Squareneck Resonator Build (Amplified)

[Dave Bagwill]

Rookie question: differences between a square neck and round neck what?

[Dennis in Anola]

Round neck has wire frets and is played like a standard acoustic guitar. Square neck had the strings raised approximately 3/8" off the fretboard and is played lap style with a metal bar. The frets are only postion markers for the bar so it doesn't really matter what they are made of. They are a visual reference only.

Also, a square necked Dobro doesn't have or need a truss rod because the neck itself is so robust.

[Dennis in Anola]

My binding strips finally arrived so I was able to rout the channels and bind the bottom. I'm using white plastic bindings since the plan is to eventually apply a transparent burgundy stain finish if all goes well. I decided to mask the channel edges as well as the outer surface of the binding to minimize glue clean up. I want to avoid sanding through the top laminate layer if at all possible. I'll see how this approach works before I bind the top. BTW, I used Sigment (clear model airplane glue) to attach the binding. It adhere's plastic to wood very well.

[TonyinNYC]

Pretty cool build so far. I can't wait to see it finished. I'm sure you feel the same way though!!

[Dennis in Anola]

A little more progress today. I'm pleased the binding worked out according to plan with very little glue cleanup required. The entire body has been sanded down to 320 grit. I have to do a touch more sanding on the sides in the waist area and it will be ready for stain. I've never done a transparent stained finish before so I'm going to need a guardian angel to help me through it.

[Dennis in Anola]

Today I managed to apply five coats of stain. First, I tested the stain on some extra material to find that the wood (mahogany neck in particular) did not stain evenly. It dried blotchy, which is apparently normal for some types of wood. So, I srayed on a very light blocker coat of Behlin clear lacquer which dried almost instantly onto the entire guitar. I sanded that coat very lightly with 600 grit and then applied the stain. I'm pleased with the results so far. Here's a picture taken right after I removed the masking tape from the bindings. I'm very relieved to have very little cleanup on the bindings.

[ken cierp]

Good idea using a seal coat. Minwax sells a conditioner which is supposed to prevent stain blotching for both solvent stains and one for WB as well. I think your method was less of a hasle. Looks good, bet it will look great under a gloss top coat.