Ultima Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 well , I randomnly stumbled apon this site , like 5 min ago .. and now I know what I wanna dop build my own AXE!! yes!! thats it!! Ok I have never done something like this at all never,, I think I have the right tools .. oh Yes I can play a guitar.. I wanna get better at it too , but I think it would be awesome to build and play my own one in my own band when we start.. I have a cheap fender strat look alike one atm.. but its no ways near to a real fender.. and I Am not entirely happy with that one.. So building one the way I want it will be COOl .. I am A computer support tech , so I can do some wiked stuff to p.c's . Where can I start .. HOW do I start .. I mean Duh TUTS? Right... well .. ne thing else I need to know? Oh.. yes ME who am I .. I am 23 male from South Africa and I love guitars,, yeah thats about it.. I would also like to find some good sites regarding Lead guitar.. techniques.. p.s I never had proper lessons heheh Help if u can .. but for now I am gonna absorb everything I can find on this site and in the linkage.. Ciao Ciao.. Quote Link to comment
fidgec94 Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Welcome! but for now I am gonna absorb everything I can find on this site and in the linkage.. Definately the way to go my friend! There's some real talent here, you'll do good to watch (and read) and learn Quote Link to comment
tsl602000 Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Welcome, I can tell you're enthousiastic.. I built 4 strats. Before you do anything, what are your plans? Build one from scratch or start out with a neck and/or body you order. I suggest to make a guitar from scratch.. it's so much fun and can really be done with good results. My first built is still my main strat. It's better than all my Fender's Quote Link to comment
Ultima Posted June 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Welcome, I can tell you're enthousiastic.. I built 4 strats. Before you do anything, what are your plans? Build one from scratch or start out with a neck and/or body you order. I suggest to make a guitar from scratch.. it's so much fun and can really be done with good results. My first built is still my main strat. It's better than all my Fender's well.. lets see after hours of reading.,.. still more to go.. I would like to build my own axe from sratch.. so I guess thats a start.. hmmm I see Maple is good 4 the necks.. and Mahogony is good for bodies , and ebony is used for the fret board. Tools... I have pleanty wood working stuff at home , like a lathe , a planing machine , belt sanders and band saws lucky 4 me my dad is very jacked there and clamps etc. the hard part for me would be sourcing down the hardware like the electronic bits etc , but I suppose I can get it online if I have to. umm the only things I am not sure about is: Should I go for A tremelo in the axe , I dont really use that thing anyway ? right? second problem comes in the wiring .. do u get like pre asembled stuff or do u need to like be a super boff in electronics. P.C 's are very different , but I think I could do it.. soldering is easy so.. and then the neck seems to be the hardest part , best get started on sourcing some good wood.. thanx for the help. Quote Link to comment
tsl602000 Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 first, what sound are you after? Ebony can be used for a fingerboard, but can be tough to work on. I'd suggest to use rosewood for a fingerboard. You can buy pre-slotted boards from Stew Mac. Wiring a strat or any passive guitar is not hard at all. There's alot of foolproof schematics/diagrams out there. Are you planning on building a strat? I personally prefer hardtails as I never use a tremolo. I suggest to use use a fixed bridge if you're not planning to use a trem. Quote Link to comment
Devon Headen Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 I'm with coen on this one. If you don't use a trem (I never have), then there's no reason to have one. Lots of benefits to a hardtail (ie added sustain, and better tuning stability). For parts, I'd say talk to Brian at UniversalJems.com. Very nice guy, and he's the one that runs these forums. eBay is also a good place for parts, but you'll have to watch shipping prices to South Africa. Quote Link to comment
Ultima Posted June 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 well , thanx for more info there.. let me see i think I wanna build a strat.. I am not sure on that one yet , I like the shape , but umm I am not very fimilar with all the different styles of guitars .. I know of the flying v ones the strats and the RG one which is quite similar to a start ( the body from what I can see ) I like the head aswell the strats head is a bit too boring .. I mostly want a axe thats ideal for Rock / grunge and little bit of metal ... As I am mostly into thats sorta music .. so umm yeah ,,, what axe is this then I like this one too :: ( paul gilberts axe) this is quite funny it came off the offical Paul gilbert web .. he was mukking around with photoshop heheh ne way thats kinda what i want to do , that or a strat with a fixed bridge as suggested already. the bodies kinda have almost a simlar shape .. well AT least I thought so.. Quote Link to comment
Stalefish Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Hey, I lived in South Africa back in '94, I think it was.. Was there for about 2-1/2 years.. Johannesburg.. I absolutely loved that country.. Beautiful.. Anyway, welcome to the forum!! Quote Link to comment
Ultima Posted June 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Hey, I lived in South Africa back in '94, I think it was.. Was there for about 2-1/2 years.. Johannesburg.. I absolutely loved that country.. Beautiful.. Anyway, welcome to the forum!! Well ... I live in Johanessburg , edenvale to be exact , ( which in the east where most of the best bands come from , like tree 63 , seether , wonderboom ,tweak ,etc..) Nice to at least have some support on the site thanx guys.. In answering the question .. I think for a first build to go for a strat since I have one already ... but with no tremelo !! andd perhaps a different head maybe?? so the measurments etc will be a snap since I can get them off mine.. but I will see how things go. I wanna obviosly make a kick ass AXE thou.. Quote Link to comment
effluoDeus Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Hey I'm new as well starting my first build. I'm a 23 year old college student from Ohio. Dads been playing guitar for thirty years so I pretty much teethed on a six-string. I've been playing for quite some time as well. I've been reading the forum getting ideas and such for a couple days and figured now was as good a time as any join up. I figure I'll be pelting you all with idiotic questions 'fore long anyways. A suggestion to Ultima about finding online learning resources for playing guitar, WholeNote.com has tons of free lessons and such. I wouldn't expect to get everything you need there, but its certainly a good place to start. -Justin Quote Link to comment
Ultima Posted June 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Hey I'm new as well starting my first build. I'm a 23 year old college student from Ohio. Dads been playing guitar for thirty years so I pretty much teethed on a six-string. I've been playing for quite some time as well. I've been reading the forum getting ideas and such for a couple days and figured now was as good a time as any join up. I figure I'll be pelting you all with idiotic questions 'fore long anyways. A suggestion to Ultima about finding online learning resources for playing guitar, WholeNote.com has tons of free lessons and such. I wouldn't expect to get everything you need there, but its certainly a good place to start. -Justin well looks like ur in the same boat as me with the build ur own guitar .. good luck to you too thanx for the link... Ditto for idotic questions.. I really know nothing other than how sortof play the guitar , and I hope by building one I can learn even more ... BUt JA,,, lets see how it goes ... I will be sure to get pics off progress etc.. but for now I think its shopping , shopping , shopping.. Quote Link to comment
hy_dro66 Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Have fun dude. When you play your first guitar you'll be hooked. Not only will it be a good guitar, it'll be different than what everyone else is playing. Welcome. Oh...I use ebony quite a bit and it doesn't seem that difficult to work with to me. It's just messy and oily. Plus you can inlay ebony with little skill and get great results. As far as hardware goes, you can track that stuff down really easy on the net. One last thing...the tricky part is neck carving. If you have never done it than you might want to practice carving scraps first. You'll do great. Enjoy your first project! Quote Link to comment
frankie Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 strats aren't made out of mahogany...................................... some ash some alder, a few poplar.......... yeah and if you dont like strat headstocks, then you can design your own or use on you like, that's the beauty of building your own guitar... Quote Link to comment
Stalefish Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 strats aren't made out of mahogany...................................... That doesn't mean that they can't be.. Don't know why I'm so excited about that.. I think it's the coffee... Quote Link to comment
Ultima Posted June 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 heheh.. yeah .. the beauty of building a custom guitar .. is that u can build it the way u like umm problem , as far as what I can tell Maple may be a problem to get in South Africa , I dont know , I spoke to my dad , which is an engineer , He laughed at the thought of me building a guitar , well I still want to do it .. He sujested to buy a seperate neck .. cause the neck seeems to be complicated , well not to me it doesnt.. I still wanna give it a go tho.. after all , if its a flop at least I can try again , or use the hard ware to upgrade my crap electric strat look alike , or something. SO its a win win situation.. so for necks is there ne other wood I can think of using... Or should I get a already made neck from some wheres? but let me see what wood is avalible here first. Quote Link to comment
Ultima Posted June 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 well sourced done some very pretty timber .. I wouldnt know whats what but no maple here.. http://www.interaccess.co.za/Species%20List.htm also here are some pics of the woods :: http://www.interaccess.co.za/Sample%20Gallery.htm yes all of thease are hard woods.. look how pretty they are , bet u dont get thease in the us.. amazing what u can find when u look heh?> another site here in s.a > http://www.countrywoods.co.za/ lets see what they have OH JOY AND JUBILATION THEY HAVE MAPLE!!! OMW!! here comes my NECK!! yay! EVEN BETTER .. they around the coner from work.. HAHAH why did I never notice befor hand? they aboput 2-3 km away from where I work. I emailed them requesting info on the following woods : mahogony , ( african or brizillian ) Ash maple ( or some equivilent ) ebony rose wood what esle can I look at ? obviously , i am taking pricing in to the consideration.. hence the mulitiple choices now to source the hard ware.. heheh. Quote Link to comment
Hotrock Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 I built my first neck a while back and didn't find it anywhere near as hard as I thought it would be. It's not attached to my body yet so it might play like crap though Quote Link to comment
Ultima Posted June 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 thanx Hotrock.. I doubt it can be that complicated , all u need is patience right>? and be able to messure and draw straight lines.. Quote Link to comment
Hotrock Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 Yup and when you measure the neck depth to start shaping, remember not to include the fret board as it gets stuck on after. Otherwise you'll end up having to shave 1/2 inch off the whole thing If you've already got a strat why don't you build something different? Or something completely new. For metal guitars I personally think the BC Rich are the dogs dangly bits Quote Link to comment
bob7 Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 Mahogany strat...hmm...It will definetly sound darker than your current knock-off strat.... Maybe i missed it, but what are you doin for pickups? There are alot of combo choices. You may wanna throw in some Humbuckers for grungey metally stuff. Maybe even some of the single coil sized buckers....With a tap on them......Keep the strat look, but a meatier tone, that can change with the flip of a switch... Quote Link to comment
Brian Posted June 16, 2004 Report Share Posted June 16, 2004 Welcome to the forum Ultima Sounds like your definatly hyped, have fun! Quote Link to comment
www Posted June 17, 2004 Report Share Posted June 17, 2004 strats aren't made out of mahogany...................................... some ash some alder, a few poplar.......... yeah and if you dont like strat headstocks, then you can design your own or use on you like, that's the beauty of building your own guitar... Mine is mahogany and everyone who hears or plays it like it! Quote Link to comment
hy_dro66 Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 Yup and when you measure the neck depth to start shaping, remember not to include the fret board as it gets stuck on after. Otherwise you'll end up having to shave 1/2 inch off the whole thing. You put your fingerboard on after you carve the neck? Quote Link to comment
Hotrock Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 Yup and when you measure the neck depth to start shaping, remember not to include the fret board as it gets stuck on after. Otherwise you'll end up having to shave 1/2 inch off the whole thing. You put your fingerboard on after you carve the neck? I am. I dunno if that's the correct way or not. I glued my truss rod in first so hopefully it wont warp. The neck has only had the initial shaping done, final shaping and smoothing off will be done after the fret board is glues on. You've got me worried now Quote Link to comment
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