Advice Before I Begin...

[sexybeast]

I have all the wood and hardware to begin my first whole guitar. It's going to be an Ibanez RG body copy, but a bit thinner, closer to a Blackmachine. No tremolo.

I want to set this one up to play with a light touch and low action. Does anyone have some preliminary advice about neck shapes and scale length? (I hear 24" makes for lower string tension. Any comments?) Advice in any area is welcome.

Pictures to follow soon.

Thanks.

[NamelessOne]

24" will give you lower tension for the same gauge strings, though it will make the high frets closer together and harder to play on. also, the low tension contributes to a "loose" string feel that some might not like. 25.5" scale gives a tighter string feel, allowing for lower action without constantly hitting the string to the fretboard while picking. Make sure that when you carve your neck, you don't go into the truss rod channel. Also, for neck shapes, think about what you like and dislike about your current guitar. work from there.

If you're really concerned with the light touch thing, use huge frets or scallop your fretboard. I know scalloping is somewhat of an advanced building technique, but you gotta learn it sometime if you ever want to use it. I've played breifly on a scalloped board, and I quite like the feel, as you never touch the fingerboard, and if you don't use a light touch, you can hear it as the string bends out of tune.