First hole's nearly done!

Posted by Christopher Nies on March 22, 2011 at 1:54pm

Well, as I've said, I began work on my first build.

 

Using a Dremel and a set of files, I've got most of the work done on my first hole:

 

 








































A pretty low bar for my first picture, I know. This initial work also provided me with my first learning experience!

 

I measured from the top of the box down, not accounting for the fact that the lid is recessed. So this hole that I was so proud of (and thought I'd finished) needs a bit more work. 

 

On a related note, holy CRAP is this addicting. I'm amazed at how much I look forward to coming home after a long day and working on my build. I'm reading the forum archives whenever I get a chance, and even re-reading the "how-to" guides when I can't get ahold of anything else.

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Replies

  • Christopher Nies March 23, 2011 at 10:18am

    Dan,

         it helps a great deal, thank you! I'm still on the fence about fretting. I'm torn between wanting to finish my first build and wanting to be able to play it like a regular guitar. On the other hand, I do have time to decide. And I'm sure that I will eventually want a slide guitar anyway - so maybe I'll just make this first one a slide guitar and learn to fret on build #2 (which will immediately follow, of course).

     

    I bought a flush-cut pull saw and it made the process of cutting out hole #2 much easier, so I'm almost done with it. Just gotta file it to get it exactly right.

     

    -Chris


    Dan Sleep said:

    A couple more things...if you are going to play it regular way instead of slide, then you probably will want frets. You could play it without frets and just mark the fret positions with a wood burning pencil or a felt tip pen, but you might not like the way it sounds. I think you will find that fretting is not as hard as it seems. Check out my fretting video on my page before you make your decision to fret or not fret.

     

    As for string height, you want to avoid having the strings too high above the frets if you plan on playing finger instead of slide. What may happen is if you press down on the string and it is too high, it will go sharp on you and the tone will be off. If you are playing slide, then the string height is not all that critical. I put a penny on the fretboard and cut the slot in the nut until the slot is just a hair above the penny. Then you can make your adjustments at the bridge.

     

    Typically, if you are not careful you end up with really high action near the body. This can be caused by the neck not being flat with the body. If anything, I like to have the neck laying back a bit to help bring the action down. Consider that when you are notching the box and neck. If you trim a bit more wood off the tail end of the neck than you do off the headstock end, you can get the neck to tilt backwards a bit. Once you sting it up, some of that will go away. You will need to experiment a bit.

     

    By having the fretboard above the lid, you are allowing more room for the bridge adjustment, and you can use a bigger piece of whatever you plan to make the bridge out of. If you use a bolt, you can change the diameter of the bolt to raise/lower the string height.

     

    Does that help?

  • Dan Sleep March 22, 2011 at 6:18pm

    A couple more things...if you are going to play it regular way instead of slide, then you probably will want frets. You could play it without frets and just mark the fret positions with a wood burning pencil or a felt tip pen, but you might not like the way it sounds. I think you will find that fretting is not as hard as it seems. Check out my fretting video on my page before you make your decision to fret or not fret.

     

    As for string height, you want to avoid having the strings too high above the frets if you plan on playing finger instead of slide. What may happen is if you press down on the string and it is too high, it will go sharp on you and the tone will be off. If you are playing slide, then the string height is not all that critical. I put a penny on the fretboard and cut the slot in the nut until the slot is just a hair above the penny. Then you can make your adjustments at the bridge.

     

    Typically, if you are not careful you end up with really high action near the body. This can be caused by the neck not being flat with the body. If anything, I like to have the neck laying back a bit to help bring the action down. Consider that when you are notching the box and neck. If you trim a bit more wood off the tail end of the neck than you do off the headstock end, you can get the neck to tilt backwards a bit. Once you sting it up, some of that will go away. You will need to experiment a bit.

     

    By having the fretboard above the lid, you are allowing more room for the bridge adjustment, and you can use a bigger piece of whatever you plan to make the bridge out of. If you use a bolt, you can change the diameter of the bolt to raise/lower the string height.

     

    Does that help?

  • Slowpaw Steve T March 22, 2011 at 2:26pm

     

    Very neat first hole and looks ok...

    I spent time on my builds while cooking the dinner - a few dinners very nearly became burnt offerings doing this.....(-;

    Agree about the neck needing to be level or  better still  above the surface of the lid, though i like low action it suits my unusual playing style and i just got away with it - but the strings should really be level with the fretboard all the way down to the "step" to allow room above the pickup on those high frets.

  • Christopher Nies March 22, 2011 at 2:22pm

    Ha! Then I might actually BE done! I think that the neck is about a little less than a quarter inch above the surface of the closed lid. I'm not going to lay down a separate fingerboard or fret this first one. That'll be for later, so I might just be where I want to be.

     

    Thanks for reminding me about that - I was planning on filing down until the neck was entirely below the lid!

     

    Next step is (obviously) cutting the other hole - after that I'm gonna cut into the wood of the neck under the lid.

     

    EDIT: Actually, I'm not sure what I want to do here. I think I remember reading that a smaller gap between the neck and the strings is better for regular playing and a larger gap is better for slide. Is that true? I imagine I'll be playing non-slide for the most part when I play with this one. Once I'm done with this build, I might try fretting, and decide from there if I want to fret the next two for my father and father-in-law's gifts.

     

    If I want to adjust the gap later, should I just adjust the height of the bridge and the nut?

     

    Dan Sleep said:

    You are on your way. Just watch to be sure that you don't end up with the fingerboard being below the surface of the lid. The fingerboard should always be at the very least flush with the lid, and preferably up to 1/4 inch above the lid. Keep us posted on your progress.
  • Dan Sleep March 22, 2011 at 2:02pm
    And check out my how-to videos on my page here on CBN. It may help you out a bit.
  • Dan Sleep March 22, 2011 at 2:01pm
    You are on your way. Just watch to be sure that you don't end up with the fingerboard being below the surface of the lid. The fingerboard should always be at the very least flush with the lid, and preferably up to 1/4 inch above the lid. Keep us posted on your progress.
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