Official Luthiers Forum!

I was at John Resslers Place last year and picked up a Mahogany blank for an electric guitar . Recently I purchased a neck from someone here . So I decided to play with it a little bit this weekend . Here is what I have so Far



I have fitted the neck and made the head plate . 1St Question ! Is there a set angle for an electric neck ? is it basically straight or is it offset 1 degree or so like an acoustic ?

Funny sitch , My first logo head plate is actually on a electric . I am going to mount the neck with the back plate next . I know I am missing several cavaties Im sure for electrics . Where can I get the necess info / plans without spending much money ? What electrics do people recommend . I dont necess need top of the line , but I dont wanna use low end either .

PLEASE All suggestions welcome !

This is a work in progress that will be on going so no Major hurry , but I appreciate all input !

Thanks

Wud

_________________
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/

Folks around here have been happy with guitarfetish.http://www.guitarfetish.com/
I've never used them, but people seem to be.
Pups for $40, tuners for $25.
Check em out, dude!!!!!!!

Thanks I will ! Keep in mind though i know " diddly " about this stuff , so a lil more suggestion would help . I go to that site and its like " ok im here what now "


What about diagrams or plans to help me get the right cavaties for the electrics ?

_________________
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/

Looks like you're routed out for humbuckers.
I usually get all my parts, and figure out where stuff goes,
and where I want it.
I'm sure others will pipe in.
If ya gots any specific questions about pickup resistance, pot resistance, capacitor type/value,
etc, pm me.
I can only give you my opinions, and likes/dislikes.

I will attempt to help as much as possible.
As regards neck angle, it is a good idea to have the bridge you are using in your hot little hands before designing the neck to body angle, or joining them together.There are in general two basic ways to join a neck to a body on an electric guitar. Bolt on or set neck.
With the bolt on, the neck usually sits proud of the top of the guitar body by whatever amount is necessary to get a good action off the tops of the frets for whatever type of bridge you are using. No neck angle is needed, as the height of the neck in the pocket takes care of getting proper action.
With the set neck, this usually involves a neck angle, many times coupled with an angle or slope to the top of the body so that there is enough set back for proper height off of the frets for the height of the bridge being used.
Depending on the bridge you use, the neck will either need to be higher or lower in the pocket(assuming bolt on), or there will need to be more or less angle or slope to the neck/body top with a set neck(basically the same idea as a neck angle on an acoustic) in order to get the right action.
All of this is pretty much dependent on having the bridge you plan to use, again, "in your hot little hands".
I am hoping that the clamp at the neck body joint in your pictures means that the neck is not glued in yet. It looks to me like you have built the instrument so that the fretboard lays flat on top of the body, with no elevation to the fretboard. If this is the case, you will need to choose your bridge carefully. You will more than likely need "some" neck angle.
Again, in general, the tuneomatic/stopbar type bridges used on LPs will need more angle or height off the guitar body of the neck than, say, a Fender style hardtail bridge.
If it were me, assuming the neck is not yet glued in, there's no neck angle, and a flush to the body fretboard, I'd choose a Fender style hardtail bridge. The addition of a thin shim at the base of the heel in the neck pocket should provide enough neck angle to get you into the ballpark.
If the neck is already glued in (assuming a set neck) the only option I can see is to recess the bridge enough to get proper action, or remove the neck and either add a shim or cut an angle on the bottom of the tenon (involves pulling the fret at the neck/body joint, drilling a small hole, and using a needle and steam, just like a neck reset on an acoustic. Not my first choice).
Whatever bridge I chose, I would adjust the saddles to their lowest point before determining neck angle, set my angle so that the strings lay flat on the frets, and adjust up from there to the desired action. This is basically how I do it.
I hope this helped. Good luck with your build.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Thanks Mike and Alan .

No the neck isnt glued in , And right now its just clamped in at a straight 90 degree. Yes the neck is set at fretboard depth and currently straight . I was planning on making this a glued neck with of course the plate and 4 wood screws as a backer . So i guess what I need now is a good recommendation for a bridge . I appreciate all the help .

_________________
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/

Wud.

As someone mentioned, you already have routes for two humbucker pickups. You need to determine if you want a standard front route with all of the gear mounted to the pickguard, or use a rear route and mount your equipment to the face of the guitar.

The front route is a bit easier to set up once you get the routing done, but there is still a lot of routing to do... With the front route, because all of the pickups, switches, and pots are mounted to the pickguard, it can really simplify your choices for the electronics, as you can buy a 'pre-wired' pickguard.

Someone mentioned GuitarFetish. They just happened to have a pre-wired H-x-H strat style pickguard for about $40. I have no idea of the quality of these, so don't take this as a recommendation, but just as one possible example
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Wired-Strat ... p_896.html

I've used Wilkinson Tremelo bridges on all of my strats to date, and love them, but they relatively expensive. And because they are tremolo bridges, you have to route all the way through the body and route a fairly large picket in the back for the springs.

For simplicity sake, you might consider going with a hardtail setup on this. The bridges are less expensive, easier to set up, and much easier to install. Of course, if want that tremolo bar, then there is a lot more work to do.

Here is an inexpensive hardtail bridge that should work for you. Again, I'm not recommending this, just showing it as an example of a hard tail strat bridge that should work for you.
http://www.guitarfetish.com/70s-Hardtai ... _2279.html

As far as a routing template, I don't have anything I can send you. My templates are not in digital form. I bought them from Ron Kirn here.
http://ronkirntemplates.bigcartel.com/

Someone here who does more electric work than I might be able to help you find a .pdf of the pickguard route for a strat.

Good luck, and have fun! =)

Edit:
Also, you shouldn't need to glue the neck on. I have a half dozen strat and tele clones laying around and none have glued in necks. In fact, the necks are, for the most part, fully interchangeable. It's a feature of the design.

_________________
Jim Hansen

Here is a picture of a strat body with the top control routes completed. It should give you an idea what you are going for. Keep in mind this is one is routed for three single coils ("S-S-S", which is most common strat config), and yours is routed for two humbuckers (H-x-H). But it should give you an idea where things go.

This also does not have a tremolo route, so you would just have to locate and bolt on the hardtail bridge.

Note the channels between the pickup slots for the pickup wires, the deep route for the switches and pots, and the output jack route behind the control cavity. There is also a hole drilled between the output jack cavity and the control cavity.



It should look something like this when it's all done.

_________________
Jim Hansen

Thanks Jim . That looks like the best route for me to go . Hartail bridge and pickguard mounting . Guess its time for some reading and studying up on this stuff . At least I have a basic direction to go now .

Plug and play set up on the pick guard sounds good

I am going for simple on the first one . Thanks guys for the suggestions .

"edit" Went to guitar fetish and purchased a few items to get me off the ground , back plate , hardtail bridge , and on list for the " prewired " pickguard . Thanks guys !

I suspect there will be several " Doofus" post before this ones done.

_________________
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/

Wud, I'm starting to like you less. You execute a near perfect build, and then refer to pickups and electronics as "electrics."

_________________
David Morris

us redneck habs a habbits of missspokten lots



Ohhhhhhhhh and btw Ive never heard it called " Building an Electronic guitar "

_________________
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/

us redneck habs a habbits of missspokten lots
Padma!!!!!!

Wait.. wut? Padma is a redneck? I thought he lived in Canadia?

_________________
Jim Hansen

He does ! " Red Green" I rest my case !

_________________
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/

Red Green. Too funny. Puts these Georgia and Alabama rednecks to shame., LOL!!!

When I built my fretless bass, I put the fingerboard right on the body. Had to route an area under the bridge to give enough height to allowa good setup.



Should be pretty easy with a hardtail bridge to set it in the body if needed.

red green is not a redneck!... well maybe he is a little, but mostly he's just a genious. He was touring last fall and I got to see the live show... it was great!

regarding your guitar, for pickups I like guitar fettish a lot, especially if you are on a tight budget. On tuners I am not so sure, I have never used their tuners before so I cant really speak ill of them, but I think I would be inclined to just buy a set of grovers or something. cheap tuner just kinda asks for trouble.

when you say you got a "back plate" are you meaning for the neck to bolt to the body? I believe that term is most often used to describe the rear tremolo cover which you would not need to have if you are going with a hard tail bridge.

not sure if anyone has answered this questions yet, but for the strat type guitar there is traditionally no angle. Its common practice in a lot of shop to shim them up a little bit with a guitar pick or something to give just a slight angle if action gets to be a problem. since you are using a hard tail you shouldn't need any angle.

_________________
~shad peters

http://www.flickr.com/photos/petersinstruments/
http://petersinstruments.blogspot.com/
http://petersinstruments.com/

Yes thats what I meant . I got in the parts i ordered yesterday and started working on setting the neck and checking the hardtail bridge . I will let you know how it fits .

I do have one other question , The nut to 12th fret / 12th fret to bridge is same basic set up as an acoustic ? Is there a toot that someone knows about that I can read/watch on that set up ?

_________________
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/

Basically , yes.
What is generally recommended with a hardtail or other strat style bridge is as follows.
Adjust the high e saddle forward (toward the nut) to within a couple of turns of the end of it's travel. locate the bridge so that the breaking point over that saddle (high e) is the same distance from the center of the 12th as the center of the 12th is from the nut. Everything will adjust back from there for intonation.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Thanks Mike , makes perfect sense !

_________________
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/

I think he meant " 'lectrics".

Hey Wud
Glad to see you are moving forward with that!

Send me your e-mail address, and I'll send you all the dimensions and specs for that body as well as wiring diagram. Call me if you need help.

No neck angle - straight neck

_________________
John Ressler

Thanks John ! I purchased Pre-wired pickguard and hard tail bridge from guitar fetish . All I am missing really is the template to route out the other two cavaties . I mounted the neck straight " no angle " and am ready to route at this point . I have moved off this one to my padauk build and am trying to finish it right now .

_________________
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/

I don't think the pre-wired pick guard will work with this - it is set up for 2 humbuckers - let me know if you need help when you get to that point - good luck!

_________________
John Ressler

They have one that is prewired for two humbuckers thats the one I bought . I will let you know . Thanks for the help . like I said gotta get the template and finish routing first.

_________________
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/

I had linked this earlier in the thread as a possible suggestion
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Wired-Strat ... p_896.html

He's at the stage now where he needs to route for the control cavities and drill/route for the pickup and jack leads. Probably best to wait until you have the pickguard and bridge to finalize those things.

Get the bridge located and then locate the pickguard, then plan your routing from there.

_________________
Jim Hansen