Guitar Plans

[kings_x]

Here is a guitar design I am considering. I got a CAD drawing for an ES335 off the web and modified it for a neck-thru design, Strat style bridge and 3 single coil pickups and a smaller neck heel to allow better access to the higher frets. I plan on having a carved maple or walnut top and a chambered mahogany body.

1) Will the neck be strong engough at the heel? This is my biggest concern. I'm not sure there is enough wood between the "ledge" where the fretboard stops and the back of the heel (going diaganal down through the wood). It is about 1 1/3" in my drawing. Is that enough? (does this question make sense without seeing the drawing?) I might have a maple/mahogany lamenated neck.

2) What about using single coils with a chambered body? Good idea, bad idea?

I was going to post the dwg somewhere but can't find a host.

Mike

[Tezifon]

search info about the brian may red special guitar. its pretty the same you are talking

[GLW Guitarz]

Sound a bit like Yamaha's MSG series from the late 80s / early 90s (?) to me.

[krazyderek]

the standard length for a heel is 3" (76.2mm) if you're only using half that you might end up with tuning stability problems. I just took a look at a es335 design.... in the one i have the neck pocket only extends to about half way under the pickup, if you can with a sing coil and the ring you're going to use for it try and extend that pocket a bit more into the body

[kings_x]

I found a place to put the CAD file.

Go to http://isavix.net/

Login as kings_x, password = riley123

the file is KDR2.zip, its a dwg file.

Mike

[kings_x]

I forgot to add a step. After you log in, click on "My Secure Files" under the "Tools" section on the left.

Mike

[johntbyrne]

Downloaded but got errors when I try to open via AutoCad. Unzipped ok, any ideas? Using AutoCad 2004 LT (same as 2004 but without 3d stuff).

[kings_x]

Hmm.... I did it in Turbo CAD 2D v6.5. Not sure what the problem is.

Mike

[Roli]

But if it's a neck-through what do you want to do with that heel?

[kings_x]

But if it's a neck-through what do you want to do with that heel?

That's what I'm asking. Is it too small? Sounds like it is from the post from the guy who said it should be 3 inches.

Mike

[krazyderek]

lol woopse, well 3" is for a bolt on of some type, but neck thru you don't need as much no, then it depends more on the woods you use for the neck thru, if it's mahogany or maple then it would be a good idea to leave a bit of the heel there, for a 3 or above laminate neck you you should be ok, just consider laminating 2 stripes of some bubinga, jatoba, ebony, wenge, purple heart, etc... anything really hard and dense into in 1 or 2 stripes that go all the way thru, not just a skunk stripe. and you have a pretty sever drop off from the heel.. maybe make it a bit longer, but rounder? like blend it into the neck a bit more

[funkle]

Here's an (ultra rare) Ibanez AS400 neck through 335 style guitar. You can see how they handled the heel. Nice looking guitar. The photos are from a thread at Ibanez Collectors World. Just do a keyword search on AS400.

[Roli]

WOW, that's one killer guitar. Though I'm pretty sure they could safely shape that heel even smaller than this.

[kings_x]

WOW, that's one killer guitar. Though I'm pretty sure they could safely shape that heel even smaller than this.

How small could I make the heel? Lets say I use Mahogany with two strips of bubinga, jatoba, ebony, wenge, or purple heart (like krazyderek mentioned).

BTW, those pictures are close to what I have in mind. My body design does not come up to meet the heel. The body goes straight across the top.

Mike

[funkle]

I forgot to add a step. After you log in, click on "My Secure Files" under the "Tools" section on the left.

Mike

Hah! they're not so "secure" now that you posted them here

A couple questions/thoughts:

Are you going to carve the top and back like a 335 or make it flat?

No reason not to use single coils if you like them. Single coils are often used with chambered guitars, like the Tele thinline.

Here's a thought: to me, 335s are very bulky. Since you're doing the single coil thing, you could downsize the body and streamline it some, like a CS336 or an Ibanez AM series guitar. I'm a little biased (this is my site)

In the drawing, it looks like there is no neck angle, and as a result, the fretboard sits very high above the body (The 335 copies I've had all have an angled back neck). In fact, it looks like you might have bridge height problems if you build it as shown - the string height measures 0.88" at the bridge, while the tunomatics on my guitars are 5/8 to 3/4.

If you built the neck piece with an angle and dropped it down at the joint, it would look better, setup better, and you'd have better alignment and contour at the heel.

I would look carefully at the geometry, and massage it so that it works to your advantage.

-Sven

[kings_x]

Here's a thought: to me, 335s are very bulky. Since you're doing the single coil thing, you could downsize the body and streamline it some, like a CS336 or an Ibanez AM series guitar. I'm a little biased (this is my site)

I was wanting something a little bulky, I may make it a little thiner though.

I'm going with single coils because I want something different. I always play humbuckers.

In the drawing, it looks like there is no neck angle, and as a result, the fretboard sits very high above the body (The 335 copies I've had all have an angled back neck). In fact, it looks like you might have bridge height problems if you build it as shown - the string height measures 0.88" at the bridge, while the tunomatics on my guitars are 5/8 to 3/4.

I wasn't planing on using a tune-o-matic. The original drawing I worked off of had an angle built in. Since the fretboard is so high, I might go back to the angled neck and use a tuneomatic. Or I may leave the top flat and lower the fretboard height. I'm just thinking out loud right now. Trying to get some ideas and look for pitfalls before I start.

Mike

[funkle]

I wasn't planing on using a tune-o-matic.

If you use a countersunk floyd or fender style, it will be even lower - so you may need to lower the neck even more.

I think angling the neck may be to your advantage, because if you look at the section, the area where the bridge sits is higher that the area around the neck (unlike a typical flat top) so you really need the neck angle to account for the arched top, even if your bridge sits a little lower than a typical tunomatic.

-Sven