urbansmurf Posted June 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 thanks to all who've been helping ill start off by saying i didnt just "fly blind" into this. Although i forgot the center line, i had drawings and designs already made up. 2nd of all, while i respect everyones comments and opinions, telling me to throw it away isnt helping. ill go get a pic of it now that ive drawn the new body line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 2nd of all, while i respect everyones comments and opinions, telling me to throw it away isnt helping. You seem to have a habit of ignoring peoples posts, so we make allowances for that, by making sure we get your attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbansmurf Posted June 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 ok, here we go The body with the new line drawn, but not cut: freshly shaped neck: The whole gang: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbansmurf Posted June 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 2nd of all, while i respect everyones comments and opinions, telling me to throw it away isnt helping. You seem to have a habit of ignoring peoples posts, so we make allowances for that, by making sure we get your attention. understood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbansmurf Posted June 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 hey jeremy, that wood look familiar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 hey, that new line looks a lot better. i reckon it`ll work very nicely now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKGBass Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 i think the new version looks more centered. HOWEVER, i would bring the line on the upper body bout back out almost to where it was. I think another half an inch would work great, just because for some reason it seems with the new line that the upper half now seems smaller than the lower half. Sorry to kind of reverse what was being said, but i just think that would be best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbansmurf Posted June 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 thanks, john MKGBass: What do you mean? think you could draw it in paint or something to give me an idea as to what you're talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 I think you took a stumble because you got way ahead of yourself, but eagerness to get moving is completely normal for noobs, so I understand why you did what you did, whether it wound up being a mistake or not. When I'm designing a body shape, I follow a process that rules out these kinds of errors. 1) First I draw or trace it out on poster paper. This usually takes no less than 2 weeks and many dozens of little changes here and there. I can change the contours many many times by no more than 1/8" a lot of times, with bodies, a very small change can and usually does make a big difference. Pencils and erasers are the rule of the day. 2) After all these small but critical changes, I measure it against a known body for overall 'normalness' of size. 3) Then it gets transferred to a 1/4" plywood template, where TONS of patience is necessary, as this is the 'master', and has to be absolutely the best I can do, because I know how cool it is to have a master template when it comes to routing the body out. You skipped so many steps that are necessary to making a drop-dead killer body shape that it's no wonder it came out the way it did, but I totally understand why you did what you did, you lack the experience necessary to understand the importance of these steps, but you are gaining the experience day by day as you make more mistakes, this is the natural way that you gain your experience, you gotta go thru all the f*ckups to get to a place of knowledge. I'm as hardheaded as I ever was when I was just starting out, but I can back up the hardheadedness with lots of hard-learned first-hand experience now. You are just starting to 'get' your experience, and so you must do these things you do, it's completely normal. Be the way of the tiger, glasshoppah, cunning and patient, and be not like the bull, who is brash and unthinking in his actions, all bravado and little cunning. And if none of that works out for you, don't be afraid to smash that dirty muthu to hell and back and start over. :D PS, I think you should do this by yourself for yourself until it's right. And you know what? It takes effort, devotion, patience, and concentration, and it doesn't happen in 1 or 2 hours. You will find sooner or later that the more time you put into it, the better it will come out, but your newbie eagerness to 'get on with it' will trip you up time and time again. You must learn to master this thought and keep it under your control, not the other way around. By asking us what to do you are in a way cheating yourself of the knowledge gained by doing it until you get it right. By having someone give you the answers you are gaining little, and you slow no one's progress but your own. You may make a guitar a little faster, but you didn't learn as much along the way and it will show up later on. It is like a guilty pleasure or a bad habit, but you should break yourself of it now and not take the easy way out, but your choice, no bother to me if you do or don't. I have spaked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 How thich is that neck? You seem to have almost 1/4" dropoff where the headstock starts. Is this true or am I seeing things? I am really worried that if you slap that fretboard on top of all that its going to be practically unplayable. Draks advice is spot on about patience and going slow. I know that when I ws working on my wards airline template that thing changed at least 6 times AFTER I decided it was good. Each time I would go back and look at the pictures I had and see something that didnt look right. Like he said, 1/8" can make a hige visual difference. I would suggest that in the future you get out a big piece of poster board, draw a long center line and then go from there, that thing is SO damn important, especially when it comes to routing neck pockets and pickup routs. Come to think of it is important to almost every aspect of the finished product. I really wouldnt trust its accuracy drawing it onto an already cut out body like you did. Its basically just a line down the middle of your guitar now, hardly a centerline. Just slow down a little and make sure you are COMPLETELY happy before you start chopping up good wood. I would start again before you put more money into it and find youre not happy at the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 I'm not a pro by any means. Just using my personal aesthetic that I've gained more from OTHER life experience than from building guitars. I've taken the liberty of modifying your picture, using a crap-tastic bit of freehand and absolutely no precision. However, it was pretty close to the line you drew. I also took away the heel block so that people can better imagine how it would look: Now, I see two main problems-- 1. With the new line--as already mentioned--the upper bit now looks too small. But by using the lines as guides, you can see that it's not the 'overall' size that's too small so much as the fact that the upper horn goes further out than the 'hips' of the body! If I've seen a guitar with a larger horn than hips, I can't recall it. That means to me that if you want to reduce the 'hips', you'll also have to reduce the horn, and then you'll be left with very little of your original design. 2. If you check the 'hips', this goes back to what I was saying before. The one the right is fairly round, and the one on the left is a little skewed. I think having the left one skewed is just fine, but it's not skewed enough to produce an effect. It just makes people instinctively know that something's 'wrong' and then they stare at the guitar not for its beauty but because they're trying to sort out in their heads why they don't quite like it. Be cautious, though-- if you make it round (at this size) like the right one, you will only accentuate how 'off' the upper horn is. I was going to point out the offset nature of the waist-- but if you look closely you can see that your original line is pretty good, and it's only my crap-tastic non-graphic-artistry that makes it look off. Ultimately, I think the solution still lies somewhere in-between. And the more I imagine the in-between solution, the more I just see a generic 'superstrat' body shape and want to encourage you to just use an existing plan for a superstrat. I wonder how one would line up over top of the existing body, and how putting a full-sized printout over top might at least influence your next revision should you choose to maintain a bit of your own 'flavour'. In the end, it's still your decision to make, and I don't recommend scrapping the body. In any case, you still have a LEGION of options, only ONE of which is to shelve it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKGBass Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 Meh....a wise man has just spoked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.