bob7

The tools are where the expense occurs definetly....On clamps alone, doing the bare minimum you will spend in the ball park of 100 bucks.... Then you can get pretty extensize on the tool list, but its not needed...BUT the product will drastically change in quality with the use of better tools although many amazing guitars have been made with very few tools) Woods will cost you at most 100 overall, unless its some RARE huge slabs of nice figuring....EBAY is great for cheap wood...I got a ebony fretboard (precut), korina body (precut, not glued) and walnut slab for a top, all for 20 bucks a piece (us dollars).... The electronics aren't bad if you use some of ansil's techniques, pickups will run you 50-110 a piece new.... AFTER you have the necessary (and some optional tools) your really only spending around 300 on hardware, and another 80 (being liberal) on woods, so the tools will pay for themselves in the long run if you plan on doing more luthier work. If you are only doing one (and you'll change your mind after you've started) it may be a good idea to stock up on some tools first, then some wood when you've got a nice setup...But if you have a friend with them, by all means borrowing is MUCH cheaper than buying..... woods/hardware/pickups-$500 us dollars is MORE than enough for one..(maybe even 2 depending on materials and electronic setup) guitars... Tools can run you another 500 to 1000+ (depending on quality...you do in fact get what you pay for with tools) if you want to have a complete shop but really all you NEED is a saw (jig, band, scroll)...a router...some clamps...a sanding aparatus (such as sandpaper, a sanding block, or even a planer/handplane...)...and some titebond (if doing set/neckthrough or multi piece body/neck)

jehle....Ive been doing the same thing, and even when i was 99% sure it matched up almost perfectly, so i go glue it up, and then i see how large the space between the boards is......At least i am gonna be puttin a top over it so noone sees the extra spacing in there...I suggest if possible find either a jointer or a belt sander that you can use...It will go MUCH faster and end up much better....

Finally had a chance to go to the depot to pick up some clamps, a better handplane, and a bottle of Titebond original.... Let me say one thing...HAND PLANNING IS A B!@TCH.....Went for 3 hours, and i have a passable 2/3 of a body right now, tomorrow night im gonna be gluing on the other piece, but figured i would do one joint at a time to make it easier on myself...... Hopefully it will come out fine....But next project will def. try to find a nicer planing system (or maybe a jointer somewhere....).... tomorrow ill post a pic of the nice setup i have for the laminating.... This week i will: finish with the body lamination (by tuesday evening it should be all glued up. And then i will start the long planning process to try and get the entire body even (because right now, it is a bit off....should have gotten some help with the clamping) Hopefully i know someone with a thickness planer i could borrow... THEN: i have to cut the wood for the neck out of the walnut and the korina that i have, and glue that up too. Also: Jigsaw out the body template I've been working on after a few more alterations.....Design a headstock that works with the body (thats been taking time), and jigsaw out the neck/headstock templates. If all goes according to plan, that is what I will be doing this week. I'll be sure to post pics of my progress.

just did half of my 3 piece gluing today....thought it would take a good hour...and it took 3, and its still not perfect (but its close enough since i plan on hollowing some, and then throwin a cap on.....its downstairs right now gettin titebonded up....(which reminds me i should go edit my in progress post

What kind of finish should i look into for my Claro walnut top? It is figured nicely, and i plan to use a transparent finish, without filler so that the grain and the beauty of the wood is enhanced, and protected. Also i dont have any materials, so unless its an aerosol spray application is near impossible for me at this time. With all of that said, what type of finish should i use here?

Def. check ebay gilmerwood.com is another nice site for guitar wood.

it may be the camera, but it almost looks like a cheap plastic toy......

any tips on getting free pots?

stonescreeds got a point....that camera stuff hurts, so make sure to slap it into ur forearm after ya take it outta the case (unless u have a heart condition)

Yeah, is this a site? if so ya gotta post it....I got mine for 35 (just enough for 1 LP body) off some guy on ebay....Such luck...

Mahogany strat...hmm...It will definetly sound darker than your current knock-off strat.... Maybe i missed it, but what are you doin for pickups? There are alot of combo choices. You may wanna throw in some Humbuckers for grungey metally stuff. Maybe even some of the single coil sized buckers....With a tap on them......Keep the strat look, but a meatier tone, that can change with the flip of a switch...

hmmm a 36 fret bass? maybe possibly.......6 string 36 fret bass....Or baritone guitar 36 fret....hmmm

hows it feel reachin for that 27th fret?

how about those planet waves auto-trims?

wouldnt it be a copy of someone else's design if you dont draw it

theres one over on MIMF with a metal fretboard.

I've been searching around for a while, and can't find a good price on this trem system (whole thing, nut and all) Does anyone have a USED 7 string Floyd or (gotoh/schaller/ibanez) licenced floyd? Also I'm having alot of trouble finding individual tuning pegs, so if anyone knows where i can find cheap ones That'ld be great (i figure the locking nut will take care of the job as long as i can get close so quality tuners aren't needed) If possible I'd REALLY like them in black, but if its in chrome that's fine too. Im tryin to refrain from gold hardware since i feel it is distracting. Thanks

I dont plan on having a drastic arch in the walnut itself. Its going on a piece of ~2inch thick limba, and i plan to have the arch extend into the limba, for a drastic color change type of look. I dont need it to be exactly .5".....I wouldn't mind working with as little as a 1/4 inch thick top much either. The way it is now, 1" is too big for a top, I thick it will overpower the limba, and maybe a 3" thick guitar is a bit much. I guess I could always plane 2 pieces of the 1" and get an unbookmatched .5" top.

I have a piece of 1" thick wlanut, which i would like to cut into two ~.5" pieces for a nice les paul top. What would I need to make this kind of precise cut?

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Alright, well, I figure i should open this up, and Ill update when i can.. My version of a "les paul" Body will be korina, topped with walnut. archtoped.... 2.5- almost 3 inches thick in the middle. Carved so that the treble side has less walnut/more korina than the bass side in an attempt to well-blend the tone....try to deepen the trebles brightness, and brighten the bass's bassiness Neck-4 piece....Centerpiece walnut, with one korina slice on each side. EBony 24 fret fretboard 25.5" scale Neck will be attached as a deep tenon....neck through until the bridge, after the bridge the neckpiece will stop Headstock, 13 degree angled walnut all black hardware wilkinson trem some planet waves auto trims.....4x2 pots- 1 concentric volume/tone on board gain-linear primary booster (thanks to ansiL) Either a 3 way, or 5 way switch....most-likely a fender-like 5 way pickups-PAF7 neck, tallboy 7 mid, Evo 7 bridge 2 dpdt mini-switch to make both humbuckers tappable My walnut top http://www.t-mobilepictures.com/photos/pho...a36wpq8kforp4yx 3 Piece korina body, and neck piece http://www.t-mobilepictures.com/photos/pho...wbd78faejipfvd0 walnut neck http://www.t-mobilepictures.com/photos/pho...6j9b2r2shlkvk1w ebony fretboard http://www.t-mobilepictures.com/photos/pho...o4iq2i5lgyw1odb If you haven't already guessed, Im still in the preperation phase, but I hope ot begin actual building by the end of june, and hope to be finished by July 20th. i cant wait!!! edit: Due to the monetary restrictions of being in high school, my plans have been altered... 7 string became a 6 string floyd became wilkinson (maybe soon moved to hardtail with tom) nut became rollernut

well, i was hoping they did and i just could find them

Where can I buy both a 7 seven string wilkinson bridge, and a 7 string rolling nut. After weighting the options of this vs. floyd rose, i think the wilkinson may be a better choice, and would like to look into price differences, but I cannot seem to find many. Where can they be bought?

Could you put a d-tuna on each string saddle, so that you could instantly go from E standard to dropping all strings 1 step? Would it work, or no?

Where can I find the cheapest floyd rose 7 string trem (schaler or gotoh copies fine, but no others)? DOes anyone have one for sale (either used or new) with all of the parts?