Octave Guitar

[fookgub]

So after the Less Tall came though here a couple months ago, I got interested. Well, not really interested... more like curious. I wanted to know what it would be like to play such a tiny, high-pitched guitar, so the only logical choice was to build one. I was looking for a "just for a fun" project anyway, and I had enough parts to build this without buying anything except the tuners. So, here it is.

Progress pics (there's tons, and most aren't interesting, so feel free to not look at them):

A paper mockup:

Gluing the headstock lams, body and neck blanks:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_002.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_003.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_004.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_006.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_007.jpg

Body cut out (small, huh?):

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_008.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_009.jpg

Another mockup:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_010.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_011.jpg

Working on the scarf joint:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_012.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_013.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_014.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_015.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_016.jpg

Couple shots of the neck after roughing in the thickness with my router jig:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_017.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_018.jpg

Neck stiffening bar (no truss rod, just a pair of 3/16" x 3/8" steel rods)

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_019.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_020.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_021.jpg

Neck mockup:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_022.jpg

Bandsawing out the headstock shape:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_023.jpg

Headstock mockup with tuners:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_024.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_025.jpg

Fretboard slotting (not my favorite job, but not as bad as some people make it out to be):

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_026.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_027.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_028.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_029.jpg

Gluing on the fretboard:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_030.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_031.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_032.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_033.jpg

Routing neck pocket (the neck fits tightly, and I can hold up the body with no glue)

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_034.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_035.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_037.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_038.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_039.jpg

Neck shaping mostly done (I use microplane rasps, a spokshave, scrapers, and sandpaper)

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_040.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_041.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_042.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_043.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_044.jpg

Gluing in the neck:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_045.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_046.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_047.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_048.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_049.jpg

A quick pass with the router clean up the neck joint:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_053.jpg

Routing the pickup cavity:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_055.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_056.jpg

Assembled:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_062.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_064.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_066.jpg

Specs:

14.5" scale length

Strung with .008"-.038" strings

Jatoba fretboard

Soft maple body and neck

Maple/garolite/jatoba headstock

GFS "Power Rails" pickup wired in series

Couple of things to note:

1. I shamelessly stole this body shape from another forum member. See his thread here: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...c=32026&hl=

2. I used a few different glues, depending on suitability and what I was feeling at the time. The body blank, headstock bookmatch, and scarf joint are titebond. The headstock laminations are epoxy. The neck joint and fretboard are gorilla glue, and the side dots are CA. Neat, huh?

3. How does it play? Well, it takes some getting used to. It's very small. The strings are actually higher tension than a set of 9's on a standard guitar, so they tend to dig into my fingers. Once I got the action and intonation adjusted I started having a lot more fun with it. Still haven't found a practical use yet... but I've been enjoying pretending like I'm a tape recorder on fast forward and playing stuff double time and an octave up.

Anyway, this is the current state. It needs a lot of cleanup before finishing. I'm not sure when I'll be starting, so don't hold your breath, but it will get finished eventually. Any ideas for the finish? I was thinking burgundy-ish candy over silver metallic for the body and the same burgundy-ish translucent for the neck. Have to shoot some test samples and see if it will work first, though.

Edited December 9, 2008 by fookgub

[mattharris75]

Very cool!

I built a 4 stringer like this just this past summer, and it was a lot of fun to build and play. In fact some elements of your body design remind me a bit of the one I made. Excellent work, looking forward to seeing it with a finish on it.

[staticunderwater]

That is indeed very cool.

Please excuse my ignorance on the subject, but it would be like a 6 string electric uke right?

I believe thats around the scale length of a uke, so if you just tuned it to uke tuning that would be pretty cool. Looks like a fun little build.

:cheers:

-steve

[HuntinDoug]

Cool! I love the shape

[mattharris75]

That is indeed very cool.

Please excuse my ignorance on the subject, but it would be like a 6 string electric uke right?

I believe thats around the scale length of a uke, so if you just tuned it to uke tuning that would be pretty cool. Looks like a fun little build.

:cheers:

-steve

This would be an electric tenor Uke, actually:

Electric Tenor Uke

[fookgub]

Matt, your short scale looks awesome. Mine is not quite so intricate, but I'm having fun with it. Don't think I'll be trying uke tuning anytime soon, though. I would have to change the nut and the bridge (and probably build it too). I'm starting to get the hang of playing it the way it is. String tension is pretty high, but I don't know what could be done about it. I'd like to try Nashville tuning at some point, too.

Anyway, I need to fix a couple things. I misjudged the neck angle slightly, so the bridge saddles are a bit lower than I'd like. I'll have to shorten the saddle height adjustment screws by about 1/16". Since I'm using a top-loading bridge, the break angle over the saddles isn't very steep. It doesn't seem to be affecting anything, but it looks precarious. I'll probably convert it to string-though-body when I disassemble for it finishing. The break angle at the nut isn't so hot either, but I think I'll leave it for now. I may add spacers to a couple of the tuners or do a Floyd Rose-style string retainer (probably not).

[fookgub]

A little progress to report. Color coats are done, and I've sprayed 2 sealer coats on top. Still have about 10 clear coats to go. I swapped out the top-loading bridge for a lower-profile string-through bridge from Mighty Mite, and moved it back about 1/4". That fixed the intonation, saddle height, and break angle issues. Also swapped out the no-name crappy tuners for some Gotohs that are a little shorter. That fixed the break angle over the nut and also made tuning much easier (the old tuners had about a half-turn of backlash!).

I had to lap the bottom of the bridge as it wasn't flat. I was really starting to get frustrated because I couldn't measure any deviation on the guitar face, but the bridge wouldn't sit without rocking. Finally a friend of mine came over and stuck a straight edge against the bottom of the bridge. Sure enough it was out... by a lot, too.

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave-colors-5.jpg

[WezV]

awesome!! one of my next builds is going to be a 12 string mando guitar... most likely it will be a mini SG

[Cam]

You wouldn't actually believe it, but I looked at every photo.

that neck looks so fat on the little body haha

I actually have a mini explorer build going on like this, our scale lengths are very similar - mines 15 3/4"

Nice job on this one!

You wouldn't actually believe it, but I looked at every photo.

[pinefd]

Great job on this build! Wasn't it fun doing something in a smaller scale? You have to use a bit more creativity in the design and build aspect. And I'm glad my little builds could be an inspiration to someone!

You mentioned that you're using 9 gauge strings? I used 8s, and found that to be a good gauge for tuning up the full octave, FWIW.

Frank

[fookgub]

Thanks for the comments.

Frank - I was especially inspired by your guitars. I'm quite sure I would not have built it if I hadn't have seen the Less Tall. It was a lot of fun building this guitar, particularly the "no pressure" aspect. I pretty much built the whole thing by the seat of my pants, and it worked out great. It also gave me a chance to try out a number of things -- first scarf joint, first set neck, first hand-slotting of a fretboard, and a few others. Overall, this has been my easiest, and probably most fun build.

Btw, I'm using 8-gauge strings. I patterned the scale length and string gauge choices after your guitars.