Doing Things Wrong

Radiatabacker Part IIa

A lot of work for not much to show

I made some small adjustments to the outline, and finished the neck mounting. And a lot of sanding. The drywall sander is a godsend, it works much better than a block, and really saves your hands. But my arms feel like lead.

I also did the roundovers on the back, a mix of 1/4" and 3/4". You can see the small fillets I left at the base of the neck mount. I could have squared those corners with a file, but this will be less prone to crack the finish. The neck will cover them.

And a lot more sanding on the back, I found a spot where the belt sander had dug too deep. It's as flat as a mirror now.

Detail of the neck mount and horns. I'll use a standard Fender mounting plate for the added strength, since this body is rather thin. The front body edge will get binding. Now I think it's time to start roughing-out a neck. Fortunately, I have a model right at hand that I can simply copy - the Superfreak. Speaking of which, that one is ready for final assembly.


There is a lot of nonsense that gets floated through the guitar industry about neck mountings, mostly invented by marketing departments to justify outlandish prices. 'Set' and 'through' necks are simply luthiery baggage from the middle ages, literally, as in 500 years ago before screws had been invented, or at least were in common use. Any difference in tone or sustain is purely imaginary on the part of the sucker who paid an extra thousand dollars for it, and has no choice but to believe the BS or admit he was had.