Moo's TLA-1 - My First Build

[wazkelly]

Thanks Waz
Not sure about the finish. I've got some satin clear coat for the neck, would you recommend using that on the fingerboard, or go the wax/oil option? This is the first time I've built a guitar so I don't really know how you'd go about either... The other guitars I own don't seem to have clear coat on the fingerboard but I've played some that do which were nice too...

Hi Moo, your choice how you finish the fret board. I have used Dingo Wax on a couple of Rosewood fret boards and lemon oil on another and whilst a bit more effort was required I would have to say that wax is better. This is how most rosewood fret boards are finished however with maple store bought ones are coated in some form of lacquer. If that is the feel and look you are after use the same stuff on the back & front of your neck but be prepared to clean the finish off each of the 21 frets when your are done. Upside is low on-going maintenance, downside is more prep work to get it ready to play. On my J Bass I used Tru Oil with about 6 coats on the fret board as they go on quite thin.

Using wax or lemon/orange oil on maple fret boards will require reapplications periodically, wax maybe not so often but be prepared to re-oil every string change or maybe every 2nd or 3rd if things still look and feel ok. Leaving maple this way can bring on a bit more of a grimy appearance over time too.

[gavinturner]

Hey Moo, you can do your own fret level with only a few tools. You need a sanding beam with 320 grit paper stuck to one side, a fret rounding file and a slotted straight edge. You can get these quite cheap on ebay and I highly recommend it. you can even make your own slotted straight edge using a metal ruler and a grinder. It's a small investment but your guitar will play 1000 times better. There are plenty of tutorials around the place (eg you tube) to do the level and re-crown.

cheers,
Gav.

[Moo]

Hi Moo, your choice how you finish the fret board. I have used Dingo Wax on a couple of Rosewood fret boards and lemon oil on another and whilst a bit more effort was required I would have to say that wax is better. This is how most rosewood fret boards are finished however with maple store bought ones are coated in some form of lacquer. If that is the feel and look you are after use the same stuff on the back & front of your neck but be prepared to clean the finish off each of the 21 frets when your are done. Upside is low on-going maintenance, downside is more prep work to get it ready to play. On my J Bass I used Tru Oil with about 6 coats on the fret board as they go on quite thin.

Using wax or lemon/orange oil on maple fret boards will require reapplications periodically, wax maybe not so often but be prepared to re-oil every string change or maybe every 2nd or 3rd if things still look and feel ok. Leaving maple this way can bring on a bit more of a grimy appearance over time too.

Thanks Waz, that makes it a lot clearer It sounds like putting a finish over it will suit me better (I don't even change my strings as much as I should, let along re-oiling/waxing the board). I've just got a good-quality paint-store satin clear coat for the neck. Would that be fine to put over the fingerboard too? And then just carefully scrape off with a scalpel or something?

[wazkelly]

Thanks Waz, that makes it a lot clearer It sounds like putting a finish over it will suit me better (I don't even change my strings as much as I should, let along re-oiling/waxing the board). I've just got a good-quality paint-store satin clear coat for the neck. Would that be fine to put over the fingerboard too? And then just carefully scrape off with a scalpel or something?

Satin should be fine. To clean up the frets you can buy some gadgets on eBay or just cut up an old ice cream container lid into strips about 15mm wide and then cut out slots in the middle the same length and width as the frets as these will protect the fret board either side of where you are sanding off the finish. I bought a couple of metal ones which are fairly narrow as nobody eats ice cream in this household any more and yoghurt containers aren't as pliable. For cleaning/polishing you could use the dreaded 0000 steel wool or fine grade wet & dry sand paper used dry. A sharp blade can be used to cut in around the edges where frets meet the timber of the fret board. If this all sounds too hard or complex just use masking tape to protect either side of the fret you are working on and go easy as she goes rather than hard at it. A bit more effort initially but lower maintenance thereafter.

[Moo]

Alrighty, so I've been madly researching fret leveling techniques and tools etc. trying to figure out how to do it and what I need. From what I've seen, I can really minimise the number of specialist tools I need if I'm willing to spend a bit more time on it. I did come across this video which shows a really easy (and free) way to make what is effectively a fret re-crowing tool.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLL8vbDhluo
Hopefully this works well From what I can gather the only tools I really need are:
- various grades of sandpaper
- a perfectly flat beam for a sanding beam
- ? a triangular file (not sure if I need this if I make the recrowning tool from the video)
- masking tape
- slotted straight edge

The straight edge is my issue... Found a couple on Ebay for around $25 including postage but will take weeks to get here and seems a bit excessive for a single guitar build to use once. Is there any other way to make sure the neck is straight before starting fret work?

Also, I'm assuming you should put a few coats of clear coat on the neck before doing fretwork to seal the wood? And how do people usually go about preparing the fretboard for the finish? (I've sanded the neck down with various sandpaper grits but have only used steel wool on the fingerboard itself)

[dave.king1]

600mm engineers rule and notch it with an angle grinder

[wazkelly]

Also, I'm assuming you should put a few coats of clear coat on the neck before doing fretwork to seal the wood? And how do people usually go about preparing the fretboard for the finish? (I've sanded the neck down with various sandpaper grits but have only used steel wool on the fingerboard itself)

Not much more you can do as the fret board should be fairly flat and level without too much grain standing up therefore this would be the only part of a build that I would use 0000 steel wool on raw timber and best to do this as far away from the rest of the build as possible as the stuff breaks down into the tiniest particles only to reappear where it is unwanted, such as the final finish, or worse still, stuck in and around the magnets in your PUP's.

[Moo]

Thanks for all the help with neck/fret work stuff. I'm hoping to get onto starting the leveling process soon

In other news, was preparing to put clear coat on the body and decided that I really wasn't happy with how the paint had gone on. Decided to sand back quite a bit and apply another coat to see how that went. So, I was slowly sanding away and this emerged:


And I thought, 'that's kinda cool, I'll do some more and see what it looks like'. Basically, long story short I sanded the front and back back until it's just the blue sitting in the grain, and then put another coat of paint along the side so it is a really solid blue. Heaps happier with this finish (still clear coat to go) and happened upon it totally by accident haha. Looks like this so far, just a little bit of cleaning up around the very edge to go before clear goes on

[Simon Barden]

Yes, nice looking finish. A lot more interesting than the plain blue.

[wazkelly]

That's the beauty of Ash grain shining through. Too good to hide that grain pattern under a solid colour.