BC Rich Eagle

BC Rich Seagull

Malcolm Young Gretsch

PRS S2 Vela

Steinberger XT-2

Rickenbacker 330/12 (with a wider 660/12 neck)

So I'd decided to consider how to make a reasonably compact but accurate drum sander that doesn't contaminate my apartment with dust, yet provides me with a precision of something in the region of 0,1mm.

Challenge accepted.

Ya,  they might look great but, are the necessary?

I played for years and only looked on the side markers in order to know where I was..

My next guitar will have side markers  only.

Hope I got the right forum?

I was gonna print out a template for guitar frets from a site , but when I check the measurements that they listed they don't seem to be correct based on the formula given. They have 1.43126 distance from nut to first fret instead of 1.43121 which should be the distance. All the other frets are also off. I'm not talking about a printout but rather the given numbers listed on the site.

1- Have I done the math wrong?

2 - Does the site compensate for using a nut instead of a zero fret?

this is the site https://www.ekips.org/tools/guitar/fretfind2d/

If its due to compensation for the nut does anyone know of a site that has a calculator that creates a printout [ to use in printer]  for a zero fret neck?

1. For a hollowbody/acoustic guitar, is there any way of quantifying the extra bracing/supports needed to support the extra tension? Is this purely done in the bracing?
2. For a solidbody, are there any changes necessary other than adding the extra strings? How much wider does the nut/neck have to be?

I will probably end up building a solidbody first as it's much simpler, but I'm also interested in the construction of a hollowbody/acoustic also so if anybody can point me in the direction of some basic plans for both that would be great.

I just wanted to let people know that I released a software to generate stringed instrument layouts (aka fingerboard).

It is called SiGen and stands for Stringed Instrument layout Generator.

I started this project a long time ago and I finally have something that is complete enough to be used by everyone.

The software allows a lot of customization through simple inputs/parameters and can export layouts in DXF or SVG.

I started this project originally only to have a tool that could handle both metric and imperial values at the same time, a frustration I had with a free tool on the web. But after building the base engine to generate a fretboard layout, I realized that I had an open playground to experiment and that there was a lot that could be added. 

Then I used this project to try to understand something that was fascinating me since I first saw it: fret compensation (aka true temperament). 
After many research and experiments, I managed to develop something that could produce close enough results to the pictures I found on the web. Sadly, since calculating frets compensation requires a lot of values and physical properties, the app does not allow yet a way to input all those values but the core functionality is implemented. For the moment it is required to manually edit a layout file to be able to generate a layout with fret compensation. Fully integrating this functionality is in my to-do list.

You can get the latest release on GitHub here SiGen latest release

If you encounter any issue with the software or have any suggestion you can open an issue on my GitHub project page (if you have an account) or PM me on project guitar.

Here is a couple images showing what it can do:

5 string banjo layout

Dual scale layout (aka multiscale)

Fret compensation

On-screen measuring

A super light weight electric guitar?

A hollow body or semi-hollowbody?

How to overcome this pain? Doctors do not have answers.

I appreciate your thoughts.

Glen

Figured  I could make a medium scale instrument out of it, without making it larger than the Squier Rascal bass, given that the bridge is quite far inward.

Let's first finish the other projects  but this could be an interesting follow-up (obviously the P-pickup needs to be replaced by a wide range humbucker, but I do not have the pickup yet, so I do not have the dimensions).

rasc4.pdf

Those are actually from the late 30's by RCA for all sorts of electronics, the range consisted of 4 sizes, and I think they are using the XS size on the basses, the M an L sizes are humongous.

Did a few models today, see here:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7035893

so I was wondering if you might have suggestions for how to inverse radius. I was thinking to draw the outline of the radius at one end and then use my palm router to cut at different depths around the curve. This would give me a rough stepped cutout and then I could sand out the rest with sandpaper placed on the radiused maple neck that the fretboard needs to be glued to eventually. 
 

any suggestions? 

I am crafting myself a Rick-inspired 5 string bass, but I am having trouble finding that really cool "Horseshoe" bridge pickup for a 5 STRING.  This is what I'm after:

Does anyone know where I could get one for 5, or if I could maybe make this work - IF I build my own bobbins to fit inside?  Maybe a bit of modification?  Just don't know if it would be wide enough.

Thanks in advance!

Pro: doesn't depend on glue or screws, removable, simple assembly

Con: tight tolerances, may loosen over time, unfamiliarity, maintenance requires expertise/shims/both

Given the benefits, why is this type of joint not used more often? I'm a beginner in both woodworking and guitar building so I'm hoping more experienced / wiser people can help shed some light on this mystery for me. Or is it used more often than I think (googling "sliding dovetail guitar neck joint" returns a lot of acoustic results but their dovetail is rotated 90 degrees compared to this)?

LOGO, serial number, Date, Signature, etc.

So far I've just been putting 001, 002, 003, etc.

I justified it as a graduation present. So $3500 and a few days later, it arrived. 

It was beautiful, and, owing to the roasted neck and body, came in under 7 lbs. I picked it up and did some minor setup adjustments and started playing.

It sounded like a Stratocaster. Which is great! With that I realized that I had just spent half a used car on what could have been had for $150 just with a different brand. Also, nitro necks are officially a no go for me. Other small things that sealed the deal were a non-recessed trem cavity cover and a warped pickguard. I hadn't noticed the trem cavity cover in pictures and I suppose using vintage correct plastics means that warping is a likely possibility.

I returned it and began scheming to essentially copy my favorite aspects of it. 

So here are my list of specs.

Roasted alder body

1 piece Roasted maple neck w/ plain maple skunk stripe.

SS frets. 

2 tone sunburst nitro finish (minus the neck)

two post tremelo.

I can do all these things while incorporating my own design choices to make it an s-style rather than a strat replica, but I am tempted to just copy the EBMM headstock because it is so compact. I want to downsize the body a bit as I feel that strats are abnormally long for no apparent reason. The EBMM Cutlass seems to be a bit smaller. Does anyone have experience with downsizing strat bodies slightly? What is the percentage of full size that starts making the guitar look mini, rather than full size? 

Enjoy!

I'm in the middle of a LP-style single-cut build. I'm going to be using a traditional LP-style tenon, not because I need or want it to be vintage-authentic or anything, I think I'd just be left with too little material in the body on the cutaway side of the neck if I tried to go full width. My question is this - I'm thinking about incorporating a comfort carve on the neck heel of my joint, similar to what PJ Eggle does on their Macons. (my body is just the standard Les Paul shape). 

My question is - would there be any structural issues with this? My body thickness at the neck joint is 47mm - I'm thinking I could carve away 1cm, then have 1cm of material on the back - which would mean a 27mm thick neck tenon (this minimum thickness is only right at the edge too, since the bottom of the mortise will be parallel to the neck angle). Does this sound okay (follow-up - if it is okay, can I afford to lose any more material from the 27mm)? 

after a pretty rough end of the year rush, I am starting to plan my second build. This time around, I am toying with the idea of designing my "own" headstock, with heavy inspiration from headstocks I like and an idea of how I want it to look like to go with the body style.

But I realize I have no idea how to do it and ressources are scarce (or I couldn't find the right keywords to search?).

I am currently aiming for a 10° headstock angle and a 3+3 style. I made it so the tuners are all equidistant from the edge of the headstock, but I am not taking into account string thickness to offset the tuner holes. The string pull isn't perfectly straight, it has a slight angle (symetrical for unwound and wound strings.). Any red flags so far? Anything I should be aware of?

At that stage my CAD looks like this (subjective feedback also welcome!):

Hope everyone has had a great weekend!

Looking for separate guitar bodies and necks I can find people selling. 
Or buying an inexpensive guitar and modifying it. 
Let me know which will be most worth my time/money. 
 

thanks

In this thread are a few personal musings, but hopefully also the opportunity for us to share experiences, good and bad, of some of the less conventional body shapes.

We all know how conservative we all are - most guitars bought and sold are still based on dimensions and shapes that were a result, rather than cause, of practical considerations prevailing 50+ years ago: if your blade switch 50 years ago was 1.75" high, then that's at least how deep the body needs to be, etc, etc..

I've done a few builds that have started to break out of that mind-set, usually driven by folks who wanted something specific from their builds and mods.  

The first was Pete's Jack Bruce Thumb tribute.  I'll be honest - I'd never seen or touched a Warwick Thumb until after the build was finished.  However, I did find this picture on the internet - a feature I incorporated in my tribute:

Also, to be honest, I never gave it much thought why Warwick might have done that.  But my own effort, made out of stunningly heavy bubinga:

...wasn't quite as heavy as I thought it might be.  Hmmm...that's worth remembering....

The next leg of my journey was Tom's African Bass.  If you remember, Tom had been given a 'bass body' by an African traditional drum maker to build a bass from.  It was of unknown and unsuitable wood with loads and spreading cracks in it and it was VERY, VERY thin!!

This was what I made from it:

Now THAT's what I call a slim heel...

Hmmm...that's worth trying again

I was so impressed with how Pete's Jack Bruce tribute felt to play (he lets me play a few numbers on it during our gigs ), that I built a fretless for myself.  Different shape, but same woods and overall dimensions, and incorporating a back cutaway and also the slim neck heel of Tom's African bass:

And I realised that this was one of the most comfortable basses I had played.  And that got me thinking...

In the next post I'll cover one or two intentional developments from the above 'happy accidents', and the one on the drawing board at the moment that will either showcase the concept....or comprehensively shoot it down in flames 

Les Paul DC body

Dual humbuckers

neck thru construction

24 frets

string thru with TOM bridge

body wood will be mahogany, no cap, no binding. I’m considering cherry for the neck and Ebony fretboard. I’d like to keep the Gibson style head but it would be great if I could get the strings over the nut with less or no kink. Additionally I’d like to add a zero fret.  Appreciate any and all help. Thanks in advance