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1. Did all that, took more wood off the easy end, fretted it back up, lacquered the neck, especially the sides of the fretboard, and I stained and lacquered the bridge, which looked like rosewood but still a little out of place for being kind of blond.
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2. My pick guard, LOL
I had this idea, use some striped maple veneer for the top layer of a few, but when I stained it with the same stain that seemed good on the neck it went all dark, so I painted it black, but you could still see and feel the grain -
but I aimed the grain across my strum and it sounded like someone was playing the maracas or something, some percussion instrument. If I wasn't hitting the strings hard, my nails on the pick guard was louder!
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So I put six thick coats of lacquer on it, got it shiny and a lot smoother. Not a structural matter if I want to keep going until it's as smooth as plastic later. But my can of lacquer is getting pretty light.
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3. Certainly not right yet, but it passed a test it didn't pass before, frets 0 - 5 all play different notes, on all twelve strings. Hasn't been strung up for a day this time yet and it's still very new, that could still change.
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But I think that means it's just the fret tops now, wood is good, maybe. 🤞 😬
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Try every fret soon, make a map for final (LOL) finishing.
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4. Fretting, bloody fretting, I lose sleep before and after fretting about fretting. The handful of fret jobs I've done, I've tried to fit and finish them in place, on the guitar, and I generally destroy the edge of the wood trying to make them safe. I have a fret file for the top edge, but I can't somehow deal with the lower bit, the sharper bit, is it another tool I need?
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But this time I had the (immediately) previous frets for length, I tried finishing the whole end of the fret first and then installing it. It does seem to soften the bottom of the fret, but I've made a bit of a mess, they don't draw a very straight line, and I haven't used my fret file at the tops yet. I think it will work out but still be a bit of a crooked line looking down the edges.
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I just tore a whole set out, I want to get it all right before I do that part again, my hands hate that bit.
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5. Oh - still inlay dots 5, Jeff 0.
They're smooth on top but I missed centre pretty badly, don't ask me how. I cannot seem to stay conscious doing those things. 😜 🙄 🤮 🎶
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6. Still not my favourite size and shape this neck, but I might be able to play it a bit at the easy end.
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At some point I stopped thinking about whether I could use it and started trying to save that original neck. 💜
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#Luthier #Guitar #Framus12StringProject
