The Mark L Hobo Special

[Our Souls inc.]

I have some wood from some old doors that I'm trying to make a guitar from. Its being built from the "panels", which are spruce (?) ,pretty much quartersawn , and pretty thin.

see pic below

Well, the doors had these recesses already routed into them that held the panels in ( when they were still doors ) and I shaped the sides into a sorta-guitar shape. There is a top panel and a bottom panel, with the "rails" going around the edges. Once all shaped up, I'll wrap the edges in a thin strip to prettify it more. Maybe even bind the top and bottom.

Its getting a deep set neck, probably a 10th fret join, with the fretboard running on into the 20th fret or so. I'm planning on being able to fret chords on the first 5 frets or so, then dipping the board away from the strings in a curve, so the effective "slide" area will be from about the 5th fret down.

I have a ton of questions, and if anyone sees anything they think will make this a real stinker of a build - please try to stop me. I don't know much about hollow guitars, tops, bracing, etc.

Probably not going with any electronics unless its a piezo bridge or something.

I have two ideas on bracing it - one is like an acoustic:

and one would involve a solid block down the center like so:

with sound holes along the upper front and lower front.

Tail-piece bridge system, so a block is going at the butt area regardless of "full hollow" or "block down the middle" style..

I plan on thinning out the top panel because where the thick part is, it expands both ways, probably 3/8" thick. I was going to leave the face upraised in the center and carve out the back of the panel so the thickness is consistent.

Anyone see problems or pitfalls I might be setting myself up for?

I plan on utilizing the door hardware on the build in some capacity, possibly a "hinged" neck or some such funnery......

[tjiscooler]

I think this will kick butt! Great use of a door. My best guess is that it will be like a giant gigarbox guitar.

[dpm99]

Dude, you're nuts.

I smiled all the way through this post. Personally, I wouldn't go with a piezo bridge, just because they're so expensive. I'd use an acoustic bridge with an undersaddle transducer, just to keep the costs down. Then again, I'm a cheapskate. Can't wait to see what comes of this!

[Our Souls inc.]

I've been accused of as much before.

the advice on the piezeo is spot on for me. As you can tell by my willingness to use wood from a door to build a one-off, money isn't in my budget either. Not for this build at least.

Under saddle doo-hickey's sound promising though...... I used to mic my 12 string by loosening all the strings and literally putting a microphone inside of it. It had a good enough sound, but amplified every little bump you made. Maybe an internally mounted microphone with the cable attachment located on the edge of the guitbox, like a regular mic / stand.

Now I'm "runnin off the rails"..........

a giant gigar box.

[dpm99]

I think you need to see this:

[Our Souls inc.]

cool. and cheap. but even I cringed about that HOLE in the side.

Never heard of an end-pin jack, I suppose...........

[Our Souls inc.]

and I think I'm goint to put 4 "windows" in it for a sound-hole. like a door. I'm looking at doors of all kinds to get inspiration. I was thinking of hinging the neck at the bottom, splitting the FB into two sections. the action of the guitar is meant to be high, so getting the FB dead-level isn't as crucial in that area .

There are some big rail-road turn abouts and different old stations around here. I'll be looking at those for some artistic inspiration as well.

The whole hobo vibe is just calling me on this one.

[dpm99]

cool. and cheap. but even I cringed about that HOLE in the side.

Never heard of an end-pin jack, I suppose...........

End pin jacks cost money. Holes are free.

[Our Souls inc.]

cool. and cheap. but even I cringed about that HOLE in the side.

Never heard of an end-pin jack, I suppose...........

End pin jacks cost money. Holes are free.

I'm thinking that area wasn't designed for supporting an output jack / cord and the pressure that they may put out over the years..... I'da still tried to mount it somewhere sturdier on the guitar than there......

[dpm99]

cool. and cheap. but even I cringed about that HOLE in the side.

Never heard of an end-pin jack, I suppose...........

End pin jacks cost money. Holes are free.

I'm thinking that area wasn't designed for supporting an output jack / cord and the pressure that they may put out over the years..... I'da still tried to mount it somewhere sturdier on the guitar than there......

I simply assumed he took of small piece of unfigured maple, bent it to the exact radius of the lower bout, used a series of jigs and tools to prep the inner surface through the soundhole, and found some way to clamp the support in there before he drilled that hole. You're saying he didn't?

Anyway, the DIY piezo thing is a good trick. Imho, most piezos sound pretty much the same anyway, and these can be placed anywhere you like, as that will vary the tone some.

[Our Souls inc.]

I simply assumed he took of small piece of unfigured maple, bent it to the exact radius of the lower bout, used a series of jigs and tools to prep the inner surface through the soundhole, and found some way to clamp the support in there before he drilled that hole. You're saying he didn't?

Anyway, the DIY piezo thing is a good trick. Imho, most piezos sound pretty much the same anyway, and these can be placed anywhere you like, as that will vary the tone some.

Thanks much for the tip - I may end up using that trick .......