KenHan Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Hi all, I really want to try to build a "poor mans wannabe" godin multiac type gut stringed guitar. I would buy one in a heartbeat but cannot afford it, so I will try to build one, except for the midi/ synth access ... thats not something I will bother about ... so basically it is questions like: what kind of electronics should I use? I think I've remember reading a statement from chet atkins that a solid body gut stringed thinline sounded better and didn't feedback as much ... any thoughts about that ? Now I will certainly use it most of the time "unplugged" so it should sound ok acoustically ... but I am not aiming for a high quality acoustic sound ... I want a comfortable gut stringed multiac inspired guitar. Any thoughts about fretboard type ? Fretboard radius ? frets? Body ? solid / hollow ? thanks in advance for any help or hint that can point me in the right direction //Ken1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 Welcome to PG KenHan... So...are you talking about this kind of thing? I guess the question needs to be asked, how experienced are you at making guitars? Guitar building can get expensive you know! However, I have a bunch of acoustic preamp piezo things and these seem to have come down a lot in price and availability, some even have chromatic tuners on board. I am pretty sure for instance that someone here has made an acoustic strat type thing with acoustic bridge and electronics...it might even have been a nylon. It also depends a bit on the type of music you wish to play...if you play actual classical, you are going to want the wide neck traditional style and broad string spread at the bridge. A solid body is not going to make a lot of noise without being amped...maybe not a bad thing, see the "silent guitar" model (yamaha?)...most of these acoustic electrics are actually chambered to let the top ring a little...but it is not strictly necessary. A solid body could increase sustain and consistancy but for chet a lot of it was ease of playing loud without feedback at gigs. However, it is certainly doable and you could do your own take on it. If going really budget, you may even be able to find a cheap classical with a warped soundboard and use the neck, bridge and parts off that mounted to a self made solid body...it might even be tempting to use the top as a veneer over a chambered solid body for a more traditional look...(I am thinking cheap here and possibly underestimating you!)... Sounds like and interesting project and a nylon string can be great for blues and all kinds of music as well as obviously finger picking and classical party pieces...I am tempted to do one myself pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 Musician's Friend has that guitar listed for $1,349. My question would be what kind of tools do you have. If you have a full workshop of tools, I say it sounds like a great way to save money. I'll tell you that I'm almost halfway done with my build, and I've gone the cheap, cheap, cheap route. I've done most of my cutting with a $5 coping saw from Home Depot, a cheap third-hand router (that still runs like a dream), and just two router bits. My neck and body wood together were under $40, my hardware was probably made by 10-year-old Vietnamese children, and my pickups are used (from Craigslist). With all that, and mind you, I've got a lot more spending to do before I'm finished, I've still spent $775 so far. The bottom line is that it may be cheaper to just buy the Godin. On the other hand, making one is more fun. -Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 well it sounds like you dont have much experience so with that assumption let me say this: my first guitar (i had no specilized tools say for fretting or anything like that) cost me 2-3x more than what i would have cost to by the guitar of my dreams. not only does building a guitar take an investment of money, but it also takes 100's of hours and your first job is always less than ok also. (mistakes are the best teachers!) but if you wanted to continue building guitar i would highly recommend it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenHan Posted August 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Hello and thank you very much for your replys!! yes thats the multiac I was thinking about, I've wanted one since I saw it the first time used by a jazz dude .. and now I'm currently into practising "reedology" with the guidance of buster b jones's dvd ... and that just adds to the craving so to speak .. hehehe I am not very experienced building guitars, I've built 5 so far and a couple of necks .. when it comes to tools, I've got alots of em, including bandsaw, routers, etc ... and fretting tools , well lets face it, I'm hooked to guitarbuilding hehehe ... as well as playing ... I recently built 3 necks archtop stylish ... sorry about the poor img quality .. well I originally constructed them as a practise, and I did build them to hold steel strings .. so having said that, the heads are not designed to hold the gut stringed mechanics ..but ... Since I've been playing electric guitars for 25yrs or so, I do prefer the narrower setup of the necks, regarding stringspacing and so. I've searched high and low throughout the net to try to find some "build tutorial" for such a type of guitar ... "the godin multiac that is" but haven't found one yet. I think that if I get to do this project, and if it does turn out to be something that I really use, I will it try to get a "real" one sooner or later .... I currently have 14 guitars, and I don't want to save forever and buy a guitar that will spend it's time in my guitarrack not being played upon ... so I figure doing a sneak version, will get me an idea of how useful it will be. Thought about making a hollow body with maybe a plywood top and bottom and some sound chambers within .. but I may be better off using a acoustic's top as suggested... well sorry for the brainstorm ... and thanks for answering me //Ken1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Ah...obviously you do have more than enough experience to build a guitar and the tools etc. Perhaps one place to start is to look for a piezo and preamp module. I have a couple here for instance but you might find one specifically for nylon strings. Typically these are curved to fit into the side of a guitar but they might be able to be adapted. Some of them are deeper than others, depending where they hide the electronics. With the right one, you may be able to adapt it so that the sliders poke through the top like the multiac. Piezo's are made from a type of crystal between two metal plates, as pressure from string vibrations is put on it, it produces tiny electric signals...a preamp brings these signals up to an effective level for a guitar amp to handle. If the piezo's are built in under the bridge saddle, they pickup sound directly from the string vibrations and so you could have a completely solid guitar that make very little sound acoustically yet puts out a good signal. preamps with tone controls will help to make the artificial sound of piezos seem a bit more natural. Yamaha's 'silent Guitar' takes this to the extreme with a solid inner body and outer rims only So, there is no real reason to hollow the guitar out as long as you have appropriate piezo pickup and preamp and the sound of the guitar will be detirmined mainly by these components. A more hollow body may give a more natural response though...a solid body may add a lot of sustain compared to a traditional nylon string...but then this might be a good thing. Depending what you intend to play on it, you don't need to build a typically wide classical neck. Generally a bit wider is a good idea as it helps for finger picking and for clean execution if you use classical technique and play classical material. pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Nice work on those necks, Ken. I hope you go for it and post build pictures along the way! Pete, sorry to stray from topic, but I've been thinking about piezo saddles lately. Would those be easy enough to make, or do you even know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 I have done a bit on DIY piezo's...and in an attempt to stay on topic...the buzzer piezo can be ok, but for a project like this unless ultimate cheap is required....and you are not fussy about sound...and you can do some electronics with a preamp...this could be possible. On the other hand, probably not cost effective. I did try and make piezo saddles trying to convert a strat tremolo (in part to run a hex sustainer) but it is tricky. The buzzers can be cut up but the crystals are fragile and can fall off...they are not metal either, so soldering the wire to the crystal is a problem. The buzzer piezo things can sound ok on an electric guitar (still need a preamp to stop loading) combined with the magnetic pickups. I am working on such a project next. Instead of putting them under the saddles they can pickup signals from the tremolo block in a strat (there have been threads on this kind of thing). The last I did experiments with, I got a good sound from a single piezo mounted in the neck socket of a bolt on strat... (photobucket is down so I can't post a pic) I have a bunch of acoustic guitar preamps and bridge piezo strips and might even be persuaded to sell them. At least one of them includes a chromatic tuner. These will work better and probably cheaper all told than most things you can make yourself but there are exceptions. My latest project is going to try and take a piezo signal from under the bridge in an electric guitar and mix it with the magnetic pickup to give an acoustic edge and flavor...I haven't posted about it yet because like all things, sometimes it's better to see your plans actually work before getting everyone all enthusiastic about it. The sound I hope to get is of the wood of the guitar and while under the bridge, is not actually attached to it. If it works, it will make a cool project and I will give details of how I did it...of course if it doesn't...I'lll just slink away and do something else...hehehe pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 I've wondered about mounting one under a bridge. Hope it works out. Thanks for your response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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