Rane Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Well, this is my first guitar project, so I’ve been learning a whole lot about the craft. I was inspired to make a clear guitar after I saw one being played on one of those late night shows. I looked on the net to see if I could find one with a shape that matched my taste, but I couldn’t find one, so I decided to build one… Sort of a stupid idea, now that I think of it, but so far it’s going well, so I don’t regret it. From what I've read about acrylic guitars, the plastic actually sounds good (especially if you play heavy metal or anything like it) and it sustains forever. The design I did is completely original. I made it as small as possible, which, in retrospect, may affect the way it sounds in a negative way, but it also makes it lighter (lexan is heavy). So far, I’ve finished most of the shaping of the body, and I need to cut the trem cavities, pickup cavities, and also one for the neck. I wimped out on building the neck and bought one off ebay, but I think I’ll build one for my next project, which I already have plans for. Anyway here are the pics of some of the process, and what’s been done so far. I did the rough cut with a Saws-All and the final cut with a router, which may seem weird, but it was the only thing I had that could cut the hard plastic without either melting it or just plain destroying it. In order to cut the angles on the "wings" of the body, I had to build this contraption. The little shape that was left uncut is where the tone/volume pots will go. You can see little pencil marks on it. I was scribbling parts on it to see how everything would fit. :] From cutting it, it doesn't look clear anymore, but after it's polished it'll be crystal. Any thoughts on the shape? My cousin doesn't like it. Anyway, I bought a Gotoh Floyd Rose tremolo off ebay. I'm going to have cut the block of the trem because it's designed for a thicker guitar than what I'm building. My uncle is a machinist, so he's going to help me with that. Weirdly enough, the B.C. Rich "Ice" guitars also have cut trems due to the plastic's lack of thickness. Also, I don't plan on cutting a cavity for the trem. I think I'm going to set it on the face of the body and limit myself to just dives. I haven't decided for sure on this, so if you have any opinions, post. Any ideas, comments, and advice is totally welcome. Thanks. :] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. pierce Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Shape's not for me, but to each their own. A lot of folks here have brought up the concept of lucite/lexan guitars, but as far as I can tell, you're the first person on the board to actually attempt one, so this is kind of cool to see. Keep us posted on the build progress! How thick is your lexan? Where'd you snag a piece that thick? How much it'd cost you? One of these days I want to build me a Dan Armstrong . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Summer Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 How thick is your lexan? Where'd you snag a piece that thick? How much it'd cost you? Oh yes! do tell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAK Guitars Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 First of all, gutsy move building a clear guitar for your first project! But it looks like you've done your homework and its lookin good! As for the shape, I've been looking at it for a couple minutes and its grown on me. I'll like to see how this puppy sounds when its done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joobsauce Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 now all it needs is a neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rane Posted October 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Thanks for the comments. :] How thick is your lexan? Where'd you snag a piece that thick? How much it'd cost you? Lexan is more commonly know as bulletproof glass, though it's not glass at all. I got my piece from my uncle who installs/uninstalls equipment at banks. He'll sometimes end up with a bunch of lexan that's usually thrown away. My piece is a little less than 1 1/2 in. There are a few plastic places on the net that might have something that thick. I did a quick search and found a few sites. All the sites that sold the thick, bulletproof lexan didn't seem to want to make it too easy to get, and the stuff I saw was thinner that mine (1 1/4 in). If there are any plastic companies where you live, they might be able to custom order it... Hopfully it wouldn't be too expensive. What kind of pickups should I put in this thing? I've been leaning toward active Duncan Blackouts... But I'm not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 The shape is growing on me. I think there is definitely room for a future big brother out of wood or something lighter. The only thing that I am not really digging on yet is the size. But you are doing nice work on it so far. Are you going to polish all of the cavities and drill holes, or just leave them rough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyonsdream Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j287/ZDG...ter/acrylic.jpg When I opened my first shop (when I was right out of high-school) I worked in a plastic machine shop working lathes and mills. So, I thought that building out of acrylic would be awesome. The picture above is my 17 lb telecaster with a DiMarzio (something or other) in the neck pickup. There is nothing pretty about this beast as it was one of the first guitars that I ever built. Just thought I'd share since it was mentioned that there haven’t been a lot of clear guitars posted. As for guitar being built. The shape isn't for me but the craftsmanship looks great. Don't be surprised if the tone isn’t quite what you think it should be when you are done. Plastic (even hard plastic like acrylic and lexan) doesn’t have the world’s greatest tone. However, it will sustain for a year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Summer Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 17lbs! Jeez! i was thinking of doing one myself for a next project, but 17lbs seems like a LOT. i want to make one all acrylic, but i cant figure out a way to get the truss rod in without adding a non clear? glue joint. i mean how cool would it be to have a fender style fingerboard, all one piece, and you could see through onto your hand. man that would be cool.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carousel182 Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 that would be awesome, would acrylic be suitable for neck making though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custom22 Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 For the Jem 20th anniversary that was made of plastic, Ibanez used special pickups to use with the plastic. You may wanna check those out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 I would bet that acrylic has probably got a better stiffness that mahogany, especially if you add a carbon fibre fingerboard with a couple of rectangle sections under it down the length :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. pierce Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 I don't know if plastics like this would hold up as a neck - but there are way to glue plastics with solvents or solvent adhesives (they call it "solvent welding" or something like that) that if done perfectly will result in a clear joint. The other interesting thing would be fretting - I've threaded plastic for bolts or screws by drilling a pilot hole, and then heating the screw up and inserting it into the plastic - it melts its way into the hole, and as then the plastic cools back down around the screw in the shape of the threads, and you can unscrew it out if need be, or whatever. Seems like you could do a similar process with the frets - cut slots, heat them up and insert them and the plastic would cool back around the fret tangs and barbs. This method doesn't work with all plastics though - I don't know if the lexan type plastics we're talking about here would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xDrugFreeJonnyx Posted October 27, 2007 Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 It looks like a promising build.. somewhat reminds me of THIS guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted October 27, 2007 Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 It looks like a promising build.. somewhat reminds me of THIS guitar. michael angelo batios 29 fret ritz rocket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xDrugFreeJonnyx Posted October 27, 2007 Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 Oh yes MAB is god. Have you decided if you are building a lexan neck or sticking to wood? 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.