Andyjr1515

Excellent!

I've interpreted it the same way, Paul @Basscabman ?

Sounds like your neck relief is OK. I aim for 'just perceptible movement' tapping the top and bottom string at the mid point between the 1st and the 16th - which sounds pretty much what you have described. Holding down at the first fret, what is your 12th fret action height currently for, say, the G? In general terms, two possibilities occur to me: First is that there are some high spots somewhere that you haven't picked up. But, as I gather you have already deduced, it is actually quite difficult to pick this up if it is the last fret because you can't use the 3-fret rocking method. You actually can't do too much harm taking the last fret down a tad so this is certainly something worth considering. If it is this, then it wouldn't take a lot - masking tape either side of the fret, then a few even strokes of a fingernail emery board along the top, then removal of the scratches with emery paper 400 through to 2000 (I think you can get a mixed pack at Halfords) would do the job. Second is that you are at such a low action that you need to consider a gentle and even dropaway of the upper fret heights. If this is needed it should be done by an experienced tech or luthier because, other than the end fret, every fret will affect every other fret - so it does have to be done right! I'm no expert, but I gather the reason some builders incorporate a dropaway (basically angling the upper frets progressively lower - but we are talking teeny amounts) is that the geometry of the neck and fretboard changes as the heel starts deepening and the neck meets the body. Before this, the neck is flexible and the relief curve is smooth. But near and over the body, the neck is rigid and straight - it can't and it doesn't bend. In most cases - because we are talking about very small measurements here - the action height is high enough that this gives no problems at all. But if you are talking VERY low action, then these sorts of things matter a lot. Hope this helps

Well, the plan was a simple one. Aren't they all : - buy a 30" 21 fret neck - buy some Fender lipsticks - reshape the body - refinish - send back to @scrumpymike with suitable demand for a king's ransom The reality started hitting home when we started looking more closely. 1. See discussion in the similar thread here (remember me taking about buses?) The above is a fascinating parallel project but, if you read into the detail, you will see the general agreement that 21 fret 30" necks are as rare as hen's teeth. So, unless someone reading the thread has one they want to sell, I'll be making a neck for this project. 2. The 'Fender lipsticks' are, in fact. Seymour Duncan 6-string electric pickups. And they are expensive (we are talking at least 1/2 a kings ransom for a set) and - for those of you familiar with Stratocaster pickups - the centre pickup has to be a 'RWRP = reverse wound, reverse polarity'. This arrangement gives you humbucking in positions 2 and 4 of the 5-way switch. But finding a 3-piece full set in the UK was looking challenging, let alone the cost! In that the cost would have blown Mike's preferred budget sky high, I've taken a punt on these: It is an Artec set - including the all-important RWRP centre one. A full set at less than half the cost of ONE of the Seymour Duncan ones. And - accepting this might be the one to break the rule - to date, I have never come across a bad Artec product. So that's where we are so far. Mike has given me a bridge and some tuners that might be able to be used and also an initial sketch of the body reshape and tomorrow, I will be ordering the neck wood and starting to strip the finish off the Rascal body to see what's underneath. Mike and I have discussed the neck. We will go for a fender-ish shape headstock - maybe 3+1 if the tuners are reversible. My strong preference is an angled headstock (iconic as it is, I think the dogleg concept of the fenders are a bit compromised with ref to the string break angles) and we'll go for a zero-fret on, probably, a maple fretboard. So that's everyone up to date. Time to get out of my winter nightgown...

Hopefully before that... A bit like buses, a few more potential projects have all come at once. So, even though the winter hibernation instincts are beckoning like the sirens of legend, apparently I have to get off my fat a**e instead and get into the cellar cutting wood!

Well, @scrumpymike and I have been discussing this for months and, based on the fact that the best way to accelerate progress is to kick off a build thread, here is the thread. Do you remember this? @scrumpymike's Rascal: ...that he wanted me to re-body? Mike loved the sounds and the switch options and the neck...but couldn't get on with the sheer bulk of the body shape. So, using timber from the last tree that his life-long-lumberjacking friend Merv cut down before he retired, I rebodied it to produce this: ..which, happily, he loves. Now, although the mod was made to be fully reversible, Mike tells me that there is no way that he is ever going to do that. So what to do with the left over body... Indeed. And that's where this project comes from. There's not a lot more to add - yet

I prefer 'round the contour' if I'm likely to be adjusting things on the fly, particularly if there are more than 3 knobs - maximum space and least chance of getting the wrong knob! If you are not likely to adjust on the fly it's just down to personal preference.

Stunningly good

No difference at all between two piece or three piece or even five piece.

I've done both. In some cases I've played them and then split them up to use bits in other projects. In other cases, I've sold them complete. In other cases I've resold the sellable components and scrapped my bits So it depends, really. Worth bearing in mind that 'homebuilts' don't command good prices, however good the components that are in them. A good neck is a good thing to have. If it was me, and I was ready to move on from the build I'd already done, I build something even better with it.

You beat me to it, Paul. It doesn't look like any that I've used (which include both the modern Model P's but also 1970s/80s versions). Of course, doesn't mean they are no good.... Andy

That's looking really nice. When the final finish is on, that colour is going to look fabulous. I also think the pickup position looks fine...

That is so, so good @honza992

OK. No probs Let me know the vital stats of the VI and I'll check it against the Rascal. Having said that, the answer to your original question I'm pretty sure is yes - it is unlikely, given a bit of work and ingenuity, that you couldn't make one out of the other. In the meantime ref our own project..hmmm...Bronco bass neck...that might work...

Or...if you are replacing the Squier VI neck, we might be interested...

@Dosi Y'Anarchy - ref your original post...they look identical. Do you have a bass VI? If so, take some measurements and I'll check them against @scrumpymike 's actual Rascal body that I happen to have in the workshop You talk about Squier Bronco replacement neck...have you ever seen those around for sale? We are looking for a 21 fret 30"scale neck to fit onto the Rascal body but they are like finding hen's teeth!

Calling @scrumpymike. Want to join the discussion?

Very neat work. Looks the business.

Beautiful

Only just spotted this (I know, I know...) Yes - count me in

No experience in either metal guitars (although I did used to be in the aluminium industry) or ABS, @GisserD , but, from a strength point of view, this would be more than strong enough. Significantly so. With this type of sandwich, as long as you could stop the ABS / Ali laminations sliding across each other and allowing the whole structure to bend, 3mm aluminium sheet or even thinner would, I suspect, be more than adequate. Are we talking pure aluminium or an alloy? Worth bearing in mind that the body and wingskin of a modern airliner is less than 2mm. I also would have thought that this would be exceedingly heavy, but if your CAD says that for the finished body, then presumably it's going to be there or thereabouts. I don't know what the strength of ABS is compared with, say, nylon, but I suspect that alone would be strong enough. All you need, to be honest, is enough rigidity between the neck joint and the bridge (and a decent way of firmly fixing the two to the body) and the rest is just a convenient place to hang the pickups and controls. Fascinating - watching with interest

Osmo is great as a satin finish - and yes...they indeed do tinted versions, but I would be tempted to stain it with a proper spirit stain and then put a clear finish over that (Osmo, Tru-oil, nitro, poly - they will all go over OK. Reason for me saying that is that tinted finishes tend to having the colour sitting on top of the wood and it is difficult to get a depth of colour or, sometimes, evenness. With a proper wood stain, you can experiment until you are happy with it and then seal it in your chosen clearcoat finish. I would recommend the trial pack of Chestnut Spirit Stains (the wood colour ones - they also do a poster-colour pack but they won't be any good for what you are after) available from Axminster here: https://www.axminster.co.uk/chestnut-spirit-stain-trial-packs-ax24498 Used carefully, each small bottle would easily do a whole guitar so this pack will last you years of multi-coloured builds! There are a number of colours amongst them that would do what you are after. You can also mix them, either together, or by doing a coat of one and then overlaying a coat of another. Bear in mind that the actual colour will be majorly affected by the colour and porosity of the wood so it's useful to have a colour spectrum to get the right effect. When staining, the colour as applied and still wet is a useful guide to how it will look when the clear finish has been applied. When it dries it will look a different shade. To double check the final colour once it has dried, just wipe over with a damp (not wet) cloth. For what you have described, on Maple, light oak and light mahogany will give the brownish/pinkish tinges and yew the yellow/orange tones - but there are plenty of other colours.

Looks the business. Immensely useful thing to have.

Wowzers!

That's come up nicely