And So It Begins - Build Thread - Strat

[Steve Holmquest]

I too am working through a guitar build, with my son. He asked if I could build him one and I told him no, but I will build one with him. So far, a great experience. I will tag along as we progress through. From you description, we are in a similar position.

[Dennis Peacock]

We glued up the neck blanks and they are now out of the clamps. The body pieces will be glued up this weekend. I'll try and do better about posting but we are only working on these on Saturdays and as we get time during the week. It's just really slow getting started for the first time. I would call it the first timers jitters.

[Julie Moriarty]

If there are no pics, it didn't happen!

[Dennis Peacock]

Neck blanks glued up.....pic.

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[Dennis Peacock]

Guitar bodies glued up and dried glue cleaned up. Here are the neck blanks out of the clamps and ready for routing the truss rod.

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[Julie Moriarty]

I see you're using the dual rod truss rods with the spoke wheels. I started with those and don't have any experience with other types but I've found no reason to look for anything else. One neck I made developed a slight up bow. The dual rods came in very handy there.

Looking forward to seeing more.

[Dennis Peacock]

Well, Chuck and I are making pretty good progress with what limited time we've spent on these guitars so far. Nothing is fastened down and we just placed the electronics and pick guard on the body to verify fit and I held a neck in place to check fit in the pocket and to get an overall look of how it is so far. We are really enjoying this process.!!

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[Bruce Page]

Looking good Dennis!

[Julie Moriarty]

Nice work! What kind of wood are you using for the fretboard? It looks like rosewood.

You might want to consider flipping over the truss rod so the wheel is closer to the top. You have to notch out the underside of the fretboard to accommodate the raised wheel, but that little bit of exposure makes a difference when adjusting the wheel. Otherwise, it might be hard turning the wheel enough to get to the next spoke hole.

[Dennis Peacock]

Julie,
The fingerboards are Rosewood. I'm trying to remember how we have the truss rods in the necks.....I "think" we have them installed with the wheel on top. Shoot, now I'll have to check it out and see.

[John Coloccia]

If you install with the wheel on top, the rod will work backwards (i.e. turning the wheel clockwise will add relief instead of removing it). Not a disaster, but it will be different than every other guitar on the planet.

[Dennis Peacock]

If you install with the wheel on top, the rod will work backwards (i.e. turning the wheel clockwise will add relief instead of removing it). Not a disaster, but it will be different than every other guitar on the planet.

Good point John, but I already watched 2 other luthier's install them opposite of the instructed method. These first 2 guitars will not be for sale. The next 2 will be.

[Julie Moriarty]

If you install with the wheel on top, the rod will work backwards (i.e. turning the wheel clockwise will add relief instead of removing it). Not a disaster, but it will be different than every other guitar on the planet.

So who says conformity is a good thing?

If you bury that spoke wheel, you will have a heck of a time making the thing work. I've gone contrarian with all my necks and I can't imagine how the spoke wheel-dual truss rod thingy can work for us mere mortals when it's in the "correct" position. I like A. B. Normal. Do what works.

[Mike Sherman]

I've never liked the look of the spoke-wheel truss rods. Most people install them with the wheel exposed and notch the fret board end - looks strange to me!
I use the Allen head hot-rods with the active rod on the bottom. The majority of my guitars and basses have the truss rod adjustment at the head stock end with a truss rod cover unless the customer specifies otherwise.

[John Coloccia]

I've never liked the look of the spoke-wheel truss rods. Most people install them with the wheel exposed and notch the fret board end - looks strange to me!
I use the Allen head hot-rods with the active rod on the bottom. The majority of my guitars and basses have the truss rod adjustment at the head stock end with a truss rod cover unless the customer specifies otherwise.

Frank and Deva's friend? Anyhow, I'm with you. I used them a few times and then stopped.