Albake21's Build Thread

[Albake21]

calipers are your friend if you want to avoid hitting the truss rod. Also helps if you remember what depth you put the truss rod (I had to scrap a neck because I routed too deep for the channel )

I'm going to grab a digital caliper after work today. I do know the depth of the truss rod, but I still don't trust myself lol.

 

[Albake21]

Frets installed and the neck is completely shaped. I can confidently say I did not shave into the truss rod. So relieved! Also the frets were very easy, I was a bit nervous doing them but it was easy. The neck also has a ton of birdseye, way more than I was expecting

 

[Albake21]

Well... we have a guitar. It looks and plays like shit! I was able to at least get it to play (which it didn't work at all on the first try). Two big problems and thankfully one is fixable. The neck is way too chunky for my taste. Sadly I can't do anything about that though because of the truss rod and how thick I made the fretboard. The neck is 22mm to 24mm. The other big problem, the neck is too tall for the body/bridge. So the string buzz is WAY too much even with the strings really high. I should be able to fix this by sanding down the neck where it connects to the neck pocket. I'm ready to just move onto my second build (wood is already ordered).

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• Albake21
• Mar 31, 2019

IMG_20190330_144606

• Albake21
• Mar 31, 2019

IMG_20190330_144601

• Albake21
• Mar 31, 2019

IMG_20190330_144537

• Albake21
• Mar 31, 2019

IMG_20190330_144545

• Albake21
• Mar 31, 2019

 

[Defyantly]

Nice job!! It looks great. The problems you have are super easy to fix. It's a bolt on so just make a new neck!!

 

[Albake21]

Nice job!! It looks great. The problems you have are super easy to fix. It's a bolt on so just make a new neck!!

Thank you, I appreciate it. I may try to make a new neck down the road, but for now I'm ready to move onto my next build. I have all the wood ordered and I'm ready to build. The next one will have all of these problems fixed and will also be a lot fancier.

 

[eddiewarlock]

You need to level your frets and recrown them. That's why it is hard to pay at the moment

 

[Albake21]

You need to level your frets and recrown them. That's why it is hard to pay at the moment

I did that. There are two big problems, and one of them was fixed. The neck was too high from the bridge causing me to have to put the saddles at their highest point, which still wasn't high enough. I sanded the neck heel down and it now fits correctly. The other big problem which makes the neck pretty much fire wood, I can't adjust the truss rod. My dumbass didn't leave enough room to get in there with a tool to rotate the truss rod. Sadly I can't do anything about it.

 

[eddiewarlock]

Can't you? just use a dremel and make some room for the allen key

 

[Albake21]

Can't you? just use a dremel and make some room for the allen key

It's not an allen key truss rod. It uses ones of these:

Sadly the part on the truss rod that needs to be turned is flush against the neck. So there is no room for the key to fit over it.

 

[Deegatron]

I did that. There are two big problems, and one of them was fixed. The neck was too high from the bridge causing me to have to put the saddles at their highest point, which still wasn't high enough. I sanded the neck heel down and it now fits correctly. The other big problem which makes the neck pretty much fire wood, I can't adjust the truss rod. My dumbass didn't leave enough room to get in there with a tool to rotate the truss rod. Sadly I can't do anything about it.

First off. don't think that first issue is 100% your fault. The industry has set a precedent for "proper bridge height" to allow for interchangeability of parts and that hipshot bridge completely ignores it/does itos own thing. even Kiesel had some serious issues with it back in the day. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the bridge A) due to how low the bridge is and B) I find the saddles to be rather sharp.

2nd off. don't give up on that neck yet. Now would be a REALLY good time to learn how to iron off a fretboard. Pry out the trussrod, fix the rout and glue the fretboard back on. easy peasy. K, I've honestly never ironed off a fretboard and managed to keep the fretboard in a usuable condition... but remaking a fretboard likely isn't the worst thing in the world.....

 

[Albake21]

First off. don't think that first issue is 100% your fault. The industry has set a precedent for "proper bridge height" to allow for interchangeability of parts and that hipshot bridge completely ignores it/does itos own thing. even Kiesel had some serious issues with it back in the day. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the bridge A) due to how low the bridge is and B) I find the saddles to be rather sharp.

2nd off. don't give up on that neck yet. Now would be a REALLY good time to learn how to iron off a fretboard. Pry out the trussrod, fix the rout and glue the fretboard back on. easy peasy. K, I've honestly never ironed off a fretboard and managed to keep the fretboard in a usuable condition... but remaking a fretboard likely isn't the worst thing in the world.....

Yeah thankfully the first issue was a rather easy fix. The biggest problem was a spec sheet I was referencing. I made sure that the spacing was the same for both on the spec sheet and comparing to my other guitars. But what I didn't account for is the thickness of the fretboard. Another mistake of mine, the fretboard was way too thick which I didn't account for the height.

As for the neck, I'd rather just build a whole new one since I don't like how thick the neck turned out anyways. I'd rather just move on and then maybe in the future come back to this guitar and redo the neck.

 

[KR250]

I'd agree with others in working out all the kinks on this build, it'll help vastly on the next one. Since it's bolt on neck, easy enough to take the neck off and re-profile it. If you cut through.... oh well. 19-20 mm should be pretty attainable, but most of the difference can be felt by carving more out of the shoulders. Could also route the neck pocket as needed to get string action right. I learned a ton by re-doing some of my early builds and then using them as a baseline/measurements for the next batch. First build looks great though, keep it up!

 

[Albake21]

Just a quick update to this thread. I've decided to work on this build and better it. There are definitely some things I can do to really fix it. The biggest thing for me is the finish. I'm going to sand off the teal and most likely just stain it black. Since I've only worked with tung oil before, I'm going to try and make the body gloss with a poly. I'm also going to work on the frets a bit more and try my best to fix the truss rod cavity without having to redo the whole thing.

Basically, I'm going to use this guitar as a test bed while I build my new one.