Myka Guitars

I had nearly forgotten about that. That song was stuck in my head with your voice (and face) for a long, long time. Haha!~ This Dragonfly turned out great, Chris. The snakewood looks wicked. And I like the taper of the tailpiece. This was a really good time back in the old Georgetown shop. We had a little fun. Ah the memories,... Can't wait for some clips. ~David

Why not put a miter guide on the sled if you wanted to cut slots on an angle? Glue sandpaper to the edge so that it would not move when you cut, or use hold-downs. ~David

This is similar to my approach with Tru-Oil finishes. I also level sand between each set of coats (10-15 applications = 1 set). I do not wet sand it however, I use 600-800 grit dry paper and #0000 steel wool. I apply a set of coats, level it, repeat until I like it, and then polish it with #0000 steel wool before I put on the last 2-3 coats which have to be applied perfectly. Final polish is with a soft cotton rag. ~David

Whoa, you're lucky that was all that happened. What others have said is the way to go: cut close to your template and then route. A router table is the best way to go since you can control it so much better. Here is a pic showing how I do it (my router table has a bigger surface these days): This is same bit that Chris is talking about. It has a 1/2" shaft and is about as sturdy as you can get. Stay away from 1/4" shaft bits for cuts this big. You can take it all in one pass as long as you trim to within 1/16" of your template shape. You can get away with 1/8" but it doesn't take much more effort to get better with a bandsaw. Oh, and a bandsaw is easier to get better results than a jigsaw. I used my Delta 10" benchtop bandsaw for years and they are about $120 new. ~David

komodo, I have taken two pieces of the same species and dimension and had very different results as well. I have some mahogany that rings like a bell and some that doesn't at all. But I have never had a piece become more resonant after processing it. In my experience I have found that certain qualities (resonance, sustain, bell-like chime) are inherent in each piece and do not change much with processing. This is why it is important to hand select the woods you use. It's all subjective and impossible to special order. The tuning fork method is very interesting. I have tried it a few times and find that I am now using it along with a finger tap. The tuning fork is vibrating metal and like a string it provides a metallic resonance and a driving force. It's a good method in my experience. ~David

After listening to this I feel that this article is very misleading because he isn't explaining what he is hearing very well at all or how it might play into the finished instrument. The way he leaves the article by tapping a piece of wood and then playing a guitar made 70 years ago offers nothing substantial to our understanding of how any of it relates to guitar building. The topic of tap tuning is misleading enough without this. And this article is not about tap tuning. At best it is about wood selection. This technique is mostly about wood selection but that again is meaningless without the experience to understand how each piece fits into the overall tonal picture (which is not discussed). All this guy is doing is selecting wood based on what he thinks he is hearing. But since he never explains his goals in detail I can only assume that he is just following a recipe. To begin with those are very unrefined tap tones and do not have the dynamics of a braced top. Nor does he tap around the board to show how the different ares shape the tones (you would also need to see that). So the information present is very raw and vague. If you do not have a audio-vision of where you are going then the tone you hear from a piece of wood won't help you. It is all about how certain natural characteristics fit together to make a complete tonal picture. And that takes guesswork at first and the experience of how your guesses pan out. That takes building many guitars before it starts to make sense. This isn't difficult. Take any piece of wood and hold it 1/4 of the way down and 1/4 of the way across and tap it in the opposite corner. That's the natural fundamental of that piece. Hold it 1/4 down and 1/2 across and that is the octave. It is extremely important to note that these tones are of the piece in it's current dimension. It will change as soon as you cut, scrape, slot, brace, glue, route, etc. You really won't be able to tell much about tap tones of raw materials unless you tap it at every step of the way and hear how the processing of wood affects this tone. This is just the beginning of a huge topic of discussion. ~David

avengers63, got your PM. These hybrid guitars are something that I love to explore. In fact my first exploration brought my Dragonfly into being. This guitar is essentially an electric guitar that has a thinner arched top. There is bracing on the top because I wanted it to be as thin as I could get it for it's acoustic tones. There is a lot of debate over this types of guitar's ability to produce acoustic tones but it happens. It's not anything like a Martin D-28 but that was never my intention. I built this guitar and acoustically it has a very loud and strong archtop voice. And this is a guitar that has a 3/8" back and 1/2"-5/8" sides all routed from a 1-1/2" piece of mahogany. The top is carved very thin (1/4" in the center to 1/8" near the edge) and this guitar resonates amazingly well and will keep up in an acoustic mix as a lead and chord player unplugged. For a guitar like this I didn't expect the sides to do much at all. The back however is another story altogether. There is ahuge difference when the guitar back is allowed to freely vibrate (by holding it away from your body when playing it). I put a K&K Pure Archtop pickup in this one that sounds really nice and I was pleasantly surprised when I placed half of another K&K pickup in the center of the back. It really opened up the higher registers and produced an extremely detailed and 3-dimensional sound compared to just the archtop pickup (placed under the feet of the bridge near the parallel braces). If I were going to build a guitar with a thicker top without bracing I might try a 1/4" or thicker spruce top on a frame or a chambered body. Make it thick enough to not distort from string tension and I bet it would have a decent voice. I would not expect anything like a braced or carved thinner top but I bet it would work if you put some acoustic pickups in it. The best thing to do is try it. You don't even have to get fancy. Check out these little instruments that I make for a children's museum in Western New York: dan doans. I make a bunch because the kids destroy them and so each batch I test out a new construction idea. They are cheap (all scrap) and easy to make and would answer so many of your questions. ~David

Wow, that is an awesome fingerboard! Love the design and details. I agree, post more for us! ~David

Yeah, but at least i got to blather on about the switching! You have to remember I spent my grade school and high school years in a small garden shed building guitars in semi-rural NY. I miss the most obvious humor sometimes. But hey, you get to laugh twice! ~David

Not really. A standard LP has a volume and tone for each pickup. This one is identical except that it has a master volume. Each pickup V/T module is wired so that when turned all the way down they do not ground out the signal of the others (only the master volume shorts the signal). What this does is allow a precise and otherwise unobtainable configuration that is something like an onboard mixer. Now you can turn the mix up or down without affecting the mix ratio. This is essentially a studio guitar. This setup is ideal for that environment. ~David

OK, the Korina Brazilian guitar is done. Man, this is one of my favorites. It was really hard to let it go. I was actually depressed after I dropped it off at the post office. I need to make myself one similar to it and it has to happen soon! This guitar blew me away. The simple woods and the vast array of configuration make for an extremely versatile tone machine. You'll notice that the pickup rings have changed. We decided to make all the covers look the same so form a distance the negative space isn't so weird. I really like the new look. This guitar played great. The larger chambered body with a substantial amount of wood leftover is a great recipe for a lighter weight guitar that still has the thick chunky tone of a solidbody. And the woods are so resonant. It was a joy to play. I miss it. Here's a pic: Here's the rest of the gallery: #078 main gallery And here's some more: #078 second gallery And the process pics: #078 process gallery I know, I took an insane amount of pictures but I couldn't help myself. Enjoy!~ ~David

Actually I don't give it that much thought honestly. I put the neck pickup right up against the fingerboard and the bridge pickup about 1.25" forward of the bridge to the center of the closest coil. This gives as much room in between the pickups as possible so that the pickups aren't in the way of my pick! I do like the sound of a neck pickup on a 22 fretter better than a 24 fretter. So I suppose I could say that I like the neck pickup to be as close to the center of the string as possible to pickup the most movement (translate: fuller sound). I am totally intrigued by the work of Michael Stevens. His LJ model has slanted pickups in the bridge and neck to make (my assumptions here) the high notes fatter and the bass nice and tight. I like it! Would love to play one and see what it does to the tone. ~David

It looks like the neck heel is not at the correct angle. This could be due to the actual heel angle, the angle of the neck block in relation to the top and back, or something else altogether. Hard to say from the picks but that angle is dramatic. I am surprised you didn't notice it before you glued the neck in. This is the danger of building from kits that try to take care of all the hard stuff for you. Thinking things through for yourself makes sure that things like this don't just happen. Do yourself a favor and get this book and build it from scratch next time starting with a full scale drawing. Then you will not have any surprises. ~David

I don't think this is good information. I have some questions to help you clarify: 1: If I measure the distance from the nut to the 4th fret I can't measure that same distance to the bridge. Why not? 2. Which harmonic? The open string harmonic or a fretted note harmonic? 3. If he's using a humbucker which coil sits at the harmonic? 4. What about intonation, will that screw up an ideal harmonic placement? 5. How did you come to your conclusions zayk? ~David

It was a great time Chris. We'll have to do it again! Got a pic of the knobs I had made for the limba Brazilian guitar: The line marker is white limba from the body wood. Totally cool!~ These are made to order by David King of King Bass in Portland. Knob's order page. ~David