Starting Off Easy .. ?

[ESDictor]

Ok, I've been reading everything here I can get my hands on, especially the Strat build in the tutorial section, and I think I'm ready to start .. well .. almost.

I'm trying to go somewhat easy with my first build, but even though I'd like an easy build, I'd like to make something that I'd want to play. To that end I've decided on making a Strat, preferably with a Floyd Rose Tremelo. My plan is to paint it black with a black pickguard, white pickups/knobs, and chrome hardware, similar to the old David Gilmour strat (shown here). I'm going to make this from poplar with a maple fretboard (I know .. Gilmour's strat had a dark fretboard .. but not going to spend that much on my first build attempt). Nothing too tricky here .. except maybe that FR Trem.

Now for my questions ...

1. Should I buy the masonite templates at www.guitarbuildingtemplates.com or the paper plans at www.guitarplansunlimited.com ?

2. Is there a compelling reason to buy a specific decade over another? The masonite templates are available in 50's, 60's or 70's versions.

3. How hard will it be to use one of the above plans, which are designed for a Fender tremolo, with a Floyd Rose?

4. Am I just being rediculous by going with the FR Trem here? With no plans that really cover it .. a different size nut and a different bridge setup .. am I just trying to do too much for a first build?

Thanks in advance .. everyone has been very helpful here,

Evan

[GregP]

I don't have the answers to your questions, not having encountered... well... any of that stuff in my travels, but if you want a truly simple first build, you might want to consider a telecaster with no trem at all.

I think that if you have patience for planning, you can accomplish your design goals, but I don't have reasonable specific answers to your four questions. I just jumped in because of the thread title-- as soon as I saw it, I thought, "telecaster!"

[maikman]

I ended up getting the masonite ones so I wouldnt have to make my own (it was hard to make them so accurate). I ended up buying the 70s because of the oversized headstock, but thats just personal preference. Adding a floyd might be a little challenging, but I have seen cheap templates on ebay to route it. The route for the floyd will be bigger and the nut route will need to be extended into the first fret to accept the locking nut

[CrazyManAndy]

I don't know about the guy's Strat templates, but his Tele templates were off, last I heard.

You also might want to consider the rosewood fretboard. EIR is not expensive, maybe a few dollars more if you're looking at the pre-slotted blank from stew-mac. The only reason I mention it is because a maple fretboard requires a finish. It's not a big deal, but since you want you're build to be easy, EIR would be simpler.

CMA

[killemall8]

i would go for the masonite templates. ronnie, the sales person for those templates is great to work with. im sure if you really wanted you could get it with a floyd template instead of a traditional trem that comes with it. are you wanting the floyd to be recessed?

[Xanthus]

http://www.guitarplansunlimited.com/

I'd check out that website, the guy might be able to make a pic with a Floyd route. I got my RR design from him, and the guy was super fast/helpful/courteous. Just downright awesome.

That website, you can get customized plans (I assume). The templates, you can't.

Unless you really need the template, and not just the paper. That'd assume you have a router, but wonders can be accomplished with sandpaper and a saw. You can buy a Floyd package with all the parts you need, a routing template from StewMac, those plans, and a properly radiused/slotted fretboard from LMII, and you'll be well on your way. I think actually the neck pocket would be harder to do than the Floyd, what with the precise angling and all.

Unless you wanted to do a recessed Floyd with no neck angle, that'd be easier, methinks.

Of course, the easiest would be to do a neckthrough with no neck angle. Call up Carvin, they can do special orders on their necks. You'd probably be able to get a neckthrough prepped for a Floyd nut. I dunno about their radiuses, though. You'd need a 10" radius for the nut to work properly.

On another note, Gilmour looks so cool in that picture. Now he just looks old and mean

[ESDictor]

Thanks for all the responses so far ..

I'm planning on doing all the work myself - fretboard included (I'm insane .. I know) - so buying a neck or body isn't an option.

As far as a router .. I have some money put aside for this, mostly to buy a few tools that I expect I'll need. My guess right now is that I'll need a router and a good jigsaw, but I'll be posting in the tools forum when I get to that point.

I'll take killemall's advice and call that Ronnie guy to ask about a Strat w/Floyd Rose template and see how that works out.

A quick note about my thoughts ... I have heard that the FR trem stays in tune much better than the stock strat trem does. If I am incorrect about this, I could be doing all this for nothing. I own 1 guitar with a FR and while it keeps tuned pretty well .. when it's out it's a bitch to get back. That's my only guitar with any sort of tremolo - all my others are fixed bridge. If I built this and like how it feels/sounds, I would probably sell the other guitar, as I really only keep it for the rare times I want a tremolo for a song.

I'd still like to hear any other thoughts that people might have.

Thanks,

Evan

[ihocky2]

The Strat trem will probably work just fine for you. With a correctly shaped nut, and locking tuners the Strat trems stay in tune just fine if you are doing a little wiggling here and there. Which it sounds like your style more. If you want to do insane dive bombs and pull ups, and trem tricks like hanging the entire guitar by just the trem arm, then you absolutely need a Floyd. But you have to remember to allow for the extra size of the locking nut. If your building the guitar though and you know you are not going to play it a lot because of the trem, why not just build a hard tail that you will play more often. If you build one and sell it, more than likely you will not even recover the cost of parts.

Also, you may want to considering buying a pre-made neck. The tools for fretting alone will be more than the cost of the neck.

[Motorbreath]

+1 on the Telecaster. Some might not like it, but I think it's one of the marvels of the modern solid body era. Easy to manifacture, goes easy on your wood stash, not so hard to play ergonomically. Its alleged bad ergonomy is way overrated imo, it's the player that counts, not the axe - to a certain degree. Strat is a close second. Just my opinion, though.

Cheers.

[ESDictor]

My current (brand-name) guitars each has a function .. either a sound that's unique .. a shape that's unique .. or something else (like the tremolo) that keeps me from eBaying the guitar. My thought is that if I can make a decent-sounding Strat with a tremolo (not married to Floyd Rose I guess), I could sell my warlock, which I really only use when I want a tremolo - other than that it doesn't sound all that good and really doesn't add anything unique to my collection except shape. I have not guitars with 3xSingle-Coil, so a Strat would add that, a new shape, and replace the warlock's tremolo.

Hopefully that gives some insight into my thoughts here .. and why I won't go fixed-bridge. If this guitar sounds ok, I'll have the warlock on ebay an hour later. Then I'll work on something else .. although I have no solid plans yet (but lots of ideas).

I have nothing against making a Telecaster, but my first build will have some sort of tremolo for the above reasons.

Right now it looks like my first project (before my first build) will be a workbench. I found this design that I'll start working on this weekend.

Evan

[ihocky2]

Based on that info, I would definitely recomend a Strat. The hardest thing will be routing for the trem, but if you get the templates from stewmac for it, that shouldn't even be too bad. You just have to decide for yourself if you want a Floyd or a traditional Strat trem.

[westhemann]

greg...your avatar looks like a homeless man walking through the desert behind a dog he is soon to molest.I liked the finger wielding grimace better...

It's like the end of an era.

to the original poster...have you ;looked at the kahler 7300?much simpler to install and set up,and it stays in tune as well as a floyd or better

[GregP]

greg...your avatar looks like a homeless man walking through the desert behind a dog he is soon to molest.I liked the finger wielding grimace better...

It's like the end of an era.

Heh! Yeah... the man would be in hell if it was the desert... that's a Canada Goose arctic parka. The dog is just kinda walking a bit ahead... didn't need leashes in a town where there's no place to go. The yellow, well, it sure doesn't LOOK arctic, so I can't blame you there... it was originally just a part of a website design that had a yellow + blue theme, with a yellow header.

Grimace will probably make his return. I was just tired of his pixellated low-rez crappiness. He'll be back. Yellow-snow dog-molester will have a very short stay, indeed.

[ESDictor]

I've pretty much decided on the masonite template (here), and since that one has a standard tremolo, I'll just go with that. Was probably a bad idea to try to improvise on the design for my first build. Will probably go with a poplar body, maple neck and an EIR fretboard.

My main reason for the masonite template is that the one from Guitar Plans Unlimited seems to be fixed bridge only. That made the decision easy for me .. even though I'm not looking forward to spending $60+shipping for the template.

Regadless, my first step is making that bench I mentioned earlier. That will get me back in "woodworking-mode" after my 6ish year hiatus, and give me somewhere to work.

Thanks for all the information and advice .. I'll be asking for a lot more soon enough,

Evan

PS: I've read every tutorial about installing a truss rod as well as reading the Hiscock chapter about 10 times .. and I still feel 100% like I have no idea what to do there. I'll be asking a bunch of questions when that comes up. I think I just need an "ahh .. now I get it!" moment.

[Maiden69]

Do yourself a favor and use alder instead of poplar... about the same price and a much better wood.

[ESDictor]

Do yourself a favor and use alder instead of poplar... about the same price and a much better wood.

It seems that Alder is much harder to come by down here in Florida. I can get 8/4 Poplar locally, but would have to find Alder online and get it shipped.

Evan

[Maiden69]

Where is FL are you? What price are you getting the poplar for? There are a lot of places online that you can get alder from, and if you do a local hardwood store check you might be able to find better choices and pricing.

check here for a few links\

http://projectguitar.com/ref/supply.htm

[ESDictor]

I live pretty close to Constantine's, which is where I planned on buying wood. They have 8/4 Poplar at $9/square foot, but no Alder at all.

Evan

[Maiden69]

Well, from the list he provides there on the "exotics" there are a few that would be better wenge, mahogany, I would even use basswood before using poplar, since I made one guitar and I'm by no means dissappointed by the sound!

[ESDictor]

I think it's important to note that I'm not looking for a lot from my first guitar. I'm hoping to learn a lot and come out with a guitar that sounds .. like a guitar. However, I have huge plans for my second guitar .. custom design .. exotic woods .. top end hardware - assuming that the first one works worth a crap

Evan

[ray]

to the OP

a trem is pretty tricky and a floyd is very tricky to set up so they plays good

i would recomend as a first build a hardtail start or a tele

the tele bieng the easiest of the two

you learn heaps over the first 2 or 3 builds with out the added complications the trem will add to the job

once you got 1 or 2 easy ones done you'll be ready for the trem

if you build it from scratch you should get ur dough back if yu sell it to finance the next build

[Maiden69]

Since you are going to use it as a learning tool, go with the basswood, it is a lot easier to work that any of the other that I have used. But because it is your first, you shouldn't think of it in a lesser way. Just take your time and think everything a few times before making any cut.

[ESDictor]

Ok then .. Basswood works for me. I have my fingers crossed that I can get it wide enough that I don't have to join 2 boards .. since I don't have access to a jointer.

Evan

[Maiden69]

I don't use a jointer. I got a nice straight table that I glues a 100 grit sandpaper and rub the two halves clamped together. I do that with my tops and bodies.

[ESDictor]

I had never thought of doing that. Thanks for the tip (you should probably post that as a tip somewhere )

Evan