I'm still working on my first build based on your stratocaster build series. Extremely detailed and informative explanations. I enjoy your videos and always love to see what you have in store next. Thanks!
I'm very happy to see you back posting videos again. I learn something from every video you post - this one included. Thank you very much for posting it.
Good to see you again Fletcher, it's a joy to watch you work. You make it seem effortless, a real testament to how good you are at what you do. Thanks for the vid!
Thank you for all those amazing videos Fletcher! They really brought me into building guitars again and now I'm having 3 builds up and running and a lot of friends asked me if I build them a custom guitar because they really like the build quality. I would have never come so far without your inspiring work here on youtube! I really appreciate seeing this new video from you! cheers and kind regards from Austria -Alex
Hey Dave nice to see another vid!! -think I just decided on my next neck build.Probably use rosewood or ebony(?)for the neck accent.Thanks again and keep em coming-excellent work.
so great to have a new video from you!! :) if you ever have a chance to do a video of your finishing process, thats something i've always wanted to learn more about, especially the products available to us here in Australia, i've been using Cabots Cabothane Clear with some of the Stewmac waterbased pigment, but i'm not sure its the best thing to use.
Good to see you back Mr Fletcher!... Just wondering if you have ever used Kauri Pine for a solid body? (Apparently Otto timber in SA has some body blanks)
Would love to see the glue up process. You have 8 surfaces to apply glue to then clamp up...do you find the West system provides more open time? What size jointer do you recommend? As always...sweet work!
Hi again, Fletcher! I recall in one of your videos you comment on the stew mac router bit for the hot rod truss rod. You recommended another one? I'm trying to make a 50s strat neck with a skunk stripe, but the bit isn't quite long enough. The diameter of the shank is slightly larger than cutter, meaning that when I try to fit my inlaying wood for the stripe, it looks like a lose fit. Thanks
What clamping method do you use? Do you have to be concerned about squeezing too much epoxy out of the joint? Finally, have you tried adding the West System 403 Microfibers to improve the wood to wood bond?
Hello Mr Fletcher! Just wanted to say thank you for going to all the effort to make these videos. I recently built my first guitar, and your videos were essential viewing. It turned out really nice. Have you ever heard of this wood combination before - 5 piece queensland maple and kwila through neck with spotted gum sides? unusual i know, but looks quite stunning! weighs a ton though
***** yeah, it is pretty heavy for a guitar. It weighs 500g more than my Yamaha bass, but its an 8 string so thats not so bad. I dont intend on ever playing live with it so I just went after looks more than anything
Very informative video and great camera work and audio. I just have a basic question: what thickness do you aim for when making a neck blank for a fender style guitar? I have some maple here that I'm not sure is quite thick enough. Would it be unwise to make up some thickness when glueing on the fingerboard?
Would there be any stability advantage to gluing the halves up so that they're book matched? I.E. the grain lines are like this ///\\\ or this \\\///, rather than like this //////. Thanks for the video.
Cheers Fletch! I have a question about those maple veneer strips you've got. Do you cut and stain those yourself? If so, what's your method for staining? The only time I've tried to stain a veneer strip it didn't penetrate the whole way through, so when sanded later on it basically removed the stain.
No worries, nice to know I'm not alone! On an unrelated note, I've just been in the shed using my scarf joint sanding jig based off one you demonstrated in a video. Your videos have been instrumental in helping me learn to build, so wanted to say a quick thank you!
I think if you continued uploading you would have ended up with a very large subscriber base. These are old vids now but I still haven't found any better guitar making tutorials on youtube. Nothing but positive comments here, and for good reason. Cheers!
Do you know I was driving to work very early this morning and I was wondering when you'd post a new vid !!!! I get home, thought I'd go on TH-cam for 5 mins, and boom, a new vid :)
always loved multi-laminate necks, did one myself too, it looks very classy, also I think it adds structural strength to the neck compared to a one piece neck, I’m not even sure you really need it to be quarter-sawn, the laminating alone makes for a stronger neck, what’s your opinion on this ?
1. It's nice to see new vids from you! Some of the most educative luthier content on YT I've come accross! 2. This might come out as a stupid question but why do you joint only one side and finish the other one on the drum sander? Is there a negative to jointing both sides?
archfrank My guess is that it's to ensure that the sides are parallel, because jointing a side doesn't guarantee that it'll be perfectly the same angle, all it does is flatten that side. Using the drum sander, with the jointed flat edge on the bottom, ensure that the sander will take off wood from the top in a parallel line to how it is on the bottom.
Hi, David. I have a question about planing. Ive seen all these guys who go through a lot of preparation before putting the wood in a planer. I thought the planer was supposed to do those jobs! Let's say I have a piece of wood that's cupped or bowed, or both, or whatever. Cant I just run it through the planer and it will eventually be flat?
No Peter, it wont work. You need to joint a side first and establish a flat base to put through the thicknesser (planer). If you put a cupped piece of wood through it will come out the other end thinner but still retain the cupping. If you look up some videos on squaring timber on TH-cam, you should see the proper steps to achieve this. Cheers, David
Fletcher Handcrafted Guitars David, obviously I'm a rank beginner. Well, maybe an advanced beginner is more like it. So please pardon my ignorance! Now, if I take a piece that is cupped, bowed or otherwise flawed, and shim it to make it level and plane that, will I then get a surface suitable to turn over and plane the other side for an even, flat board? My jointer will only do a 6" board and I prefer, if possible, to use as few pieces as possible. Thanks, Pete
Hey Fletcher, Could you please do a video for building, drilling holes, attaching a truss road, and skunk strip into a 1 piece guitar neck? (Preferably a Fender Telecaster Thinline) haha 😊 Thank you :)
So an 8 inch piece. 2 inches thick. Then Cut it about 27 long inches I assume. Then cut it in half. And it’s enough for 2 necks from there. Is that Correct. Thanks for this info. Quarter is hard to find. I assume a 3/8 piece of tiger will make a good finger board. I may try it. So stop me if I’m messin up. Thanks.
Welcome back! :D Btw I have a question. I want to build an electric guitar like you do too. But since its my first time doing something like that I dont want to spend that much money on something like wood. How important is it to use the so called tone wood? Can I just use normal wood for it or will it then sound bad? And can you recommend any cheap wood to buy? I'd say something like under 20-15€?
MCMeru First guitar ? Don't spend a lot on wood. Take my advise and practice on cheap wood. You will be surprised just how great a guitar made from cheap wood can sound.
@@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars You're so cool ! Really dig your work and your train of thought. For my first build can i go ahead and use pine for the neck, i know its not the best wood for that, but i recently got my hands on a lot of 40 year old pine trunks i intend on quartersawning, figure what's the worse that can happen considering it will be a practice project which i will likely screw up anyway lol
Fantastic!!! I am recording a little tune with it right now. It has a good solid body growl to it. I'm chomping at the bit ready to start my second build. I am building a CNC router first though. I want to incorporate a few intricate details that will take a LONG time if I do them by hand, so CNC it is!
Anyone really: When you do the veneer strips, do they follow into the headstock, or do you cut them and create a scarf joint or veneer face to the headstock?
Glad to have you back! I refer people to your videos all the time. They are easily some of the best on youtube. Precise and easy to follow. Thanks for sharing them! I have a topic that you may not be interested, but it would make an interesting video. Fanned frets for multi-scale guitars seem to be all the rage, but no one has really shown the process of building a fretboard or guitar for this. If you are not into that, maybe you know a luthier that would be interested in making a video on this process? I would love to see this!! Thanks again!
Five yrs ago. Anyway. Drilling the holes so early, I never knew that. I'll have a go at it miself.U can just drill them to the sides yeah? I mean asymmetrically? As long as they don't interfere with one another? Try an' do sth different. I mean u tune the strings yeah? Bah who cares? I'll fix it with intonation or whatever. Turn it in to a violin.
I'm still working on my first build based on your stratocaster build series. Extremely detailed and informative explanations. I enjoy your videos and always love to see what you have in store next. Thanks!
DPS Great to hear !
Has it been 5 years already? I'm revisiting all of the awesome FHCG videos, they still hold up obviously Fletcher is the man!
I'm very happy to see you back posting videos again. I learn something from every video you post - this one included. Thank you very much for posting it.
Mark Lindsay Hey Mark, I appreciate that mate
Very nice David. Welcome back. Love your work.
Steve Laszcz Thanks Steve
Good to see you again Fletcher, it's a joy to watch you work. You make it seem effortless, a real testament to how good you are at what you do. Thanks for the vid!
John Gerson Good to be back, thanks John
This is probably my favourite youtube channel of all the 200-300 ones that I'm subscribing to!
MrSlimfinger Thankyou !
Hi Dave! Thanks so much for your wonderful videos! I was wondering where you buy the rough sawn maple and laminates used in this video...?
This is my favourite channel on You Tube. I can't get enough of these videos. Keep 'em coming please Fletcher :-)
Paul Mahon Thanks Paul
By far, the most informative guitar building channel out there. Nicely done mate, and thank you for sharing your talents with us. Cheers!
Thank you for all those amazing videos Fletcher! They really brought me into building guitars again and now I'm having 3 builds up and running and a lot of friends asked me if I build them a custom guitar because they really like the build quality.
I would have never come so far without your inspiring work here on youtube! I really appreciate seeing this new video from you!
cheers and kind regards from Austria
-Alex
AlexisGitarre That's great to hear Alexis ! Good luck with your builds
Brilliant Craftsmanship! This video should have more views. Always wondered what the term quarter sawn meant. Now I know.
Shain Rochester Good stuff Shain, glad it helped you out
Welcome back Fletcher!
Joe Bigwood :-)
Excellent video, as always. Keep up the good work Mr Fletcher.
SuperBobbster Thankyou
Mr. Fletcher, thanks very much for this tip. It's really great and with the small pieces in the middle, whose the wiser. Nicely done!
This is the best! Best explanation and example of quarter sawn!
The black dyed pieces, do you soak them in dye so that it penetrates enough to not disappear during any cutting or sanding? Thanks!
the veneer looks so nice, really adds to the wood. :) great video as usual!
***** Thanks Mike
This video is exactly what was looking for, thanks
Fletcher's back! Thanks for the great videos!
Jason Standard Welcome Jason
Your work is inspirational. Superb stuff.
So great to see another video from you, Fletcher! I really appreciate your time and effort :)
soundiscomforting Cheers
Always love seeing your videos, thanks for sharing your knowledge and creativity.
Rattlecan Guitar Restorations Thanks mate !
Your a quality person! I appreciate these videos
Hey Dave nice to see another vid!! -think I just decided on my next neck build.Probably use rosewood or ebony(?)for the neck accent.Thanks again and keep em coming-excellent work.
Van Whalen Cheers Van, you cant go wrong with rosewood or ebony accents
so great to have a new video from you!! :)
if you ever have a chance to do a video of your finishing process, thats something i've always wanted to learn more about, especially the products available to us here in Australia, i've been using Cabots Cabothane Clear with some of the Stewmac waterbased pigment, but i'm not sure its the best thing to use.
Nicolas Jayd Hi Nicolas, Its covered in great detail in the build series I am nearly finished filming that will be available on my website soon
Yeeesssssss! Fletch is back
mistershankley He sure is !
Good to see you back Mr Fletcher!... Just wondering if you have ever used Kauri Pine for a solid body? (Apparently Otto timber in SA has some body blanks)
carl leech Hey Carl, I've not used Kauri Pine although I would love to. Go for it !
Nice videos you are making!! Is it possible to do all this without a drum sander? Just use a jointer and a thickness planer?
+knikk77 Yes definately.
Would love to see the glue up process. You have 8 surfaces to apply glue to then clamp up...do you find the West system provides more open time?
What size jointer do you recommend?
As always...sweet work!
Very nice! Now I want to see it going into a guitar! You do great work.
Valuable info as always! I really enjoy watching your work. If I didnt live on the other side of the planet Id join your class :)
Mikkel Bom Simonsen Thanks Mikkel !
Hi again, Fletcher! I recall in one of your videos you comment on the stew mac router bit for the hot rod truss rod. You recommended another one? I'm trying to make a 50s strat neck with a skunk stripe, but the bit isn't quite long enough. The diameter of the shank is slightly larger than cutter, meaning that when I try to fit my inlaying wood for the stripe, it looks like a lose fit. Thanks
What clamping method do you use? Do you have to be concerned about squeezing too much epoxy out of the joint? Finally, have you tried adding the West System 403 Microfibers to improve the wood to wood bond?
Very interesting, cant wait to see the X-Carve start carving some guitars out.
Hello Mr Fletcher! Just wanted to say thank you for going to all the effort to make these videos. I recently built my first guitar, and your videos were essential viewing. It turned out really nice. Have you ever heard of this wood combination before - 5 piece queensland maple and kwila through neck with spotted gum sides? unusual i know, but looks quite stunning! weighs a ton though
callumWLB It sounds nice Callum but the spotted Gum scares me a little. That stuff is seriously heavy
***** yeah, it is pretty heavy for a guitar. It weighs 500g more than my Yamaha bass, but its an 8 string so thats not so bad. I dont intend on ever playing live with it so I just went after looks more than anything
Always enjoy your vids, thanks for posting
dan michael Thanks Dan !
wow, dude, you still alive) nice to see you
Николай Паленков Oh I'm still alive alright ;-)
Love your videos... inspiring!
Nice! Do you make the veneer or buy it? How to know if the veneer is strong enough?
is there a reason you joint over planing?
Nice. Great tip there mate.
Daniel Martin Cheers Daniel !
Been waiting for another video from you! Ditch the veneer and put that bandsaw to work with some rosewood strips.
TroY GrahaM I'll get right onto that Troy ;-)
Really great video! Love the black veneer idea. Thanks. Cheers! --Chris.
Cactus Makeshop Thanks Chris
Very informative video and great camera work and audio. I just have a basic question: what thickness do you aim for when making a neck blank for a fender style guitar? I have some maple here that I'm not sure is quite thick enough. Would it be unwise to make up some thickness when glueing on the fingerboard?
jrmakawoody A Fender style neck is 1" thick - Generally comprised of a 3/4" neck blank and 1/4" fretboard
Would there be any stability advantage to gluing the halves up so that they're book matched? I.E. the grain lines are like this ///\\\ or this \\\///, rather than like this //////.
Thanks for the video.
Cheers Fletch! I have a question about those maple veneer strips you've got. Do you cut and stain those yourself? If so, what's your method for staining? The only time I've tried to stain a veneer strip it didn't penetrate the whole way through, so when sanded later on it basically removed the stain.
Simon Beard Hi Simon, I buy the maple veneer already stained. I've had the same results as you when I've tried to dye it myself.
No worries, nice to know I'm not alone!
On an unrelated note, I've just been in the shed using my scarf joint sanding jig based off one you demonstrated in a video. Your videos have been instrumental in helping me learn to build, so wanted to say a quick thank you!
Great idea. Thanks for sharing.
Saludos desde Puerto Rico.
I think if you continued uploading you would have ended up with a very large subscriber base. These are old vids now but I still haven't found any better guitar making tutorials on youtube. Nothing but positive comments here, and for good reason. Cheers!
Agreed
Do you know I was driving to work very early this morning and I was wondering when you'd post a new vid !!!!
I get home, thought I'd go on TH-cam for 5 mins, and boom, a new vid :)
Rufus D Tonebug Hehe.. Strange things happen sometimes Rufus :-)
always loved multi-laminate necks, did one myself too, it looks very classy, also I think it adds structural strength to the neck compared to a one piece neck, I’m not even sure you really need it to be quarter-sawn, the laminating alone makes for a stronger neck, what’s your opinion on this ?
xGshikamaru I'll always try to laminate it as Qtr sawn if I can but I have laminated flatsawn before without any adverse affects.
Great video! Thanks for this, really helpful.
greysuit17 Your welcome
Never get enough of this channel:-)
Woodeso's Guitar Mods Hey Nelson ! How's life treating you buddy ?
Dude... awesome! Busy!
1. It's nice to see new vids from you! Some of the most educative luthier content on YT I've come accross!
2. This might come out as a stupid question but why do you joint only one side and finish the other one on the drum sander? Is there a negative to jointing both sides?
archfrank My guess is that it's to ensure that the sides are parallel, because jointing a side doesn't guarantee that it'll be perfectly the same angle, all it does is flatten that side. Using the drum sander, with the jointed flat edge on the bottom, ensure that the sander will take off wood from the top in a parallel line to how it is on the bottom.
Dojix Spot on
What a pro. Thanks all the inspiration.
Just out of curiosity, If you glue a joint and then remove most of the joint with the truss route....is that defeating the glue joint?
The glue joint is stronger than the wood itself. Its no different than using a regular 1 piece neck blank assuming it has been glued correctly.
Hi, David. I have a question about planing. Ive seen all these guys who go through a lot of preparation before putting the wood in a planer. I thought the planer was supposed to do those jobs! Let's say I have a piece of wood that's cupped or bowed, or both, or whatever. Cant I just run it through the planer and it will eventually be flat?
No Peter, it wont work. You need to joint a side first and establish a flat base to put through the thicknesser (planer). If you put a cupped piece of wood through it will come out the other end thinner but still retain the cupping. If you look up some videos on squaring timber on TH-cam, you should see the proper steps to achieve this. Cheers, David
Fletcher Handcrafted Guitars Thanks, David. I'll look those up! Pete
Fletcher Handcrafted Guitars David, obviously I'm a rank beginner. Well, maybe an advanced beginner is more like it. So please pardon my ignorance! Now, if I take a piece that is cupped, bowed or otherwise flawed, and shim it to make it level and plane that, will I then get a surface suitable to turn over and plane the other side for an even, flat board? My jointer will only do a 6" board and I prefer, if possible, to use as few pieces as possible. Thanks,
Pete
peterlamborn Yes
Thanks fletcher, almost made the video I wanted.
could you please make a video choseing wood
kaeseistcool I'll add it to the (long) list ! :-)
What is the advantage of a quarter sawn neck?
Welcome back! :-)
***** Thanks Mikael
Hey Fletcher,
Could you please do a video for building, drilling holes, attaching a truss road, and skunk strip into a 1 piece guitar neck?
(Preferably a Fender Telecaster Thinline) haha 😊
Thank you :)
Marie Antoniou Hey Marie, that's a video I will get around to making one day ! :-)
awsome video i learned something today
So an 8 inch piece. 2 inches thick. Then Cut it about 27 long inches I assume. Then cut it in half. And it’s enough for 2 necks from there. Is that Correct. Thanks for this info. Quarter is hard to find.
I assume a 3/8 piece of tiger will make a good finger board. I may try it. So stop me if I’m messin up. Thanks.
Welcome Back ;)
Lolo Momo Thanks Lolo
Sweeett.. and yeah.. welcome back.. :)
Tony Vincenzi Cheers mate !
Welcome back! :D
Btw I have a question. I want to build an electric guitar like you do too. But since its my first time doing something like that I dont want to spend that much money on something like wood. How important is it to use the so called tone wood? Can I just use normal wood for it or will it then sound bad? And can you recommend any cheap wood to buy? I'd say something like under 20-15€?
MCMeru First guitar ? Don't spend a lot on wood. Take my advise and practice on cheap wood. You will be surprised just how great a guitar made from cheap wood can sound.
Thanks so much! :D
I'll see what I can do :)
@@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars You're so cool ! Really dig your work and your train of thought. For my first build can i go ahead and use pine for the neck, i know its not the best wood for that, but i recently got my hands on a lot of 40 year old pine trunks i intend on quartersawning, figure what's the worse that can happen considering it will be a practice project which i will likely screw up anyway lol
perfect!! Thank you!
great trick thank you
Walter Rider Thanks for watching Walter
I´ve missed you
Juani Müller And I've missed you too man ;-)
Right on! Great demo.
Greg's Garage Cheers Greg. How is that nice guitar you built going ?
Fantastic!!! I am recording a little tune with it right now. It has a good solid body growl to it. I'm chomping at the bit ready to start my second build. I am building a CNC router first though. I want to incorporate a few intricate details that will take a LONG time if I do them by hand, so CNC it is!
Greg's Garage Sweet !
Você é o cara!
Thank you, your vids never get old.. MangoHead Likes
Good video
nice
thank you
Thanks for this tip
good stuff . thank you . i am a sponge ill listen to most stuff and that was good stuff
Have you ever though about making other instruments than guitars? For example a violin or some other stringed instrument.
super, brilliant
Anyone really: When you do the veneer strips, do they follow into the headstock, or do you cut them and create a scarf joint or veneer face to the headstock?
Smart method to take advantage of the cheap flatsawn billets
*thumbs up* nice!
***** Cheers mate !
Hey Fletcher Guitars!!! How's about some new vids...I've watched these ones 10 times each and we all want some new ones! Cheers mate!
Yeah..not cool leaving for so long. We need videos!!!
iamfugazi1969 Sorry dude ! ;-) I'm back now
Glad to have you back! I refer people to your videos all the time. They are easily some of the best on youtube. Precise and easy to follow. Thanks for sharing them! I have a topic that you may not be interested, but it would make an interesting video. Fanned frets for multi-scale guitars seem to be all the rage, but no one has really shown the process of building a fretboard or guitar for this. If you are not into that, maybe you know a luthier that would be interested in making a video on this process? I would love to see this!! Thanks again!
iamfugazi1969 Thankyou very much, I really do appreciate the comments.
In facts, the L5 Gibson guitar neck is made in 5 (FIVE) Pieces of wood...
If you are going to that much trouble make it a three piece neck.
Five yrs ago. Anyway. Drilling the holes so early, I never knew that. I'll have a go at it miself.U can just drill them to the sides yeah? I mean asymmetrically? As long as they don't interfere with one another? Try an' do sth different. I mean u tune the strings yeah? Bah who cares? I'll fix it with intonation or whatever. Turn it in to a violin.
No wait, let me guess. You flip a flatsawn board 90 degrees.