Official Luthiers Forum!

I've just recently started on a few projects to keep myself busy and to get some experience in building and constructing some guitars. I am currently refurbishing 2 electric guitars (Silver Tone strats.), putting in new pickups into my Les Paul, and building a Stratocaster as my first custom built guitar. I think that I am doing a little too much at once though and i have a couple of questions.

The 2 SilverTone Strats i bought off my friends for $25 each and they needed a lot of work just to be played. I fixed the body and necks so that there are now no more dents and they both have new paint and have new electronics and pickups coming in the mail for them and for the Les Paul. However one of the headstock had been shattered at one time and it had fallen apart in 2 pieces and now is held together with super glue. I find it painful to look at after putting the time to fix the rest of it, so is there any way to fix the headstock so that it it doesn't look broken and the crack isn't that visible anymore?

My Epiphone Les Paul isn't the greatest sounding guitar so i wanted to put in a new set of pickups in that match the set that i put in my Kramer V. The pickups don't come with the metal case over the pickups which i really like because it fits the look of the guitar. Is there any way that i can get one of the cases to go over or is that actually part of the pickups and can't be put on?

And finally on my custom Stratocaster, i have the body nearly carved out completely (i will have pictures up soon for this. It came out pretty good for a first try) and am almost ready to paint it. My uncle lent me his spray gun that he uses to paint his cars with to do the job right, however before i paint it, what do i have to do to prepare the body so that it comes out looking good?

Sorry for my post being so long, I'd really appreciate any advice that can be offered though.
- AJ

Also, i forgot to put this in, I couldn't make a good neck for the guitar, does anyone know where i could buy a pre-made neck?

Go to http://www.stewmac.com. They have electric guitar necks. Plus they have a book on guitar finishing. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Books,_plans/Building_and_repair:_Finishing/Guitar_Finishing_Step-By-Step.html

Life will be a lot easier if you get this or some other book and follow the advice there. Have fun.

As far as the guitar necks, try looking on ebay for "EDEN" guitar necks. They carry quite a line of electric guitar parts as well as necks, I have bought a few from them and am pleased with the quality and the speed of their shipments. You can buy the paddle head necks that are easily customizable to your headstock design or buy one that is already carved to the fender or gibson styles.

Pay attention to the scale length when you buy the neck. There is no "standard" neck and you will need to specify the scale length that you need.


I have seen the metal covers for pickups on ebay, but I have no experience using them nor do I know if they afect the sound of the pickup. They arent too expensive though, so it might not hurt to get a set to try out.

I would love to see your pictures of your builds when you get the chance to post them!

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Reguards,

Ken H

I have to second everything else that people have said here.

I think that for your headstock situation, we really need to see the crack in order to give a definite diagnosis for it. But from the info that you have provided, it sounds like that you could either fix it with a little bit of wood glue and saw dust then sanded and painted, or you could always try to rebreak the headstock on see if you could make a cleaner gluing line.

Good luck on your builds. It sounds like we are both at about the same place, I still have my first Squire rebuild sitting in the closet! Good luck and I can't wait to see the end product.

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-Rob Eckert
Ann Arbor, Michigan