A Few Qustions About Making Guitars

[Zeb_hendrix]

Hi

Im making a guitar & i have a few questions to ask.

first off i need 2 know how to figure out where the bridge needs 2 be place for the correct intonation.

I also need to no how u angle the neck of the guitar.

Do u shave bits off it, or glue bits on it.

Thanx

[GregP]

Those are 2 questions that you will be able to answer for yourself as you delve into the literature that's available. Check as many online tutorials as you can find, and perhaps buy a book by one of the more well-known authors such as Melvyn Hiscock or Martin Koch.

The first question is one that's fundamental and will be obvious to you once you learn more about guitar construction in general. The second one is a bit trickier and you'll discover that there are 2 main ways to do it (neither of which require you to glue bits on unless you've messed it up pretty badly and need to shim).

[sb guitars]

the bridge should be 24 1/2 inches from your nut on your neck---you can only figure that out once you have your neck. the angle on the neck is tough, but there was a guy on here that sent me a file about how to do that-"verhoevenc"--i have it on my email so message me your mail and ill send it asap

[Rick500]

The bridge placement depends on a bunch of variables you didn't mention... first and foremost, the scale length. As GregP mentioned, take a look at some of the tutorials here.

[sb guitars]

The bridge placement depends on a bunch of variables you didn't mention... first and foremost, the scale length. As GregP mentioned, take a look at some of the tutorials here.

its his first guitar so i would ass/u/me it was a regular scale length

[Rick500]

Yeah, likely, but I just wanted to make sure it's all purposefully figured out and stuck in his brain before any pieces of wood get involved.

And there are a few different "standards" as well (as you know).

Edited February 4, 2008 by Rick500

[Mattia]

24", 24.75", 24.66", 24.9", 25", 25.4", 25.5"....all of these fall into the category of 'common scale length'.

Buy Melvyn Hiscock's book 'Make Your Own Electric Guitar'. Understand scale length. Understand neck angle (Perry's pinned tutorial in the tutorials section will help). Understand the basic concepts of radiussing, levelling, fretting, dressing, and setup. Once you comprehend the guitar's playing surface (ie, fretboard, frets, spacing, compensation, necessary/desired angles between all the parts), design the rest of the guitar around it. Otherwise you'll be embarking on a GLO build (Guitar-like object), rather than a guitar build (ie, a tool for making music).

[fryovanni]

+1 to what Mattia said

[Zeb_hendrix]

24", 24.75", 24.66", 24.9", 25", 25.4", 25.5"....all of these fall into the category of 'common scale length'.

Buy Melvyn Hiscock's book 'Make Your Own Electric Guitar'. Understand scale length. Understand neck angle (Perry's pinned tutorial in the tutorials section will help). Understand the basic concepts of radiussing, levelling, fretting, dressing, and setup. Once you comprehend the guitar's playing surface (ie, fretboard, frets, spacing, compensation, necessary/desired angles between all the parts), design the rest of the guitar around it. Otherwise you'll be embarking on a GLO build (Guitar-like object), rather than a guitar build (ie, a tool for making music).

The scale of my neck of my neck is 25.5" just so everyone knows

[fryovanni]

24", 24.75", 24.66", 24.9", 25", 25.4", 25.5"....all of these fall into the category of 'common scale length'.

Buy Melvyn Hiscock's book 'Make Your Own Electric Guitar'. Understand scale length. Understand neck angle (Perry's pinned tutorial in the tutorials section will help). Understand the basic concepts of radiussing, levelling, fretting, dressing, and setup. Once you comprehend the guitar's playing surface (ie, fretboard, frets, spacing, compensation, necessary/desired angles between all the parts), design the rest of the guitar around it. Otherwise you'll be embarking on a GLO build (Guitar-like object), rather than a guitar build (ie, a tool for making music).

The scale of my neck of my neck is 25.5" just so everyone knows

That is cool, now figure out what type of bridge you want to use. Then you will have the info you need to start figuring this out

[Zeb_hendrix]

24", 24.75", 24.66", 24.9", 25", 25.4", 25.5"....all of these fall into the category of 'common scale length'.

Buy Melvyn Hiscock's book 'Make Your Own Electric Guitar'. Understand scale length. Understand neck angle (Perry's pinned tutorial in the tutorials section will help). Understand the basic concepts of radiussing, levelling, fretting, dressing, and setup. Once you comprehend the guitar's playing surface (ie, fretboard, frets, spacing, compensation, necessary/desired angles between all the parts), design the rest of the guitar around it. Otherwise you'll be embarking on a GLO build (Guitar-like object), rather than a guitar build (ie, a tool for making music).

The scale of my neck of my neck is 25.5" just so everyone knows

That is cool, now figure out what type of bridge you want to use. Then you will have the info you need to start figuring this out

Im using a Bigsby B5 bridge with a Gotoh stop tailpiece.

[Zeb_hendrix]

Also ive seen guitars where the neck cavity connects up with the bridge pup cavity is this 4 a through body neck or can you use this idea four a bolt on?

[ProfDrum]

Also ive seen guitars where the neck cavity connects up with the bridge pup cavity is this 4 a through body neck or can you use this idea four a bolt on?

Like that^^^, where it's just one big "swimming pool" route?

or

Like that, where there's a this channel for cable routing?

Or do you mean where the neck pocket connects to the NECK pickup cavity, like on most 24-fret guitars, like so?

Sorry for the pictures, tried to keep em teeny.

Edited February 5, 2008 by ProfDrum

[Zeb_hendrix]

Im meant like on the Jem

[fryovanni]

Im meant like on the Jem

The route you are looking at isn't for a neck that would go all the way to the bridge or bridge pickup. Often you will find that style called deep set or deep bolt on. A route like the one in the picture overlaps the neck position pickup, mainly because there is little space between a 24 fret neck and the neck PU(wouldn't be much wood left between them). The concept behind deeper necks is to capture either all the pickups and or the bridge in one piece of wood (similar to a neck through), some figure that is good some figure it makes little difference. To me a deeper neck seems to make more sense as a set neck, but if you are clever you can make it a bolted neck also. All personal preference.

Peace,Rich