MIMF

I like to put my carbon tow or pre-cast bars into their own slots on either side of the truss rod. I don’t know how much difference it makes, but I think it could have more effect to control twisting of the neck. However, the bottom of the truss rod slot is further from the neutral axis of the neck ...

It depends on what tool you will be using. I made a tapered laminate on my Performax abrasive planer by taping cross pieces of wood of increasing thickness on the back of the laminate.

Carbon tow on the back of the body? Does that mean it will be exposed? I don’t think that is a good idea. I have used tow in necks but I bury it in slots cut into the neck before the fretboard is glued on. Warping is mainly a factor of unstable wood that has not reached equilibrium with your shop en...

The first thing I did (30 years ago) when re-establishing my shop in the garage was to build a storage shed to hold all the lawn equipment and bicycles.

No, thinner won’t work on a deep scratch. And retarder is also not useful. Use straight lacquer or even better is GluBoost Fill N’ Finish.

I saw an Ibanez a couple of years ago that had an ultra thin body. I have no measurements but it looked to be a maximum of 3/4". Even thinner at the edges. I seem to remember that the body was laminated.

Personally I like resonant woods for all parts. I want the wood to ring when I wrap my buckle on a node. So I tend to go with some type of rosewood or mahogany back & sides, and old spruce for the top (high stiffness / low weight). Any subdivision further makes little difference sonically, more ...

I made a mold out of a single piece of 3/4" plywood which worked fine.

Most of what I learned is from a bunch of YouTube videos by Wes Lee. He is a pro band instrument repair tech and holds back nothing.

Or just make a new neck. The existing neck already has two serious issues.

Thanks Bob!

Yes, that is the only reliable way to fix it. The best way to remove the braces is to plane them off with a finger plane.

Tighten the screws on the spring claw. You will need to remove the plastic cover on the back of the guitar to access it.

A bolt-on has no disadvantages and several real advantages. It’s easier to build and adjust the neck angle. It makes finishing easier. And it makes future adjustments (like a neck reset) MUCH easier. Any tonal benefits to a dovetail iare largely urban myth.

Nice. Feel free to ask questions if you get hung up on something.

Karl, if you are interested in repair work check out Ferree’s Tools Inc. They are the Stew Mac of band instrument repair. Here are a few pics of some dent removal. I DIY’d my own version of Ferree’s dent machine. One of the basic principles of dent removal is you can push a dent out from the inside ...

Why stop here. This is my daily player. A Holton TR-150. Got the same treatment as the others. It’s got a rose-brass bell. One of the coolest things is that a brass instrument only needs one coat of lacquer and no post sanding of buffing. Who needs pore filler? Not me.

Bryan, I am having a blast. I’ve been doing guitars so long that it is getting a bit stale, so mixing in the brass instruments has breathed new life into my shop. Here is another instrument that I refinished. It’s a marching trombone.

Most joints are with normal 60/40 or 50/50 solder which is just like sweating copper tubing. But there are a few joints that are brazed with silver solder. I have learned a lot about soldering and working brass. One of the first tools I bought was a Smith Little Torch that burns propane and oxygen. ...

One more pic of finished horn and also one in progress photo showing parts after disassembly. One thing that is cool about brass instrument work is you can quickly take things apart and solder them back together quickly and as many times as you want.