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Yes I bought a case and bag to be shared between the PB tele and this one. I like the look of a guitar in a nice case with the fancy fur - but tbh they are a bit of a pain… I find that a good gig bag is way more convenient in nearly all aspects!
But I agree - an empty guitar case needs to be filled!
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Things have taken a bit of backwards step with this project.
The company I got the neck and body from specialise in vintage style guitars. So the neck only has a single action truss rod. At the time I was too naive to consider the implication of this.
Anyway I spent a good while last week working on the setup but I couldn’t get any relief into the neck despite the TR nut being loose. So I was getting a ton of buzz from the low frets. My go to strings are 9-42 so I tried 10s which gave me about 0.002”.
I also tried forcing the neck into relief by putting a book under the headstock and putting all my body weight on the 6/7 fret. The neck did bend doing this but it always went ironing board flat again.
I contacted the manufacturer and they taken it back to investigate.
Digging around it seems your supposed to make single action rod neck with a little relief in it so that the rod still has something to do when there is no string tension. That way your able to have full control over the neck. I’m not sure this happened in this case. I’m not sure there’s anything I could have done to cause it?
The annoying this is they have just started selling a double action TR option!
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A flat neck should be pulled into sufficient relief under string tension, so it must have had a significant reverse bow to start with.
Either that or the neck is very very stiff indeed, so that the string tension hardly bends it.
When I’ve fret l levelled a neck, I’ll then normally give it about 1/2 tightening turn on the truss rod which ends up a good starting point for the relief as I like it (using 10s) before stringing it up.
Hmm… maybe something else is going on then. With my notched straight edge the neck is flat with no strings.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
I read somewhere that overly tight frets can stop it from “reliefing”…
I'd say that's very unlikely. If the frets are too large they generally won't seat properly. If they are flat to the fretboard then the slots should be the right size. Overly large frets would in theory cause a back-bow if installed on a straight neck, but you said the neck was flat. Unless it's a custom order, I'd assume the company will be using the same fretwire and slot saw they always use.
There's a lot of bad information around on the web, and I really don't think anyone deliberately makes necks with a little neck relief built-in (unless you are making say carbon-composite necks that are remarkably stiff). Double action rods are a fairly recent innovation, and I can't see Fender or Gibson factories making necks that were constructed with anything other than a flat fretboard when using single-action truss rods. Original string gauges were thicker, typically 0.012"s, so there was more than enough tension to provide relief on the neck to start with. But when people fitted 8s and 9s on those vintage instruments, they still played OK.
So unless the neck is so stiff it doesn't need a truss rod, I'd say that they are all made flat.
What double-action truss rods allow is the use of less seasoned timber, and non-quarter sawn wood, so that if the neck does develop a back-bow as the wood ages (which with fairly young wood might only take a few months) then it can be corrected. The drive towards ever-cheaper guitars has given rise to the necessity for double-action truss rods in lower-priced models.
There are certainly 'decent' guitars where a double-action truss rod would have been an advantage, as you will get the odd neck using good wood that will still develop a back-bow. But mainly it's too much neck relief that's an issue with guitar necks.
Hmmm... This is a head-scratcher, and I'm interested to hear more.
So what does happen when you turn the truss rod nut?
If nothing, my first thought is broken rod or not properly anchored.
As Simon posted, single action rods have been around and working for a long time for a lot well known guitar brands, so there's definitely something hinky with the neck you have.
I have to admit that I did not know about the reason behind the development of the two-way truss rod relative to new timber and mass production requirements. That's interesting. Thanks Simon!
Thanks both - yeah with my level of experience it’s hard to know what’s good and bad information. But it sounded logical to me that you’d need some relief to engage the rod.
When I tighten the rod I get back bow so it seems like it’s doing the right thing.
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A single action truss rod will straighten the neck and then introduce back-bow, so if the neck is already too straight, you won't want to tighten it at all.
A double-action truss-rod obviously caters for both types of bow, so isn't a bad thing to have at all in any guitar. The reason for them being fairly ubiquitous in cheaper guitars these days is my own reasoning, but having had two Pit bull necks with an inherent back-bow and needing to use the rod in order to level the neck for a fret-level, whilst people like Gibson and Fender are still generally using single-action truss rods, does point at lower quality wood /manufacturing methods as the main reason for their introduction. And once someone makes a low cost double-action truss rod, you might as well use one.
IMO, a lot of hardware developments have been made to allow for looser manufacturing tolerances or less installation time. e.g. the Gibson Nashville bridge allows for a coupe of mm extra saddle travel over the previous ABR one, so fore/aft bridge hole placement can be a bit sloppier.
Guitar looks great! How did the inlay in the headstock end up? I recently did my first inlay in my first guitar, and ran into the same trouble as you did. I ended up carving a "stroke" line around it that I filled with epoxy.
The reverse controls seem like a great idea too, I might do that on mine!
I abandoned the inlay in the end. At least for this guitar. I need more practice cutting the inlay before I attempt it for real.Quote:
Originally Posted by ross.pearson
I would love to see how yours turned out [emoji106]
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It turned out okay. Could definitely be better but the job is done.Quote:
Originally Posted by Groovyman32
Ignore the other defects with the finish, I took care of those.
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...1&d=1631885200
Have you presented it to your mate yet?
No, I keep showing him glimpses but he thinks I'm building this for myself. I haven't shown him the headstock yet. I'm a ways off finishing, waiting for the respray on the back to cure and need to fret level and polish, wire it all up, install the bridge and ferules.. loads to do. The bucks is in December and the Wedding in February I think, so plenty of time.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
Looks great Ross!Quote:
Originally Posted by ross.pearson
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I've heard back from the manufacturer of the neck.
They say they were able to get the required relief in the neck. They didn't say if they did anything new to make that happen or if it just did it of it's accord under string tension. I've asked for clarification.
However, they said the truss rod is not working as they would expect and there might problems down the line. So they are going to make me a new neck.
Fingers crossed!
They may have heated and bent the neck in order to get the relief.
But there was obviously an issue with it, so a replacement neck is the ideal solution. Plus I assume they will check it out thoroughly before sending it out, so you should have no issues with the new one.
They just confirmed the new neck will have a two way truss rod. Now I just have to wait...
Well that's all a bit of an inconvenience, but a good result in the end.
It seems odd they have to make one and not have one in stock. How long a wait?
It was a custom order as they didn’t have anything in stock that ticked enough boxes. Plus it wasn’t much more expensive to do it that way. It was just a longer wait. I got to pick from a selection of blanks and specify all the things like radius, carve, dots etc. They also ensured the fit to the body was good. It’s a shame they didn’t check it worked!
The first neck took about 3 or 4 weeks. I’m hoping I’ll be put to the front of the queue.
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The new neck was delivered today.... before I contact them - I'd like to get your expert opinions on this:
Attachment 42020Attachment 42021Attachment 42022
Does that look like a glued up crack? Or is that "feature" of the wood? This is a £300+ neck.
Looking for this angle there might grain lines running through it - which would suggest it's natural?
Attachment 42023
It may be natural, but I wouldn't expect to see that in a £300 neck.
Yep, agreed
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After a bit of toing and froing with the vendor, we've reached a conclusion. They maintain there was nothing wrong with the neck as it's entirely cosmetic. But they are willing to swap it. They have two necks in the pipeline with the same spec so I will get a choice between those two when they are complete. It's another long wait but I'm happy with the outcome.
It may be just cosmetic but for £300 you don't expect cosmetic flaws like that. If they offered a £100 discount for keeping it then you'd have the choice of living with it or not. But it's not a small subtle flaw, it's in a very obvious place. Somewhere on the back of the neck you could accept, but not somewhere you'll see every time you pick up the guitar. And you don't want to be forced to paint the headstock.
Yeah - agreed, if it was anywhere else it would have been easier to accept.
I think the most efficient way to deal with it would have been to let me know as soon as it was visible and then I have a choice to make. If they believe they have a saleable item there's no risk for them. The only thing lost is time. But if I was building this for someone else and my customer didn't accept it (quite likely IMO) then I'd be stuffed.
But even if they let it go too far, they have done a good job in trying to put it right. They could have sent me back the original neck once they got it into relief and not told me about the broken truss rod. They could have pushed me harder to accept the new neck. So I'm happy they are trying the best they can to make sure I'll end with something I'll be happy with.
I think the lesson learnt is that be ultra careful with a custom order. In this case the terms are that custom orders are non returnable unless there's a manufacturing defect. But the problem here is that the "defect" is subjective.
Anyway, all's well... for now :)
This build has been going for the best part of year now. With all the neck issues now resolved I managed to get a few coats of TruOil on the neck, applied the decal and polished up the headstock face.
Last night I installed the tuners and bolted the neck on. So bar the final setup and perhaps a string tree or too this one is done.
It’s a lovely a guitar. The new neck looks awesome and feels great to play. It has all the chunkiness that I like and feels well worth the money.
Of all three guitars I’ve so far this one has the best of the finishes. Not so many flaws that I want to refinish it [emoji1787] and I really like how the stain has turned out.
The pick ups sound great. Seymour Duncan vintage stack at the neck and Lil’59 in the bridge.
Thanks everyone for all your help and advice!
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Very nice!
Nice one Groovyman!
Apart from the neck dramas, this one did seem to go pretty smoothly for you. Imagine how you'll go with the 10th one! :p
I didn't know that SD did the Lil '59 in a tele configuration. Look forward to your demo!
Yeah aside from the neck, the refinish and dropping the neck on the refinish it went very well ;) :DQuote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
I've got something pretty cool in the pipeline for the demo with some help of some friends :)
I also need to do one for the strat!
The back of that neck is lovely!
Here's a little something that a couple of friends and I have been working on. I used the tele on it so I though it would be a great way to show it off here. Unfortunatley you get to see my ugly mug, but the other guys insisted!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9wL-3Qtcmk
Love it! And the TL sounds particularly [emoji108]
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Well done!
Not exactly my thing musically, but FWIW, I liked your tone and style the most out of all three!
Love it, LOVE it, LOVE IT! Nice chops all three of you, very well done!
Thanks everyone - it was a lot of fun to do.
And now I want to build a gold top LP!
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That looks great. I also love the neck.
Hats off to the fellas 👍