I'm very grateful to StewMac for the opportunity to see accomplished professionals at work.

The video is really excellent. The progression of work from using files to scraping to smoothing with sandpaper is very clear and well-illustrated. Thanks, Chelsea! Between you, Dan, and Erick, there's a whole curriculum of instrument repair.

This is just outstanding -- excellent tool info, techwork, pointers/ideas/suggestions; nice clear explanation. Many thanks for posting it!

I'm so glad there are people out there who do this.

Just a tip from an old woodworking teacher. I learned (at the Nicholson factory) that all files should ONLY be used in the forward direction, not back and forth. Even on hardwood this can flatten out or dull a file quite quickly. You will find your files stay sharper longer. Great video and very helpful.

@katjoe1974

Жыл бұрын

This is a commonly repeated myth and it simply isn’t true

@keithklassen5320

Жыл бұрын

Check out the video on KZread where a maker tests this myth; it's not even true on metal, nevermind wood. I always used to hear this idea, and was convinced it was true myself for a while, but here we are.

"Seven strings and a Floyd Rose?!" -- That was the best part :)

Great video! It's a pretty rare person who has the skills to do fine luthier work, but also talk about/describe it in a clear, concise way. More Chelsea Clark, please!

"I hope I don't have to set it up!" BAHAHA, I'm with her!!!

best video on the subject I've seen so far. Awesome.

Well done Miss Chelsea. Knows what she is talking about and does it without talking down to viewers. Good sense of humor always a plus.

"7 strings and a Floyd Rose? I hope I don't have to set it up" couldn't agree with you more lol

@DrCowinabox

9 жыл бұрын

HAHAHA i bought a floyd rose guitar awhile ago, set it up, and then proceeded to sell it and swear i would never buy one again. pain in the butt :p

@JgHaverty

9 жыл бұрын

DrCowinabox Not a floyd rose, and setting it up is pretty simple; much easier than setting up a vintage style trem *properly*.

@JgHaverty

9 жыл бұрын

***** No doubt! Intonating any guitar sucks, lets be honest. But yeah, you definitely need that lock!

@JgHaverty

9 жыл бұрын

***** Not everyone like tremolnos...

@ch0g0nda1

9 жыл бұрын

NICKHAM16 Look up the Frudua method of setting a Floyd. They really don't take long to set up once you know the smart way to work.

The contrast in colors is very alluring.

I've got a 7-string FR. The first few string changes were really frustrating, but now I can replace the strings, adjust height, length and tune it in under half an hour. It's my therapy.

Great video! Learned some things that I'll use in the shop. Thanks!

Wow, cool. I learned a lot from this. I have been ordering parts from stew mac since before there was youtube. Glad to see they have a channel with these instructional of videos.

Great attention to detail. Beautiful work.

Nice work, Chelsea. A star is born!

Some remarkable knowledge & skill being shared here. Thanks.

Beautiful work.

Good video. Everything is explained very well.

You're like a master craftsman! Good video and good job!

Nice job!! Really good explanation of all you were doing! Thank you :)

You got some great skills! Thanks for the video.

real finesse work , takes a lotta patience

Thanks for this... I have a neck for a Jem that is 23mm thick that I want brought down to 18mm at the 1st fret. Gonna give it a go after watching this.

My favourite scraper is one I made myself from an old circular saw blade. Convex one side, concave the other. Carefully sharpened straight from a bench grinder it is thick enough and hard enough to remove serious material and the thickness means it doesn't heat up too much in use.

I have never seen this work. Thank you for showing a noob how to shape a neck and using rasps and files the correct way!!

who in the world would give a thumbs down??? this is a great tutorial, she is very skilled

Thats a great trick water before sanding. I would not have thought of that. enjoyed the video Thanks for the tips.

@buckhorncortez

7 жыл бұрын

SOP in cabinet work if you're using water-based stains or finishes. If you don't wet the wood prior to final sanding, then the grain raises when you apply the stain or finish - and then you have a real problem dealing with the grain after you've stained the wood or applied the finish.

Brilliant demo, nice work, ps I love that you clean your file....oh I don't have time to sharpen my chisel, AND your evolution from scraping FROM sanding, would suggest TO MY SHOP teacher of 35 years ago, WTF, scraper are golden, and why breath dust!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice work Chelsea...!

Great job. Fantastic teacher.

Great tips!

I used annealed copper to clean my files, on account of how soft it is- really gets in between, although i don't know whether it would work on these smaller ones

Thanks for this, picked up a few new tips but the best part's at the end, lol!

Excellent job.

Nice work, my wife and I are also in the woodworking world and she felt in love with the straight edge you used, and I would like to know what brand is it.

Very good tutorial and a super personality.

NICE work Chelsea. More please :-)

Great job Chelsea

Nice work

She makes me smile!!

Thanks for the helpful info.

wow nice work you raly take grat care of your files

PLEASE. More videos with Chelsea.

you make it look so easy

Haha! All that awesome detail work and dreading the setup! ;-)

Please post more videos on how to make the neck more playable and feel "broken-in". GREAT VIDEO !!!

thanks! this is actually pretty much the part where I stopped my build at. think I'll finish it up soon as soon as work loosens up at least. lol :)

Gostei muito da sua aula parabém bom trabalho . você e muito simpática .

wow...Awesome!!! Good job.

Great stuff,

Cleaning superglue from the file, that must be fun hehe. Gain knob for the mic level is over 9000!!

Great video. Makes me want to start making guitars, but I like playing them too much for now...

i wish i could take my guitars to her for maintenance etc. super cool

This video is still great in 2024. Go Chelsea!

So nice!

I don’t know if you’ll read this, but it was a lot fun watching you work. A good chuckle at the end, too;)

@stewmac

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Best neck shaping tool in the world is a small spoke shave cast in one piece with a half inch wide blade and handles about 2 3/4 inches long. You can hold it between two fingers and the palm of your hand, you can glide it along and take a deep cut or just a tiny little shaving. The best part is you feel the cut and the neck shape with your hand the whole time your shaping. A quick sanding with 220 then 400 and youre done. Professional luthiers do so many things the absolute hard way it amazing to me to watch, sometimes i cant, i have to switch away.

nice guitar :) great video.

thank you teaching good ideals

Try a 1/4" round piece of bamboo to clean a file especially one with metal chips in it. I think you'll like it.

Great work. I clean my files on a wire wheel. If gunk remains I do what you did.

Great video, as always! Does the scraping and 600 grit sandpaper get in the way of finishing the neck with oil/lacquer/etc.?

great job,thankyou!

Where do you get the Curved S Scraper can't find those anywhere....

great job, thx.

At 4:10 their are nicks in the wood, did you fix them or do they need to be left in???

Really Nice video! I hope you show it when it's totally finished, if you get to do that?

Did you apply polyurethane or nitrocellulose on back of neck ?

great to see girls making guitars! :) great job!

If I had half the skill of Dan and Chelsea I'd be happy.

is it possible to narrow the width of the neck, from the low E to high E? I prefer a thin narrow neck

Very nice video. Try acetone to clean up files...it's quicker and easier on the file edges.

Nice vid.

One of the most professional, and skilled I've seen on youtube

Can I sand down safely a 7 string neck to make it somehow thinner? It's an LTD and not comfortable for my hands to play in standing position. Thank you in advance.

how do you get it perfectly symmetrical?

BTW where's the lucky person that did the final setup? Any video of that, Dan?

I don't know why there are so many comments that are in disbelief that there are female techs out there. When I was working for Ford Motor Co. they had a class we could pay for where the former guitar tech for The Eagles (she spent 20yrs with them) was there to show us how to build and set up our own Carvin kit guitars. Not just that but how to dress and polish the frets as well as clear coat the bodies. I can't remember her name but she was amazing. We were also allowed to bring in our own personal guitars to learn the specific setups for Strats, Teles, Gibsons, and Floyd Rose tremolo set ups.

@MrAletube

5 жыл бұрын

that's because in many countries women are not even allowed to ride a bycicle,they're just in to make babies. That said,women are very good in super detailed and repetitive work,not a rule,just give them a chance to show what they are good at.

@michaelwurn6268

5 жыл бұрын

@@MrAletube Umm they"re pretty much good at everything a man can do not just "super detailed and repetitive work" I doesn't take muscle to lift things either, just intelligent planning.

@Azathoth43

5 жыл бұрын

I've not seen a single comment saying anything related to her being a female. You just made that up.

Is Chelsea in Los Angeles area now?

Well done !! : )

can you clean the files with a wire brush?

heres a real craftswoman with real pro tips

More Chelsea Clark, she's great! (almost as great as Dan Erlewine)

I might have used a little Acetone and the brass brush to clean the super glue out of the file's cutting grooves.

for cleaning the file... use some soft brass... push later laterally.

@georgescarlett2320

7 жыл бұрын

Am I the only one who uses a Fine Wire Wheel? Like a Million "Exacto's at a touch. If the file gets too worn, buy another! Less cost to clean with the wire wheel, and/or buy another, than the shop time invested with the old Exacto "toothpic", just sayin'.

"Seven strings and a Floyd Rose... I hope I don't have to set it up". Yep, I don't blame you one bit.

@RobynTapps

7 жыл бұрын

Tyler Gavin floyds are easy... ugh... just time consuming..

@timhallas4275

7 жыл бұрын

RobTapps88: You keep saying that, but I'll bet you don't have a 7 string guitar with a Floyd on it. Do ya?

@mercatorjubio3804

4 жыл бұрын

Tim Hallas just one string more, where's the problem? If you know how to do it, that is.

@ilpatongi

4 жыл бұрын

Mercator Jubio And this is where you’re wrong

@tqu5759

4 жыл бұрын

@@ilpatongi Nope. He is exactly correct. I do in fact own a 7 string floyd rose guitar and once I set it up correctly it keeps playing like a dream for months.

wow, a file expert:)

to clean files you can use soft brass or hard wood to push across the teeth...

Since I have started paying very close attention to my guitar neck finish, fret ends, profile and so on, my playing has improved. I feel like they guitar is "mine" now for some reason... It always was mine, but now it feels like an extra limb.

@loknloll

9 жыл бұрын

A most awesome comment. You are speaking from the perspective of a true artist. Extremely well said, my friend. Like a mechanic who builds his own hot rods, or a surfer who shapes his own boards, the experience and enjoyment is so much more complete when one has a hand in the development of the instrument.

@JgHaverty

9 жыл бұрын

Always easier to build when your tools dont fight back. Same applies to guitars.

@Billo1281

9 жыл бұрын

Same here, my friend. I've been playing for the last 20 years but like a dummy never really got into learning ALL about the guitar. Now, I've brought my older guitars back to life, and it feels great. Because, like you said, they feel like mine. Cheers.

@georgescarlett2320

7 жыл бұрын

As it should!

@jamesrichard5290

6 жыл бұрын

ben inglis what a cool insight!! kicked open some windows in my mind. thank you dude! cheers

I would use the neck as it was at the start at the video to play and ftw. Or maybe i would work it too. Depending on the mood.

now i know how to clean my rasp!? thank you!

ending is priceless

Great tips there. But I really don't like the circular or horizontal sanding on the neck, should be with the grain 100 % of the time.

@frontbum420

7 жыл бұрын

good point

are you going to show us the finished guitar

Ohh..very nice liuter!!

Great work, with no hifi tools.

This girl is awesome...

final sanding's importance and extensiveness seemed underplayed. though i guess depends what finish is applied that light swirling around 400 or 600 for half a second in random directions just wouldnt fly with an oil finish. guess a thick slab of poly and/or a solid colour paint is more forgiving of whats underneath it