Stratocaster Build - From Scratch

[Julie Moriarty]

So I think I'm going to build a balsa wood neck... Welcome back George! I missed you.

I thought the basswood a bit suspicious. There's a lot in that book that makes logical sense. But how he arrived at certain woods being good for certain parts of the guitar, I'm not sure. In his credits, he lists three websites that he received permission from to reproduce "the properties of the different species of wood used in lutherie..." I've been to those sites and didn't see anything specifically pointing to certain woods being acceptable woods for use in parts of a guitar. I do know one luthier who made a guitar with a wenge neck. Lospennato lists wenge as a NO for necks.

On another front... I'm in day two of spraying lacquer. It's a very different experience than waterborne finishes.

The only problem I've been having is with the sprayer. First the check valve was blocked. I replaced that. Then the sprayer started dripping, and not from the top. I can't see where it's coming from because I have goggles on when spraying. It lays a drop about every 2 passes. This morning I was setting up and found the new check valve was partially clogged. So I had to replace that. I've got three more left. If this keeps up, I'll have enough to finish spraying but it's crazy to need to replace it every day. I just have no idea how to keep lacquer from creeping up the tube and into the check valve.

Anyway, the finish is going down well, except for the occasional drip. I've got a rag wrapped around where I see it collecting, that's been keeping the drips off the guitar. Two more coats today and three tomorrow. I'm starting to become a believer.

[John Coloccia]

Check the packing, Julie. If it's dried out or damaged, the gun will spit and you'll leak there too. Do you have some spray gun oil to put on the packing?

[Julie Moriarty]

Check the packing, Julie. If it's dried out or damaged, the gun will spit and you'll leak there too. Do you have some spray gun oil to put on the packing?

When I cleaned the gun (going from WB to lacquer), I changed the needle and air cap to a smaller size. I did not put anything on the new needle when I installed it. I don't have any spray gun oil. Is there a substitute?

Where would I apply the oil (or substitute)? On the needle before inserting? At the packing adjustment? Fuji's user manual does not cover this or drip problems while spraying.

[John Coloccia]

I wouldn't substitute anything but spray gun oil. Look online for automotive paint supplies in your area. Guaranteed you have at least a shop or two, and they'll carry a little bottle of the oil. Take out the needle, remove the packing adjustment nut, put a couple of drops of oil there, and reassemble. The packing is what seals the around the needle, and if that leaks there's nothing that's going to work right. Stick the nut on, stick the needle in, and snug up the nut. There's only 3 places the gun can leak that will really screw you up....the cup, the cap and the packing.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks John. I took everything apart and cleaned it up again. I realized the needle was getting no resistance when inserted through the packing gland. When I put it back together, I tightened the packing nut so I was getting resistance. I just sprayed on the second coat and had no problems. But I'll run out later today and pick up the oil. I'm learning more about this gun in two days spraying lacquer than I did throughout the 3+ gallons of WB I sprayed on the kitchen cabinets.

[george wilson]

The truss rod ends would sink right into a basswood neck. Peghead would snap right off if the guitar fell over. Lastly,a basswood neck would not have the sustain even on a solid body that a maple neck (or a hardwood neck) would give. Someone should make a basswood bat to klonk guys on the head with who offer such advice. I have found that a substantial peg head gives better volume to an acoustic guitar. It directs the vibrations to the bridge because a heavy peg head is harder to vibrate than a bridge. So,use a good,hardwood neck. But,don't go crazy and use TOO heavy a wood,or you'll be holding up your neck all the time.

Ae you aware that some builders help eliminate dead notes by inletting some carbon fiber bars into the neck,under the fingerboard?

Grizzly offers some acoustic guitar kits with basswood backs and sides(possibly necks,too). I'd pass on those!!

[John Coloccia]

Ae you aware that some builders help eliminate dead notes by inletting some carbon fiber bars into the neck,under the fingerboard?

Like me.....

I discovered that on a prototype I made. It had a very small heel and attached to the body pretty high up on the fingerboard. The guitar sounded absolutely dead. It took some experimenting, but I figured out that stiffening the neck around the heel area, made a vast improvement. I've been inlaying carbon fiber ever since.

BTW, here's another interesting experiment I did. I was curious just how active the neck was, especially on an acoustic. So I took a tuning fork and started touching it to various parts of the guitar. No surprise that when I touched it to the bridge, the fork was pretty loud. Big surprise was when I touched it on the neck. The instrument vibrated just as loud when the fork was on the fingerboard just behind the first fret. That neck can be pretty active. I really didn't expect that result at all, but it seems that necks can vibrate pretty strongly. I have some journals here that studied this a bit more scientifically, and it seems to back up just how much acoustic sound actually comes from the neck. I went into that absolutely sure that the neck would be more or less dead, but I was 100% wrong. Just one data point on one guitar, but still kind of interesting.

[Julie Moriarty]

Two days spraying, six coats on...


Three more tomorrow. Then do I spray one last coat with 50/50 lacquer/thinner? Would that smooth out orange peel?

[george wilson]

No,the orange peel will not go away. You need to let the guitar dry as long as possible,then sand it with 600 wet or dry paper,used wetted with water with a few drops of dish detergent in it to remove the orange peel. Be careful to not sand too hard on edges or corners,where the finish can easily be sanded through.

Then,you need to hand rub the lacquer with rubbing compounds. Stewmac sells Menzerna(sp?) rubbing compounds. You will need 2 grades. One for starting,and one for bringing out the high gloss. Called Swirl Remover,I think. I haven't used these for some time since I made myself a slow speed buffer and use cakes of buffing compound to buff guitars. I did it by hand most of my life,and would spend most of a week sanding and hand buffing a guitar.

John,of course you would know about the carbon fiber neck info. I was telling Julie. Perhaps you are more up on the rubbing compounds than I am since I now use a slow speed buffer. I must warn you,Julie,the buffer is a most excellent static electricity generator. I got a spark every time I touched anything while buffing that last guitar during this very dry Winter weather. Those shocks CAN potentially stop your heart. You need to ground your buffer to bleed off that static.

[John Coloccia]

John,of course you would know about the carbon fiber neck info. I was telling Julie.

Ha ha...no, I meant that I actually HAVE started inlaying CF into the neck, just as you described. Count me in as some of the some Have you ever played with it? It's miserable to work with. After 5 minutes of working with it, I look like a coal miner.

[Julie Moriarty]

I must warn you,Julie,the buffer is a most excellent static electricity generator. I got a spark every time I touched anything while buffing that last guitar during this very dry Winter weather. Those shocks CAN potentially stop your heart. You need to ground your buffer to bleed off that static.

Don't know if you knew this but I'm an electrician. I was on a job one time and an iron worker came up to me kind of excited and told me the steel safety cable, that was temporarily installed around the roof perimeter, was live. I walked out onto the roof with my tester and saw the supports for the cable were welded to the building steel and grounded, therefore they couldn't be live. He insisted he got a serious shock from it. I took my tester and showed him it wasn't live. When he touched it again, he got a major shock. I saw the arc in broad daylight and heard it too. It was substantial. I told him it was just static electricity. He couldn't believe it at first. He swore it was 120 volts. What was happening was there was a rubber membrane on the roof and as he walked over it, he was picking up static electricity. My shoes isolated me from most of that but his were picking up everything. So I can see how the buffer could do that but had never thought of it until you mentioned it.

Question:
After the last coats are on and before the curing process is complete, could I assemble the guitar and do the setup? I was thinking of waiting a couple of days, putting the whole thing together and doing the fret leveling. I would probably intonate it and see how it plays too. Then in 3-4 weeks, I'd take it apart and buff it out. Would the finish be too soft to do that? Do I need to wait for it to fully cure before I do the setup?

[John Coloccia]

I would wait. You'll risk damaging the finish in the heel area, both on the neck and especially on the body from the plate. Last thing you want is to take it apart and take bunch of finish along with it. I DO recommend you do the setup before leveling and buffing, though. Why risk damaging a nice, shinny finish when you can do all that work with the rough finish, and then any minor blemishes will sand and buff out. At least wait a week before assembling anything.

re: rubbing compounds
I use a buffing wheel too, with Menzerna compounds. You might be interested to know that Menzerna also makes Jescar fret wire

Stewmac sells some liquid rubbing compounds. I've use them on spot repairs and they work very well. I would definitely recommend hand rubbing for the first guitar or two. You can get a 3M Finesse pad (and similar from StewMac) and chuck them in a drill press or hand drill, but it is VERY easy to go right through the finish, especially on the edges. A real buffing wheel is much easier to use, at least once you've learned to respect it and not get a catch. The trick with the rubbing compounds is the same as any other abrasive process....don't move on to the next grit until you get a uniform scratch pattern from the previous one. With sandpaper, if you cheat a bit an move on early the next grit will eventually get the big scratches out with some elbow grease, whereas with rubbing compound if you leave a mess and move on, you'll basically be rubbing that one spot more or less forever.

You can probably get rubbing compounds cheaper through an auto paint dealer, but it's not important enough to me that want to bother wading through a see of products to select ones that work well. The Stewmac products actually work really well.

[george wilson]

Actually,John,I have not used the carbon fiber stuff. I don't want to breathe it. I have COPD,and very quickly get winded as it is. I have not had problems with dead notes in my necks. Ebony fingerboards help that,and good,hard woods in the neck.

Julie,stay away from that OZ polish. It is not something you want to try getting OFF surfaces if you decide you want to go back and re do something. OZ was developed I understand,for politicians to see their reflections in their desk tops. For real!!

[Julie Moriarty]

Julie,stay away from that OZ polish. It is not something you want to try getting OFF surfaces if you decide you want to go back and re do something. OZ was developed I understand,for politicians to see their reflections in their desk tops. For real!!

OMG! You're right George!

[Julie Moriarty]

No spraying today. Basement is too cold and I'm still working on sanding the neck and body. We are having the coldest winter in 30 years. The temp in the basement was 57 this morning. I turned up the heat and turned on all the basement lights (that alone raises the temp 4 degrees) and all I could get was 63 degrees. Brrrrrrrrr!