warmachine Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Hello, I am a high school drafting teacher at Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia. I have been playing bass since 1988. Next year in my advanced drafting class I am going to have my students design a guitar or bass, I am thinking about holding a design contest and build the winning design. This forum looks to be the most informative that I have found. To the Admins, would it possible for my students to post here? Or should I act as a go between and post any questions that I can't answer. Thank you for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRossitter Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 I think that it's a wonderful idea. I'm sure that your students could learn a whole lot, but at the same time I would hate to over expose them to non related topics. The admins may be able to setup a sub-forum for those projects only, maybe that could kind of help keep everything in one place with it. Best of luck with the project, I would love to see what they come up with. Perhaps you could partner up with the woodshop teacher there and actually make some of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warmachine Posted March 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 A sub-forum may be a good idea. I will probably post pictures and sketches at various stages during the course. Thanks for the support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 I guess the first question though is, have you ever built a guitar. While coming up with a unique shape may be easy, designing one for playability and and functionality is a little more difficult. Teaching the students how to design one and have them do it on CAD is a great idea, but you have to have enough knowledge to be able to teach it first. Explaining such things as scale length, pickup positions and styles and how pickups work. Those are all things that the kids are going to either want or need to know. Teaching them about neck angle, setup and action are all necessary just to make a design that is playable. And then on top of that the different building techniques and how the designs must accomodate them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 This forum looks to be the most informative that I have found. To the Admins, would it possible for my students to post here? Or should I act as a go between and post any questions that I can't answer. I don't see why you and your students can't join up a regular users, and I don't see any point in creating a special sub-forum just for you. There are already plenty of categories to choose from. And anyone interested in building guitars is welcome here. Why not just start a thread in the projects/progress section? There's a lot of traffic there and it's there exactly for this kind of thing. All of your student's designs will fit there. Questions can always be posted there or in the appropriate areas --a lot of people only go to the topics that interest them (finishing, electronics). And then you'll be able to set up a poll and allow us to choose the winning design. Which will be fun for us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 I agree that a dedicated sub-category would be very helpful. It'd keep everything in one central location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warmachine Posted March 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 (edited) I guess the first question though is, have you ever built a guitar. While coming up with a unique shape may be easy, designing one for playability and and functionality is a little more difficult. Teaching the students how to design one and have them do it on CAD is a great idea, but you have to have enough knowledge to be able to teach it first. Explaining such things as scale length, pickup positions and styles and how pickups work. Those are all things that the kids are going to either want or need to know. Teaching them about neck angle, setup and action are all necessary just to make a design that is playable. And then on top of that the different building techniques and how the designs must accomodate them. I built a bass about 20 years ago. I plan on having CAD lessons mixed with lessons about guitar building and the history of the electric guitar and the great players. I needed a project to get my kids interested in doing research and really putting the time into a project. I will put a poll up to let you guys have a vote in the winning design. I am going to have my students with the marketing class and make an ad for the their design. Part of my class is going to involve getting a guitar in their hands and getting a feel for the instrument. I also plan on having some local players come in and talk about their rigs and playing for the kids. Again, thanks for your comments and support. Edited March 12, 2008 by warmachine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 Sounds like your doing a great thing for the kids. More young people should learn exacting technical work, I know it helped me a lot learning this kind of thing at a young age. Definitely post/have your students post any questions they might have, this place is a great way to learn. 99% of the members here are very knowledgeable helpful people. You could even have a sub project where they have to use the search engine here and find answers to questions you give them. If you *really* want to challenge them and have them learn something you could bring the physics of a vibrating string into it also with questions like, what is a scale length and why does it matter when applied to the way a guitar string vibrates to produce a tone? Or what happens to the vibrating string when you fret it at a higher position on the neck? This could be really cool for your students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warmachine Posted March 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 Sounds like your doing a great thing for the kids. More young people should learn exacting technical work, I know it helped me a lot learning this kind of thing at a young age. Definitely post/have your students post any questions they might have, this place is a great way to learn. 99% of the members here are very knowledgeable helpful people. You could even have a sub project where they have to use the search engine here and find answers to questions you give them. If you *really* want to challenge them and have them learn something you could bring the physics of a vibrating string into it also with questions like, what is a scale length and why does it matter when applied to the way a guitar string vibrates to produce a tone? Or what happens to the vibrating string when you fret it at a higher position on the neck? This could be really cool for your students. This project is still in the early planning stages so getting a physics teacher on board is something I might consider. The vocational department at my school is trying to turn our image around and this is a way to attract a variety of kids to our classes. I am going to stress research and thinking outside of the norm. Once I get a my plan finalized I will post a copy so I can get some input from the builders. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRossitter Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Sounds like a great idea. If you tell where you live, there may even be some of us in the local area who could come in and talk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Sounds like a great idea. If you tell where you live, there may even be some of us in the local area who could come in and talk. Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia He told us in the first post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warmachine Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Sounds like a great idea. If you tell where you live, there may even be some of us in the local area who could come in and talk. Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia He told us in the first post. Are you a Captain America fan? I also collect comics and I am a huge Cap fan. I am going to build a bass this summer and have been playing with the idea of making a Marvel comics bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRossitter Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Sounds like a great idea. If you tell where you live, there may even be some of us in the local area who could come in and talk. Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia He told us in the first post. Ahh, My powers of observation are stunning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warmachine Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 I forgot that I even typed it in. I usually try to post between class or when the kids are working in class. They are really excited about this project. I think we might build it in house and having building construction and auto body work on it with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Sounds like a nice little project it should make them do enough research to make them work but won't be overwhelming for the kids just be careful i have found a lot of dwg's out there. but hey as far as design i think you could have every one on this board build a double cutout guitar and every one would be unique sounds fun to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Are you a Captain America fan? I also collect comics and I am a huge Cap fan. I am going to build a bass this summer and have been playing with the idea of making a Marvel comics bass. I'm an Avengers fan. The book appeared in Sept. 1963, hence my screen name: avengers63. Cap is the unparalelled leader of the Avengers, so using him as my avatar seemed the logical choice. If I knew hao to use a different image, I probably would. FWIW: I've ben collecting comics since 1982. LMK when you make the bass. I'd love to bounce some comic tribute ideas off each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warmachine Posted March 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 I thought doing Cap's shield. Have the star around the pickups and put the red and white around it like Zakk Wylde's Les Paul. I'm thinking about using an Iceman style body or maybe an Explorer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 The Iceman body would be an appropriate and subtle nod to the X-Men. Were you thinking a tribute to Marvel as a whole, or just to Captain America? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warmachine Posted March 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 The Iceman body would be an appropriate and subtle nod to the X-Men. Were you thinking a tribute to Marvel as a whole, or just to Captain America? I'm undecided at this point. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 Were it me, I'd make it a company tribute. But I'm not the one making the bass. What's more important to you: showing your love for Captain America or showing your love for the company as a whole? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesman94 Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 (edited) i wish I had a teacher like you at my school. Edited March 16, 2008 by bluesman94 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warmachine Posted March 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 i wish I had a teacher like you at my school. I'm new to teaching, this is only my second year. I was in civil engineering and architecture for 15 years before I started teaching. Some days I really suck, it has been hard to find things to get the kids motivated and interested while I'm trying to figure teaching out. I think this guitar project is going to be a huge success if I can pull it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warmachine Posted March 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 I think I like the idea of a Marvel tribute guitar. Cap is my favorite but I also like Punisher, Daredevil.....I have I friend who might be able to do some air brushing for me. Or I could make mylar images and apply them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Here's a thought: The body is painted with Cap's shield as big as possible so that it covers the entire face. Cap's your guy so he's your focus. The headstock can have an inlay of the Marvel 'M' logo. The fret markers can be inlays representing your favorite titles: a round Spider-Man face, Daredevil's double-D from his chest, the Fantastic Four's 4 symbol, the X-Men's yellow & black X, the classic Avengers A, etc. If you start at the 1st fret and go to the 19th, you'd have 9 titles to pay homage to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warmachine Posted March 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Here's a thought: The body is painted with Cap's shield as big as possible so that it covers the entire face. Cap's your guy so he's your focus. The headstock can have an inlay of the Marvel 'M' logo. The fret markers can be inlays representing your favorite titles: a round Spider-Man face, Daredevil's double-D from his chest, the Fantastic Four's 4 symbol, the X-Men's yellow & black X, the classic Avengers A, etc. If you start at the 1st fret and go to the 19th, you'd have 9 titles to pay homage to. You are dead on to what I as thinking. I had thought about the inlays last night. I might be getting a Fender Jazz bass neck off of Ebay. If I get it cheap enough I might be inclined to experiment on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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