Tele with Bigsby style bridge build

Nice clean profile there Christian, simple and elegant, great work.

Print some paper with a section of colour on it approximating the red you want to use, cut it to the shape of the headstock, step back and see what you think. It won't be the same as the actual stain, but it may help you decide.

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Originally Posted by Chuck

Nice work on the headstock Christian! My only tip would be that while basswood is soft enough to screw into without pilot holes (although I still do pre-drill), make sure you still put a dab of wax on the screws before finally screwing them in.

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Thanks Chuck. What's the purpose of the wax? Does it make it easier to remove the screws later on if I need to or is it something else?

yup, stops em from binding if/when the wood contracts over time as well as making it easier to go in (that's what she said). I keep a block of bees wax on the bench top when I'm assembling and just run the thread against the side of the block before screwing it in

Hey Chrisp well worth doing especially for the small tuner screws, less chance of snapping the screw head off and causing much bigger headaches !

A cake of soap works as a screw lube too...

The face of the headstock is a purely personal opinion and decision; many here like the natural maple look, and I often do too.... sometimes, however, I prefer the headstock to be body coloured - herein, Corsair Avenger in original trim, with waterslide decals..

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...pse01cebcb.jpg

and now, painted body colour with airbrushed medal ribbons.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...psstnpufo4.jpg

Now, I know the tuners, string tress and TRC have been changed, but the overall effect is much stronger, at least to my eyes.

Scotts suggestion of colouring a headstock shaped piece of paper and affixing it to the headstock seems to me to be a great wee idea!! You could then showow us what you're planning...

Headstock has come out nice. Personally I would keep the same as the rest of the neck

Sent from Android Nougat

I would probably agree with Andrew. If you are staining, how do you stop the stain from leeching into the sides of the headstock? Nice headtock shape too...well worth the effort

Thanks everyone. I'll just leave the neck and headstock all amber.
I'm back from my trip, so now it's sanding time. Not much to show, but when I get to the dingotone I'll upload more pics.
From I understand I only need to sand to grit 400 before straining, but once I finish with all the clear coats I can go use Micro Mesh to give it a mirror effect. Is that correct?
And with the maple neck I should leave it at 240 or the wood won't take the colour and then once finished I can go all the way to 2000. Right?

Cheers
Christian

Normally 320 is the maximum grit recommended here to go to on bodies before applying DT. Above that and people feel that it polishes the wood too much and prevents the stain being absorbed. But certainly once it's all on, (and you may need to do some intermediate sanding on DT if you start getting lumps) you can certainly go up through the micromesh grades to 12000 (preferably wet sanding).