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My last major kerfuffle was on a Wenge OM. I wiped the guitar down with a bit of DA and let it sit for about 1/2 hour. I started laying down coats of EM6000 and noticed a spotty haze or blushing under the finish. The conclusion of the forum was that I hadn't let the DA evaporate long enough. Only option.. Take it all off and start over..

My last mistake was to assume photography is easy.


I tapped a truss rod into the groove for a nice tight fit...which stressed the bottom and cracked the back of the neck long after it was finished. I think I can sand down to raw wood and CA the crack. Or possibly use the cnc to route out the area and replace it with a plug. The fit would be fairly undetectable but..the color would probably give it away.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Good article. I had read it some time ago. Was worth re-reading

Worth showing again - probably my first serious double take: truss rod too deep, rod end not quite in the right place. neck too shallow. Yes, I fixed it - added wood to bottom of slot, used a shallower truss rod, put on new fret board.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Just finishing up my very first build. Once I set it up the action was much too low. Had to take the neck off, removed the fretboard so I could have easy access to correcting the neck angle. Touched up the top were the fretboard had been glued down. Now touching up the finish along the neck where I removed the fretboard. Hopefully THIS time it will be done correctly. Otherwise I'll start a thread on triple takes...

The Thoughts about learner's impatience by William Cumpiano made me smile as I've worked with many people who William describes in detail

They want instant recognition, top money and an easy life without wanting to work, learn, make mistakes and grow as a person I call it the X-Factor generation - instant fame with all the trappings and no sacrifice on their part!

I did a 4 year apprenticeship which taught me the basics; this was just the start of my learning experience and something that carries on today. I also worked with many talented people who were humble and shared the same principles that you are always a learner and you learn most from your mistakes. I have yet to meet the man who knows it all - but there again a few have said that they are that man!

Dave

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To be someone must be a wonderful thing!

I just now had a chance to read the Cumpiano article. Nice!! A must-read for every member of this(and all other) luthier forum.

In case you didn't read it, here it

http://www.cumpiano.com/Home/Articles/A ... edagog.htm:

Thanks, guys. Logically, you're correct. I'm just squeamish about it. It feels good in my hands, and I'm usually around .1. This is my first time going this thin.

I remember reading this years ago - this quote stood out:
"A master is someone who has made more mistakes than you, has made mistakes you haven’t made yet, and has learned how to embrace them--thus learning to see them coming before they happen. So you go towards mastery one mistake at a time. How many mistakes can you stand? As many as it takes to be a master. The master has persevered past the errors until he's made all of them."

What a great thread. Brings me back to earth as I sand through the finish again and again and start the too thin it cracked back again and remember that my new slot head design has to be thin enough for the tuners to reach the other side of the slot and that the 12th fret is actually 12 frets from the nut and did I build a caul for the fret board and why did the neck angle change after I finished the neck and over and over...sigh. Humbling really doesn't describe it.

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Thank You and Best To All

I hear you! But every time I start something new, there are different steps where I think "Next time, I'm going to do it this way and see if it works better." So I decided to make two at once, so I could actually try out those different techniques while they were fresh on my mind, so hopefully I wouldn't forget by the time the next one came around.

Don't know if that was a good thing or not, but I can say I'll have quite an education on making these by the time they're done. For example, I now have experience making backs and sides out of two different woods, same for necks. I got lots of practice making wood bindings, also out of different woods. This experience alone taught me a lot about how different woods behave and that differrent techniques are required to make the bends.

So who knows, was it worth it to do two at once? having to redo so much was trying at times, but I'm hoping that number 3 goes much more smoothly because of all I went through on these.

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Phil

http://www.oleninstruments.com

"Those who tilt at windmills are only considered insane by those who can't see the dragon."

My take on it is that trying to build two at once, as your first, only assures that you'll make twice as many mistakes/flubs.

It also puts you in the wrong mindset, because you'll relax and think("well, if I don't nail it with this one, at least I'll get the next one done right"). I'd rather see you stressed-out, BUT get it right on the first go, because you couldn't afford to fail.

I've taught a few on-line courses and coached a good many, privately, and without fail, all those who insist that they can build two at a time, always one with "good wood" and another with "cheap wood" fail miserably. That's because they try to learn on the "cheap wood" piece, and because they don't expect to actually use the piece, they don't try hard enough. But after they fail with the cheap wood, they then try it with then good wood, but fail again. The reason? They didn't commit to doing it right on the first try, so they've actually conditioned themselves to ---never--- doing it right.

One of my more memorable ones was not planning out the layout of carbon rods in a neck well enough, and carving right into them. Cursed, threw the neck away....and a week later repeated the same mistake with a second neck. Lets just say I don't splay the CF rods quit so far any more...