DIY Thread - post your guitar DIYs and ask your DIY questions here

[Gunslinger]

Literally babalutan mo ng tape after isolder together or itwist together para insulated siya. Yun lang. For insulation para hindi exposed yung wire. 

Ang pangit ng wiring nung isang gitara ko. May mga tape siya pero poorly done. Not to mention baligtad ang pickups niya. Dapat ba yung dulo lang itape? Kasi ang ginawa, halos buong wire binalutan ng scotch tape.

[markcasq]

yup, balot lang sya.  actually dapat yung heat shrinks yung ginamit, not scotch tape. para malinis

[Gunslinger]

Ganito kasi ginawa. Tama ba to? O pwede kahit dulo lang ang balutan?

yup, balot lang sya.  actually dapat yung heat shrinks yung ginamit, not scotch tape. para malinis

I see. San ba nakakabili nun? Meron ba sa hardware store nun at anong section madalas?

[markcasq]

Ganito kasi ginawa. Tama ba to? O pwede kahit dulo lang ang balutan?



I see. San ba nakakabili nun? Meron ba sa hardware store nun at anong section madalas?

haha, madumi nga.  I bought mine from radio shack sa US.  Bale ilalagay mo yung wires inside the heat shrink, then either painitan mo using the sides of the soldering gun or hot air blower para lumiit and mag wrap around sa wires.

Actually for dimarzio pickups na 4-conductor you don't need to wrap it like sayo.  Di naman kelangan i scotch tape pa yun since insulated naman yung mga wires.  Pakita ko sayo yung ginawa ko sa 7-string ng friend ko H-H with PAF7.

[Gunslinger]

haha, madumi nga.

Told ya.

Actually for dimarzio pickups na 4-conductor you don't need to wrap it like sayo.  Di naman kelangan i scotch tape pa yun since insulated naman yung mga wires.  Pakita ko sayo yung ginawa ko sa 7-string ng friend ko H-H with PAF7.

Ah so pwede kahit di na balutin? So ang goal ko na lang dito, linisin ang wiring? Sige wait ko yung H-H with PAF7.

[r_chino18]

Ah so pwede kahit di na balutin? So ang goal ko na lang dito, linisin ang wiring? Sige wait ko yung H-H with PAF7.

Kaya siya binabalutan, para maiwasan na tumama sa mga ground spots -- shielding paint, aluminum tape, pots, etc.. baka kasi mag-intermittent yung sound mo or what, lalo pag malikot yung gumagamit at hindi niya namamalayan na gumagalaw yung wires sa loob...

Pwede nga rin yung heat shrink tubing. Yun usually ang gamit ng mga luthier pag nagwwire sila ng electronics kesa bastang itape. Kalimitan yung dulong part lang din ang may heat shrink. A little less than 1cm lang ang haba.

Dun sa earlier pic, ok din naman yung ganun, nakatape lahat... medyo messy nga.. hahaha.. pero kung wala naman problema, ok na rin.. Pero kung gusto mo balutan ng mas maayos, pwede rin naman.. hahaha..

[Gunslinger]

San ba nakakabili ng heat shrink tubing locally?

[yahoo!]

San ba nakakabili ng heat shrink tubing locally?

Marami yan sa raon. 2nd flr. ng deeco

[r_chino18]

San ba nakakabili ng heat shrink tubing locally?

Sa mga local hardware meron. Parang may nakita ako ACE at Handyman eh. Naka pack yan mahahabang rubber tubes. Iba-iba ng diameter. Kung jan sa pickups mo gagamitin, hanap ka na lang ng maliit ang diameter para pwedeng magfit talaga pag ininitan mo. Siguro sa Alexan or E-Gizmo meron din niyan.

[kamoteflip]

Hi everyone!

I have an old behringer strat, the ones they sell as packages. I've had it for around 8 years now, and I was thinking about Relic-ing it.
haha any ideas on how i can do it by myself at home and what materials i'll be needing? thanks in advance!

[Gunslinger]

Thanks guys!

@ kamoteflip: Try mo imessage si 'captainbackfire' about relic-ing. He's pretty good at it.

[jobo_ph]

Here's what I look at every night before I go to sleep for close to a month while waiting for additional stuff to come in...


Finally, a few more stuff came and it was possible to continue...


Crudely checking if the fretboard is as flat as possible...


Started with 120 grit sand paper...


After a few passes, lots of lacquer powder. I don't push the radius block to the fretboard while sanding, just making sure it is flat and letting it's own weight do the work and sliding it from end to end.


Vacuum cleaner was on standby for clean-up. Wasn't able to take a picture but I also clean the sandpaper with the vacuum cleaner so it doesn't clog up too much.


After several passes... Notice the uneven portions. I guess partly because of uneven lacquer layer and/or warp.




After more passes, it is getting more even and the amount of sanded dust also became lesser



And after more passes, it looks more even...



Marked the board with pencil marks to double check if there are still uneven portions...



After a few sanding passes, I observed the pencil marks were getting removed evenly. After all the pencil marks were removed, shifted to 220-grit sand paper.


After two rounds of sanding passes, here's the final outcome...





As reminded by free2rock, I ran a file through each slot to aid in easier fretwire insertion and help the fret wire seat properly (the undersides of the fret crown where it joins the tang is not "flat")


Proceeded to hammer in the frets... First, I cleaned the fret wire.


Then I put Elmer's Glue All into the slots with the aid of a used guitar 1st string


The fret wire I got was pre-radius 9.5" (too near 10") and should have bought ones with tighter radius. So, I couldn't really follow hammering ends first before running the hammer up/down the middle.

I didn't want to bother re-radiusing the current wire so what I did was just hammer it from one end to the other while firmly holding the wire and then going back and forth and closely inspecting if it has seated properly.


After a few fret wire installations that are about the width of the shorter 10" radius block I bought, I clamp it over the frets and wait for the glue to dry. I used some scrap silicon rubber sheet so the fret wire will not put indentations into the wood.


To be continued... Watching MotoGP and Wimbledon for now.

Thanks for reading. 

[markcasq]

Great progress sir Jobo!  Ganda din ng mga tools nyo!  I'm curious, so is Elmer's glue (or something similar) standard glue to use to glue frets?

[gandydancer123]

Thanks for reading. 

nice! great share Jobo_PH...

[jobo_ph]

nice! great share Jobo_PH...

Salamat, sir!

Great progress sir Jobo!  Ganda din ng mga tools nyo!  I'm curious, so is Elmer's glue (or something similar) standard glue to use to glue frets?

Salamat, Mark.

Nope. From what I had read, most were using CA glue and wood glue. I did find some info that some use Elmer's Glue-All.

I'm not comfortable working with CA on my refret. I might make a mess while trying to let CA wick into the slot.

I tried Elmer's Glue so that it would be easier to wipe any amount that seeps off.

Regardless, I wouldn't recommend using Elmer's Glue All. Took too much time to cure and I realized the resulting bond is weak (played around with a very small pool of glue that I let dried and I didn't like that I could remove it without too much effort).

Bought a small tube of a nondescript wood glue from Maquiling Hardware and Lumber this morning and did another very small pool test. It cured much faster than Elmer's glue (but not fast enough that I can still do a few slots at a time before clamping) and the bond is much better.

I redid the few frets I had installed yesterday.

Hammering, or more aptly, tapping frets in is not a walk in the park. I did read/watch how it is done. Key technique that I really took note is having the hammer shaft as parallel as possible to the frets and doing the tapping motions with the wrist as fulcrum point.

I also learned that the following plays a key factor when seating frets:

1. Correct depth of fret wire slot.

         - I redid the cleaning of the slots and deepening them slightly using a coping saw where I thinned the saw blade using a knife sharpening stone so that it can fit nicely in the slot. I realized this when I did a test of tapping in a fret in yesterday (without glue) and there was an area that wouldn't seat and I saw that the tang was already flush with the slot when I did a troubleshoot.

2. Correct and consistent pre-radius of fret wire

         - Although I wished I ordered fret wire with a tighter radius so I can do the tap ends first before running the middle, I think I fared alright with hammering in what I have. Jescar nickel fret wire is quite stiff and it takes more tapping if there is some portion where the curve is not that consistent.



Here's how it looks like after redoing it with wood glue...

[free2rock]

Great progress sir Jobo!  Ganda din ng mga tools nyo!  I'm curious, so is Elmer's glue (or something similar) standard glue to use to glue frets?

I use CA glue. But for delicate work, watered-down white glue is sufficient.

[jobo_ph]

By 4pm, I managed to install 14 frets and clamped things up and the family went out for grocery and dinner.


When we came back, here's how things look like after removing the clamp.


This is the nondescript wood glue I bought from a nearby hardware store. Wanted to opt for Selly's wood glue but the store only had big containers of it.


Ditched the used guitar string to help put glue into the fret slots and opted for a toothpick.


Every two fret wire install, I'd clamp things up and wait for an hour before installing the next two frets.

Finally I am able to finish installing all 24 fret around midnight... Nakaraos din sa yugtong ito! 


I'll post updates tomorrow night... Until then...

[markcasq]

Sir Jobo, that must have been a very delicate job, and it also requires a lot of patience!  Things are starting to take shape!  Excellent progress, and I envy your tools 

[free2rock]

Sir Jobo, that must have been a very delicate job, and it also requires a lot of patience!  Things are starting to take shape!  Excellent progress, and I envy your tools 

E di bumili ka. Panay gitara kasi binibili. Hehe

[markcasq]

E di bumili ka. Panay gitara kasi binibili. Hehe

Haha, oo idol, naka pila na yung bibilhin ko, unahin ko muna yung gauged nut files from stewmac.  Next month yun for sure.  Di na nga ako bumibili ng gitara e! I have been NGD-less since January, hehe.  Yung pang business lang, para may pambili ng tools

[jobo_ph]

Haha, oo idol, naka pila na yung bibilhin ko, unahin ko muna yung gauged nut files from stewmac.  Next month yun for sure.  Di na nga ako bumibili ng gitara e! I have been NGD-less since January, hehe.  Yung pang business lang, para may pambili ng tools

Nasa pipeline ko din bumili ng set ng gauged nut files.

May I suggest a source for Uo-Chikyu nut files? Go to http://www.japarts.ca, browse around and send an email. They have sets for 9s, 10s, 11s, etc. and looks to be cheaper (if your getting a set), unless you are also buying other stuff (aside from the nut files) from Stewmac (and therefore pointless to spend extra on shipping).

I got my Uo-Chikyu crowning file set from this site (was shipped from Japan) and was paid for using Paypal.

Also, here's a good read on how different kinds of nut files cut slots.
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/210187-cheap-er-nut-files.html#post2477598

[markcasq]

Sir jobo - thanks.  very helpful site.  I have tried using a folded sanding paper to file a slot - FAIL.  I can't get the pivot to be on the edge so when I tune the E, the fretted strings are flat, and the tuning stability is very bad maybe because of rough edges.  So diretso sa luthier to fix.  I guess a good smooth, straight nut slot file will make sure the job is properly done.  I'll research your suggestion below.  Looks like even stewmac files are not that good.  And I'd love to be able to get them at a lower price too.

[quaternotetriplet]

Nasa pipeline ko din bumili ng set ng gauged nut files.

May I suggest a source for Uo-Chikyu nut files? Go to http://www.japarts.ca, browse around and send an email. They have sets for 9s, 10s, 11s, etc. and looks to be cheaper (if your getting a set), unless you are also buying other stuff (aside from the nut files) from Stewmac (and therefore pointless to spend extra on shipping).

I got my Uo-Chikyu crowning file set from this site (was shipped from Japan) and was paid for using Paypal.

Also, here's a good read on how different kinds of nut files cut slots.
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/210187-cheap-er-nut-files.html#post2477598

eto next gas ko fretting tools..

[free2rock]

A fret saw (or a tenon saw) is more useful IMO. For nut slots, you can use the fret saw to score the initial cut and then use a welding tip cleaner to fine tune the depth. Wala pang 100 pesos yun sa mall hardware stores.

[markcasq]

Yun naman pala. This weekend I was at ace hardware looking for something for nut filing. Sobrang thick ng mga files nila. Then I went to watsons, baka pwede na yung nail file, hehe, pero hindi pala rough yung sides nya so hindi pwede.

gano ka narrow yung tenon saw? Pwede ba sya sa .009 na nut slot?  If pwede to Ill treat you a 6-pack for saving me money