metalcarver Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 My latest aluminum monstrosity. Body 1" thick hollow carved from solid billet aluminum. Moses graphite neck 1-3/4 nut X 5/8" thick. Seymour Duncan humbuckers. Schaller roller bridge. Gotoh tuners. Best sounding yet. Rich full sound with very wide tonal palate. Came in at 7lb 10oz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xebryusguitars Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 whoaa..that thing is crazy, and i mean that in a good way. what tools did you use to make that? how much would you sell one of thsoe for . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeli Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 That thing is crazy indeed. What did you use for tuners? They look very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Wow....great work! Did you carve/machine the body yourself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!!METAL MATT!! Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 WOW!! how dose that thing sound,how did you mount the pickups. That thing is crepy deadly I love it do you have any progress pics it would be extramly cool to see how that BEAST came to be. !!METAL MATT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirit Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Great guitar, poor spelling. "Aluminium" is the correct way to spell that word. There is no such thing as "aluminum". Damn Americans, corrupting a perfectly good language... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 I would agree - but I have a fear of being lynched Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Let's just agree on it's Atomic number: 13 The guitar is still a fine piece of work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Great guitar, poor spelling. "Aluminium" is the correct way to spell that word. There is no such thing as "aluminum". Damn Americans, corrupting a perfectly good language... First of all, very nice guitar, nicely done, I miss the machine shop some days Actually, "aluminum" is a proper spelling. In fact, on the (north american) periodic table it is spelled "aluminum" not aluminium. From dictionary.com: aluminum Symbol: Al Atomic number: 13 Atomic weight: 26.9815 Silvery-white lustrous metallic element of group 3 of the periodic table. Highly reactive but protected by a thin transparent layer of the oxide which quickly forms in air. There are many alloys of aluminum, as well as a good number of industrial uses. Makes up 8.1% of the Earth's crust, by weight. Isolated in 1825 by H.C. Oersted. Main Entry: al·u·min·i·um Pronunciation: "al-y&-'min-E-&m Function: noun chiefly British : ALUMINUM aluminium \Al`u*min"i*um\ ([a^]l`[-u]*m[i^]n"[i^]*[u^]m), n. [L. alumen. See Alum.] (Chem.) The metallic base of alumina. This metal is white, but with a bluish tinge, and is remarkable for its resistance to oxidation, and for its lightness, having a specific gravity of about 2.6. Atomic weight 27.08. Symbol Al. Same thing, but it's to quote you "those damn" brits who have changed it Try going to a metal supplier in north america and ask for aluminium, they'll laugh at you lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Great looking guitar but I have 2 questions, How deep is the knurling on the face? and is it comfortable to play? from the photo it looks like a cheese grater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 we invented the language, theres a reason its called english lol nehu, not here for a slagging match. thats a serious guitar. im loving the patterning on it. really cool effect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Makes up 8.1% of the Earth's crust, by weight. WOW! that is alot of aluminum....i had no idea it was that plentiful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirit Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 Many apologies metalcarver, I have inadvertantly hi-jacked your thread with all this talk of aluminium, or aluminum, depending on where you are from. I say again, great guitar. No, wonderful guitar. Very very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
effluoDeus Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 great guitar, I love the horns and the look of the face. I'm curious about the sound as well, perhaps you could post a clip. Aluminum may be plentiful but it is very very difficult and expensive to refine into a useable form. It has to do with the geologic make up of the areas that it is found in. Hence, the big drive to recycle the stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xebryusguitars Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 hey metal carver i dunno why im trying to ask cause it doesnt seem like you've responded lol but hows the neck? i know how much moses graphite necks are and are they worth that price? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goth_fiend Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 hey metal carver, would you be willing to machine me a js series body? and if so, how much would ya do it for, PM me if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsilver Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 Metalcarver, that's really cool. Its nice to see something unique. The body shape is good. How do you join a graphite neck to an aluminum/aluminium body? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!!METAL MATT!! Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 Hey Metalcarver I would be extremly interrested in haveing you machine me up a body I would love a B.C. Rich Warlock copy if you can do that if not a copy of your body would be great!! now I could send you all the needed parts so you could do all the cavitys you would need to do if thats to much how much for just a copy of your body with all the caveitys all ready done or a B.C. Rich Warlock copy with the same cavitys that your body has how much would any of this cost me?? I will email you this as well!! !!METAL MATT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalcarver Posted November 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 (edited) Thank you for the comments. I'm just now getting consistent times on these things. Takes a long time to sort out the tooling but machine time has come down drastically. I kind of compare the work/patience ratio of the ornamental machining with inlay work. The way to get the price down would be to CNC the bodies then do the ornamental thing. There's been a couple of companies that tooled up for aluminum guitars and went belly up. (Xtreme Guitars, Magnum Guitars) I,m not convinced that the market is large enough to amortize a $50k to $100k machine) Fouke Industrial Guitars and Specimen Guitars are aluminum and have been around a while but different construction methods there. So I machine them on old manual machines. 1956 Fritz Werner vertical mill, 1953 18" Lodge & Shipley lathe, 1944 20" Reed Prentice lathe , and of course the beat up Bridgeport. My mill on the prototype My first one was 12 1/2 pounds. Really good tone, good sustain, wide tonal palate. and 7 hernias to date. The last one ended up at 7lb 10oz (3-1/2 kg) The only way to get that weight is to really hollow it out. Ended up between 1/8" - 3/16" (3-4mm) wall. THAT is the key to aluminum instruments I believe. You need a thin wall and hollow body. Then the tone goes crazy. It increases the total efficiency of the beast, boosting bass notes as well as treble So there's none of the tinny sound that people seem to expect. Theres also lots of haunting overtones. I leave the tone control all the way bright for my own stuff. I got a couple of Brubek licks I mellow it out on but for rock or blues I really don't need a tone control. (izzat cuz of the gitar or me?...) The ornamental turning is stolen right off the back of pocket watches from a century or two ago. Most of the patterns are only .030" (1mm) or so deep. The v shape of the tool is very shallow. The reflections make it look deeper. Not a problem while playing (whilst playing ... ) I usually rest my pinkie on the pickgaurd and on the deep patterns you notice it right at first and immediately forget about it. I've got a blond neck that I'm putting on a yet to be black anodized axe and I'll see how I feel about the anodizing. As far as the spelling the story I heard was that there was a scientific meeting in Europe in the mid 19th century where they were discussing a breakthrough in the manufacturing process. The person who transcribed the report into English (American) misspelled it and it was published that way in America. So with typical American practicality, rather than reprint the report they changed the spelling of the word. So a century later it becomes obvious that anyone spelling it with an extra "i" is pinko commie secular humanist evil doer from Old Europe. Oh yeah, while I'm at it, that's NUK-U-LAR. Shoot, I 'spect them Limeys don't know no Texan at all. Edited November 20, 2004 by metalcarver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey69962000 Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 dude that awsome. How much was the cost of everything all together, not including tools. Thanks and hope that guitar is a cool playing as it looks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!!METAL MATT!! Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 (edited) OH God I want one how much $$$ will it take!! EDIT:-I realy do want to buy one if can sell me one. Get back to me when you can Thanks. !!METAL MATT!! Edited November 20, 2004 by !!METAL MATT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 you guys might want to check out his website: http://www.metalcarver.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalcarver Posted November 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 On that graphite neck, it's held on by four bolts #8 -32 and there are thread inserts they give you with the neck. I try to make the neck pocket so that it's a light press fit for total contact. As for prices Call 907-283-0966. 9am-6pm PST I'll be hollowing out a Tele in the next few days so I guess I should post some pics of how it's done. But really you folks are machining your guitars only they're wood and your router doesn't have to be 2 tons and ten horsepower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 I've always wanted to get round to building an alloy body guitar. OK, aluminium! My idea was to press a strat like shape (curves and all) for a front, and have this hollow with the electronics mounted from behind and the back wood or some sort of epoxy composite. Carving it seems a little extreme for the amatuer like me...beating sheet material with a hammer is probably more my style! I'd love to hear more about how these things sound! Good work MC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalcarver Posted November 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2004 I think that hammering sheet metal would be an excellent method. Especially for someone who had body shop tools. Check out James Trussart (sp?) guitars. He makes them out of steel sheet and then lets them rust in interesting patterns. You can do a lot of forming with a sand bag and a rubber mallet. Copper? Aluminiunobtainium? Torres said that the back doesn't matter anyways. The combination of graphite neck and aluminum body is the best sounding yet. I have another thin wall Lp that's getting anodized and has a maple neck and hopefully I'll get to A - B them. A couple years ago I emailed John Veleno the guy who made aluminum guitars in the 70's (aluminum neck too)and he mentioned a sheilding effect that quieted down even the noisiest of single coils. He said that any pickup sounded better shielded like that. I called Bill Lawrence on the phone and asked him about it and he said that it would cost $2 million to be able to come up with a pickup that would work in a metal guitar because of the eddy currents. So not understanding all I know I proceeded. And by accounts from a few professional players, It sounds really good with lots of comments about the sustain. Those same guys promised to make me some audio files... we'll see... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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