This one has been on and off the bench since October, a 1953 Gene Autry Melody Ranch. These cowboy guitars were usually pretty cheaply made most of birch but a few were well made. This is spruce over maple and is very well made.
Most of the braces were loose and some were missing, it also needed a neck reset. The problem with that was the fretboard was pisswood and cracked so removing the neck would trash it. I decide to try slipping the block, an old repair method.
So she's close to being done, frets levelled, intonated, just needs final setup, gotta love locking tuners, plugged in sounds amazing, natural sustain unplugged is the best Ive ever experienced, we'll see how that goes through an amp but I'm sure its controllable.
How do you sort the profile of the back of the neck? Eg. IS it just by feel, or do you have some way of measuring it?
I was wondering that. Do you have templates with different profiles you can work to or is it just (I say 'just' but obviously it's not 'just' anything) feel?
Have you taught yourself to do this stuff? It's as cool as fuck.
How do you sort the profile of the back of the neck? Eg. IS it just by feel, or do you have some way of measuring it?
I was wondering that. Do you have templates with different profiles you can work to or is it just (I say 'just' but obviously it's not 'just' anything) feel?
Have you taught yourself to do this stuff? It's as cool as fuck.
this is a great topic.
I used to carve by feel but now I use the facet method. I draw up the cross sections of the first fret and the 12 th fret on my computer then work out the facets needed to get the shape I want. Then i transfer those measurements into the neck and cut the facets. I usually do 4 or 5 facets per side before rounding by feel.
On my 25" necks Ive pretty much worked out what I want....until I change my mind again!
GrantB wrote:
“You might be cool, but you’ll never be playing a white Steinberger through a JC120, wearing a white jumpsuit with white shoes and sporting a mullet cool”.
MakoGat wrote:So she's close to being done, frets levelled, intonated, just needs final setup, gotta love locking tuners, plugged in sounds amazing, natural sustain unplugged is the best Ive ever experienced, we'll see how that goes through an amp but I'm sure its controllable.
IMG_1874 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
IMG_1877 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
IMG_1879 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
IMG_1885 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
IMG_1886 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
IMG_1953 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
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IMG_1957 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
IMG_1947 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
IMG_1970 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
IMG_1981 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
IMG_1986 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
IMG_1987 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
IMG_2008 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
IMG_2009 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
