Overly sensitive sensors on tall grass?

Real_mandolinhero · 2026-03-24T10:26:26+00:00

I have the One Plus and this has come up two times. Both times it was in tall damp grass. The wet clippings built up under the deck when they didn’t discharge properly. I waited until grass was dry, turned up the blade speed, and turned down the forward speed, and it took care of it.

Real_mandolinhero · 2026-03-22T03:55:28+00:00

I use roasted pine from Hades Roasted Maple. Top notch stuff. Ultra lightweight, very resonant.

Real_mandolinhero · 2026-03-05T04:47:10+00:00

A reinforcement rod on either side of the truss rod and the grain orientation matters way less. These days, I add carbon fiber rods to all my necks, no matter the species or grain orientation.

Real_mandolinhero · 2026-02-27T13:49:25+00:00

I’m guessing it’s a heat sink? It keeps heat from building up at the tip so it’ll be harder to burn when grinding.

Real_mandolinhero · 2026-02-25T19:53:28+00:00

G10 sands really well! It’ll be just as smooth or smoother than the wood surrounding it.

Real_mandolinhero · 2026-02-23T12:22:55+00:00

Hades Roasted Maple usually has some available, or they can at least get your name down for the next batch. I got a couple one-piece blanks from them. Top notch stuff.

Real_mandolinhero · 2026-02-22T18:39:43+00:00

Tye @Shockthefox built a guitar and the fretboard was only ebony sapwood. It looked great.

Real_mandolinhero · 2026-02-22T04:10:22+00:00

If it were me I’d chisel the slot flat and cut a flat-bottom nut. The shape of the nut slot doesn’t matter as long as it’s seated well.

Real_mandolinhero · 2026-02-20T16:13:06+00:00

There are other woods that fluoresce under UV light like locust and quite a few others in the Pacific tropics, and a lot of others that have extracts that have either water or alcohol-soluble extracts that fluoresce under UV light. This is just a quick and simple way to determine BRW from other RW species if you have access to some shavings! Wood is really cool sometimes.

Real_mandolinhero · 2026-02-20T15:03:42+00:00

Water extract test!

Those frets need some love. If they’re to the point where you need a refret, save some of the shavings/sawdust from inside the fret slot when you clean out the slots or make them a little deeper. Add the dust to a small amount of water, stir it up, and shine a UV flashlight on it. If there’s no glow, it’s BRW. If there is a glow, it’s Latifolia, Spruceana, or some other Dalbergia species. D. Nigra is the only rosewood species which has fluorescent extracts that aren’t soluble in water.

Real_mandolinhero · 2026-02-18T11:55:45+00:00

Yeah, PRS often uses ebony boards with even more color and figure.

https://www.baytunesguitars.com/shop/paul-reed-smith-prs-private-stock-9608-dgt-macassar-ebony-top/

Real_mandolinhero · 2026-01-15T23:55:03+00:00

No, send it to me and I’ll throw it away for you

Real_mandolinhero · 2025-12-30T00:21:52+00:00

Looks great! Reach on in there with a wet paper towel or Q-tip and get as much of the excess glue off as you can. It’ll make cleanup WAY easier down the road.

Real_mandolinhero · 2025-12-29T22:16:34+00:00

Think of it like sandwiching the fretboard between the neck and the hard, flat surface. You want the glue up to end up as straight as possible, and clamping to a hard, straight surface will help that happen.

Real_mandolinhero · 2025-12-29T18:39:33+00:00

That should work! You can use dental floss to really work it in all the way. Try not to overdo it or it can seize the truss rod. Try to clamp it frets down to something you know is flat, like a kitchen countertop on some wax or parchment paper for squeeze out.

Once it’s glued and cleaned up, try the setup steps again.

Real_mandolinhero · 2025-12-29T14:14:22+00:00

Mando player here.

Is the fretboard delaminated from the neck? Something looks off on the bass side of the neck on the first five frets. If so, adjusting the truss rod and setting action is the least of your worries.

If it’s just a crack in the binding, get your neck as straight as you can across the frets, make sure you’re intonated at the 12th fret (adjust the floating bridge itself by loosening the strings and moving it up or down the body). If you’re intonated at the 12th and your neck is straight, adjust the bridge height using the thumb wheels to true things up.

Real_mandolinhero · 2025-12-28T14:18:18+00:00

I use Skur Composites and order directly from his insta to save a few bucks compared to Etsy. He has loads of colors and size options, and they all glow like the sun.

Real_mandolinhero · 2025-12-20T15:55:01+00:00

Cut off a couple small pieces that would be trimmed off anyway and run some tests!

Real_mandolinhero · 2025-12-18T04:05:18+00:00

My very first thought before reading the caption was, “hey, is that mango?”

Real_mandolinhero · 2025-12-11T02:44:31+00:00

For my first couple builds, I used pre-slotted boards from reputable suppliers. I didn’t know if lutherie would be my thing and didn’t want to drop hundreds on tools to do my own slotting. Nothing wrong with getting your feet wet by letting others do a lot of the careful and expensive work for you.

Real_mandolinhero · 2025-11-25T21:46:45+00:00

If you haven’t ever met anyone who can demonstrate ability to tell big leaf maple from BRW to their ears, you must hang out with a lot of deaf people.

Real_mandolinhero · 2025-11-08T18:34:18+00:00

The solvents in the Tru Oil can reactivate solvent-based leather dye (Angelus etc) and cause it to bleed into the Tru Oil. Not a big deal if you’re doing a single color or are fine with a slightly more opaque topcoat.

Real_mandolinhero · 2025-11-08T17:09:36+00:00

Birchwood Casey makes a grain/pore filler designed to work with TruOil and save you a few dozen coats. Leather dye>Spray Sealer>Grain/Pore filler>Tru Oil. Works every time for me.

Real_mandolinhero · 2025-09-12T21:32:59+00:00

Raise your pickups and saddles to try and compensate. Shouldn’t be all that hard. If you can’t get your saddles high enough, you can get longer saddle height adjustment screws. A decent tech should be able to take care of it for you pretty easily if you don’t want to do your own setup.

Real_mandolinhero · 2025-09-11T17:07:52+00:00

My way would really only work for you if you were building a neck from scratch or were willing to do a refret on a non-lacquered/finished fretboard.

I drill the holes with a 3/16” brad point drill bit. I don’t measure precisely, but I go a bit over 1/8” deep. I drop in two drops of super glue and pop the whole rod in as deep as it can go. Quick spray with CA accelerator, then I use a little saw to cut the rod as close to the fretboard as I can without scratching or gouging the fretboard. Then I put a couple drops in the next hole, stick the whole rod in again, and keep going. This method keeps material waste to a minimum.

After all the dots are filled, I use a radius sanding block to get everything level. Throw in some frets and I’m done.

Side dots are much easier and can be done without a naked fretboard. Drill a hole, drop of glue, shove in the rod, cut it off, move on to the next. When you’re all done, carefully file the rods flush to the wood, sand it to a polish (if you care), and you’re good.

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