shown an inability impart on today's youth. Just don't forget, most times the solution is as easy as it appears.

_________________
Chris Oliver
Infinity Luthiers
...in the shop.

live every minute...

Im working on fixing it , I thought about several "quick" fixes and decided to try and do it the right way . SOOOOOOOOOOOO , im am taking the back off and seeing if i can fix it right . Thats not necessarly what i wanted to do, but in the long run i believe i will be happier .

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Thanks man. I'm a big fan of simplicity, but I gots me a mind that never seems to stop lol.



Hey man I been there, and you're making the right decision. It takes a strong guy to do that, especially after all the work you did on it already. If you keep that attitude up I can't wait to see how your career progresses, because that right there is what separates the pros from the mere hobbyists. Good luck to ya.

On the first guitar that I just finished, I had this idea that I would not go back and fix things, move forward to the next. Then when the back binding came out so bad that I knew I couldn't look at it or show anyone, I routed it off and tried again, I got some chips on the rerout, so there is a scar, but I am glad that I did the fix, it looks much better, and I don't mind the chips, they are filled and barely visible, though I am glad they are there as a reminder of my mistakes.

I guess we will have to wait for the finished pictures.

_________________
http://shastaguitar.com/
http://www.kalimbakit.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/comfyfootgr ... ature=mhee
http://www.facebook.com/robert.renick.7