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Building a guitar with what I've learned here. Walnut/Maple/Ash/Eastern Red Cedar

#141
I wouldn't call that a crack.. Its just separated at the glue line. Maybe there wasn't enough glue in that area, or it wasn't clean, not enough clamping pressure, idk. But you could try flooding that separation line with very thin CA glue at the face of the headstock and lightly clamping it. If the CA makes it through to the back of the headstock, then it probably covered the entire crack. If it doesn't, flood the back side as well. I don't mean to scare you, but I see a similar separation at the d-sting tuner, it could be the picture though.
 
#142
suraj said:
I wouldn't call that a crack.. Its just separated at the glue line. Maybe there wasn't enough glue in that area, or it wasn't clean, not enough clamping pressure, idk. But you could try flooding that separation line with very thin CA glue at the face of the headstock and lightly clamping it. If the CA makes it through to the back of the headstock, then it probably covered the entire crack. If it doesn't, flood the back side as well. I don't mean to scare you, but I see a similar separation at the d-sting tuner, it could be the picture though.
Click to expand...

I didn't notice a separation on the d-string area, I think that's a line in the wood grain, but I'll check it later and see. I'm half tempted to just chop off the headstock, but obviously I'd like to avoid that. I'm just getting frustrated with the headstock issues I've had/am having.

I'll take a look later and see how it is and probably try some CA in there as well. I feel like I should have just done that last night before the yellow glue dried, but I didn't know if I should mix the two.
 
#143
This issue doesn't seem like a structural issue to me. I remember when the headstock on your bass had a crack. That was a serious structural issue. This one i'm sure CA can sort out. Although sand your tuner holes a bit and let the tuners drop in easily as they may have been the reason for separating a weak glue joint. Maybe sand them a little more keeping some room for the wood to expand.
 
#144
suraj said:
This issue doesn't seem like a structural issue to me. I remember when the headstock on your bass had a crack. That was a serious structural issue. This one i'm sure CA can sort out. Although sand your tuner holes a bit and let the tuners drop in easily as they may have been the reason for separating a weak glue joint. Maybe sand them a little more keeping some room for the wood to expand.
Click to expand...

I am definitely going to do that. I don't want to push it.
 
#145
I was just looking up bridge location stuff on StewMac's fret calculator and it says to install the bridge so the center of the treble post is at 25 9/16" from the nut and the center of the bass post is at 25 5/8" or 25 11/16". I didn't realize they were mounted diagonally. Good thing I looked. I also didn't know the screw adjusters are supposed to face the pickups.

So, I guess my template isn't 100% accurate unless I want the pickups to be diagonal too. I'll route the bridge first, then move the template for the pickup routes.

I miiiight work on this today. Wish me luck. I also might need some luck with drilling string through holes without a drill press...
 
#146
Are you sure about the bridge being at an angle? Maybe they mean the saddles, not the entire bridge? I have no idea, but it may be a good idea to double check before drilling. :)

I have a Hagström guitar with a TOM. I can measure when I get home.



Making the screws face the pickups makes it much easier to adjust intonation in cases where there is a string anchor. In your case it shouldn't matter much, though.
 
#148
I did a search on TDPRI and just a google image search and pretty much all of the ones I saw were angled. I re-measured after I had the bridge in place to make sure the saddles were going to be able to hit 25.5" and they can, so I'm guessing it's correct.

But... After I had it all measured out and the template in place, I checked to see what depth I needed the route to be and it turns out that the bridge is shorter than the frets with how low I set the wings compared to the neck. So, I guess I don't need to route it and luckily, the posts can go up so I should be able to get it to the perfect height from where it's at.

So, it looks like all I need to do is drill holes for the posts, but they're tapered, so I need to look into how I should drill for them. I read one thing that said the holes are supposed to be a tight fit otherwise it kills tone. I'll have to look into that.

Other than that, it looks like the spacing is off on my string through holes in the template, so I'll have to measure those out again before I drill.

I have the router set to the depth I need for the pickups, so I just need to line up the template square to the neck and I should be able to get that done.
 
#149
What do you mean by tapered? The posts go on holes about the same diameter as the bottom part of the post (the smooth part)
the other part of the post (the serration) is what make them solid in the holes when pressed in. Then there's a little lip that sits on top of the surface. (unless you do want to countersink it)
It's that what you meant?
 
#150
crazygtr said:
What do you mean by tapered? The posts go on holes about the same diameter as the bottom part of the post (the smooth part)
the other part of the post (the serration) is what make them solid in the holes when pressed in. Then there's a little lip that sits on top of the surface. (unless you do want to countersink it)
It's that what you meant?
Click to expand...

The bottom diameter is smaller than the top diameter. It's like a subtle cone.
 
#153
crazygtr said:
And please don't forget to install the string ground wire before pressing the treble post :D (if you intend to put it there)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't have thought of that, to be honest, but I looked on the wiring instructions for my pickups and it says

4) When installing any EMG-X Active Pickup, DO NOT connect the bridge ground wire. This wire is usually soldered to a volume or tone control casing and goes to the bridge. This wire grounds the strings and uses them and your body as a shield against hum and buzz. It also creates a shock hazard. EMG Pickups are shielded internally and DO NOT require string grounding. This greatly reduces the possibility of reverse polarity shock from microphones and other equipment.
Click to expand...
 
#156
Well, after looking at the EMG instructions more, I'm wondering - do I NEED a toggle switch? It doesn't come with one and it came with everything else, so I was kind of assuming that I could control the pickups with the knobs like on a bass. If I need one, I probably should figure out how to cut the slot for it before I carve the top too... :-/

Edit: Looks like I do, and I guess they're not all the slot kind (all the guitars I've had have been). I'll get one and figure out what size hole to drill for it.
 
#157
I got lazy and didn't get my camera out.

I measured out the string through holes again and tried to figure out where to put the knobs and [imaginary] toggle switch.

tumblr_mj7qr3K3YH1qi8q1ao1_1280.jpg


Here's a close up of the bridge and top ferrules in place.

tumblr_mj7qteeVkC1qi8q1ao1_1280.jpg


I don't have time to do any actual drilling or routing today, but I figured sitting down and measuring this out and measuring what sizes I need to drill for everything would be a good idea before going back out there to work on it.

You may notice that the center of the neck through portion is not actually the center... I was afraid the bridge post hole would end up in the battery part of the control cavity if I leveled that side off any further.
 
#158
Looking at that bridge I would say that you don't need to angle the posts. Saddle travel is enough for compensation. On a ABR 1 the angle is needed because there is not enough travel. And, given that you have roller saddles in there, I would think that an angle will give you problems with the rolling action of the saddles. Just install the strings and intonate before you mark and drill for the posts.
 
#159
crazygtr said:
Looking at that bridge I would say that you don't need to angle the posts. Saddle travel is enough for compensation. On a ABR 1 the angle is needed because there is not enough travel. And, given that you have roller saddles in there, I would think that an angle will give you problems with the rolling action of the saddles. Just install the strings and intonate before you mark and drill for the posts.
Click to expand...

That kind of bridge will nearly always need to be angled. There is only about 5/16" travel in the adjustment. You are asking to run out of room installing it straight.
 

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