Geo Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 Hi. I'm a beginner. This is my second electric guitar. The body is poplar, with a spruce top. I had intended to put some kind of hardwood top on it, but I used some spruce that I had lying around instead. Then I decided to do a little cavity and soundhole. I haven't started the neck at all yet. I'm hoping LMI will get some more cheap neck blanks in stock (walnut or sapele mahogany). This is basically a "practice build". I have a long way to go, and I'm also limited in power tools (table saw, jigsaw, hand-held drill). But, I am addicted. I hope to get a router sometime soon; I would like to attempt a set-neck. More pictures: http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Georder/ Thanks for taking a look! Any comments (+ or - ) are welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElysianGuitars Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 Hi. I'm a beginner. This is my second electric guitar. The body is poplar, with a spruce top. I had intended to put some kind of hardwood top on it, but I used some spruce that I had lying around instead. Then I decided to do a little cavity and soundhole. I haven't started the neck at all yet. I'm hoping LMI will get some more cheap neck blanks in stock (walnut or sapele mahogany). This is basically a "practice build". I have a long way to go, and I'm also limited in power tools (table saw, jigsaw, hand-held drill). But, I am addicted. I hope to get a router sometime soon; I would like to attempt a set-neck. More pictures: http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Georder/ Thanks for taking a look! Any comments (+ or - ) are welcome. seems like a lot of space between the pickups... how did you measure out your scale length without a neck or a drawing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 unfortunately it does look like you may have not taken bridge placement into consideration...but if it is just a practice body then it isn't the end of the world... my first guitar i did with a dremel...freehand...so you can imagine what it looked like before pickup rings and cover plates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slabbefusk Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 Can you do nice routes with a Dremel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 Can you do nice routes with a Dremel? If you have the patience of a saint, maybe! Not really worth considering when you realise that the cheapest router is half the price of a dremel! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted January 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 Thanks for the replies. There is no problem with the pickup spacing, bridge placement or scale length. I have a full-sized drawing (I wouldn't attempt without it!) I just thought I'd put the neck pickup right at the end of the fingerboard. The bridge will butt up right against the bridge pickup. Is it difficult to do inlays with a router (as opposed to a dremel tool)? Just curious. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 Is it difficult to do inlays with a router (as opposed to a dremel tool)? Just curious. yes, unless perhaps you are making one of those giant guitars for a hard-rock cafe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElysianGuitars Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 Thanks for the replies. There is no problem with the pickup spacing, bridge placement or scale length. I have a full-sized drawing (I wouldn't attempt without it!) I just thought I'd put the neck pickup right at the end of the fingerboard. The bridge will butt up right against the bridge pickup. Is it difficult to do inlays with a router (as opposed to a dremel tool)? Just curious. Thanks. you really don't want to butt the bridge pup right up against the bridge, you generally want 3/4" space or more between the bridge pickup and the bridge, its gonna probably not have much volume, and be trebly as hell... in my opinion, you got ahead of yourself when you routed the pickup routes, its a good idea to have your bridge already laid out, drilled etc, before routing pickups and the likes... and to lay out your bridge, its always a good idea to actually have the neck.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted January 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 you really don't want to butt the bridge pup right up against the bridge, you generally want 3/4" space or more between the bridge pickup and the bridge, its gonna probably not have much volume, and be trebly as hell... in my opinion, you got ahead of yourself when you routed the pickup routes, its a good idea to have your bridge already laid out, drilled etc, before routing pickups and the likes... and to lay out your bridge, its always a good idea to actually have the neck.... I don't know about "getting ahead of myself". Also, I did not route the pickup cavities, I cut them with a jigsaw before laminating the body pieces. I don't have a router. I will consider moving the bridge back. I might lose one fret, but that wouldn't be a big deal. I know a single coil would be bad that close to the bridge, I guess it didn't occur to me that a humbucker might be that bad. Also, the bridge I will be using has space between the edge and the farthest adjustment of the saddles. So, I guess sometimes it's a good thing NOT to have the neck yet. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord-of-the-strings Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 (edited) You can't simply "move" the the bridge and then be done with it, that'd muck up your fret spacings, etc since you are changing the scale by moving the bridge. I think you need to start planning more before you jump in, you know, the ol' look before you leap deal. It'll save a bunch of trouble down the road. Let us hope I'm not too late... Edited January 18, 2007 by Lord-of-the-strings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 Yes, you can simply move the bridge. You just need to move the neck closer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElysianGuitars Posted January 19, 2007 Report Share Posted January 19, 2007 Yes, you can simply move the bridge. You just need to move the neck closer. and then you have to worry about what to do with the neck pickup, and what your fret access is going to be like, lots of things to worry about, whereas, if it were planned out better, that would never be an issue... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord-of-the-strings Posted January 19, 2007 Report Share Posted January 19, 2007 That's what I was trying to get across Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 19, 2007 Report Share Posted January 19, 2007 keep in mindhe already said he would take it down to 21 frets if he needed to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desopolis Posted January 19, 2007 Report Share Posted January 19, 2007 I dont think its to close, my strats single coil is 1/2" from where the bridge starts, assuming hes using a similar style of bridge. one thing about using a neck before routing the pickups is you can make sure the pocket/neck/nut/bridge are all perfectly aligned(especially important when your new!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted January 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2007 Thanks for the comments. Please don't get the wrong impression: I planned this guitar totally on paper before I started building it. My mistake was, I didn't realize the bridge pickup needed to be spaced away from the bridge. So, thanks to those who pointed that out. I will move the entire scale length about half an inch. I may also do a longer scale length. I was going to do 25", but maybe I'll do 25 1/4" or something. I don't think the body will interfere with changing this. And, since I haven't started the neck at all, I can still do whatever scale length I want. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.