'24 Partscaster Project

[muttley]

@muttley will this be suitable:
https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products ... ra-sustain

Or would this be better:
https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products ... el-saddles

Mutt, these were the two I was looking at. I quite fancy fixing it with two big screws instead of the traditional 6 little ones, seems like it would be more stable

Wilkinson gear is pretty solid entry stuff. Two screw fixing will be fine if done properly. The amount of travel for the intonation is dependant on the length of the adjustment screws but you should have plenty on those. I generally use Gotoh stuff but that will set you back around two to three times the price of them and the only real difference will be the quality of the finish on what you are putting together.

[JD01]

Cool, I'll order that Wilkinson one then.

[JD01]

Wilkinson bridge arrived. Its a satisfyingly hefty chunk of metal.
Just need my neck to arrive now, then I can get routing.
Then I'll work on my electronics.

[JD01]

Does it really matter what sort of neck screws and plate you get? I seems like any old shit that's the right dimensions and not made of terrible quality Chinesium will probably be fine.

I'll only have the one neck and don't want to fuck this up - what size pilot holes should I drill in it?

Also, a lot of the kit screws have smooth shanks... but "genuine" Fender (I'm guessing Fender don't manufacture their own screws) don't.
A smooth shank would make more sense to me... but then chances are the diameter of the hole in the body is wide enough that it doesn't matter.

[JD01]

Neck arrived. I'll be doing a fret dress on it and putting a new nut on it... but it doesn't actually feel too bad as it is.

20240319_152222.jpg

20240319_152232.jpg

[muttley]

Does it really matter what sort of neck screws and plate you get? I seems like any old shit that's the right dimensions and not made of terrible quality Chinesium will probably be fine.

I'll only have the one neck and don't want to fuck this up - what size pilot holes should I drill in it?

Also, a lot of the kit screws have smooth shanks... but "genuine" Fender (I'm guessing Fender don't manufacture their own screws) don't.
A smooth shank would make more sense to me... but then chances are the diameter of the hole in the body is wide enough that it doesn't matter.

Lets have a few pics of the back if the neck and the neck pocket so I can see what you are working with? Normally for maple you want a fairly decent pilot hole and depending on what screws (bolts) I always do a test on a scrap piece to make sure they cut a decent thread first time out. I also use a bit of candle wax on them when cutting the thread to ease the screw home. The diameter of the hole in the body just needs to be a snug fit. If its threaded (a few are) then you need to fine a matching screw to that thread. Most important is not stripping the head so make sure you have the right driver for the screw.

[JD01]

Does it really matter what sort of neck screws and plate you get? I seems like any old shit that's the right dimensions and not made of terrible quality Chinesium will probably be fine.

I'll only have the one neck and don't want to fuck this up - what size pilot holes should I drill in it?

Also, a lot of the kit screws have smooth shanks... but "genuine" Fender (I'm guessing Fender don't manufacture their own screws) don't.
A smooth shank would make more sense to me... but then chances are the diameter of the hole in the body is wide enough that it doesn't matter.

Lets have a few pics of the back if the neck and the neck pocket so I can see what you are working with? Normally for maple you want a fairly decent pilot hole and depending on what screws (bolts) I always do a test on a scrap piece to make sure they cut a decent thread first time out. I also use a bit of candle wax on them when cutting the thread to ease the screw home. The diameter of the hole in the body just needs to be a snug fit. If its threaded (a few are) then you need to fine a matching screw to that thread. Most important is not stripping the head so make sure you have the right driver for the screw.

Here you go. The neck actually fits on the pocket pretty snuggly. At the moment, cos of the strat pocket, the neck is about 5mm too long so I'm gonna have to rout the pocket a little. It'll look fine with the little lap on the end of the board going over the pickguard though.

The screws are tight in the body, I could just about turn them in part of the way using my fingers.

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20240326_111159_resized.jpg

[Greg_L]

In theory, the way fasteners work, you don't want the screws to really bite in the body too much. You want them to just fit the body holes with very slight interference. The purpose of the neck screws is to pull the neck into the neck pocket so ideally they'd pass through the body easily and only thread into the neck. The only actual clamping points are directly under the screw head on the back of the body and the threads that grab into the neck.

[muttley]

OK, the first thing you want to do is establish the string length with that body and that neck.

Ignore the curved end of the pocket for the moment. Get the bridge on the thing and set the neck in the pocket as far in as it will go and measure nut to saddle on both E' and e' and see what you have. Set the saddles around the centre point to start.You can also check the neck alignment at that point as well to make sure you can get the strings in the right place over the neck. Even a little out can compound into big errors down the other end. Once you have the length measured with it as it is you will know how much you have to remove to get it set right. Don't rely on it being right off the bat. Check and check again. You may not have to remove any....

It's good practice to dry fit and measure these things so you are absolutely clear about exactly where you want that neck fixed. It's about the most critical part of building a guitar. Get that wrong and you are in a world of shit.

Once you have done that you can clamp it in place and check it again. Then and only then you mark the position of the screw holes on the back of the heel thru the body holes. I would then drill very small pilots to locate the correct drill bit before opening them up for the thread.

[JD01]

I'm just working out how to get the bridge in just the right place - the hole in the body is plenty big enough to it to end up on the wonk or offset to one side. I'm off on holiday next week anyway so won't be working on it for a couple of weeks.

[muttley]

I'm just working out how to get the bridge in just the right place - the hole in the body is plenty big enough to it to end up on the wonk or offset to one side. I'm off on holiday next week anyway so won't be working on it for a couple of weeks.

Always start with matching centre lines on all parts.

Mark the centre line on the body, mark the centre point of the bridge cutout, mark the centre line on the bridge and mark the centre line on the nut and heel. You can do that by using painters tape to avoid pencil marks on the finish. Line up all the centre lines and see where you are at.

[JD01]

Cheers, I'm assuming that I want the trem-block generally in the centre of the hole to give it wiggle room.

I got a fret rocker off ebay and it was only a couple of quid extra to get a notched straight edge so I got one.
Anyway frets... they're gonna take some work. They're not level. In fact - they're terrible, inconsistent height between them all the way both down and across the neck. I think I'm going to learn something.

Next thing to sort will be a levelling beam, I could just make one but they're also peanuts on ebay and a crowning file.

[muttley]

Cheers, I'm assuming that I want the trem-block generally in the centre of the hole to give it wiggle room.

Ideally yes.

I got a fret rocker off ebay and it was only a couple of quid extra to get a notched straight edge so I got one.
Anyway frets... they're gonna take some work. They're not level. In fact - they're terrible, inconsistent height between them all the way both down and across the neck. I think I'm going to learn something.

Next thing to sort will be a levelling beam, I could just make one but they're also peanuts on ebay and a crowning file.

Sounds like the first thing you need to do is work on the neck. Check the truss rod works well and get it as arrow straight as you can. If you have a decent 6 -12 inch spirit level you should also have a levelling beam. Which ever way you go make sure the thing is dead flat. I have seen some of them cheap levelling beams that are so far out of wack they are useless. Like I mentioned I exclusively use a diamond sharpening stone these days.

[WhiskeyJack]

Like I mentioned I exclusively use a diamond sharpening stone these days.

Like on of these things?

[JD01]

@muttley what you think of this? Seems cheap,

But also seems like it might do the job.
Fuck, link won't work. Its an Erpmlyo Guitar Fret Crowning File from Amazon and its less than 12 quid.

The Baroque Fret Erasers seem like a good kit, 180 grit up to 2000 grit.

[muttley]

@muttley what you think of this? Seems cheap,

But also seems like it might do the job.
Fuck, link won't work. Its an Erpmlyo Guitar Fret Crowning File from Amazon and its less than 12 quid.

I have not tried them so can't comment. At around a tenner though you haven't got much to lose. Most of the cheap Chinese tools for guitar building tend to be made of poor quality steel and don't hold up too long term use so I avoid them but for just a few instruments you should be OK.

[JD01]

@muttley what you think of this? Seems cheap,

But also seems like it might do the job.
Fuck, link won't work. Its an Erpmlyo Guitar Fret Crowning File from Amazon and its less than 12 quid.

I have not tried them so can't comment. At around a tenner though you haven't got much to lose. Most of the cheap Chinese tools for guitar building tend to be made of poor quality steel and don't hold up too long term use so I avoid them but for just a few instruments you should be OK.

Kind of what I thought - this is a learning experience, if I enjoy it and make a decent job of it then I'll probably gradually buy some better tools. Its like building up any tool kit really, you buy some shite, learn a bit then gradually buy good versions of the stuff you care about.

The thing I'm struggling most to find is nut slotting files. There's plenty of sets for about 100 quid and there's some that look unusable for a tenner. Ideally I want something in between, nut slotting is something that I will use more often.

[muttley]

These are the ones I turn to most of the time. Most of the pro's use them. If you snag one and want to sell it on down the line I would have it off you.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hosco-Double-S ... C-pUw7gEVo

[JD01]

These are the ones I turn to most of the time. Most of the pro's use them. If you snag one and want to sell it on down the line I would have it off you.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hosco-Double-S ... C-pUw7gEVo

That looks like a genuinely decent tool.
What you think of these?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394921580493 ... R9zW0YXnYw
I'm planning on getting the neck on, frets levelled and polished and nut sorted this month before doing electronics next month.

[muttley]

..................

The thing I'm struggling most to find is nut slotting files. There's plenty of sets for about 100 quid and there's some that look unusable for a tenner. Ideally I want something in between, nut slotting is something that I will use more often.

Again, I haven't used them so I can't vouch for the quality of the steel but you can score them pretty cheap these days.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alomejor-Guita ... C-pUw7gEVo

When I started out non of these cheap tools were available so we all had to import from Hosco. I still have many of those tools. Not so much for the cheap stuff I've tried. Buy cheap buy twice, but for one or two nuts you would probably get away with them.