Guitar Of The Month - December 2023

[ProjectGuitar.com]

Welcome to the Guitar Of The Month entry for December 2023!

ProjectGuitar.com's Guitar Of The Month contest is a showcase for members to exhibit their creations and to vote on their favourites. The contest is open entry for any and all members, new or old. Winner(s) receive a featured article at the head of the ProjectGuitar.com homepage and elevated member status. ProjectGuitar.com receives tens of thousands of unique visitors monthly; Guitar Of The Month is a great way to showcase your creations to the world!

Submissions are open throughout the month with public voting open in the last week. Polls close on the first weekend of each month.

Lastly, if you didn't win a previous month's Guitar Of The Month contest, you are encouraged to enter your build again the next month for a maximum of three consecutive months. Sometimes one entry just hits it out of the park and eclipses everything!

Tips and Guidelines

• Upload a maximum of eight photos for the instrument in your post
• Ensure that your guitar has a name otherwise we'll make one up 
• List additional descriptive information specific to the build; for example....
  • The woods and materials used, especially if there is something unusual in there!
  • Scale length(s) and other specific configuration details
  • Electronics, pickups, etc.
  • Is this your first build, fifth or five-hundredth?
  • A bit of information on your own background as a builder helps give context to your build.
  • Was it built in the garage, at school, work or in your own shop?
  • A summary of the build's history. Was it built for yourself, friend/family or a client? Did you design the instrument and its specifications or was it built to spec?
  • What were the inspirations behind the instrument and why were various build aspects chosen?
  • Any background on what makes it special?
• Posting a link to your guitar-building website, Photobucket, Facebook, etc. is fine, even if it is your business. In the spirit of fairness towards less experienced builders, we encourage professional builders to consider whether their entries constitute being "fair".
  • Commercial "standard" models are not a valid entry, guys....Guitar Of The Month is about unique and characterful builds, not rubber-stamped production units!
• We reserve the right to pull entries that are thinly-guised adverts; ProjectGuitar.com is about community, sharing build processes and the exchange of ideas - not a vehicle for adverts by members that don't engage with the community.
• If you documented your build in the forums, post a link to the thread; instruments with a build thread shared tend to attract more votes from the general community. In our experience this is the biggest attractor of votes.
• ProTip: Voters vote with their ears as well as their eyes....if you have any soundclips of the instrument or even a YouTube video, do post it! Everybody loves to look at beautiful instruments, but hearing them demo'ed is 10x as important.

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Unsure what to write? Have a look around the entry archives for suggestions!

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If you have any questions about the contest, either PM the moderator team or ask forum members; we're a helpful bunch!

This thread is exclusively for entry posts only - any post that is not an entry will be deleted. We love to hear your discussions and opinions on the month's entries whilst the polls are open. Alternatively, head over to that instrument's build thread if one has been made in the entry post.

[Andyjr1515]

Well, may as well be the first to enter this month's GOTM!  

I present to you my 'Baby Swift'

It is a mini 6-string acoustic guitar that I have designed and built for my two grandchildren so that it is there, as they grow up, for them to mess about with and make any noises they like with it, or to learn to play it if they have an interest, or to just use as a convenient cricket or table tennis bat if they don't  

It has some similarities to some of the increasing number of very small guitars starting to appear on the market - a similar scale to some of them; a body size based on a tenor ukulele -  but also some differences to satisfy my 'what if..?' and 'I wonder if...' interests.  And at least one personal challenge - other than could I build it at all - and that is: can I make it in a way that it sounds more like a classical guitar than a ukulele?

I've been modding and building guitars and basses for over ten years, making and mending stuff for my own use, fellow band members, family and friends and the occasional commissioned build. 

The 'Baby Swift' specs are:

- 17" scale 6-string nylon strung acoustic guitar

- Spruce top; mahogany back and sides; purpleheart fretboard and details; mahogany neck; ebony binding and details; abalone rosette with offset purfling detail

- X-braced, tap-tuned top

- through pin bridge with solid ebony bridge-pins 

- tenor-ukulele body shape; 3" (76mm) body depth

- presently tuned 2 semitones higher than standard with Savarez mixed tension strings (bass high tension, treble normal tension).  The recording below was with different strings at 3 semitones higher than standard.

- 1lb 15oz weight (yes, I know  )  

Here are some pictures:

 

Here's the build thread:

And here's a short sound clip with various styles of playing.  As always, best heard through headphones or decent speakers.  I'll leave you to decide whether I met my objective of it sounding more like a guitar than a ukulele...

Thanks for looking

 

Post-post 

I've been messing around with strings a little and have come across a set that I think suits the tonal dynamics pretty well.  It is a mixed tension set from Savarez - their Corum Red/Blue set.  The bass three strings are high tension and the three treble strings standard tension.

I think it balances out the resonances from the strings.  Although this set will allow me to tune one or two semi-tones lower, I think the 'three semitones above standard' still suits best.

Here's a second set of short demo sounds in different styles, again recorded directly into my little Zoom H2n recorder:

 

 

Thanks again for looking/listening 

 

 

[henrim]

I love @Andyjr1515’s lil guitar and I’m sad to see it’s not getting any competitors here. So I’m putting this lil creation of mine here. It was merely a test piece for a neck mount for electric guitar. A mount that worked fine on this one but may not be something I want to use on a six string (after one guitar I built). Too much precision needed for no apparent benefit. Also tested front mounted potentiometers on this. They have some benefits, but wiring is tedious unless clip-on connectors are used. Could be something for mass production but not for unique pieces.

Anyhow, a lovely wee instrument with an easy to play diatonic scale.

Four string diatonic scale electric. 
Stratocaster style tremolo shortened for four strings.
Maple neck with zebrano fretboard.
Homemade pickups.
Body made of linden. Painted with acrylic 2K paint.

[ADFinlayson]

It's occurred to me I haven't entered anything this year and this is my last opportunity so happy to say this one is finished in the nick of time. 

Specs
- One piece African mahogany body
- Quilted maple carve top
- Quartersawn one-piece flame maple neck
- Indian ebony fretboard with maple pinstripe binding
- Abalone inlays
- Ebony cover plates
- Dyed purple/indigo with a light edge burst.
- Kluson top locking tuners
- OX4 PICKUPS with Butyrate surrounds
- Bournes pots with push/pull coil splits
- Golden age warparound bridge
- Nickel hardware
- 24 stainless steel frets, semi-hemisperical ends
- 24.625" scale
- Weight: 7lb 15oz

 

[SSS-tonelover]

Aromatic cedar with 1/4" poplar center section. I love how the cedar is so varied in coloration depending on depth, and layers of the glue-up.
-Chambered body
-EMG SA active pickups 18v with SPC presence pot
-"Gilmour" neck-on switch
-PTS tone circuit (bass and treble cut controls)
-Japanese Tremolo with brass block, stainless steel saddles, push-on arm
-Locking tuners

 

[ProjectGuitar.com]

Time to vote!