Myka Guitars

Craig, glad to see you made it back to the forum so soon. And thanks for all the comments. I really appreciate it. The World Guitar Congress was a great time. I met some really good people and heard some awesome players. The informal jams by the players stopping by to check out my guitars was enough to keep me satisfied. There is some wonderful talent in the world. At the congress Craig's inlay booth was across from mine. Craig and I got a chance to hang out quite a bit. His work is world class. I was also blown away by the work he brought. Pictures don't do it justice. He won't admit it but he kicks ass on the guitar as well. That is an awesome toucan, of course. Glad to see you got some work from the congress. It's nice to stay busy.

I know that Harry Fleishman has built spruce bodied guitars before. He used bubinga necks with them too. They seemed like great guitars. I would use pine for the body only. If you had something to veneer over the top it would be way cool in my opinion. Like 1/4" maple or rosewood. If you want lightweight and strong for the neck why not choose Spanish cedar? You can get 1" x 3" x 30" neck blanks starting at $12.00 from Gilmer Wood Company. Gilmer has plenty of student grade wood that is acoustically sound but with cosmetic *flaws*. Use that stuff for your tests and build a nice sounding guitar.

One month later... I have been busy and out of town. I recently went to the World Guitar Congress in Baltimore. I met a couple of the Project Guitar members. Craig Lavin, inlay artist extraordinaire, had a booth across from me. His work is simply amazing. World class stuff, really. He also kicks ass on the guitar. I also met Scott Rosenburger who stopped by to say hello. I round the corners to the same radius as the neck joint cutter. I use a 3/4" diameter cutter. A template is also a good idea. I use different neck widths and scale lengths so I haven't yet standardized this. I probably won't considering that my orders are all over the board.

What I wanted to do was add some acoustic-ness to the electric guitar idea. So the thick edges were not seen as worse than the thinner acoustic sides but far more acoustic than the solid block was. It was a move from electric to acoustic and not the other way around, if that makes sense. I think the trade offs would be less susceptability to feedback and increased sustain due to the larger mass of the body. I figured the spruce would take care of the acoustic tone and the open cavity would add to that as well. Everything else was designed electric style. Using bent sides and a carved top and back would more like a 335 style guitar. I want to try one of those too.

Sorry, man. I just was making a (stupid) joke. I am fusion guy and play more laterally than linearly. And I hardly ever get past the 17th fret even on my 24 fret electric.

If you are looking for an excellent veneer supplier try Certainly Wood. They have an awesome selection of just about any type of wood veneer and their minimum is one piece.

Funny, I have at least 4 octaves on my 21 fretters. Low E on the open 6th string E on the 4th string 2nd fret high E on the open 1 st string higher E on the 1st string 12th fret highest E 1st string 21st fret bent 2" off the edge of the body I saw a guitar recently with a pickup behind the tune-o-matic. Now that's a high note.

The concept of a one piece guitar body is a pretty cool one, although hard to build in an acoustic. Imagine trying to hollow out an acoustic from one soild block of wood It seems like the acoustics from Cole Clark do have bent sides. These designs I like basically make the back and sides out of one piece and adding a separate top. This makes for a really interesting guitar design. For an acoustic electric it really is a blend of the two. I just finished a semi-hollow guitar built like this and it sounds great. I used a carved spruce archtop design with parallel bracing. I could have cut the braces into the same piece as the top but the carving would have been very difficult and the result perhaps not so good. I like to be able to tap tune the tops and then decide how stiff of a brace to use so I can adjust the sound a bit. For an x-brace, forget it. But for a parallel brace I would do it. The grain is still consistent with what you want in the bracing. Here is an interesting example where the top and bracing is definitely carved from one piece: Specimen Guitars - Royale model process pic What I like about the idea of making the back and sides from one piece is that you can approach the response and sustain of an electric while being able to hollow it out and get some nice acoustic qualities. Other approaches include having a center block left unrouted down the middle of the body or just chambering the sides heavily and adding an f-hole. Another that I want to try is to leave a block under the bridge to you can use a tune-o-matic and stop tail piece (or a string through). I haven't yet tried these though.

Thanks. I don't have time to answer questions as I am getting ready for a roadtrip to Baltimore for me next show. Pretty exciting! The spruce is very easy to carve but does like to dent a little easier than most woods. The tone, of course, makes it worth the extra trouble. Lowering the strings closer to the body would be a good idea. I have started already to think of what I could do to the bridge. If there were a block under the bridge I could use inserts and just mount the thumbscrews directly into the wood. That would lower it by about 1/2". That would do the trick. There may other ways of doing the same thing here too. I'll place that idea in the back of my mind... Rounding the rings and flattening the knobs... I like both ideas. Perhaps when I gbet back into the shop I will do that. Thanks again for all the replies, critique, and support. I'll be back online in a week or so. ~David

Scott, this guitar will be with me at the show. It would be great if you could play it and give me some feedback when we hook up in Towson. Greg, I didn't think of lower knobs but you are right. They would look much better now that you mention it. I would want to make them out of ebony. Looks like I will have to learn to use a lathe. I share shop space with a furniture builder who has a nice old lathe just waiting to turn out some knobs. Great idea, thanks! The longer headstock came about by taking my wider headstock and narrowing it so the tuners would line up with the strings and pull straight instead of at an angle. I started using it for that reason and it took a while for me to really like it. Now I really like it a lot and use it on my full size acoustics as well.

Cool, this is exactly the type of criticism I was looking for. While I wasn't thinking of this as a small bodied archtop I could see how a slightly larger body would look nice. I was thinking more electric than acoustic while deisigning this guitar. The lower bout is 13-5/8", slightly larger than an LP. I could see going 14-1/2" or even 15". I do like the way this guitar feels though. It is so easy to wrap around it and really dig into it. If I made a carved top and back plate then it would seem to make more sense to have a larger body. The acoustics might benefit from the larger air space. Another thing that is different than the image of an archtop is the lack of binding. I went back and forth about the koa. My second choice was straight grained rosewood. It would have looked nice too and a little more in line with the spruce grain. Since this guitar is sort of a new idea (for me at least) I decided to go with a radically figured piece of wood. It sort of symbolizes the departure from tradition. It seems that pickup manufacturers always want to put their name on their products. If I was more brave I would have sanded them down and glued a thin veneer over the top. I didn't want to risk altering the tone before I really tested them out thoroughly. It doesn't bother me that much and at least they are black. I wanted to go with metal covers but they do not offer them with this pickup series and I had to try them. The tone is perfect so I am glad I went with them. I will play this guitar for a while, gather feedback from people and then start designing the next revision in a few weeks. Keep the ideas coming, I really appreciate the feedback.

The finish is done and it turned out sweet. I decided to put a little effort into cleaning up the shop and setting up my HVLP spray system. The results are pretty nice. While the lacquer was curing I assembled the wiring harness. It went together pretty well. Those guys at StartsPickups sent along a very detiled schematic with the pickups. By the way these Bartolini ZBS humbuckers are the best high fidelity pickups I have ever used. They accurately reproduce the sund of this guitar with harmonic overtones to spare. And they rcok when used with an overdrive unit. You wouldn't beleive the all out shred tone of this guitar by looking at it. It is a heavy fusion machine all the way. It goes from a clean angelic chime to a nasty demonic shreik. I love these pickups. I decided to make some ebony pickup covers for this one. I just couldn't bring myself to put plastic on this guitar. I started by making 1/8" thick strips for the edges of the rings. Then I glued a piece over the top to make a little box. This arrangement makes a very strong little box. Here is a pic: Then I sanded the base to fit using the same trick I used to fit the bridge: I don't have pictures of the jig I used to route the opening. I used some plywood and made a template from it. I then double stick taped it to the rings and routed it with a bearing bit on my router table. It was a little sketchy but I will make a better jig for the next ones I make and then I'll post pictures of that. The result is awesome: After these were done I buffed out the finish and assembled the guitar: This guitar has some great tone. The sitka spruce is simply a gorgeous material for anything stringed and this is no exception. I used Thomastik-Infeld flatwound jazz strings. These are awesome strings. Clear and bright with the focused bass that makes for a great jazzer indeed. The acoustic tone is really nice and plugged in it is as responsive and punchy. The bass response is very tight and the highs just chime while the mids fill it out with a punch. So far I love this guitar. It is a very successful prototype. I plan to start another one with some refinements by the end of June. This one will be flamed maple with an Engelmann srpuce top (I think). I hope you all enjoyed this process as much as I did. Thanks for all the great replies and ideas. Please critique this for me and let me know what might be improved in the next revision. Thanks! ~David

Clavin, You do awesome work. I am not sure if I mentioned this but I have not seen better inlay work. Your marine inlays blow me away. I am really looking forward to meeting you next week in Baltimore. I want to see some of your work up close. ~David

It has been a while since my last post on this project. There has been some good progress on it. I contoured the body and shaped the neck. I basically use a rasp and files. Not too much to detail there. The taipliece is complete. I decided to use a metal hinge (because I had some brass). I turned out pretty cool. Here is the taipliece with a slot cut for the hinge: Here is the hinge piece: The completed taipliece: The pin used to make the hinge is a piece of steel from a finishing nail. Use a long one so you can trim the ends off and still have the length. The hole is drillled from one side of the tailpiece and filled in after the steel rod is in place. The hinge is pretty straight forward. I used a piece 5/8" wide X 3/16" thick. There are two screws holding it on. I used long neck attachment screws. The third hole is for the strap button. I have made some progress witht he finish as well. There are 3 thin coats of amber shallac to give it some color. I also set up my HVLP sprayer and shot 5 coats of lacquer. You can't beat a spray system for ease and efficiency. Here is a shot with the shellac: I will be soldering the wiring harness, finishing the bridge, and doing a general setup before final buffing and completion. More pics by this weekend. Enjoy~

There are a lot of cheaper amps that paint the tone completely regardless of what guitar is going into it. All of my guitars sound the same through my friend's cheap transistor amp. They all sound different through my somewhat decent tube amp. The picture is quite complex. Carl Thompson does hear the difference in wood species. He just hears the difference in pieces of wood of the same species too. That makes is hard to generalize what a particular species sounds like. But there are certain generalizations that are true most of the time.

I think westheman is right in saying that some people hear it and some don't. The ones who don't think the ones who do are crazy. The ones who do wonder what the others lack. Personally it makes no difference to me what anyone says about it. The wood I use makes a difference in my guitars. Hopefully a wood-tone deaf person is ahead of me in the lumber yard because they'll leave all the good stuff behind. When I build guitars I am always tapping and hearing what the wood will sound like, trying to add the qualities I want into the mix. It certainly doesn't mean that I can control what the guitar will sound like exactly but I can get it in the ball park by choosing the right woods. The rest is in the construction and technique. There is a lot that you can do to get tone from a piece of wood (tap tuning acoustic guitar plates, chambering solidbodies, etc) but wood choice is a still the most fundamental consideration. If you build an archtop guitar soundboard out of rosewood it will sound good when it is carved correctly and with skill but it will never sound like spruce. That being said I do believe that you can make a good sounding guitar out of anything. Bob Benedetto made an archtop out of construction grade pine and paint grade maple. He said it played and sounded as good as any of his top of the line models. He also only made one. He proved a point and then continued his pursuit of the finer tones. Here is a telling response: If anyone here seriously believes that wood choices do not make any difference then please make a Les Paul out of nothing but hard rock maple and show me that velvety tone that LPs are famous for.

There are a lot of great guitars this month. I had to go with the blues axe by themikestro. The finish work is excellent. I love the look and the P90s; I am a sucker for a blues guitar.

I'm with you Drak. I'll take a true arched top guitar over the "half-arch" guitars any day. Way more class (and definitely worth the extra work involved).

Not too much to update today. I roughed carved the neck and glued it in place. It looks sweet with the lacewood back. Here are a couple pics:

I agree that this could all be down outside the guitar. The only exception is that the effects loop ran straight from the pickups and then returned before the volume and tone as well. To be able to shape the sound onboard to that extent is pretty cool. I may prototype something like this to try it out someday. Too bad the useage of the system wasn't documented. The fans seemed to notice every time Jerry took a step by not when he was messing with his effects loop.

This setup is for routing the neck pocket. The jig is pretty easy to make. The wood ends on the jig are setup so that when the stright edges are in place the resulting angle is 3 degrees. You can adjust it with shims if you need to change it. The aluminum clamps are held there by thereaded inserts set into the plywood base for the jig. There is cork on the bottoms of the aluminum where is contacts the body so it doesn't mar it. First off the jig is screwed down to the bench. Then the guitar is clamped into place and the neck is clamped onto the straight edges. This sets the angle perfectly. The straight edges are then tightened into place, the neck removed, and a back stop is also clamped into place to set the end of the route. Measure everything at least three times at this point. For cheap insurance I put two layers of tape on the stright edges to allow for a finish pass. For the final pass the tape is removed. If you are unsure if you got the tolerances close enough only remove on layer at a time and check it. If it is too tight remove another layer and make another router pass. With the finish passes hold that router tight. The last pass must be smooth and without error. The router is fitted with a long bearing guided bit. Take it slow and easy with the routing. After a few passes the tape is removed and a final pass is made. Then the neck is fitted into place after some slight sanding of the edges. Nice tight fit! Here is a shot from the front. Look at the thickness of that spruce! I love it~ Top view. As you can see from the pictures there is a lot of contact along the joint. This is a very sturdy neck joint. The pickup will be routed into the end of the neck tenon but it will still have a good amount of wood holding it. The next step will be to glue in the neck and route for pickups.

Today I did the fretting and routed the neck pocket. Here is a pic of my homemade fret press. I cut off an end of a Stew Mac radius sanding block and put a dowel in it to fit onto a drill press. Here is a pic showing the fret being cut to size and the end overhang cut to fit over the binding. To put the frets in first run a tiny bead of Titebond glue into the slot. Then fit the fret inplace. Use a small hammer if you need to tap it in a bit. Press it in with the fret press. Make sure it seats well. After pressing it you may have to clean up some glue. Use a damp rag. The fret cleaned of glue and the ends trimmed. The whole neck fretted. The final step involves putting one drop of gap filling super glue on every fret end. This keeps strings from getting underneath them. After the glue dries the edges will be sanded and the frets will be dressed with a file and diamond stone on the edges to put a bevel on it.

Basically a backer piece is a small piece of wood that is a little wider that the piece you are bending. When I do binding I use a 1" wide piece of wood about 5" long and 1/2" thick (the sizes are not important, just giving you an idea.) I hold the binding to the bending pipe and press the backer piece up against it on the outside of the bend. Here is an illustration: There is a bit of technique to it. Hold the backer and roll it along the bendas you go to keep the fibers pressed together. Sometimes the fibers will break away but as long as they are held to the curve you should be able to glue them back together without a problem.

Sure. I put the dowel in there to avoid the slipping that occurs when you glue parts together. The glue wants to push the parts around instead of squeezing out. The pressure is enough to push the neck out of the pocket a bit and leave a gap of glue in the pickup cavity. The dowel fits into the hole pretty tight and stops the slipping. It worked like a charm. The maple dowel was 1/2" long and set into the body 1/4" and into the neck 1/4". I cut and glued it into the body first then set the neck into the pocket, aligned it, and wacked it with a dead blow hammer (not too hard! Just enough to make a mark on the bottom of the neck). The marks on the neck tenon showed where to drill the mating dowel hole. Move your center point back about 1/64" to make a hole that will force fit the dowel and pull the neck into the pocket when you clamp it. Slightly round the protruding dowel so it goes in easier.

I have been thinking of making knobs as well. What I have come up with so far is to use a brass tube with at least a 3/32" wall thickness and the inner diameter matching your control pot shafts. Insert the tube into the wood you want to use and then turn it on the lathe. When complete drill a hole for the set screw and thread it making sure you go into the brass. No chance of stripping the threads! I dissected one of the ebony knobs from StewMac and it looks like they did something similar. You could also use steel tube if you wanted more durability but I think brass would be sufficient.