mushy the shroom

You can use any material (provided adequate strength), as long as it comes in the 1/4" thickness range. As for cutting it, I would use a scrollsaw, jigsaw, or bandsaw, then to bevel the edges, use a router bit (also available from StewMac). If you don't want to buy a new bit, you could probably just sand it..

I do believe quartersawn wood may exhibit different acoustic properties, but I doubt it would make a noticable difference. Wait... is Tokai using quartersawn wood? Where the hell do they get that much!??!

The standard scale length on a Squier is 25.5". I'm not exactly sure what you are asking here, but if I were to make a template with a 24 fret guitar, I'd just extend the length of the 22 to accomodate 2 frets more. If you were to change the scale length of your neck to fit a 24 fret neck into a 22 fret neck pocket, the bridge placement would be off, so unless you want to go with that... Anyway, the extra two frets may mess with the placement of the neck pickup, but if you're going to make a pickguard, it won't matter. As for the pickups, most people (if they have humbuckers) put them in the bridge position. This yields a more powerful and refined lead tone. The pickup placement is generally a personal factor that people experiment with, and select their favorite. I, personally would choose to use the second configuration you suggested, because I like a humbucker in the bridge position. With a humbucker in the middle, your guitar may end up better suited for rhythem playing (arguably).

Yeah, as Algee said, the easiest way (without expensive equiptment) to achieve a burst, or something to accent the figured wood, would be to "stain black and sand back". The PRS could be bleached, then stained blue, but I'm not sure. Binding doesn't do much besides add asthetic qualities, but I think it can be used to strengthen a thin veneer top... eh. I don't know.

Very Beautiful. How much does it way?

You may want to check the nut's distance from the first fret, also.

I would like to think of scratch built as "all parts that cost less to build, than buy an equivalent are built". This means items such as hardware, pickups, tuners, and the bridge are all built. Items such as screws, magnets, (possibly) frets/pots/jacks, and wire are excluded as "non-cost effective" (or just too darn hard to fabricate). I know this is unrealistic (in most cases), but it's just my philosophy. Nothing is "truly" built from scratch, unless the wood is grown and harvested, the metal is mined and treated, magnets.. (something), tools built by hand, electricity generated, air created.. etc. The original definition of scratch was "Building something from nothing". This is impossible, so it's used as a figure of speach to describe the amount of detail included in an object. So, obviously, in different cases, the meaning must be altered. AS for how this applies to our GOTM, I think it would be wise for a mod to draw a fine line through the seperate levels of scratch. Sorry for this rant, and if I stated anything previously stated, sorry from the bottom of my cerebellum.

Mike- why do you hate them?

Ahh!!! No politics here! I've been trying to escape disease of the political cynisist for a long time now. First it killed my sister, then my friends became all-knowing. Now Project Guitar?

I dunno if it would break, but the rebound would be way off. It would probably be useable every 20 seconds or whatever, but probably not too convienent.

I never called it from scratch. Did I enter it in the wrong contest or something?

Anastasia- You did nothing wrong. Some people believe that "from scratch" means that you bought only the hardware and pickup, and some think the neck isn't included. I doesn't matter how you label it, as long as you say which parts you bought or made (which you did). Some die-hard debaters may take this as an untruth, but it's really just a misunderstanding. As for only having 1 post, this shouldn't matter, because an first-time member shouldn't be predjudiced against for being new. "Judge not by the number of posts, but by the content of the posts". And there's no way that awesome beast is being removed from out poll!

I have broadband, but I respect the new rule changes. My friend waits on a 28.8, which actually connects at more like 14.4. I remember the "good old days" of dialup in which a picture would load all fuzzy, then refine itself row by row, over and over again until you got a clear image. At least that's what it did on my computer.

Props to all, and I love the Baphomet! The inlays are incredible!

Hey man, I was there also! What an awesome concert!!!! Our section started the "joe chant" before the encore. Great stuff!!

Thanks, Erik. I was originally going to have a subtle carved top (no "rebate"), but I was worried about ruining the maple. If I can muster more dough, I may do it on my next. GOTM voting starts in 2 days! I really like Ryan's Bass. I love headless designs, (I own a Steinberger), and the tuning systems are far superior to normal tuners.

Cellulose = Botany. Celluloid = Chemistry. Just thought I would pick nits Ah, man. I'm in for it now. We studied both in biology anyway.

RGRR- that's warping, not wrapping. I own the 3 pickup Les Paul Custom, and I must say, it doesn't sound too muddy. Maybe it's the Burstbuckers. It does weight a ton (9.9 pounds), and it's terrible weight is a factor that inspired me to build my 4.7 pound hollow body. If I were you, I'd not just go for "cheese holes", rather much larger hollow sections. Besides improving the weight, I find that hollowed bodies present much more response and dynamics than a solid plank of wood.

That's real hard to say. I really liked Gary Cherone (why isn't he on the list)? Sammy Hagar is definatly my favorite singer, so I guess I'll go with him.

Ahh, sorry. I got my d**m biology vocab words mixed up.

celluloid? that's a plastic dude LOL!! I got it from buzzsaw international actually, lake salvage quilted maple. Wood's also made from mostly celluloid.

Wow. May I ask where you purchased such a fine mass of celluloid?

Very nice. This is going to be a tough contest! I'm not sure I like the dark burst finish, as it looks like with a little more sanding, it could be an amazing green tobacco burst. The inlays are awesome, though!

Very nice. What did you use to highlight the figuring?

The maple is western from www.curlymaple.com. As for the finish: -Sanded wood with 400 grit dry Raised the grain with water -400 dry 4 coats of Watco Clear Danish Oil -400 dry 2 coats of StewMac Colortone Nitrocellulose Sanding Sealer -400 dry 2 coats of StewMac Colortone Nitrocellulose Satin Lacquer -400 wet 2 coats of StewMac Colortone Nitrocellulose Satin Lacquer -400 dry 2 coars of StewMac Colortone Nitrocellulose Satin Lacquer That's pretty much it. It yielded a very nice, and easy finish that (most of all) resists fingerprints and smudges.