ogisha007 Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 (edited) First off, a big hello to everybody, this site/forum is awesome beyond comprehension, I've learned so much in just a few days it's not even funny. OK, so I've been busy drawing lately, and I devised a singlecut guitar shape, based off the ESP Forest GT: (bad hand drawing, still figuring out AutoCAD, Sketchup and the like) Nevermind the headstock, still a WIP. Also, the neck is probably a bit out of proportion, I'll try to fix that... The guitar will be neck-thru, 28", maybe 29" scale, thinking about 29 frets, a single bridge pickup, Hipshot fixed bridge etc... Currently, the potential problem I'm worried about most is balance. I don't have access to any singlecut guitars/basses around here so I can't test out how they feel at all. I was thinking about putting a heavy body wood like walnut so it balances out. So what do you think, both from a designer's (looks) and a practical (weight, balance issues, spikes poking in the ribs) standpoint? Peace Edited June 30, 2008 by ogisha007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 A general rule of thumb is that the guitar will balance if the upper strap button is near the 12th fret. I'm not sure how this applies to a guitar with 30-some frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 i dont think its quite right yet if you imagine the ESP smoothed out without the pointy bits its actually quite a curvy gracefull shape. yours has the pointy bits right but the overall curve along the top of the body seems a little bland and bulky to me... if i was designing it i would try and get a nice curvy, smooth and gracefull shape first before bastardising it with all the pointy bits . mainly i think the waist needs to be deeper on the bass side and probably longer as well to get those curves working for you... i would also wider the lower bout as well (or slim the upper horn) to stop it looking blocky be interesting to see a scale drawing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 A guitar will balance (generally) if the button is around the 12th or LESS. If the button's at the 1st fret... it'll balance hella-well. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 A guitar will balance (generally) if the button is around the 12th or LESS. If the button's at the 1st fret... it'll balance hella-well. Chris i would say, A guitar will balance (generally) if the button is around the 16th or LESS (most telecasters and les pauls in the world) I would say a guitar will 'definately' balance if the button is 12th or less, with this being a longer scale with bigger headstock and more tuners it does makes sense to head up towards the twelve fret - going further than that towards the nut leads to other issues with the singlecut design - especially if you are used to wrapping your thumb around the back of the neck explorers and vee's have it quite far back with very few balance problems but obviously the extreme shapes help with that - always worth considering what your body shape is doing for the balance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IWishICouldShred Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 This looks more like a violin with a heavy cutaway than anything else to me. I think you should flare out the lower features of the guitar to add interest and balance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ogisha007 Posted July 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 Eh, I give up. I can't make it look 'quite right', it's always a bit out of whack. I'll 'suspend' the idea of building this guitar for a while, maybe I'll get it right later on. I'll probably just go with the original ESP shape, even that will be a sufficient headache for a first build. Thanks for all the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 i dont think its quite right yet if you imagine the ESP smoothed out without the pointy bits its actually quite a curvy gracefull shape. yours has the pointy bits right but the overall curve along the top of the body seems a little bland and bulky to me... if i was designing it i would try and get a nice curvy, smooth and gracefull shape first before bastardising it with all the pointy bits . mainly i think the waist needs to be deeper on the bass side and probably longer as well to get those curves working for you... i would also wider the lower bout as well (or slim the upper horn) to stop it looking blocky be interesting to see a scale drawing http://public.fotki.com/Xanthus/misc/forestgtstw.html /\That's a picture of the Japan ESP Forest shape. Much more graceful, like Wez is saying, with the sharp edges toned down a bit. And I'd say to stick with 24 frets, because it'll move the lower half up more and balance out the shape more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 Making it into a singlecut is a nice idea, but the initial sketch looks like the top waist bout could do with moving in more to prevent the top end becoming clunky, and the top horn being more slender. It's looking very heavy* right now! :-D *weight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan316 Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 My suggestion, because this helped immensely for me. Build it, from some plain ol' 2x4's glued together. Once you actually have it physically in your hands, and able to feel it in full three dimensions, you'll start to get new ideas. You'll start cutting, and then get spur-of-the-moment concepts. Moments of inspiration. Welcome accidents. And, it will prove design ideas and make you realise whether your ideas were good or bad. Best of all... it can go in the fire pit for a night of beers with your friends, and you won't cry about wasting precious woods on it! Glue up some non-pressure-treated clean pine 2x4's, and start chopping away. Your hands will tell you if it's a smooth, flowing design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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