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What do people that don't have access to a company, or school woodshop, and either don't have money to get equipment of their own, or no space to do so do? Is there such thing as a woodshop CLUB? Or Co-Op woodshop? Chris

Oh, i know, even BEFORE the corvette one you showed they've done another one with an actual 2 tone red and white cut-away on a real Les paul that i like better (modelled after a 59' corvette). But I'm doing an old mustang because my father has one and this would make him smile like a mad man. Trust me, I know i'm not the first do do a guitar modelled after a car. There have been MANY. I AM however the first to do a mustang that I know of??? Chris And yeah, I haven't decided on the headstock yet, that's the headstock on the guitar i used to photoshop over, not the one i'm gunna use. As for the strings hieght, thanks i actually hadn't thought of that But yeah... like you said man, it's just a photoshop now, I've gotta see if I can even build a hollow semi first. And no, the pickups will have mounting rings, this is VERY rough you guys lol

Yeah, the GT hole is the exact font and way of connecting the two letters that is on the old mustangs had. That's why I'm using it. I think it fits better than the OTHER ideas i had for a sound hole, like a grill type thing, etc. But then having a front grill and a side scoop on one plane seemed kinda weird. So yeah, if anyone can think of something better, let me know. Oh yeah, I also thought of like somehow making a speedometer.... but that wouldn't leave much "hole".... Chris

OK, the current design/project name I've given this is the SH13m70GT which stands for Semi-Hollow Design 1 (first semi-hollowbody shape I've designed), the 3m stands for Maple (top) Mahogany (back) Mustang (design), with the look of a 1970s GT. (yes, complicated I know). Either way, It's only in the photoshoped stage now, I'm going to build my current hollowbody (same shape) out of sitka spruce and lacewood first (mainly to make sure I can do it well enough) before I tackle this one. A little bit about the design: - The black GT symbol in the top is actually going to be the shape of the sound hole!! - The darker shade of red inside the white stripe is showing that that is going to be relief carved, like a cut-away would be on an old mustang (those sweet side scoops). - The inlay is the mustang symbol if you couldn't tell. - All the hardware is going to be EXTRA chromed out lol I show this with the hopeful respect that no one steals my idea before I can get to it myself. HOWEVER... if you MUST, atleast make two of them and send one to me Chris PS: That's not the EXACT shape of the guitar... it's kinda between that and a Godin A series style shape... but this is the best picture I could find that was close enough to my shape to photoshop over.

I was just wondering a couple points about semi-hollowbody construction. In order to be structurally sound, how thick should the walls and the back be on a semi-hollowbody made of lacewood? Also, how deep should the neck's wood be set into the body? How much wood needs to be between the neck pocket and the hollow cavities? (Woods used: body= lacewood, top= sitka spruce, neck=not decided yet... maybe mahogany). Thanks you guys, Chris

I was watching the Bennedetto building video today. The end part about finishing, etc. And he buffed out the finish on this HUGE buffing machine with spinning buffers and compounds, etc. Now I'm not CERTAIN, but that doesn't seem like a machine all wood shops would have. Especially my college's one. It seems a very specialized machine. How does someone without access to something like that do their finish buffing and polishing, etc.? Chris

Anyone know the angle on a PRS CE 22 with tremolo, or a Parker fly classic? Cause I don't know those. But I like them. I have a Fender tele which I know to be not angled, and I Know I hate the feeling of a Les Paul's neck, and how the bridge is SO high up. So yeah, I want something like the PRS or Parker Neck... and NOT like a Les Paul (which I know to be angled). Chris PS: Just as a little added question (since I'm doing up my drawings at the moment) would you have to angle back the low E string side of a Hipshot Baby Grand bridge just like you would have to for a tune-o-matic?

Ok, we had a discussion about an easier way to angle a neck pocket that a jig. But I just got the dimensions for the bridge I wish to use (the Hipshot Baby Grand from StewMac) and the thing, although on posts like the nefariously tall tune-o-matic style bridges, it only rises up a mere half an inch from the top if I lay it flat on the top: http://www.hipshotproducts.com/babygrand%20dia.htm (sorry, wouldn't let me link for some reason, something about the %20 in the URL i think) So I thought, perhaps I don't need to angle my neck pocket after all. Fenders don't (I think...). So what do I need to do? Merely make sure that the fingerboard also rises half an inch above the top, and then use the posts to raise the bridge accordingly so that all the hieghts work out correctly. Is the fingerboard rising a half an inch above the top too much? Too little? (ie: will it be unstable for a set neck, or on the other end of the spectrum not be ENOUGH above and not allow for space for the pickups under the strings?). Chris

Here's an idea that I'm not sure if it will work or not, so I'll run it by you guys.... Technically you could, instead of ROUTING a neck pocket, use a press drill for the neck pocket? So if you had one of those press drills where you could angle the table that the wood goes on, then you could angle the table to your desired neck pocket angle, set the depth stop, and press drill to your heart's content until you had a pocket? YES? Chris

I could not understand a WORD of what Drak was saying?... Chris

I saw that most of you create jigs to do your neck pockets to get the angles. But what if you don't plan to make enough guitars to justify building a jig? any other way to do these angled pockets? Chris

which bridge idea do you think will work better under distortion? cause whereas the distortion will somewhat compensate for the lack of sustain, I'm not sure how well it would fair under such heavy attack, I'm picturing something with an almost invasive tone then? Chris

Thanks you guys, this idea has been along time in the making, especially with talking to Myka (i don't know if he realises I'm the same guy that was emailing him quite a bit awhile back, but now he does) so yeah, it should be nice. As for neck I'm not sure, i'm going to plan out the neck and everything, HOWEVER i'm going to build the body and get that section done before I start the neck. As for the bridge, at stewmac they have this sweet bridge called a "hipshot" which looks like a grand piano shape and does both a tune-o-matic type bridge and holds the strings in one. That or a tune-o-matic bridge with the strings secured by a brace similar to a violin's way of doing things (and Myka once again). Pickups I'm going to go for something a little more aggressive though, not QUITE sure yet... something les paul-ish maybe? but definately wax or epoxy potted as someone in another thread already recomended to me for less feedback. But yeah, thanks for all the positive feedback ya'll! I'll hopefully be starting soon and maybe making a documented tutorial along the way? Chris

Is that how the PRS hollowbodies are done!? Damnit! I thought I was being original!! But good to know something successful already uses the idea, ie: better chance of working and sounding good. And of my wood choices too (Lacewood back, spruce (sitka) top)? Chris

Ok, i've got myself a sweet amount of lacewood and sitka spruce that I'm thinking about making a combination of an archtop and a thinline with. And I'd like to think what you guys think about the idea. Ok, here's the driving forces, I don't wanna have to do braces for the top, etc, and also for it not to feedback so much. So instead of a full hollowbody like the Myka Dragonflies I so adore, I was thinking go with a build type like that of a tele thin line. Keep the center of the guitar like where the bridge and pickups will go solid and only hollow out the side. HOWEVER here's the twist. Unlike a tele thinline which has a flat top, I plan to carve the top, and as for the underside of the top, I was thinking of carving the inside also, however ONLY where it's hollow on the body. SO it'll be like an archtop on the sides, but still have a center block... And the comments on the idea... Chris

Yeah, a tutorial for what you did rhoads would be great, especially a pictoral one... even if it's on a normal piece of wood, not a fretboard.

Yeah, I'm kinda looking for a punk rock sound actually (as weird as that sounds in a hollowbody thread). Like the new Gibson Tom Delongue TD-355 (ES-335 of steriods) or the full arch gretsch the guy from Avril uses. Chris

I was wondering if anybody has any ideas about which pickups would do best in a semi-hollow that's slightly hollower than a tele thinline, but not quite full hollow archtop style, and not give to much feedback, and have a nice crunch under some distortion? Like... a rock hollowbody. Chris

A thought popped into my head about how to do a "layman's inlay". Would it work if you just dremelled out your inlay design... then just filled it with solder and then filed/sanded it down to a flat level with the frets? Cause that'd be a pretty frickin' easy way to do inlays, and you'd get a cool metalic effect to them... Chris

WOAH! How did my CNC topic get so out of hand!?

After reading a bunch of the CNC machine stuff on the site here I'm kind of interested in using one. And I'm sure my university has one somewhere that I can use? How do you go about doing it? People all talk about WHAT it can do and not HOW it does it? Do you make a 3D CAD drawing and use that or what? Someone should definately make a "CNC How-To" Tutorial! Chris

yup, just bought the bennedetto book and DVD, it's on it's way and to answer your question, I'm looking to make something like a myka dragonfly style semi. Chris

Yeah, my old band was one of her opening acts not too long back. And yeah... maybe he was stuffing lol. Thanks, Chris

Yeah, I know, but my point was, if he didn't have a problem with a full archtop hollow body feeding back, then I probably could make a SEMI not feedback too. Chris

Ok, when I played with Avril her guitarist used gretsch hollows and had NO problem with feedback, and that's about what I'm gunna be using it for, pop-punk style stuff. Chris