Sydney, Australia Year 12 Design Tech

[Chalig]

Hey, my name is Charlie G,

I am a year 12 student (16yo) in Sydney, Australia.

For my Design & Technology major project I am designing a guitar.

The basic idea behind the project is to design and construct a guitar that will be able to go wherever I go. The guitar has a 24-Fret through-body neck with maple wings in a shape that resembles a Gibson Flying-V with out the end pointy bits. The guitar also has metal sides that fold out to form these end pointy bits. The guitar has a tremolo bridge and a standard Strat electronics set up. It also has the electronics of a small amplifier (minus the speaker) in the guitar along with a 9-volt battery compartment so that I can plug headphones straight into the body of the guitar. This means that I can play the guitar anywhere at any time.

Some existing designs that have influenced this include:

- The Gibson Flying-V.

- The Yamaha Silent Guitar.

- Various Travel Guitars.

I have completed the following designing:

- Initial sketches.

- Final drawings.

- Cad Diagrams.

- And as a result have ended up with this design (ON MSN SPACE - Black/White Guitar Diagram)

So far I have purchased:

- A 2nd hand Strat-style guitar which somebody made, and did a shoddy job of. I bought this from a pawn shop in Hornsby.

- 24-Fret through-body neck from StewMac.

- A piece of maple wood.

At this point in time I have undertaken the following construction:

- Deconstructed the 2nd hand Strat-style guitar, taking out the electronics which I suspect was a pre-wired pickguard and the bridge.

- Cut the maple sides to suit my design. (To be the wings to the neck).

I am stuck as I do not have any of the profession equipment/routing templates and I have a couple of problems, including:

- How to undertake the routing as I do not have any templates, and I am also installing amplifier parts and a 9-v batter compartment? ON MSN SPACE- there is a picture of a guitar with a built in amp, this example is sort of what i want to do, just without the speaker.

- How do incorporate these amplifier and 9-volt battery? I need to have a headphone jack as well as the output jack (the output jack is not the Strat 1, but the one that would be on, say, a Les Paul. there is a small wiring diagram of this on MSN SPACE

- What glue should I use and where should I get it from? Eg. Epoxy.

- I am rapidly approaching my budget and I still have to buy sum stuff. Any ideas

- How can I go about finishing, as I want to air brush it, but I don’t have the professional kits, or any paint? I was wondering if somebody could help me out there.

Is there anybody in Sydney, Australia (I live in Wahroonga, near Hornsby) that would be willing to give me a hand? Any help/ideas/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Charlie. (I will update this post when I transfer the photos off my camera.)

[Chalig]

hey, i do really need sum help here. like even if your not from sydney, if you could just reply and give me some ideas, thanks.. charlie

[GregP]

Hey Charlie,

Regarding the templates-- funny as it sounds, you may have to make your own. So you make your own shapes... in order to make your own shapes...! It may seem redundant at first, but that's not the case:

1. Messing up a material like Medium-densitify Fibreboard (MDF) is cheaper than messing up the wood you hoped to use

2. MDF is really easy to shape using whatever tools are at your disposal.

For certain things, you don't necessarily need a 'template' per se, though the end result is just like a template... for example, if part of what you're doing is simply shaping some straight edges, grab any straight and true piece of MDF or lumber, and just use it as a guide, in conjunction with a template/laminate trim router bit.

Regarding the fold-out arms, there's been a recent 'travel guitar' that had some. Let me find the page...

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...opic=16751&st=0 There ya go. Somewhere on there is a pic of the back and the 'fold-out' mechanism. Haven't the foggiest clue what equipment he used to construct it, though.

Greg

[Mickguard]

Heh cool, wish they'd given me projects like this back in high school.

I don't like the fold out parts, don't see why they're necessary. Why not stick with the triangle shape?

Consider maintaining the headphone amp as an external unit (incorporate that into your V ends if you really want to keep those). That way you can keep more wood in the guitar. Less fuss with the electronics too. Or place it in a matching box that attaches to your strap.

Have a look at the Fernandes Nomad for a mounting idea for the amp.

For routing...you're better off finding a friend/family member with a router who can teach you how to use it. You'll get much cleaner cavities that way.

For the finish, use automotive sprays...sealer/primer/color coat/clear coat...they're fairly easy to use if you read up on how to do it and take your time. Kind of pricey though..you can shave off some of that by keeping a natural wood color.

[Chalig]

yea i am actually thinking of reconcidering those v shaped end bits. lol i wasn't given this project, i chose to do it. because this is my final year. well sorta, i am in year 11 doing an accelerated year 12 subject.

does any1 know how this finish was done??

i got that from this site

Thanks,

Charlie G.