Minotaur No 5 / Tupelo (where no fish can swim)

[epizootics]

Well, that was the idea behind the volute. I glued an extra piece of maple at the junction with the headstock to add a bit of extra meat where the truss rod channel had made it more vulnerable. Pre-carving:



It seems to have stopped the ominous flexing I would get pressing down on the peghead with the neck lying flat. Hopefully it'll be enough to keep it in one piece. And I thought it would be fun to pay hommage to the old Martin acoustics:



Those volutes are

[Rgand]

This is a cool project to follow. Looks good so far.

[Steadyriot.]

I was expecting a lot worse for my first fretting of anything ever. The ends are superglued in, though. My fret saw has too wide a kerf for Jescar frets (if anyone is using the ChickenBoneJohn saw out there...Beware).

I was about to get that ChikenBone John fretsaw (and mitrebox + templates). Would you advise against it?
Would be a shame, it's a cool kit and Jescar fretwire is one of the best out there.

[epizootics]

I was expecting a lot worse for my first fretting of anything ever. The ends are superglued in, though. My fret saw has too wide a kerf for Jescar frets (if anyone is using the ChickenBoneJohn saw out there...Beware).

I was about to get that ChikenBone John fretsaw (and mitrebox + templates). Would you advise against it?
Would be a shame, it's a cool kit and Jescar fretwire is one of the best out there.

A bit of a late reply, just got back from Transylvania...(and good lord, the trees they have there!)
This one being my first attempt ever at fretting a neck, I couldn't say for sure. Here's the fretwire I used:

https://www.jescarguitar.com/shop/jesca ... ire-55090/

...which has quite thin a tang, 0.020" vs the announced 0.023" of the ChickenBoneJohn saw, so I suspect the mismatch might have been my fault. The Jescar webpage does state this, though:

"* All FW37053 wire is sold in 24″ straight lengths. Please note that the tang width for the FW37053 is 0.020″ for a standard 0.0230″ fret slot. The tang width for both the FW37053-230 and FW37053-230-EVO is 0.023″ and will require a fingerboard slot of 0.025-0.026″ to install properly."

but it might only apply to the EVO gold stuff.

[Steadyriot.]

I was expecting a lot worse for my first fretting of anything ever. The ends are superglued in, though. My fret saw has too wide a kerf for Jescar frets (if anyone is using the ChickenBoneJohn saw out there...Beware).

I was about to get that ChikenBone John fretsaw (and mitrebox + templates). Would you advise against it?
Would be a shame, it's a cool kit and Jescar fretwire is one of the best out there.

A bit of a late reply, just got back from Transylvania...(and good lord, the trees they have there!)
This one being my first attempt ever at fretting a neck, I couldn't say for sure. Here's the fretwire I used:

https://www.jescarguitar.com/shop/jesca ... ire-55090/

...which has quite thin a tang, 0.020" vs the announced 0.023" of the ChickenBoneJohn saw, so I suspect the mismatch might have been my fault. The Jescar webpage does state this, though:

"* All FW37053 wire is sold in 24″ straight lengths. Please note that the tang width for the FW37053 is 0.020″ for a standard 0.0230″ fret slot. The tang width for both the FW37053-230 and FW37053-230-EVO is 0.023″ and will require a fingerboard slot of 0.025-0.026″ to install properly."

but it might only apply to the EVO gold stuff.

I hope you had a great trip! I've been to Romania, it's a beautifull country (if you forget about the politics!).

Good to know about the fretwire. I bet my hamfisted ways will make it work!
Thanks for the reply!