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Thanks Everyone!


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Just wanted to say thank you to Brian (bought a few pieces and parts from Universal Jems) and the rest of you here who post such helpful information. Although I'm a woodworker I hadn't thought to make a guitar until I came across this forum. It's very different from building cabinets! But I've just finished my second one and felt that I should give some feedback to you all as a form of thanks.

This guitar has a book matched top of quarter sawn sycamore from a tree that I cut down years ago. Hadn't ever seen a guitar made from this wood, so I thought it would be a little bit unique. The body is a chambered basswood painted black. The neck is maple with a birdseye maple cap. Nitro lacquer finish and rubbed out. It's small and light (about 6.5 pounds). The hardware and pups are nothing special (Korean made), but I set it up with 9-42 strings with 1/16th string to fret distance at the 17th fret (I use drill bits to measure this ... works great), and it plays without any string buzz at all. You don't need to blow all your money on the hardware for your learning projects. Save that for later and you'll appreciate it more, I think. Oh ... I did use black strings (DR) to have them stand out against the wood a bit. Kinda cool looking.

As far as electric guitars go, this is not too difficult a project. I chose this body (a copy of a Music Man Axis) because the top is completely flat. That made fitting hardware, finishing, rubbing it out, a lot less work than other styles. Since it was only my second attemp, I wanted to keep it simple. I only mention this because I think that sometimes people may try to do too much when they are starting out and they can become defeated with the frustration of it all. I'm a 55 year old cabinet maker, and I have to admit that this was not a no brainer project for me. I learned a lot, but fortunately, I came to it with a lot of helpful information from all of you here. So I really thank this generous little community here for that. I have always felt that it's a pity when people don't freely share their knowledge out of some sense of insecurity. We're only building on what we learned from others, so we have a responsibility to give back, I think. But hey ... just my two cents worth there. Your mileage may vary. Kim1.jpgKim2.jpgThanks again to you all ..... Kim

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Thank you!! I have wanted to see a guitar with a sycamore top. My dad just cut down two 3 ft diam dycamore trees and the wood was beautiful, but unfortunately the neighbor came over with his log splitter and gleefully filled his firewood shed with it :D

That turned out really pretty. What is it like in terms of hardness and workability?

Very nice project, and great design to work with too. Did you make the neck as well?

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thats very nice, love the sycamore, not unlike maple so I hear?

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I only mention this because I think that sometimes people may try to do too much when they are starting out and they can become defeated with the frustration of it all. I'm a 55 year old cabinet maker, and I have to admit that this was not a no brainer project for me.

Very good advice. I bit off a bit too much for my first project and I'm wishing I had done one more like that Axis. In fact, I love the look of the Axis and that would have made a perfect project. D'oh!

My next project(s) will be simpler, for sure.

Greg

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Very nice guitar. Can we have pics from the side and back? I like the top wood, I have seen a few on the internet for sale, but I haven't heard of anybody using one yet. How is the hardness, and do you know if it will take stain and how it will react to it. That will be awsome on a 2 step stain if the pattern on it reacts like the grain on the maple!

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Very nice guitar.  Can we have pics from the side and back?  I like the top wood, I have seen a few on the internet for sale, but I haven't heard of anybody using one yet.  How is the hardness, and do you know if it will take stain and how it will react to it.  That will be awsome on a 2 step stain if the pattern on it reacts like the grain on the maple!

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Not all sycamore is that pretty. What he has here is a good contender for pushing the limits of figured sycamore. It is stable but I can't recall ever seeing pieces this nice. Excellant axe!!

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We have a local sawmill here that specializes in qartersawn sycamore.. a lot of folks refer to it as american lacewood.. I've seen a lot of beautiful sycamore but it seems to be a well kept secret, and i rarely see guitars made out of it. I was glad to see this one, as I plan to try a sycamore top soon. Anxious to see how it carves.

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Hmmmm, sorry there .... messing up on my own reply it seems.

But .... thanks for the comments. And to answer a few questions.

Yes ... sycamore is about the same hardness as quilted maple. Not the hard rock maple used in necks, but the quilted maple found on tops. It works fairly easy, doesn't have too much tendency to tear out when routing, but like any highly figured wood, it has grain running in several directions, so you need to take off only small amounts with each pass when planing or routing. Sycamore used to be used for drawer sides in older cabinets. Those sides were commonly 1/2", so old office cabinets may be a good source for that wood. It's not a highly stable wood, but that doesn't matter for a glued on top. Quilted maple isn't highly stable either for that matter. If it's flat sawn, it looks very bland and uninteresting. Only when quarter sawn do you see the rays that make it appealing. Commercially, you don't see it very much these days. It makes poor firewood, by the way.

I made the neck myself because I wanted a birdseye maple fretboard to go with the sycamore and I'm too cheap to buy one pre made. It took me at least as long to do the neck as everything else, including the finishing. Don't know if I would do that again. I could have bought a very nice guitar if I were paid my usual hourly fee for the time I spent on the neck, and it doesn't play any better (or worse, thankfully) than my friends Axis that I borrowed to get all the dimensions from. So I think we're talking ego more than rational economics here.

Pics of the sides and back didn't really come out so well maybe because it's just gloss black. Or because I have so little patience with my camera? But it's a simple affair anyway, and from the side it's simply 1/2" cap on the black body. Edge detail is just a 3/8" rout almost all around, so the top dies into the sides just at the joint.

I did experiment with a wine colored dye on some scraps, but rather than highlighting the rays, it seemed to make it look less dramatic. I had planned to leave it natural though, because after a year or so, it will become a deep honey color that I think looks warm and rich.

Thanks again,

Kim

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