Hardtailed

The warmoth neck is a viable option Another idea is the 24 fret neck through blank (already fretted) from StewMac, you just have to shape the peghead. However, it's close to 200$, so if you do that, you might as well just make it a neck through... If you don't want to make the neck yourself, you can look into a pre-slotted fingerboard from LMI or Stewmac, it's one job less and it cost like 15$ ( you still have to do the frets and the inlays, you can do the plastic rod trick for the inlays, and the frets could be installed by a local luthier). You'd still have to shape the neck yourself though, but hey! you gotta learn somewhere

The maple cap is part of the LP's tone, it "brightens" up at bit and help with attack. If you forego the maple (or similar wood) cap, you could end up with a relatively dull sounding guitar assuming you keep the same thickness. It would be like a LP Special basically, except with a carved top. It doesn't mean it's gonna be a bad guitar, but it will sound different.

Ok, just to make sure, you're looking for a 24-fret bolt-on guitar, or just the neck? If just the neck, what kind of guitar exactly? Because yes Warmoth makes one, but you need to have a Fender style guitar and you need to say goodbye to your neck pickup (because it's usually located under what should be the 24th fret). Converting an existing guitar to 24 frets may or may not be easy. We need more details.

At some point, everyone was saying that set-neck has more sustain because of the better energy transfer. However, if you think about it, the energy transfer should be better on a bolt-on since you have a direct wood to wood contact (assuming you don't have paint in the neck pocket) while the glue joint on a set neck could absorb or "rebound" vibrations from the string. What is true however is that both type of construction will usually have a slightly different kind of tone, the bolt-on being snappier with more attack. It's one of the many reasons a LP does not sound like a Strat (no, it's not just the pickups). Yes the LP has a very good sustain, but factor in the different woods, the angled peghead, the TOM bridge (vs tremolo), and you'll realize it's not just the neck joint. A set neck allows you some additionnal carving of the neck heel. As for "serviceability", I don't really care because if the tone your looking for calls for a glue-in neck, why bother about the additionnal hour of work that it will require IF you do need to remove the neck. I've owned 6-7 guitars over the past 10 years and I've had to remove one neck only and I could've repaired it while on the guitar (but since it was bolt-on, yes it only took 2 minutes to remove).

If you're happy with the sound you'd get from a radio shack wireless, then you probably had one crappy cable before... Seriously, yes these things are expensive, but the only economy you can make with a wireless is not buy one at all. Cause a cheap one will screw up your tone, add nasty distortion (peak easily), compress in a cheezy way (they use compression to limit the dynamic range, but a cheap one will sound like you're going through an old DOD compressor pedal, actually worse than that), have a short range (drop outs are uncool), get interferences (did you see the Spinal Tap movie?), and so on... Seriously, you'll end up using your cable instead. As for making one, that's like asking "Can I build a computer from scratch?". Yes you could, but it would cost you a fortune and would perform like one that was build 30 years ago, because this is one of those things that HAVE to be produced in large number to be viable. Now, if you do really want a wireless (I for one, couldn't live without it), do yourself a favor and save 400-500$ and get on the Shure The Guitarist UHF systems (the UHF part is important), you'll be glad you did. They're really good for the price. And stay away from the low-end Audio-Technica models.

In my area, mahogany is also the easiest "flavor" to obtain in big enough pieces, good thing is it also happens to be my favorite! Gibson makes it's Les Paul out of 1 big chunk of mahogany, so you can't go wrong (assuming you like that kind of tone), of course it is topped by two bookmatched piece of maple, but the "beefness" of the tone and the sustain is quite impressive (there are other factors though: massive mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard, angled headstock, short 24.75" scale, med-jumbo frets, covered humbuckers, TOM bridge, glued-in neck, etc)

I like them, but just for the neck (to get a warm singing lead tone) so I wire them so that they act only on the neck pickup

Most people will argue that whenever possible, a 1-piece body will be better since there is no glue joint to alter the tone. However, depending on the wood specie you're going for, a 1-piece blank can be: 1- very expensive 2- hard to find 3- both answers

If you have a steady hand, you could always blow up the picture and then trace the contour yourself with a pencil on another sheet of paper placed over it.

I've read that hollowing out the body may yield a deeper tone? Would it help if I added hollowed wings? Assuming I go with a maple neck-through, I was thinking maybe Rosewood or Pau Ferro, a 25" scale (it's easier to find pre-cut fingerboards in that scale if you want 24 frets ), no maple top on the body, a Wilkinson vintage style trem (with 6 screws for more energy transfer) and I'm undecided between mahogany and basswood for the wings. I usually prefer mahogany, but the maple part will already pretty heavy, and as I understand, the wings don't have that big of a part in the final tone.

I understand that a laminated neck through would be stiffer than a 1-piece, however all those glue joints, don't they affect the tone? I'm considering a neck-through Soloist type body, and I want a fairly deep tone, nothing too bright, so I'm afraid of using maple. However, I'm worried about mahogany being too fragile (we don't see much mahogany neck-thru guitars...), so laminating different woods sounds interesting, I'm afraid it'll deaden the tone a bit.

There's a difference between an ESP and an ESP LTD... I've played a few LTDs and they all sounded dead to me. Metallica use the real thing live, and they've switched back to Gibson recently...

I've had a Thinline RI (japan made) once, the one with single coils (tex-mex I think?) and it had a f-hole and I never had any feedback problems with it. It sounded very thin however (despite the mahogany body), much thinner than my Am Serie Std Tele, but that might've been the pickups... I don't know!

I have a cheap japanese built Yamaha which sounded awefully dead even with nice pickups (SD Custom in the bridge), the paint appeared to be thick and plastic-like. I stripped it down to bare wood and it sounds alive now (even though the body is 6-7 pieces total). I'm gonna have to oil it some day

If I understand correctly what you're saying, then yes it is possible, it would simply give you a shorter scale (if you look at a Fender next to a Gibson and you align the bridge locations, you'll notice the Gibson's nut is roughly where the fender's first fret is). Of course, you would have to compensate your bridge location in function of your new scale. Basically, what is now your 12th fret should be half-way between the nut and the bridge.

Yes they are available www.warmoth.com www.stewmac.com

Although Alder is generally a cheap wood, it depends on where you live. Here (eastern Canada) it's actually cheaper to build a guitar out of mahogany than alder. The cheap woods available are poplar and basswood, but then, you'd be saving like 20-30$ compared to mahogany... Maple, of course, is plenty and I can source all kind of maple (quilted, flamed, bird eye, hard, etc), but I've never played maple bodied guitar I liked (yet).

Yep, scooping mids sounds good only if done AFTER the distortion stage, that's why that sounds is easier to get on a Mesa (the EQ is post distortion) than on a Marshall.

That was a plank they happened to have in the store, but they do offer custom cuts, although I didn't inquire on the cost for mahogany. Perhaps that piece was cheap because the grain wasn't perfectly pretty in some places, but there was still sufficient nice looking parts to make a few guitars with a natural finish. The rest could be used for necks, or for guitars with laminated tops. They also had a 850$ chunk big enough to do a 1-piece dining table Oh, and it was south american mahogany, not african (they did offer that as well)

You mean "online"? If so, I'd rather buy expensive wood localy than cheap wood online and then pay for shipping I was able to get for 225$ a plank of mahogany big enough to do 10 1-piece body blanks, try to find a 23$ mahogany blank on the internet? As for the brown ash, I made some searches on the internet, and I'm 40% sure it's the same thing as swamp ash. Anyway, I don't really mind the weight (main guitar is a LP), I'll probably go ahead and try it! Most tone woods were discovered almost by mistake...

Well, what is "standard" depends from one person to another. If you use a 500k pot, your bridge pickup will be brighter, if you use a 250k, the neck pickup will be "muddier". If I'm not mistaken, current Am. Serie Tele have a "no load" tone pot, so it can't be that bad to use a 500k. Of course, having 2 tone pots would give you more versatility (like switching from a mellow neck tone to a biting bridge tone instantly), but the classic Thinline look is just 2 knobs (including volume). It's up to you. Wiring a fat tele is exactly the same as wiring a regular Tele, except of course if you go with the blend pot, but again you ruin the classic Thinline look (unless you use concentric knobs). I'm pretty sure it's feasible, but I'd have to experiment it before telling you exactly how to wire it. Maybe someone here can explain it.

Anyone? Basically, I just want to know what the heck is "brown ash" and if it's suitable as tonewood.

Ok thanks! That's what I kinda figured: it would turn too fast! Guess I'll have to use my good old hands to sand those curves (I don't have a drill press either, at least not for the moment)

Is it possible to install a sanding "drum" to a router that's table mounted to use it as a spindle sander? Or would it turn too fast?

I've went to what seems to be the only place who sells woods suitable for a guitar in my area (Langevin & Forest in Montreal, Canada), I've found gorgeous pieces of mahogany, walnut, nice exotic woods for top, and all kinds of maple. However, I was shopping for relatively cheap wood for my first project cause I don't want to ruin a perfectly fine piece of mahogany (I saw a huge chunk there which was big enough to build 5 guitars AND necks). But the only economic woods I've found were Yellow Poplar and Basswood, and the basswood came in 4-5 piece blanks. They were however able to provide me poplar lumber big enough to build a 2 pieces. But no alder in sight. However, although they didn't have Swamp Ash, they did have white and brown ash. I know white ash's problem is mostly weight, but it's still suitable as tonewood. However, I've never heard about brown ash. Is it suitable for a guitar? Could it be just an alternative way of saying Swamp Ash? (I've asked specifically for swamp ash and the guy told me they only carried white and brown ash).