mistermikev Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 so my next project is going to be a tele... have been playing with the design and have a number of questions in different directions so here goes... 1) not satisfied with the cohesive lack in the below. def going with diamond inlay, def pearloid binding and pickguard, def an ash top that will be died black and def a trem king. wanted to echo the diamonds in the f hole but not really satisfied. maybe a diamond cutout in the pickguard? love the corvette style swoop on the headstock but it seems like it doesn't match w the rest. almost feel like the entire headstock belongs on a dif design. just wondering what your honest thoughts are. push me in some direction. tho it might be painful, your true gut feelings are appreciated. 2) trem king? what say you? too late I bought one. want a bigsby, but have never been happy with how they don't stay in tune and ltd range of motion. hoping this might have the same style 'feel' ie 'sleepwalk vibrato'... but more range. any experience? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 1) I see what you mean. The effing hole just doesn't match! I like the 'Vette type headstock inlay, especially if you carve an indentation for it similarly to the model. You might want to apply the same curves here and there, both in the F-hole and the pickguard. The diamond in the F-hole is not in the same angle with those on the neck but I suppose that's just because of the sketchy nature of the image. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 It's all subjective obviously, but I like it all except for the pickguard - to me, it steels the thunder of that glorious f hole. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 2 hours ago, Bizman62 said: 1) I see what you mean. The effing hole just doesn't match! I like the 'Vette type headstock inlay, especially if you carve an indentation for it similarly to the model. You might want to apply the same curves here and there, both in the F-hole and the pickguard. The diamond in the F-hole is not in the same angle with those on the neck but I suppose that's just because of the sketchy nature of the image. funny, I had tried using the sm swoop as a single f hole... but couldn't get happy with it. had tried to add it to the top of the pickguard but couldn't get happy there either.! thanks for the push. 22 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said: It's all subjective obviously, but I like it all except for the pickguard - to me, it steels the thunder of that glorious f hole. thank you AD. going to play with it some more tonight... I hope to reconcile the two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 How are you thinking of doing the f-hole, is the diamond shape an inlay or a cut out? it could be quite delicate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 52 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said: How are you thinking of doing the f-hole, is the diamond shape an inlay or a cut out? it could be quite delicate I was thinking delicate cutout but i'm not entirely sure about it as is. would probably want to leave at least 1/8" material there and perhaps even reinforce it. Other thought was to inlay some pearloid pickguard while making the other two parts a cutout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 2 minutes ago, mistermikev said: I was thinking delicate cutout but i'm not entirely sure about it as is. would probably want to leave at least 1/8" material there and perhaps even reinforce it. Other thought was to inlay some pearloid pickguard while making the other two parts a cutout. you could have a 1/4" thick top and bevel the underside around the f-hole making it thin at the edges which makes it look thin and delicate without actually being delicate. There is a Crimson video on it, I followed similar principle with the f-hole for the 3.2 but I wish I went a bit thinner around the f-hole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 I was actually thinking of just routing the entire area around them down to 1/8" but I like the idea of following the cutout more closely. I think I'm going to take that idea (thanks for that) but do it with my bowl bit or even a 1/4" bull nose bit. that said... the really delicate bit would be the edges around the diamond. they would probably only be 1/8"... would probably want to reinforce them with a toothpick or something assuming I could cut them without blowout! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 1 hour ago, mistermikev said: reinforce them with a toothpick or something assuming I could cut them without blowout You can glue a piece of gauze or even tighter fabric to the place before cutting the holes, measuring about an inch all around the hole. I'd suggest using cotton or linen or other organic materials as they might live similarly to the wood if the humidity changes. That's a common method used by fiddle and mandolin builders to prevent cracking with straight grain woods like spruce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 3 minutes ago, Bizman62 said: You can glue a piece of gauze or even tighter fabric to the place before cutting the holes, measuring about an inch all around the hole. I'd suggest using cotton or linen or other organic materials as they might live similarly to the wood if the humidity changes. That's a common method used by fiddle and mandolin builders to prevent cracking with straight grain woods like spruce. hmm, interesting and good to know. I'd give you a thanks but I'm all out... again! i guess I must thank people more than avg?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 (edited) Did some more playing around with the 'Vette swoop. Designing a guitar is much easier than designing a scratch plate that big! Anyhow, you can see where I tried to duplicate the shape. The proportions may not be ideal, just copy-pasted the swoop all around the place: Edited May 31, 2019 by Bizman62 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 I like what you did with the f hole... it's a hair big, but there's something there. thank you both for the inspiration. Sometimes just a little push and we're off to the races trying some dif things! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 my immediate creative flow headed off in a more art deco direction 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 33 minutes ago, Urumiko said: my immediate creative flow headed off in a more art deco direction not entirely sure what you mean... please elaborate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 im not sure what i mean either.. something about the headstock just made my mind go to that era of design.. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/markoplnen/art-deco-guitars/?autologin=true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 11 minutes ago, Urumiko said: im not sure what i mean either.. something about the headstock just made my mind go to that era of design.. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/markoplnen/art-deco-guitars/?autologin=true interesting... must be subconscious art deco influence on my part... I am a huge fan of that era of guitars and the modern resurgence of that motif in design. above guitars are beauty. I was uncertain if you were saying my design looked "art deco" as there isn't anything in specific I could point to that is overtly that style... but I like the idea it might invoke that anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 something about the colour scheme and the diamonds i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 that was my initial guess... perhaps the bent style diamonds. good call. sidenote: def using art deco font for headstock so thanks for that push! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted June 1, 2019 Report Share Posted June 1, 2019 Anyone else see Moomin trolls in the f-holes of the upper one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted June 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2019 21 hours ago, Bizman62 said: Anyone else see Moomin trolls in the f-holes of the upper one? i guess... loosely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZekeB Posted June 23, 2019 Report Share Posted June 23, 2019 Not sure how I missed this thread. I love design To me the first picture was right in terms of the curve of the f-hole. I like when the shapes parallel the curvature of the body like the examples urumiko posted.. You might try to put put the outline on a piece of paper and tie the shapes together first. I find the off colors like two tones of whites and textures will trick your eyes before you establish a good balance of shapes. I just overlapped some vector lines and started playing with the shapes. Try and use inkscape (free) to play with the shape. You just grab the little nodes and start bending. I made a svg with the below model if your interested. I'll send it to your email if you'd like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZekeB Posted June 23, 2019 Report Share Posted June 23, 2019 you might try putting your inspiration picture besides your design to tie those elements together too. I like to work simple and build from there. I just can't keep up with all the other variables otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted June 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2019 40 minutes ago, ZekeB said: Not sure how I missed this thread. I love design To me the first picture was right in terms of the curve of the f-hole. I like when the shapes parallel the curvature of the body like the examples urumiko posted.. You might try to put put the outline on a piece of paper and tie the shapes together first. I find the off colors like two tones of whites and textures will trick your eyes before you establish a good balance of shapes. I just overlapped some vector lines and started playing with the shapes. Try and use inkscape (free) to play with the shape. You just grab the little nodes and start bending. I made a svg with the below model if your interested. I'll send it to your email if you'd like. def some interesting stuff there, esp like your take on the f hole. fattening it up looks v nice and more than that would be a more practical design. originally my big problem was tying the headstock to the body more... but in playing with my design it occurs to me that there isn't much room for a logo with current headstock... so it seems I'm getting further away as opposed to closer together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted June 30, 2019 Report Share Posted June 30, 2019 I'm a bit late to the party and also quite tired, but I have a couple of thoughts: 1. I feel like the F-hole and pickguard are competing for our attention. Maybe restricting it to the upper bout would leave the pickguard as a clearer focal point. 2. In terms of the headstock, it would work to accent the two humps at the bottom with a gentle sweep. That might look more cohesive in context of the headstock area. I can't tell if you'd get away with using the accent as a continuation/conclusion of the pickguard shape. This shows what I mean, but with the jitteriest lines I can manage: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted June 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2019 stu I'm reading your post while I was working on my drawing at the 'template level'... I was thinking I might take a look at the f hole with this style but smaller - like you suggested - just to see how it looks... but my photoshop template is setup such that it isn't easy to switch back and forth between this view and my template view... so I'll have to revisit that. I'm not sure a smooth straight line headstock is what I'm after... but you've made me start thinking about another thing I might try to lock it all together - so thanks for that! I very much appreciate your feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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