Andyjr1515

I've seen some good examples from these folks too. Excellent quality and crazy price for the one I fitted recently (the owner supplied it to me to fit - only just confirmed where he got it from): https://guitaranatomy.com/product-category/https-guitaranatomy-com-product-category-bodies-and-necks/

Coincidentally, I fitted a replacement neck recently to a friend's strat. They were the same tuners and I made myself a little drill guide. You just choose the most convenient one, pop the screwbush of the tuner through the jig and headstock hole, line the rest of the 'stick' up with the other holes to make sure it's square and then use the jig as your guide to drill your two small pilot holes. I found it easier then to take the guide off to drill the peg holes themselves. They don't have to be very deep so there should be little danger of drilling through. If you pm me your address, I'd be more than happy to pop it in the post to you.

Is it 21 fret or 22? Northwest Guitars have rosewood, gloss finished with two options of colour shade for £119 in stock for the 21 fret ones. They also do a 22 fret version although that appears to be presently out of stock. Here's one of the 21 fret ones: https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products/telecaster-compatible-guitar-neck-rosewood-fretboard?variant=44932326785298

As the others above say, it looks/sounds like something not good is going on under the fretboard. Genuine Fender replacements can be quite expensive, but nowadays a 'standard tele' heel generally is pretty accurate even for the cheaper replacements and so neck replacement is usually straightforward and not prohibitively expensive. Personally, with this type of rod and neck - and especially given the availability of affordable and decent quality replacements - I would generally recommend replacing it rather than taking the fretboard off and trying to fix it. If what I think might be happening is happening (I'm with @BreadBin and @Baloney Balderdash on this one), it may not be fixable in any case.

Just followed the Facebook link to the maker's page, Lex Leuthold. He has this photo of the in-progress. Yes - 3D printed. Nice job.

You seem quite close to finishing it with most of the spend already spent. Where in the country are you? Depending how remote your location, I or the other good folk around the country on the 'Basschatters willing to help other Basschatters' list might well be able to finish it off for you for nowt. I'm in the Derby area - any good to you?

Splendid!

Hi Andy You are very welcome to borrow a 9.5" block. PM me your address and I'll pop it in the post. The lineup looks fab!

Looks good from here, @AndyTravis A drunk Ebay visit can sometimes lead to good things

Yes - as @Doctor J says, start with popping the treble strings under the string tree to get the correct break angle of the strings over the nut, and then check the neck relief. That is, checking that there is a tangible gap under the 7th or 8th fret when you hold down the string at the 1st and (I would personally pick the 15th) last frets simultaneously, but that the gap is no more than a mm. This check should be done under full string tension. Once you know that the neck relief is OK then, as @Doctor J says, you can forget about the truss rod for the rest of the setup. Next, adjust the action with the saddle set screws to your preferred action height. If you run out of adjustment, then the neck may need a shim to slightly change the neck angle - if this is the case, let us know and we can take you through how to do that. But if there is enough saddle height adjustment, then great. Lastly, once the action height is set, you can then adjust the intonation as @Doctor J describes.

I have been reminded, having foolishly let a tea bag sit in a slightly damp cup too long for this morning's 2nd cup of tea, that I have used tea as a stain in the past. While you wouldn't want to use it as your primary stain, it can be great to darken a natural finish - and adds a teeny touch of amber too...

The Hipshot Licensed Ultralite machine heads are significantly cheaper than the US made equivalent and are on Hipshots own website - so they are a genuinely approved model. I've never had any issues with them and those are what I would fit on my own basses nowadays. Check whether you need 1/2" or 3/8" and also be aware that, as far as I remember, they are not reversible, so make sure you order the right way round, especially if it's a 5-stringer.

One thing not to forget is to solder an earth wire to the chamber shielding. You can also/alternatively add a little copper foil tab from the control chamber towards one of the plate fixing screws so that the top plate and chamber are mutually earthed and form an all-round cage.

Looks fantastic. Inspiring!

Lovely job. I like that a lot

Sounds like success to me Never worry about make-do-and-mend if you are able to get the results.

And there's nothing wrong with that - in the same way that some players prefer a zero fret to be a smidge higher than the other frets. But, from a physics point of view, it is not actually necessary. On these things I always find it helpful to think 'what if I extended the scale from the nut end and added a -1 fret position?' In that event, my playing finger one fret up from the nut - ie, at the 0 fret position - will be holding the string down to the board...exactly as it is at the 1st fret and beyond. The nut groove flush with the board is doing the same thing. But, actually, there is a sound practical reason for opting for cutting the nut/spacer a smidge higher - and that is that the one thing that is VERY bad news is if there is a groove left at the edge of the fretboard from an over-enthusiastic 'one last sweep of the nut file!'.

This. A bridge specifically and carefully designed so as not to work.

Yes - as the others say, the bottom of each slot should be level with the fretboard.

Yes you are right that the MM pickup itself is passive. I wouldn't say muddy, but on its own it has a surprisingly low output, which may or may not give you issues. Also, 'that' sound associated with the Stingray is very much to do with the preamp and so the sound will be very different. John East does do a splendid preamp that is 'tuned' to the Stingray/Sterling sound if you wanted to head towards the adventurous...

Sounds very exciting...and I bet it does too

And @Andyjr1515 was supposed to be there heckling, too!!! Very sorry to have missed it, @Len_derby - as I flagged up to Daz, I was losing control of the day from fairly early on (yes - no change there!) Next time!!

Yup - looks good