GregP

Wires touching each other wouldn't create feedback, unless you're talking about an electric hum or crackle. Feedback, the squealy kind, is often caused by microphonic pickups, which is caused by "loose" coils (for lack of a better description). The best solution is to pot them in wax, which is an easy job that anybody can do at home. There are instructions somewhere... I don't have the link, but do a forum search for "Potting" or "feedback" and you'll turn it up sooner than later. Greg.

Ditto for that. I understand your not wanting to desolder anything-- when I repotted my pickups, I didn't desolder them at all-- the bridge one had enough wire that I didn't need to worry about it, but for the neck pickup I actually held the entire guitar over the pot of wax for about 20 minutes, with the aid of a few other kitchen items for support. That said, there's not too much that's mystical about soldering. You can do bad jobs of it, but it's pretty tough, and even bad jobs generally still work. If you don't already own a soldering gun, you can get a little 30W 'stylus' style one at Radio Shack for about $10 CDN, so it's worth adding to your toolkit anyhow. If everything (screws, diagrams, etc) get all mixed up and all you're left with is a bunch of electronics and wire, it's still reasonably easy to get it all back together again. It's also a good chance to re-do things the right way, if the electronics aren't already up to snuff-- ie. grounding all your ground wires at the same point (star grounding). Point being-- fear not! Just do! If all else fails (and I'm 99% sure it won't) you can always go to your local guitar shop and beg someone to fix it up for you for a reasonable rate. Greg PS, regarding pickups-- I've yet to discover the holy grail of cheap pickups... but I've heard good things about both Kent Armstrong and Golden Age.

There's no way anyone can beat that for $12.

Great Link! Thanks for that, Little Bit. Another paid application that might be worth SOME people's money is Maxivista, which will allow you to use your laptop's (or any other computer on your network's) monitor as a second monitor. It's basically a virtual dual-monitor setup. It's not as powerful as a true dual-monitor card with a proper monitor, but if you already own a laptop or have a second network computer nearby, it's an interesting solution. I have to admit, you can usually get a used monitor for the same price, but if you don't have a second compatible video card or a dual-head card, you could end up saving money.

Sweetness! The combination of natural looks and shredder technology is perfect. I'll have to look into that black limba when I get around to doing a natural-finish guitar. It has more character than the usual flamed maple suspects, IMO.

I'll definitely be using a router for the body. It's a bit of a catch-22, though... because my body design is 'unique' (it's not spectacular, there are just no commercial templates for it) I have to make a template first. So I still need a tool to cut the template. I have access to that bandsaw, but if scroll saw bits aren't TOO expensive, maybe I can just go through a few of them. <grin> I have some extra MDF around, so I was thinking of using MDF for the template... thick enough for the ball-bearing guide on the router, yet workable enough that I can sand rough spots down to shape first. I wonder how much guitar template guy would charge to laser cut one from a CAD file if I send it.

It's quirky, but I really like it! Only 4 hours to go, I hope he gets a better price for it.

I drooled more at the first one... Brent Hammel through the V30.

Thanks for that, folks. I'll have a look for those schematics. I'll have a peek around at the Joe Perry or Jimmy Page LPs (if I can find them!) and scavenge what I can from those. ;-) I have 3 projects planned for over the next few years <chuckle>, one of which includes an LP copy for my dad, so it'll all prove useful. Major differences that I'm already planning with my guitar: -Electronics will be PRS-style, but with a blade switch. So that's 2 knobs and one blade, rather than the whack of gizmos the Lucille has -Non-traditional headstock-- I'll post some images once they're drawn up in CAD, but I'm going a bit more compact than the Gibson standard. I'm not TOO concerned with ultra-straight string-pull since I won't be using a trem... but you never know, I might go Bigsby some day, so I'm trying to get straight-ish string pull with my design. -Bolt-on construction, so far. That might change, but none of the tutorials I've seen REALLY show how to do a set-in neck. I know that for someone with even a bit of knowledge, they probably look at the tutorials and say, "but... it's ALL right here!" but for a complete beginner, there are a few things missing from anything I've seen. The heel will be contoured and I'll be using washers rather than a plate-- so the final design will 'replicate' a set-in look. My other reason for going bolt-on is that if I screw up the neck, I can make a new one and give it another try without as many problems. -Undecided whether to go with TOM bridge and string-through behind the bridge (a la Schecter), standard TOM with stop tailpiece, or one-piece McCarty-style. As mentioned on another thread, part of my tool dilemna is solved-- I have a contact with access to a shop that has a bandsaw and other beefier versions of the tools I already have access to. Thanks for the router bits recommendation! I know for sure my father's router only has the cheap-ass bits it came with, and I was planning on getting at least 2 (probably 3) decent bits to do a better job. Knowing nothing about routers or bits, the recommendation is very welcome. Cheers, Greg

Luckily, I bumped into a fellow teacher who's my friend's brother. As it turns out, he's now teaching shop. Bandsaw access is mine! Er.. That doesn't help the original poster much. Sorry.

The original Music Man Eddie Van Halen guitar used basswood with a maple top. I'd say you'll be in pretty good company if you use it.

Looks great! I'm also likely going to add an f-hole to one side. Probably chrome hardware rather than gold, too. In the end, it will definitely not look like just a 'small Lucille', though the parentage will be obvious. Yours is unique, which is a great thing. Somehow it looks classic and yet different all at once. Since you're a few steps ahead of me, I might have to bug you for some information. ;-)

It frightens me.

I could take a week cutting a body and be fine with it... rush, schmush. As long as the tool's up to the job if done slowly, I'm fine with that. But if a tool's not up to the job in general, I don't want to break it. Gotta look into the bandsaw, though. For $149 I'm scared that it'll crap out after one use, but if I can get even 3 guitars and 3 bodies out of it, I'll be content. Not happy, but not furious.

By many accounts, the best 'bang for the buck' covered pickups are the Kent Armstrongs. KA pickups I haven't used them, but I've seen them recommended plenty.

Found this: Knopfler's the man. When I went to see Dire Straits, they sure don't jump around on stage much... but the musicianship (esp. his pedal steel player, whose name I don't know) was superb! Anyhow, as you can see the colour and figure are totally different, but when I saw your guitar, it's the first thing I thought of anyhow. Greg

Any kind of scrap would you have lying around could be helpful! As an incidental note, I tried a practice run on a scrap piece of 1/8" plywood that came with my wood. I discovered that the top layer splinters and gets in the way very quickly, and I also quickly realized that when I get to cutting the real deal, some sort of mechanism to blow dust out of the way will be helpful. All things I wouldn't have known if I hadn't done a bit of practice! More practice to come....

Thanks for that. Incidentally, I already have access to a scroll saw, but looking at the blade, I thought it would be too flimsy...? Am I incorrect? Maybe I have the tool I need already! Greg

Neato! Are you going to do a full-on replica, or switch some things around to suit personal taste? (ie. for me, at least, that row of knobs along the top are in an inconvenient spot)

Not really an update, but I figured I'd move on to another page-- My next problem is figuring out what tools and hardware I'm going to need. Here's what I have: -table saw -scroll saw -sanders: belt, palm, random orbit, and some other kind that just seems to vibrate around. It's old. -bench-sized drill press (maybe use for the fret pressing thingy on StewMac?) -Jigsaws-- 2 of them, neither of which seem particularly robust -drills -Dremel (without flex-shaft or many attachments) -Plunge router with a few mediocre bits -mitre saw -circular saw -air compressor (with no painting attachments whatsoever yet) I haven't purchased anything yet, but here are a few thoughts (any advice is appreciated): -Spokeshave. Seems like an ideal tool for shaping the neck and contours. -Instrument-maker's plane. Maybe "plane" is a misnomer, but it's a bit curved so that I can carve the top. -Alternatively, the routing and then sanding trick I've seen around might be an option. -3-in-1 fret files -fret-levelling 'file'... more like a flat hunk of wood with paper on it...? -finger planes (instead of the instrument-maker's plane) I dunno... I'm actually quite confused and it's slowing me down a bit. I need to sit down and think through what I need to do and in what order before I buy ANYTHING, I think. [EDIT: I realized after posting this, that not ALL aspects of this project may be appropriate in this section... recommendations, etc., MAY be better off in another part of the forum. If that's the case, kindly ignore me any time I ask for advice, since I'm likely just mulling things over.) Cheers, Greg

Hi all, You've seen me around, sometimes talking like I know more than I really do, which is dangerous when you're accumulating a bunch of knowledge from books and places such as this, but not actually USING it! The whole way I found this forum was because of a genuine desire to build a guitar, though, and now that my wood has arrived, I'm going to start chronicling its progress. This thread could end up taking a year or more... I have to order parts and tools as I go, so often there will be weeks between updates, but rest assured-- I'll either be working on it, or if I throw in the towel, I'll let you all know. A word of warning-- I am a bit of a writer... so for those with attention deficits, you might want to skim some parts and get right to the pictures. ;-) Step 1: Research --------------------- From reading Guitar Player for years and years, I have a pretty good idea of which woods are valued for which tones. What I DIDN'T know was how much of my stuff I would have to order 'pre-made' (ie. Warmoth necks) and how much of it I could feasibly make on my own. I stumbled across Martin Koch's website fairly early on, and after reading the exerpts, I realized I could at least attempt to make most of the guitar from scratch. Martin Koch's Build Your Guitar website In the meantime, I went to Chapters a lot and read all their books, none of which REALLY grabbed me and seemed worth the price. They didn't have the Hiscock book on hand, or I probably would have snapped it up. Many of the other websites I Googled are actually linked to from our very own ProjectGuitar.com, so I won't list them, but strangely enough it took me a while to realize this forum was here. I had the manufacturer's list, but I hadn't taken advantage of the link to the main page!! D'oh! Point being-- I read a bunch of tutorials, then realized I was tired of reading and was getting ready to get to the building. Having joined this forum, I got some valuable information, and I was ready to start. Step 2: Planning and Design -------- OK, so I've decided to build a guitar. The question that probably keeps a lot of us stumped is "what style should my first one be?" Here's how the thinking process went: 1. I need humbuckers. I have my Pacifica telecaster with singles, and my Godin LG with P-90s. Humbuckers it is. Of course, you can throw whatever pickups you want onto anything you want when you're building your own, but that's the first requirement I had. Before even deciding what body style I wanted, someone was selling a pair of used humbuckers-- an SD Jazz and JB pair, on the Guitarist (UK) forums. I bought them. 2. What body style? Well, it'd be great to design my own, but with the sketches I've done, I've found that I don't have a very good eye for design symmetry yet, so I'll stick with the tried-and-true for now. -Strat? I've already owned one, so I want something new... and I don't like dual-humbucker strats as much as the classic style -Telecaster? That base is covered for me. -Les Paul? Now we're getting closer... but the Godin is vagueley LP-like -DC LP? Yep, now we're talking. I've always liked the DC, as well as the Hamer version. PRS are nice, but I'm getting a bit tired of how exposed they are, to be honest. -Jazz-style guitars are ruled out, because I don't have the skill. Or are they? I dug out an old copy of Guitar Player, featuring BB King, one of my favourites. In it, he described Lucille as the Les Paul's 'big brother', because it's basically a solidbody that has a 335 look. Bingo! But I'm a small dude, and besides, I wanted to do something a LITTLE different, so I decided I wanted to do a 335-style with chambered body (for weight concerns moreso than tone) but which was about the same size as a Les Paul. That's the basis for my project, which I've come to think of as "Lucy" (shortened version of Lucille... it's dumb, but I can't shake it, so I guess it's stuck). At this point in time, I hadn't ordered any wood, but I decided to do some REALLY rough mock-ups of the guitar in Photoshop. I didn't bother with really smoothing the edges, etc., but here's an example (out of a few) that I came up with. It shows the Gibson Lucille, the Godin LG (my real-world reference for size, as I own one), my mock-up of what I'd like to try to accomplish, and a DC LP (also for size and style reference): I nagged my girlfriend a lot with different mock-ups... she doesn't know jack all about guitars, so I just asked, "Does this look cool?" and "Should I use chrome or gold hardware?" and stuff like that. I'm sure she was getting annoyed. Once I had done some mockups, I decided to take the design to the real world. I found some CAD drawings on GuitarBuild, along with some free CAD software. Unfortunately, some of them weren't to scale, so I had to compare the drawing to the Gibson specs, and resize from there. I resized the 335 so that it'd be 13 inches wide (the body blank I've been looking at was 14" wide), then printed the original, the resized, and the DC LP. I superimposed the DC over the resized 335, and copied the 'bottom' contour. From Left to right-- 335 cutout, my first version, and DC LP cutout: I liked the results, but after 'living with them' a few days, I realized that the body might be a bit small, after all. I bought some black construction paper (since the guitar will end up black) and mocked up a few more before coming up with a new version. It's the 335, scaled down, and then with the bottom bit narrowed a little bit, also. L-R 335, my new version, DC LP: Here they are again, superimposed. The black one is going to be "Lucy": I haven't re-printed it yet, but having reached a shape that I'm fairly happy with, I went back into CAD, and revised the drawing I had so that it would show the humbuckers, bridge, and stop tailpiece. If you look too closely, my black mock-up has some imperfect curves. The new CAD version should fix that. And for those who have never used CAD-- neither have I. In fact, I'm sure I used it improperly, and I couldn't find half the functions I wanted to use. I had to muck around a bit, but it wasn't all that tricky. Step 3: The planning's not over, but... --------------------------------------------- GOT WOOD! In the middle of trying to figure out exactly what hardware I want (it'll be TOM, but maybe string-through?) and where best to get it, I found some wood at a site for a good price: A & M Specialty Wood. I phoned them up with some special requests-- I didn't care about figure on the wood, so I wanted to know if I could get 'normal' maple for cheaper. Also, the website didn't list 5/8" tops (the Les Paul standard) for carving. They quoted me up a price for the multi-piece (turned out to be 2 rather than 3) White Limba, a 7/8" quartersawn hard maple neck blank, and my 'normal' soft maple top. Total, in $ (including taxes and UPS shipping): $173. Cheap? Not really... but compared to the other places I've looked, it was a bargain to get pieces I wouldn't have to joint and plane myself. It was packed with a 1/8" piece of scrap plywood, which I used to cut out my mock-up of my guitar, too. 3 pieces of wood, plus the plywood (already drawn on): I have other pictures, too, but they weren't superb. If anyone wants any close-up shots, let me know, but since it's not figured or special wood, I won't take up bandwidth for now. One final picture-- here's the workshop I get to do most of this in. It's in my dad's basement, and is small and improperly ventilated (no fumey finishes going on in here!). What's worse, it's a cluttered mess and I have no right to ask him to clean it up since it's his shop. I'll do it myself when I have a moment. For now, here it is: Wish me luck!! Greg

Sweet! I haven't been reading this thread, because I usually just browse through "View New Posts" and didn't realize it was an in-progress work you were talking about. "Spearmint anyone" wasn't a chat topic that grabbed my attention. I really really, REALLY like the body style!! As for the figure and the finish, I like it the way it is, in all its ferny glory. The white PUs, properly mounted, will be extra sweet. If you have the resources, the kind without polepieces visible on the covers would really make it look sharp, like Mark Knopfler's first Pensa-Suhr. Greg.

Bah. Our Home Depot isn't carrying the 9" bandsaw for $99 bucks anymore. I was flipping through the Canadian Tire catalog and saw one for $149. Then I noticed that for $199, I can get a kitted-out "spin saw" which as far as I can tell is just a Dremel on steroids. But I'm wondering if such a saw would have enough juice to cut through a 2" thick hunk of hardwood. Has anyone used one? It can also be used as a rotary tool, disc sander, and has the flex shaft for dremel-type stuff, so it might be a bargain anyhow. But it sounds almost 'too' good... and it probably does NONE of those jobs particularly well. Anybody out there used one? Greg

Didn't see a question about plywood, but if the question is "can I use it", the answer is "you don't want to." Gluing together 2 pieces of lumber side by side is standard practice for making bodies and tops, but you still want to be using decent wood, and you will need to have them properly jointed together. I don't mean to profess any sort of expertise-- I'm at the same level of skill as you, and the only step ahead I have is that I've read the Koch book, and everything I could find on the internet and on this forum... but I'm a total newbie at this, too. Still, my experience already has been that $60 will be the least of your expenses, and if you're going to put all the work into making an instrument, you're better off with a proper body wood so that you will have a worthwhile product at the end, you know? If you really want practice in cutting shapes, etc., you can use other cheaper woods, I'm imagining-- though the 'feel' for cutting each wood is different. But when it comes down to making the actual guitar, you should at least get a hunk of alder or ash, two of the more budget-friendly woods. There's a chance that no matter how careful we are, our first projects are not going to work out as beautifully as we hoped for-- but if we're 'practicing' or learning a new craft, we might as well use the proper materials so that we'll know what we're doing for the second and third projects! Greg.

Doh! Links not found.