New Project

[fizzy_elephant]

Hi all

I've been surfing through the forum for some time now as a non-member and decided it was time to join up.

I've never built a guitar before but have built a bass and an electric upright bass.

I just got some wood from a local carpentry shop (very cheap) and was thinking of what to do with it.

I picked up a slab of maple (big enough for a through neck) some ash and some faux mahogany.

I was leaning towards a kind of les paul design. I'm also very interested in a jazz kind of style.

Any ideas what i should do with it?

Alex

[Jehle]

Howdy and welcome to the forum. You have the exact opposite problem that most people have when they first come here. Most have a list of things that they want to do and no material. You have wood and are curious about what you can do with it.

With Ash and Maple, that to me screams Strat. You are more interested in a jazz guitar from the sounds of it so I'm stumped for what else to suggest. I don't think of a Strat as a Jazz guitar at all. I suppose with the right pickups, and an Ebony or Rosewood fingerboard you could build a more beefy sounding strat and that might do the trick.

[MKGBass]

I think you should build a guitar with it!

What sort of look are you going for? Do you have enough for a neck through? You might come off nice if you laminate a 3 or 5 piece neck with the maple and your "faux" mahogany (what is this stuff? can you explain?) and then throw the ash on there as body wings.

Some ash has great grain figure, so depending on what you've got there, you might want a natural finish?

What are YOUR thoughts?

Edit:

If the maple is wide enough, you could use that for a top and back of a hollowbody, and the mahogany-esque stuff for a neck. Many jazz guitars have mahogany necks, though it would be smartest to laminate cross-grained pieces for stability.

[fizzy_elephant]

Thanks for the suggestions:

The maple isnt wide enough for a body blank.

This mahogany-esque stuff i cant remember the name of. It looks like mahogony, and has an interesting grain pattern (not particularly straight) leading me to think it'll look good but be a touch unfriendly to work with.

Really, i'd love a carved top, through neck guitar, probably using the ash as the top, although i've not used it before so wouldnt know how well it would shape. I think using the mahogany stuff would be a bit too difficult to carve.

What are your experiences with using ash for carved tops (if any). How well does it finish, for example by staining it?

Thanks again for any help

[MKGBass]

Ash is a pretty hard/dense wood, as you've probably noticed because your chunk is probably pretty heavy. Haven't personally worked with it, aside from cutting a board out from a log and getting it set up to dry...

Ash does have a VERY wide grain, if you wan't a smooth surface for staining, you're gonna have to use some sort of grain filler. One of my basses is made of ash, and the grain is NOT filled, and I think it adds a pretty cool effect, although the finish is now coming off from so much playing....

[fizzy_elephant]

Yeh, it is pretty heavy.

Im thinking im gonna need a few cavities in the body to keep the weight from being back breaking.

Perhaps i should just go for a natural kind of finish.

Do you have any pics of this kind of effect so i can get some ideas?

Thanks

Alex

[skibum5545]

The Gibson Voodoo finish is fairly similar. They fill the grain with red, and then dye it black:

Hope that helps with an idea of what you're looking for.

(More pics here!)

[fizzy_elephant]

Damn thats nice from a distance it looks black, but when you get close you see a beautiful grain.

Fantastic.

Thanks a lot.

Id love to come out at the end with something like that. I was originally (before i got some ash) hoping to pick up some quilted maple, and going for a carriburst sort of thing, but that looks great.

Now to crack on building it

[MKGBass]

This FBass is in the same style as that Gothic above. Except WAY cooler....ash makes for some pretty amazing stuff....

Notice the p/u covers...

[fizzy_elephant]

WOW..

i can say no more

..

..

I cant wait to get started. Just waiting for some tools and

[fizzy_elephant]

Just a quick question..

When building a neck through, would it be better to angle down the neck part or the body part of the neck through blank. Presumably its easier to leave the neck in line with the straight edge as there is more of it than body but i wouldnt be sure.