MIMF

Your picture posted, but I can't, for the life of me. figure out what it is you want us to see in it.

Humpblock fret markers would be normal in a pre-1957 model. The neck would have been fastened with a wood screw through the heel and it looks like someone removed the screw and replaced it with a bolt and nut through the head block. I think David is correct in his analysis of the truss rod problem.

I'm in.

Nothing wrong with building with a radius dish, but one is not absolutely necessary. One can trim braces to the correct radius of dome, and simply glue the top to uncontoured sides. Many guitars have been successfully made that way. The sides where the back is glued can be either contoured by trimmi...

The guitars I've made using a solera needed only a piece of wood across the soundhole to hold the top in place, narrow upright strips screwed on at the waist and a flat block at the butt; the solera was the same shape as the guitar. Screws partially driven into the periphery of the solera were used ...

Yes, that makes the most sense.

Nothing quite as annoying as a dissident saddle.

Perhaps the "keystone" part is simply a grip. I can see the advantage to having a grip of some sort to prevent the device from spinning and position the device whilst tightening the nut.

Nice job on the fretboard; I really like those "Neo-Classic" markers!

Gordon, although commonly referred to as "tremelo" these devices are, in fact, vibratos. My preference is for the Bigsby, as I prefer the subtle, judicious use of vibrato since I grew up listening to Chet.

Interesting. But do you really need 6 screws to hold the neck on, or did you fashion some sort of neck angle adjustment system? I'm kind of missing some sort of inlay where the soundhole should be. Nice job, though.

Those were put in Baldwin-era Gretsches, and as you have concluded, more complicated than is necessary.

I agree with Barry. You will probably be happier in the long run if you get this as right as you can from the very start.

What Brian said: Laminating vs. carving does not dictate which style of arching at the cutaway. Personally, for aesthetic reasons I prefer the symmetrical arch with the cutaway rather than carving (or otherwise shaping) what looks to me like an unsightly "bubble" over the cutaway. Of cours...

I have an old Gibson C-1 with an ebony nut/string spacer and zero fret. If you like the look of the black nut, perhaps using it as a string spacer nut with zero fret would give the look you desire on future construction.

Walnut also makes a nice neck, as does cherry.

Yes to walnut; your board should be fine.

Probably not.

Genuine shellac sticks are available from Constantines or from shellac.net, should you decide to use them. Probably easier to buy them than try to make them.

Bob, a centrifugal starter switch will click on startup and at shutdown; those clicks you hear suggest the switch is opening and closing, but not whether or not the contacts are actually conveying the current to the coil or that the capacitor is good. It could be dirty or corroded contacts, or the c...