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can anyone help me determine the neck angle on a 12 fret to the body neck Robbie Obrien says the gap betwwen the plane of a 14fret neck and the top of the soundboard at the bridge should be3.5 mm. does that hold true for 12 fret necks

I might be the only one that doesn't remember these dimensions off the top of my head -

Hi -- I am planning to have a maple Thinline Tele top painted by an automotive paint shop. They've made a glossy and a matt sample for me and it looks great. I wonder if anyone has any experience with this, and specifically: - if I bind the top first, will the paint stand very proud above the binding once I scrape the paint off the binding? - the matt looks terrific, but it looks like it will burnish and get shiny in spots or line…

The COE reviewed this bridge disaster in January, a Tanglewood acoustic given to me that had the bridge ripped off as well as some of the underlying top, and an attempted repair with spruce veneer (COE video link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlpOIWQrAlw&t=2685s). The general opinion was to install a bigger bridge plate. However, once I removed the existing bridge plate, I found that the underlying repair had not been fully done,…

I'm replacing the top on an old Stella with white painted "binding." Wondering what kind of paint I should use to come close to the original and be stable under finish. Images

Hi folks, I thought you might be interested in this approach to having easy height adjustment for a GoBar deck. I learned this tip from my buddy, Don Parker. He lurks around here too from time to time. :) The basic idea is rather than having a booster platform on the base for use when gluing braces to plates you bring the roof down lower. There is a 3D printed spacer in black in the pics. I linked to a downloadable STL and 3MF of…

The photo shows the x-brace in a Seagull SMS guitar (predates the S6 model I think). I've reglued the loose brace end and want to add some reinforcement. Normally I prefer a wood cap over the joint but you can see the top of the braces is pretty narrow. I have some muslin cloth I can use, but not sure I can get it to form tightly over the two braces. Looking for some suggestions.

Hey everyone, I wanted to do a bit of a follow up on a repair I'm doing. A customer brought in a Seagull acoustic guitar that had been dropped, causing the heel block to separate. I managed to get that glued back together with pleasing results, however I did need to take the neck off by removing the two bolts which thread into the heel block, and unglued the fretboard extension. All went well here, although I'm left with a situation whe…

To the builders out there, how/where do you store wood for builds? Is it different for back+sides vs tops vs neck blanks? Any periodic maintenance required? Thanks in advance!

Does anyone have a vintage Gibson LP Special around to check the body edge radiuses for me? Is it a consistent 1/8” (or so) all the way around the entire top and entire bottom? Including the horn, ledge behind the neck heel, etc? Thank you! This 56 seems pretty consistently rounded over across the entire top and back.

We at F Bass Inc have been crafting boutique basses out of Hamilton, ON since 1978 and we’re looking for a Master Builder to join our small but mighty team. Applicants must have a sharp eye, strong organizational skills and the ability to problem solve in creative ways. Someone who genuinely loves crafting custom instruments and appreciates the little details even more so. If you pride yourself on precision and creativity and get a kick…

I’ve been building electric for a few years but decided to make an acoustic this time. I have some German spruce panels I was going to use for the top. While running it through my drum sander to dimension it, I noticed that both panels have matching 6-8” cracks so the original blank must’ve had a split pre resawing. Would I still have good results if I glue the panels and move on or should I buy a new top set? (I can’t return what I have…

This jazz bass has come in with a cracked and separated fingerboard near the nut. I believe this is an early Bi-Flex but am not entirely sure or familiar with them. The truss rod is functional and tightens up when turned. Top of the walnut plug is missing and the washer appears to be crooked or dislodged. Not sure what purpose that washer serves. This is probably the thinnest bass neck I’ve ever seen and it’s no wonder that this fingerb…

I'm fixing a cedar top guitar with a big bulge and a bad bridge plate. Ideally I'd like a replacement plate with optimal stiffness in both directions and a thickness between 0.090 - 0.100". After I flatten the top as much as possible, should I: 1. use plain sawn maple 2. use quarter sawn maple (if so, any recommendations for sourcing?) 3. make up a cross grain maple laminate with two 0.050 thick pieces Thanks for any advice, searched the sit…

Hey! I have a friend who builds flat tops who wants to give stainless a try. I have done a handful of refrets and he was asking advice. He is using a compound radius from 14” to 20”. Jeskar sells the coils and they come in 10”. I have only done installs where the wire matches the board precisely. I bought pre cut pre radius bags for these re frets. Has anyone worked on a compound radius. Do you radius each fret on a bender or can you get…

So this 310 came into the shop and had a pretty gnarly crack that splinters some toward the lower left bout. Going to do a crack repair with the TJ Thompson crack corrector and some hide glue. The issue I'm inquiring about is the finish is delaminating around the area. I'm curious as to what type of finish it is. Seems a bit flexible and spongy to be a nitro alone. There's shards of finish missing, and dirt has found its way underneath…

I'm reading the Design book of the Gilet/Gore set (2nd Edition) and ran across something that surprised me. Under "Top bracing layout - guidelines" (Section 4.4.8, pp 4-52) Gore writes, "Brace ends that are housed into the linings stiffen the edge of the soundbard considerably and so constrain its mobility. Unless you are chasing a particular effect, it is generally not very beneficial to house the lower bout braces into the linings." My…