Semi - Mosrite?

[dorkrockrecords]

I hate to break it to you, Mel, but the damage didn't happen in transit. A couple years ago I got the "custom" Mosrite bug too and ordered some parts from Curtis - it only took a series of four necks to find one that was kind of straight enough to work with, and it took a good deal of finessing. The NOS stockpile has been highly depleted, and my guess is many of the parts were not just left over by Uncle Semie and company, but rejected (for off-center trussrod channels, knots, finish defects, warped necks, etc).

[MWaldorf]

Adam,
Yeah, it's not surprising that they'd be near the bottom of the barrel and that some of these parts were factory seconds. Hopefully I can get a neck I can work with; Curtis does seem to want things to be right. So, did you complete your custom Mosrite? If so, what did you build?
Mel

[MWaldorf]

Minor update - I measured the three EF Elliot pickups. Neck reads 10.62K, Middle is 12.06K, and Bridge is 12.91K, so I suppose that is the difference between them.

[sleeperNY]

Most guitars will have a hotter pickup at the bridge because there is less string vibration there and it helps balance the output better.

[dubtrub]

Danny,
Apparently the bearings are Torrington B36, Needle Bearings, and Ford parts have them. I did a quick look and found them on amazon for about $10 a pop.

Mel, I gave you some bum information about thinking those were machined out of solid steel and not needle bearing. After taking apart my most recent acquisition, a sunburst '64 Ventures model, I found that those little bearings were in fact miniature needle bearings. So get the Torrington's, it's the right bearing.

[MWaldorf]

Dub,
No problem. I got the torringtons and they're going to fit. I still need to get the Moseley plate chromed before I assemble the vibrato so I won't know the final fit for a while. Interestingly, the bearings on my '66 Ventures model are stamped "Torrington B-46", but they appear to be the same as the B-36, at least in outward dimension.
Otherwise, I'm still waiting on the replacement neck, then hopefully I'll really be able to get going on this.
Mel

[MWaldorf]

I got my replacement neck in the mail today - this one's going to work. The profile is decidedly un-Mosritey, it's a chunky "C" that feels very similar to my '66 Jazzmaster, but the frets are nice and small. Better yet the fretboard is nice and straight! The neck looks wider at the nut that my Ventures model, but measures out within a 1/16" of the vintage neck.
It's not a bound neck, which will make my job a bit easier. It still needs side dot markers, but first things first will be fitting it to the body - it's about an 1/8" wider than the neck pocket on the guitar, so I'll widen the pocket. Then I'm going to cut the string guide down. More news as it happens...

[MWaldorf]

Finally got some time to work on my Partsrite last night. First I cut the string nut barrel, as described with pictures in the thread on "How to cut a string guide?" Then I started on the neck. The neck was 2/16" wider than the neck pocket. I decided to widen the neck pocket instead of trying to narrow the neck. My main concerned in this process were neck alignment and a tight neck pocket. Here are some pictures of the process:

First, the neck and pocket, showing the mismatch


Now, the pocket as I got it.


Pocket with some sanding. I used a hand rasp at first and then a wood block with sandpaper wrapped on the sides to try and maintain right angles.


The neck is starting to fit.


To try to align the neck, I put the middle and bridge pickups in their holes to have some idea where the bridge will end up.


Neck pocket finished. I oversanded a bit on the outer edge of the treble bout, but the pocket is still tight.


The neck had no screw holes, so I wanted to make sure I didn't screw up the alignment here. I used a straightedge to manage the alignment, eyeballing the space on the sides of the pickup poles on the treble and bass sides of the neck.


Just a glamour shot - this is going to look nice! Also, a point of warning - I had measured the neck to bridge clearance prior to this, with only the bridge pickup in place, and the clearance for the string scale was fine. As I was soon to learn, I should have measured with all the pickups in place.


It turns out that the proper neck alignment was acheived by resting the heel of the neck on the neck pickup ring, so I mounted the pickups to use as a guide when I drilled the holes for the neck screws.


Tada - neck screw holes! Note that the lower holes are pretty close to the bottom of the neck. Seemed strange to me, and probably was a good hint of what I would discover.


Here's the neck plate, which, it turns out, has different screw placement than the body! The holes on the body are spaced more closely from the treble to bass sides. I suspect the V3 may not have had a neck plate, or maybe a decorative one like on the early Ventures models. Curious.


OK, now the moment of truth - with all three pickups installed and the neck mounted, the bridge is too far back to set the scale intonation! What happened?!? If the neck is set all the way to the back of the neck pocket, the measurements are fine, but the neck pickup pushes the neck further from the body. Here's the neck up against the body with a pencil mark showing where the neck pickup hits it.


Now, finishing up for the night, I know I'm going to have to cut the end of the fretboard off to make clearance for the neck pickup. This means I'll also be drilling new neck holes, so I filled the previous holes with wood dowels and glued them.


As it turns out, I also misaligned the middle pickup, so I doweled and glued those holes too. My plan is to remount the middle pickup after I mount the bridge so I have a better chance of aligning it properly!


After gluing the neck and body dowels, I turned my attention to the vibrato. The vibrato string plate I have had a hole that's too small for the Hallmark arm I got, as can be seen here.


I widen the hole with a hand reamer and got the parts assembled.


So, what have I learned so far? Well, there's more to a Parts-rite than an assembly of parts. The neck misalignment makes me curious what the process for neck construction was - how did this neck get finished with a fretboard this long? Was it for a different model with different bridge placement? Or was there a next fitting and cutting process that this neck never got? What's up with the neck mounting screw hole placement on the body? What's up with the vibrato plate - what arm what that supposed to go with? Were these mistake parts, parts for alternate designs or parts that were in process?

Next up will be cutting the heel of the neck and re-drilling it. Then I'll mount the bridge. More pictures as it happens.

[dubtrub]

The neck misalignment makes me curious what the process for neck construction was - how did this neck get finished with a fretboard this long? Was it for a different model with different bridge placement? Or was there a next fitting and cutting process that this neck never got? What's up with the neck mounting screw hole placement on the body? What's up with the vibrato plate - what arm what that supposed to go with? Were these mistake parts, parts for alternate designs or parts that were in process?

Mel, I think it has become obvious that all of these Canadian parts are all mismatched or rejected parts as seen by those being sold on eBay. Probably the reason the neck will have to be recessed at the fretboard is because it was probably made for a two pickup version. But that doesn't mean therer's anthing wrong with it, it just needs to be retro fitted. Which it sounds like you've got it under control.

One point. Be sure you measure from the center line of the zero fret to center line of the twelfth fret to get the proper distance from the twelfth fret to the center line of the bridge. Sounds like you probably already did this to determine that the fretboard has to be cut back. I just want to make sure. Remember, measure once, twice, then after the third time and if you are sure, then cut.

Also, looking at the pictures of the string guide. It appears that this particular one is for the narrow neck standard model. Isn't that going to put you E strings about 1/4 inches in from the edge? Compare the distance from the lineal edge of fretboard on your '66. Is this is going to put your string spacing too close for such a wide neck?

One other thing I'll point out. This is just my opinion from looking at these Canadian necks. It appears that they have not received the final shaping as the heel from the body of the guitar body extends way too for forward. I believe this is the rough shape as it comes from the planer and it needs to dressed down to the final contour both in the length and the radius of the bottom side of the neck. I'm sure it can be assembled and played like that but I don't think that is the way it is suppose to be.

Look's like you are doing a great job so far.

[Dennisthe Menace]

Mel, that's a darn good job......also,.......I'm glad I'm not doing that......