Quick question – Erlewine neck jig and Proper workstation

[Corey Williams Noank Guitar Repair]

I just got my proper workstation a week ago and am not adept at using it yet, so I cannot say if you can simulate string tension with it. I bet you can though!

I do know they sell an add on from total vise that makes the stew mac neck jig compatible with the total vise setup. If you have a neck jig already that may be a nice way to go!

[Joseph DiTucci Guitar Repair & Learning Center]

They are two totally different systems. However, both can be used for fret leveling under string tension if you can use the Stewmac Fretbar understring leveler. The advantage of the Erlewine Neck jig, is you can take the strings off the neck to do your leveling and have dial indicators to show you that your neck is perfectly straight when performing the work. The Proper workstation does not have that ability…however, when paired with the total vise the Porper station has the ability to move easily in all directions… making it a nice alternative for a free standing tech bench if you don’t have a lot of room in your shop.

I love my Erlewine neck jig workstation. I have it set up on the stewmac shopstand and angle vice, it does the job very well…However, at times I do wish I could move it around the way you can with a proper workstation. I have been tempted to modify my neck jig to something similar to a total vise but hate to mess with a proven system…”if it aint broke dont fix it” kind of thing. they do have a bracket to hook the neck jig in to the total vise but not sure it will have the ability to move like the Proper station…but would most likely be able to swap them out on the mount if you had both systems. Good luck with whatever you decide to go with.

I am curious if any others have found a way to make their neck jig move like a proper station…

[Joe Madia Valentino Guitars]

Great info, thank you!

[Manuel Bonilla Beya guitars]

I do have not the real “Erlewine Neck jig” but a wooden one I cheaply made after the Dan’s ones on the Stewmac books and videos. Quite basic, it was meant to be a first trial to test everything… but it’s been the “pony” for all my fret work since I made it and I never found the moment to do the better version. Guess you know what I mean, and I had plenty long hair on my head back then those days

The thing is that, since I watched Doug using the “Proper workstation “ I knew I badly needed it and that It would be great in conjunction with the neck jig. For lots of reasons, but mainly for my growing age related pains. And living in Spain importing anything from USA is completely prohibitive: sending and parcels taxes can easily grow the bill to double the original price (and that’s the reason I couldn’t keep my GAL suscription :(. ).

So… here comes my next iteration on directly Loothgroup-inspired/deeply thankfull/stolen holding jigs + neck jigs ideas. I’ve been working on the idea for about two months now on and I’m beginning to feel it right now.

I’ve built and tested a handfull of holding and rotating jigs and different vises to make a modular set of specialized holding jigs attachable to a rotary base/vise.

The “rotary vise” is a modification of the stewmac vise jaws to fit and interact with a simple wood and metal jig between them.

Among the different jigs I’m trying for different needs is an instrument holder capable of accommodate all sort of instruments both to the rotary vise alone for all kind of jobs or all together with the neck jig for fret work.

By now, I’ve made yet a handfull of trials and errors both on the “rotary base” and onto the “holding modules “, but the “neck jig” itself is the old “mock up” I made lo ago after suffering all sorts of injuries in order to accommodate it to the “guitar holder”. And as soon as I test it on different scenarios I can easily think of to know the pros and cons, I’ll change what need to be changed to make it work better in a new version.

The last versions, after testing at the bench on the day to day appearing scenarios, seem to just work great and as soon as I have the time to do it I will share it onto the TOOLS & JIGS section of the forum.

And here you have the proof it can handle even the instruments you DO NOT WANT to hold on your bench (watch on the 3er picture: the ¨Proper¨ tool for the proper job?😋

[Manuel Bonilla Beya guitars]

By now I have only one picture using both the holder (one of the previous versions) attached to the neck jig

[Ian Davlin The Looth Group]

Dude, the ovation holder is a killer move !

[Doug Proper Guitar Specialist]

The “Proper’s Guitar Workstation ” from Total Vise does allow you to simulate string tension with the additional expansion package that they sell.

The difference between that and the SM neck jig, is that the neck jig is designed with the dial indicators built in under the neck. My preference has always been to read the board and not the back of the neck.

Here are a bunch of links demonstration how the PGW allows for string tension simulation…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqAeGZBvVGP/?igsh=YzhiZHZyZnQyZnh4

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqDLkPeMRyE/?igsh=a3FxcnpoeXZhZzd2

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqF7ERDNYzk/?igsh=MTF6dW11a2p4MzV2NA==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtL89vCPdpr/?igsh=MWxwbmpzaXcxZ253Nw==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CurUzggL-Tt/?igsh=cmRqam56amJna2x2

You also have the ability to work with an unders-string leveler if you wish.

It also wouldn’t surprise you that I’m more of a believer in the PGW over the SM neck jig. I won’t spell out all the advantages of one over the other, but suffice it to say that the Total Vise workstation does everything that the SM jig does and quite a few things that I could never accomplish.

instagram.com

Guitar Specialist on Instagram: "This just happened... With the new expansion package for the "Proper's Guitar Workstation" from @totalvise you can easily simulate string tension during fretwork without taking 30 minutes to jig up a guitar. With my shop made brackets, some 1/4"×20 threaded rod and some knobs I can simulate the pull of the strings on any acoustic or electric guitar. I can even simulate a twist in the neck. Credit for this idea goes to my pal Trevor Healy @healyguitars More to come.. Your questions and comments are always welcome. Check out the "Proper's Guitar Workstation" at totalvise.com or @totalvise"

455 likes, 18 comments - guitarspecialistinc on March 20, 2023: "This just happened... With the new expansion package for the "Proper's Guitar Workstation" from @totalvise you can easily simulate string tension during fretwork without taking 30 minutes to jig up … Continue reading