I'd not worry about the fretboard or the marks. The marks will almost certainly disappear when you oil the fretboard.
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I'd not worry about the fretboard or the marks. The marks will almost certainly disappear when you oil the fretboard.
The fretboard is flat on the bottom, and the top has a 12"/30cm radius, so you'll never get a perfect straight line on the top edge. You could file the edge to get it looking a bit straighter, but you'll never get it very straight looking. Oiling the fretboard with some lemon oil, as Andy said, will darken it significantly and make the staining disappear. If you plan to paint the front of the headstock a solid colour, then you could probably paint a straighter join line.
OK !
I just have a question concerning the neck :
Did I need to work on truss rod or frets first ?
And how can I check the truss rod without straightedge ?
Thanks ;)
Hi Maxence,
You will only need to work on the truss rod, if the neck is not straight. IN order to check this you must use a straight edge first to see if there is any bow forward or back in the neck.
Once you have adjusted to get the fretboard straight, then you will check ther frets for level.
Ok, thanks !Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
hi there what paint are you using? i haven't gone to far back in your thread but you have made some real errors in your painting that will come back top haunt you, sanding priming and top coat rookie's make the same mistakes
I’m using Northwestguitars nitro paint,Quote:
Originally Posted by phrozin
What can be the issues ?
And what are the errors ?
I think I made a big mistake by removing the nut.
a very small part of the first case broke when I removed the nut and another more discreet on the other side of the nut
it's serious ?
how can I fix that?
https://i.imgur.com/KzoUkJv.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/LmBPm3W.jpg
Oh dear!
You would normally collect the pieces that broke off and stick them back on again.
Otherwise you'd probably be best getting some epoxy modelling putty and using that to fill the missing sections. You'd probably have to colour it with something or else paint on top of it with some enamel paints to match the wood. Something like this: https://www.milliput.com/index.html
The pieces is always on the neck, but she stand up a little.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
How Can I do it stick again ?
ok Nitro your not priming it up properly you need to put enough primer on it so you have a margin of not sanding through, the body is ASH? so grain fill is paramount before you shoot the colour coats Ash being so grainy it will suck up quite a bit of primer its a common mistake to get a nice shiny flat finish is all in the prep if your only learning don't be scared to grab the sander and start again, as the paint drys it will fall back in to the grain and then you need to have enough paint to be able to sand that out. when you spraying a full colour you sand differently you don't sand with the grain as all that will do is the surface isn't flat you need to do a circular motion with 120, 220, 320 the anything over 400grit. the good thing is your in the right place to get advice there is some decent builders on theses forums and most will help. I understand your English isn't your main language so translating maybe a problem but good luck with it you'll get thereQuote:
Originally Posted by Volgar
I use wood filler, and only lightly sanded the primer who I put 4 layers, it's not enough ?Quote:
Originally Posted by phrozin
It was really big layers (horizontal, vertical, leaning at each layer) so It's a bit like 12 layers ! haha
You think I did it wrong here ?
I'm not really searching a really shinny flat finish, but after a light relic finish, so maybe it's not really a problem ?
What do you think about it ?
hey its your build and its what ever your comfortable with mate but you wont see the gremlins until your final coats have dried personally i don't use wood filler for grain filler but others do and that's another story 😀
I’m not blaming you, don’t worry: I really like adviceQuote:
Originally Posted by phrozin
It was just a question :p
Fiou !
I find some white Woodglue and all seems good now !
https://i.imgur.com/8TfrX5y.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/SwtQ8QX.jpg
Well done! A good save. Just let it dry for a day before trying to fit the new nut.
Yep, I will do it :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Good save Maxence!Quote:
Originally Posted by Volgar
Hello ! If I send you this message, it is because I am completely lost with the neck! : / I have, for now, removed the nut and quickly look at the curvature of the neck that looks good, I let your expert eye decide!
https://i.imgur.com/HQbLUwZ.jpg
I know that I must now put the frets at the same height: I have already masked with tape.
but then ?
what should I do to finish the neck?
sand it?
Which product to use to "preserve" it? Should it be varnished?
I am completely lost on what I have to do with this neck!
Hi Maxence,
If you have masked off the fretboard you can go ahead with sanding,unfortunatley its a bit hard for me to give advice on what product you could finish with because i'm not sure what you have available to you there in France. However I'm certain there would be someone here that could give you some better ideas on what to use.
Somebody told me about lemon oil or tru oil, Can It work ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Grubsta
I'd certainly use lemon oil on the fretboard itself, though if that's one of the 'blackwood' synthetic fretboards, rather than real rosewood, I'm not quite sure if it will benefit it much.
For the rest of the neck, you can certainly use Tru-Oil (which a lot of people like the feel of on the neck), Danish oil (similar to Tru-Oil) or you could spray it with a clear or slightly amber tinted lacquer (which could be nitrocellulose, acrylic or polyurethane). It's a personal choice and they all have their plus and minus points. Certainly in cold weather, a wipe-on finish is easier to apply inside than spraying.
The site indicated a rosewood fingerboard when I bought it, I'll buy some lemon oil soon so;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Apart from leveling the frets, what should I do on the neck?
Sanding to smooth the neck, round off any rough edges and get it feeling comfortable in your hands. After that, mask off the fretboard and apply your chosen finish. It is quite common to apply any clear finish to the sides of the fretboard (not the top) but you can mask that off as well and just put the clear finish on the maple parts of the neck.
Frets are leveled !
There was just 3 high frets that I leveled with my fret crowning file !
https://i.imgur.com/fO45reO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/iyulUyc.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/mvLaNmD.jpg
Did I need to sand the neck before the finish ? if so, with what grade? :)
The 90ml bottle of Tru-Oil should be more than enough to do the neck. Each coat is very thin, so you need to use between 10-30 coats depending on how thick and how shiny you want the neck to be. If you want a satin finish, then you can apply less coats and leave it unpolished. For a gloss finish, you'll need more layers so that you can sand the finish flat and then polish it.
I notice that in the photos, the frets look quite rough with lots of file scratch marks on them. You'll need to get them smooth to get the guitar playing well. I normally start with 400 grit and 600 grit sandpaper to get the deep scratches out, then use Micro-Mesh sheets and run up through their grits from 1500 to 12000 and then use some metal polish for a final shine. I normally test each fret with a short length of top E string. If you drag it across a fret, then it should just glide over the surface without any resistance. If it's not smooth enough, you'll feel it catch in the small scratches still left. Keep using the sandpaper until each fret is smooth, then swap to the Micro-mesh to polish.
The Micro-mesh (it's a trade name) can be used or both polishing the neck and body finish and polishing the frets
If you don't have any, then you can find it on eBay. I've done a quick search page for you.
https://www.ebay.fr/sch/i.html?_odkw...h&_sacat=14339
It comes in 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 3600, 4000, 600, 8000 and 12000 grits (it's a different grit size to normal sandpaper) and I suggest you get a 9 sheet kit so that you've got all the grits for a better finish. You can get pads or soft sheets. Pads are good for paintwork, but the sheets are better for smaller items like frets as they are more flexible. You can use them wet or dry.
Unless the fretboard itself feels very rough, then I wouldn't normally sand the fretboard. I would tape up the fretboard itself when using the sandpaper on the fret, then take the tape off when using the Micromesh which will help give a nice smooth finish to the board at the same time you are polishing the frets.
I hope that all makes sense!
Micromesh is mandatory ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
I did’nt have 25€ for this now ://
Normal sandpaper doesn’t work for this ? :/
Hi Maxence,
Micro Mesh is not mandatory, but it does make the process easier and gives a better result. Some have used higher grades sand papers, 0000 steel wool and then polish and buffing and have gotten very good results.
https://i.imgur.com/TSRess6.jpg
I got this finish with regular wet and dry 800 up to 2000.
Yep same, I use wet and dry up to 2000, mostly because its what I'm used to. Then cutting compound followed by polish.
https://i.imgur.com/ayWTUuil.jpg
OK Thanks, i’ll do it for frets and neck finish ! ;)
It's simply all about making your life easier. P2000 is slightly finer than Micromesh 2400, so if you do get some Micromesh for the frets, then you should find that it's a lot less effort to continue after P2000 with Micromesh 3200 up to 12000 (I'd use it wet) as you then have to do a lot less rubbing with a cutting/polishing compound to get the same results.
I'll buy the Birchwood Tru oil !
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00...BIXGZZ3N&psc=1
And here's the new nut !
https://i.imgur.com/iKwCSt6.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/NGdNYxm.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Ag6QyxH.jpg
I do not know if this is serious but it is a little bit raised from the point of view of the last picture!
Apart from that it fits perfectly (I can not remove it at all, without glue)
I also started to create the future design of the headstock.
https://i.imgur.com/G1N2vLM.jpg
I also noticed that there was a small task (of what, I do not know) and that the wood had like little holes all along
https://i.imgur.com/WgXdTnt.jpg
The neck is rosewood, so it has natural pores in the grain. It's supposed to look like that. If you want a perfectly smooth neck, then you'd need to look at something like ebony for a dark fingerboard, or maple for a light one.
But rosewood fingerboards with small pores in the grain have made great guitars for a very long time. I have a 1965 Gibson acoustic guitar with a Brazilian rosewood board, supposedly the most sought-after rosewood for fingerboards and no longer commercially available. That has much deeper pores in the grain than that, yet it still feels fine to play. If it feels a bit rough under your fingers then a rub down with some fine grit sandpaper (P600 or P1000) should make it smoother.
I'm not sure what that stain is, but it might come out or become unnoticeable when you rub the board down with lemon oil as the board will darken in colour. Lemon oil is also a good fretboard cleaner. You could also try rubbing the stain with alcohol or turpentine - anything that may act as a solvent.
Indeed !Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
I had never paid attention to this detail with my other guitars!
Thank you ;)
Today I put lemon oil on the fretboard,
Here’s a before / after
https://i.imgur.com/w7mqeb5.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/dgLGb3Q.jpg
Does anyone have a cure for oil stains on the maple?
https://i.imgur.com/OE0YS47.jpg
Most of that will evaporate or soak in within a few days, but you can try removing it with turpentine, white spirit or methylated spirits and a clean cloth. All of those will evaporate quite quickly but they should thin the oil and get a lot off on the cloth first. I'm not sure which of those is best though.
Lemon oil does make that fretboard look good though.
Ok, thanks ! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden