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I am 60% done I feel. As my name indicates I am building a 000-28 clone. It is time to drill into my project. Tuner holes and bridge pins. The plan is to stick with what a Martin would have. Open butter bean tuners.

A. Go to online resources for these tasks. Specifically a link. I've searched a good bit.

B. Pointers?

C. Good tuners? First build so it is not worthy of Gotoh tier tuners. Looking to keep it under 50 bucks.

I hope to benefit from this forum and "meet" some folks. This is not a true kit build. If there is another sub board here that is more suited to me I'd be glad to learn.

Hello from the Houston area.

Do you have a drill press for the tuner holes?

Check out the Grover Sta-tires. Not the cheaper 14:1, I think the better ones are around $50.

_________________
Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Check.

When you say 000-28 do you mean a 14 fret paddle head 000 or a slot head 12 fretter? The 14 fret is basically an OM with short scale. I have built both.

If you are doing a paddle head drilling is pretty straight forward - lay it out carefully, back up the head with some scrap. Depending on your choice of tuners you might have to buy the correct sized reamer for the bushing - its a shame that the size isn't standardized. I use either Gotoh or Waverly open gear tuners on my paddle heads.

If it is a slot head drilling the tuner holes is a bit trickier. I fill the slots with some scrap to prevent chip out and very carefully clamp the head to a block of wood so it is parallel to the table of the drill press. Use a brad point drill make sure the spacing is dead on - if you are going to use three on a plate tuners you can get some binding. I've used Gotoh, Waverly and StewMac's vintage tuners on my slot heads - depends on the look (and your budget).

As far as bridge pins, I use 5 degree on everything I build and I slot the bridge. Choose the pins you like, I don't think it makess a difference, but all of mine are bone.

My very first home made guitar was a 12 fret 000 which is almost 20 years old now and played frequently. That is a great size and shape and should make a very good guitar for you.

ps - if you need any pictures of how I jig up drilling a slot head let me know

As far as drilling holes - don't measure twice, measure 4 or 5 times. I use an awl for a mark and brad point bit. Back up the head with a scrap for sure to avoid blowout. None of my guitars will get heavy use and I am happy with Grover's.

I am on #10 right now, but for my #2 I built a 12 fret Triple-oh-18. It has tortoise binding and I searched the innerwebs for Martin headstocks for inspiration and came up with the first photo. 2 things I noticed were the tortoise veneer and the lack of tuner bushings. Someone later mentioned they thought these were done in the 40's.

So I copied that - photo 2. I have left off the bushings on most others and with the limited use that any of my instruments have gotten there does not seem to be a downside.

The third shot is the whole instrument - 12 fret with a paddle head. I added 5/8" to the depth and it sounds absolutely great - but no one makes a case that will fit.

Ed M

Nice responses. Thanks.

I am a huge Clapton fan. So I am building everything to Clapton specs. Except for the neck. The neck is the only large piece that was pre-fab. It is NOT the Clapton neck. No baseball bat sized v-taper. But yes as mentioned its the 000 scale of 24.9 and "paddle head" (new term for me). I love the rounded look of the Martin headstocks of the 50's through 70's. Don't know why? People pan 70's era Martins generally, but they did get that headstock right to me.

My neck joint is a bit of a one of as well. Simple dovetail I cut into the block myself. It was not good enough so it got straight furniture screws. My "plan" is to only use glue for the fretboard tongue over the body. I may decide to glue the whole thing though. Being my first it will never get a neck reset. It will become a wall hanger. Bob Taylors first is a wall hanger. Good enough for him.

I am on #10 in 9 years and have yet to glue a fretboard extension and all are doing well. There are enough frets in that little length of fretboard to give it a good amount of downward curve and when you install the neck, be sure it is pushed all the way down into its socket and the extension will straighten and hug the top. This is provided your neck geometry is anywhere near right. Give it a shot without glue and see what you think. Very easy to do a neck reset.

Ed M