Matia Posted January 16, 2003 Report Share Posted January 16, 2003 Hey guys. Well I've been working on this some time now... basically I am creating an acoustic guitar based around the jem... ( Hey I was bored! ). So I've got the neck all sorted which is exactly the same as a standard jem and the body is just finished. Its the same dimensions as a jem and shape with the exceptions of having no monkey grip and the depth being three inches. The soundhole is sorted as well. I'm kind of stuck though... I've been playing with the mad idea of putting an edge trem on it... just for the wacky factor more than anything but I have considered doing this from day one so all the bits and bobs needed to do it are plummed into the guitar already. Thing is I have never seen an acoustic with a propper whammy on it before... and dont know if it would work? Does anybody have any suggestions? Or has anybody have any experience with this kind of thing? I just dont want to knacker the thing before its playable. So far its really sweet and the Zebrano wood I used for the neck and body add a really nice touch... any suggestions or help would go a long way... Should I just slam a normal acoustic bridge on it? hmmmmmmmm.... chocolate or vanilla.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeAR Posted January 16, 2003 Report Share Posted January 16, 2003 Id prolly stick with the regular acoustic bridge for a couple of reasons. Firstly you will need the guitar to reasonate as well as possible to make it playable acoustically, being such a small body shape. The edge trem is going to kill the string vibrations, seeing as they will only contact the body via the smallest of contact points on the knife edge trem posts. And secondly, just the plain COOL acoustic Jem factor. ........er........any pics............?!?!?!?!?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matia Posted January 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2003 have to admit that did cross my mind as well... but then I started thinking about putting in an acoustic pickup... I know it wouldnt be a true acoustic but I dont know... I must admit I am now really tempted to do a cool looking bridge design or something... Photos are coming my good man. Just ordered a digital camera so once it gets here I'll be like a kid in a toy shop figuring out how to work it!!! As soon as I have them I'll post them! Thanks for the thoughts though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 I agree that you should not put a big 'ol metal whammy on an acoustic. I mean I'm just imagining if I made such a guitar and put a whammy on it, then wished I wouldn't have. What you should do is BOLT an acoustic bridge on, and play the thing and see how you like it that way. Stew-mac sells a set a screws with holes through them, to do this type of thing. These screws go where the strings go through the bridge. Since there's a hole in the screw, the string still goes through, although you have to go through some trouble sticking your hand inside the body to put the washer and nut on the bolt and I guess you also have to put the string through from inside the body. Hell, leave it like that for weeks so you can get to know how the guitar sounds and you might like it and not want to alter that sound by whammyizing the thing. You can make those Stew-mac screws if you know how to use the drill press like a lathe to drill the holes through them. That's what I did. Much cheaper, no extreme stew-mac shipping charges or minimum order crap to deal with. So this is an acoustic with a bolt-on neck ? Funny thing happened to me the other night. I've been wanting an acoustic pretty damn bad for a long time, but I never come across a used one that suits me. Another problem is that acoustics have glued-on necks and I'd really like to take an acoustic with me when I travel, but with the glued-on neck it's too much of a hassle. Ok, a few have bolt-on necks, but I don't see them hardly at all. So the other night , someone was throwing away an old Epiphone acoustic with a nice mahogany bolt-on neck. Needs some work that I can do with both hands tied behind my back: Refret,bridge reglue,threaded inserts and machine screws for the neck. Best things in life are free. I got an ACOUSTIC travel guitar now. Came with a case too (although I won't use that when I travel with it). Found this guitar 2 hours after putting some pics of my great-grandfather (famous violin and bow maker) on my website. maybe it's his way of saying thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 Somewhere somehow I've seen a picture of an acoustic guitar with a trem on it. This is going way back, maybe Kevan knows where that picture is....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeAR Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 Peavey made 'em, although I cant find a link ATM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave M Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 I've seen a couple of asian made acoustics with whammys on them. They were dogs. The heavy whammy killed tone, ,and didn't transfer it to the top of the instrument. They were okay, only with a pickup installed, then they just became an electric guitar, with a big body, and feedback problems. Remember too, that your volume drops dramatically when you push down on the whammy. Less string tension takes away some of the punch and sustain too, so the acoustic usually falls on its face under whammy playing. Sounds like you already have a unique instrument. I would go with an acoustic bridge, and jem out... I mean Jam on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matia Posted January 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 ok ok so acoustic bridge it is! Thats actualy a really good idea with the clamp on thing... I'll look into that this weekend. The neck is actually dovetailed onto the main body. I did try with the idea of doing a bolt on but just didnt like the way it worked for me personally. It does however have the same feel as an AANJ with it being the same dimensions and thickness. I found some plans for a really old Ibanez Acoustic and basically it evolved from there. I was also toying with the idea of having the Jem monkey grip as the only soundhole on the front of the guitar... but thought with it needing to resonate more to compensate for its size that it would also restrict the sound. So its a nice plain oval! Maybe an idea for the future... But I will definately try with the acoustic bridge and let you know how it goes... Thinking about the idea of a whammy on an acoustic is a good idea. ok it may be hard to put into practise as a working thing but with todays knowledge and technology surely there must be a way to get around this? Or is it just one of those... "rules of the universe" things? That it just cant be done? I bet it would add a new dimension to playing with thie likes of vai, satriani and so ons talents! Anyways I'll not do it to this one... but I think a few experiemtns are in order... it wold be great if it could be done without the problems we so far encounter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEdwardJones Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 Peavey had an acoustic with a whammy out about two years ago. It wasn't like a floyd or anything, but they figured it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 The Peavy Ecoustic ATS had a patented rosewood tremelo bridge. Two point fulcrum with hardened steel pieces (or one piece ?) inbedded into the rosewood I guess. They also made a non trem version. I'm looking at it in an older Peavey catalog right now. You can tell by looking at it that it probably doesn't sound very good. Nothing about it on Harmony central as far as I can tell. Here's a pic of one without a soundhole and the bar isn't there, but the hole for it is: http://home.kimo.com.tw/web2002b/ch-peavey_eats.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matia Posted January 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 The Peavy Ecoustic ATS had a patented rosewood tremelo bridge. Two point fulcrum with hardened steel pieces (or one piece ?) inbedded into the rosewood I guess. They also made a non trem version. I'm looking at it in an older Peavey catalog right now. You can tell by looking at it that it probably doesn't sound very good. Nothing about it on Harmony central as far as I can tell. Here's a pic of one without a soundhole and the bar isn't there, but the hole for it is: http://home.kimo.com.tw/web2002b/ch-peavey_eats.html I think your right actually that looks bloody awful! hmmm... Maybe not then! But still its an interesting idea you have to admire them for having the balls to give it a go. I've started working on the Acoustic bridge this morning... so far so good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 That $25,000 better be in japanese money and $25,000 in japanase money better be equal to about $250 US dollars because if it's equal to $25,000 US dollars, and they are willing to pay that kind of money for that kind of guitar, we need to set up a trip to japan. got a few guitars I'd like to sell and I could retire with that kind of money for each one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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