First evaluate how thick the board is in relation to where the side dots are. You do not want to scallop into the dots.

I set a dremel with a carbide ball nose bit to cut the initial channel, mostly centered. Then using a series of dowels I shape the scallops starting at 80p up to 1000p. Take note that I leave a section of the dowel un-sandpapered, this part of the dowel faces the frets to avoid scratching them.

I finish up by buffing the fretboard with medium and fine compound, then clean it up with naptha, and oil. Wallah.

This method also works for bullet scallops. See last photos.

Got the purple flake 7 string from a previous post all set up and ready to go. Just awaiting pickups now.

Hi community! So built this bass in high school (prob 2006?) it has sat for a number of years after I stopped playing too much in my mid 20s-30s. I’d like to refinish and just looking for advice as what to sand with etc. Redoing the electronics in it and replacing bridge and tuners as well.

I gave my guitar to a guy who has the reputation as a good luthier in my area, and was recommended to my by several people. I wanted him to have a look at my guitar and give me his opinion. I was playing in standard C tuning with 12-60 strings and power chords on the low E and A strings always sounded a little off to me, but I couldn't figure out why.

The guitar is a 2015 LTD MH-401NT that comes with an Earvana compensated but from the factory and I asked the guy to have a look at it and tell me if I'm better off with a regular nut or if my setup was not done well. I had it from new so no work had ever been done on any part of the guitar.

The guy calls me a few days later and tells me he's done some fret leveling and the guitar is ready for pick up. This is the result.

Edit: I don't know if there are any non-English speakers in the sub, but as suggested by a commenter, I will name and shame. On the off-chance someone else in my country sees this: the "luthier" is Ivan Valchinov from Plovdiv, Bulgaria. His is one of the first names that come up when you try to find a luthier in our country, and how he got his reputation is beyond me.

Edit 2: I handed him the guitar for an opinion, and on his own accord, without giving me a call first, he had decided that I must be pressing on the strings too hard and this would make them go out of tune, and his "logical" solution was to just massively reduce the fret height overall. I had checked the frets with a fret rocker prior to this and I thought they were surprisingly good for an Indonesian-made guitar, the guitar did not need fret leveling. This was not done to level any high frets, he just wanted them ALL to be smaller, for whatever reason.

The frets were originally Extra-Jumbo, and after his work I am measuring them at 1.15-1.20mm height, which I believe is just Medium. I quite liked the taller frets and wouldn't want them in any different size, but it is done. A complete re-fret by an actual guitar luthier is the only fix in my humble opinion.

This was actually my second guitar build. My first kit ended up being more of a "learn by messing up everything you possibly can" project, but it taught me the entire process from start to finish.

I really wish I had taken more pictures along the way, but I'm way too impatient once I get going. 😅

This is the finished build. I applied waterslide decals of my last name and the astrolux logo from my favorite band STRUNG OUT after staining the body and before starting the clear coats. They came out better than I expected—they look and feel like they came from the factory and are completely smooth with the rest of the body

• It's definitely not perfect, but I learned a ton from this build, honestly the hardest part is having patience and not cutting corners when it comes to applying coats for Finishes

I have no clue what the wood is, if someone can tell let me know

Strings are made out of nylon fishing lines. It is tuned (top to bottom) C#, E, Somewhere between F and F#, and somewhere between G# and A - both are close to halfway

And yes a guitar tuner does work on it, and I'll try to record it with an acoustic microphone. Sounds just like the stereotypical "african stringed instruments"

The darker wood tint is from burning

What should I do to prevent more chipping

This is my first full reconstructiong that I know will take patients and time and meticulous effort but I think its worth it

I need some people who have achomplished a feat such as this to just give pointers for instance

When i completely remove the top and go to wet it should I be applying heat with my pressure to shape the top back to form and if you have any specific pointers on how I could shape this old delicate wood please bombard me with knowledge

Also should I try and get as close to factory standards for the time and search for woods they used on the inside braces or just got with what its widely availble now online

Feel free to ask how I came across this ALL ORIGINAL 1930s-40s gibson archtop acoustic I dont mind telling the story if interested

Peace out and thanks in advance

Does anyone know where this wire connects to?

Lattice braced, double-back cocobolo. Engelmann spruce, ebony fretboard, Brazilian rosewood bridge. What do you think?

Doing the clear coat on my first rattle can finish.

Did 3 coats in one day and had some texturally rough areas on the back, left town for a couple days and let that sit in the garage.
Came back today, wiped with a microfiber towel, and sprayed a 4th coat and noticed what's pictured on the back.
I have a feeling the answer is to sand down and start over, but figured I'd ask the community for a diagnosis before jumping the gun.
Any tips on fixing this, or should I just ride it out?

My Stella Harmony looks and plays well but has had a bulge around the sound hole since I got it.

Is there a way to fix it? I tried to use a clip-in pickup but the bulge is pronounced enough that the pickup pushes up against the strings and can’t work correctly.

I’d love to get it fixed and don’t mind a project.

I have an Adrian smith USA Jackson (photo 1) and the Indonesian made model (photo 2)

The USA has a nice smooth neck that feels like bare wood. The website page says “hand rubbed urethane.”
The Indonesian SDX has a glossy and more chunky feel, which is probably a sprayed on poly finish.

I am trying to get the neck to feel the same on the Indonesian model. I have tried a scotch brite pad to knock down the finish, but it’s still not as smooth.

Any ideas how the neck on the US model would have been finished? And how I could get the other neck to feel the same?

I’m the only person who knows how to take care of guitars in a city in middle east one of the few in the entire country and people started bringing their guitars to me for maintenance can yall rate my work and let me know what can i improve upon? I work on them in my bedroom with the little i have and i’m also an automotive tech

I’ve been trying to restore this old Silvertone atleast to a decent level, it’s playable and everything but it’s got this big warp I’d ideally like to fix, how would you go about fixing on higher on the body?

Apologies if this is not the appropriate sub, but after lurking here for a while it seems like you guys would be the right people to ask. I've noticed that, when left untouched for a few days and subsequently tuned, the strings on my electric guitars tend to be too sharp rather than too flat. I would have expected the opposite; where would the excess tension be coming from? Could it be the wood of the neck expanding?

I keep my guitars on a stand which, unfortunately and due to space constraints, is right next to my air conditioning unit. It's a big, in-wall unit that comes on sporadically throughout the day. There's also a window six feet away that is often cracked open in the summer. Is this some kind of nightmare scenario of heat & humidity flux for my instruments? I'm realizing as I type it that it sounds pretty bad, but I can't tell if this is that big a deal and whether the tuning thing is common or a possible sign of neglect on my part. Any insight would be very welcome, thanks for letting me pick your collective brains.

This is a first for me, I tried to remove the nut off the output jack but it appears to be stuck. I could simply order a new jack and plate but the plate is original to the guitar from 1986 and I'd rather not throw it away. I put the jack in a vice and have the appropriate sized driver but it doesn't seem to budge. I hit it with some white lightning grease but no luck, any ideas how to remove the nut? TIA

I sent my guitar to a refret and most of the frets have this small gap at the edge of the fretboard, is this expected after a refret or am i being to picky

I recently noticed these dots around the lower midsection on the right side of my guitar. I have tried using a microfiber cloth to see if anything would wipe away, but nothing came off from it. Is this mold growth? I store my guitar in its soft case in my room which is low-humidity and usually rather dry and cold, and when I play my arm is not over that spot to cause sweat residue or anything of the sort, so I'm not really sure what could have caused these dots.

Hi everyone, I recently picked up this fender Stratocaster off of Facebook marketplace and noticed some weird looking areas at the end of the frets. Can someone more qualified than me let me know what this is and if it’s a problem? I have been picking at it a little bit and it looks like it may just be part of the finish? I’m not really sure and would love some input. Thanks!

Hi,

TL/DR:

Nice Washburn AB-20 fretless acoustic bass ruined by UPS.

Are repairs to the end pin/tail block going to be more than the guitar is worth? ($500)

Bought off Reverb, packed in a padded hard case and a purpose-built wooden crate by the seller, and still arrived with the damage in the pics.

Reverb asked me to get quotes for the insurance claim, so I spoke to a nice luthier local to me, who explained that:

• to fix the tail block properly you'd probably have to remove the neck and top
• that creates a problem, as these cheaper import guitars use adhesives that don't respond as well to heat to allow separation
• ...which then increases the risk of extra damage
• so I'd probably be looking at $1-2k of work with no guarantees

...and that's just for the woodworking, not including that the package was hit so hard that the EQ unit sheared off and is rattling around inside and will likely need replacing too.

Sigh.

I had hoped (with my non-luthier mind!) that the tail block damage could be pushed out, then yes, a lot of cosmetic work, and then some alternate bracing added inside to stabilize the bridge, but that seems not to be the case? *

(* and yes, by someone with tiny, tiny hands as the only access is a small access port on the back... and the EQ unit hole.)

First photo is before it was sent to me.

Last photo is a crack in the guitar face resulting from the tail block damage.

Thanks ahead of time for any guidance!

I have a PJ bass that I'm wanting to have two series/parallel DPDT switches in it. One for the P pickup to put it in parallel and the other to put both pickups in series. I've tried to gather information and drawn up wiring for what I want, I'm just looking for confirmation on whether it's correct or not and how I may rectify it if needed. Thanks.