tim290280

Personally I love the idea of a cabinet. That way you can keep the guitars in a case, while having easy access, and having them on display. I'm going to get my local cabinet maker (who's a friend) to make me one at some stage.

Personally I like to see as much of the guitar as possible. GOTM is a great inspiration to newbs like me. Build threads then really show the steps along the way and really add to the final product.

So while it would be nice to see/read/hear more from the entrants, just seeing some entries each month to inspire is important too.

Johny gets my vote this month. Great idea and well executed. The only thing I spotted was the truss rod cover was a bit tall and had the strings ride up over it.

Very nice guitar. Missed this until your GOTM entry, glad you entered. The headstock is a great feature, but I like the way you have done a resurrection on this guitar and created something pretty awesome.

Voted muggatu's build. Great lines and nicely chosen mix of woods. Also really liked quarter's and guitarnut's builds

Great looking build. Any feedback from the owner as to how well it plays?

Looks very nice. Is the neck bound as well?

Have you looked at other pickguards? Or possibly no pickguard (I like wood, why cover it with plastic!?).

I saw that tim had nothing listed on his site solid body wise so i guessed that he had nothing. Although last time I emailed him he said he was sick and needed to update his site. I'll go ask him

Apparently Tim has injured his back and isn't as mobile as he'd like. I'm not sure how badly or how long term the injury is, we can only hope he gets better soon. But that means he hasn't got the site updated and the new site running yet.

Just send him an email with a desciption of what you want and he'll be able to tell you whether he has anything that might suit.

I'd like to see some pics in good lighting. I'm betting it will look fantastic!

i like this build, always like an aussie build

Did you get the body blank from luthier supplies?

Thanks Cam. I got the body and neck from Australian Tonewoods (Tim Spittle). Tim has a lot of good stuff as far as I can tell.

I know . . . that's my point! Blackwood is usually . . well black in someway or another.

I use Burmese Blackwood (well it's actually also called Laos rosewood and is from the Dalbergia family) for fretboards and it has a very black grain. Some cuts of it are have large black spots as well.

A lot of the names of the Aussie timbers were defined by the loggers and botanists who were trying to label the timber based on stuff they already knew from other countries. As an example we have a lot of trees labelled "gum trees" that cover all sorts of species and types.

The first body shape for sure. That's an awesome piece of wood.

BTW, are your toenails painted? Not judging... just asking.

Nah just the light reflecting off my pale skin. Need to be covered in some wood dust!

I think the first body shape is far better, anthough I would widen the bottom angle of the lower horn a bit so because it looks too square as it is.

Sorry, do you mean like the pic on the left or the right? Or something else completely?

Ok . . . I give up . . I've seen many pieces of Tassie Blackwood on here . . . but it's is neither remotely black and neither is the grain!

So why is it called blackwood?!?!

Some nice looking timber though and definately the first design - though I'd make the top back curve smoother so it flows into middle cut slight more (much like the bottom one does)

Well I'm not sure why it is called that, but I think that it may have something to do with where the original stands were found (Blackwood swamps in Tasmania).

And I see what you mean. Try and follow the natural pattern with the shape just that little bit more. I'll have a play with my pathetic photoshop skills when I make the templates.

well i would definatly say the second shape, but then i am making this

so maybe i am biased

I thought I was going to have a quorum until you chipped in

Although those two do have a fair bit of sway in swinging the vote

I'm not biased.

Shape #2

Buter

So 3 to 2 then

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll take some photos this weekend and see how it looks with the bridge and board on it.

A rough mock-up of what I want to do with the headstock. Basically the volute will have a shaping down into the centre of the headstock.

The one I'm concentrating on first is the neck thru, the one with the flame maple cap. That one is getting a PRS style vibrato bridge, Seymour Duncan pickups (not sure yet the models), and Sperzel locking tuners. We had discussed doing an oil finish, but I might try to talk him into going ahead and doing lacquer. The top will be stained black, and I just want it to be glossy.

You don't have spray equipment right? So a wipe on poly or something else?

Nice looking wood. Good luck with the first build.

Thanks metalhead. I've been following your builds on here and UM, I'm hoping I've learnt something from you.

Thats going to look sharp ... love Aussie woods

It was really a no-brainer to go Aussie. Guess it is my patriotic streak

Couple of the possible body shapes I'm going to do a mock-up of:

Hi everyone. I've finally gotten all the parts together for my first build and will finally have the free time to start! So with that it is time to start a build thread

A bit of background first. I decided to build a guitar after I bought my brother a Les Paul in the USA (bought myself a Martin ) and battled to find one of equivilent quality in stores for myself. It lead me to question how these guitar thingys were made and lead me to places like here and Woodworking forums. Didn't take much to convince me to have a go myself.

Now I have very little woodworking experience. I am half way through building my first project, a bookcase for my fiance, and have been collecting the tools and having a play. I did, however, grow up on a farm and have plenty of experience making stuff and using tools. I think the main difference between that experience and luthiery is that this will require a level of precision and skill that is more detailed than that which can be finessed with an axe and a judicious placement of force.

So onto the stats for this build:

Body - Tassie Blackwood

Neck - Tassie Myrtle

Fret board - Ebony

Scale - 25" (preslotted)

Frets - Jumbo

Hardware - Chrome

Bridge - Hipshot fixed string thru body

Tuners - Gotoh

Pickups - JB/Jazz combo

Wiring - three way selector with coil splits from push/pull

Truss rod - Gotoh two-way

Nut - Earvana compensated

I can thoroughly recommend the three suppliers I have used thus far:

Australian Tonewoods - Tim was great to deal with.

Australian Luthier Supplies - Sent me the wrong "push/pull" (wanted push/push) but made up for it with extra fret wire.

Guitar Parts Depot - Cheapest source I've seen for Earvana and Hipshot.

Awesome looking build. Very nice.

Any more pics of it all finished, I need to see more

Very nice build

Do you need some more friends to build guitars for

Anything like this is typically "luxury goods" and attract a high tax and or import duty. Part of the reasoning on restricting imports is to keep the australian distributors (local music shops) in business...who would by pickups from them if they can all by overseas cheaper. If overseas people are caught, they will be cut of from selling anywhere. There is even a strong possibility that if you import them say from ebay, you will get a big customs and duty bill that will make up the difference.

Not defending it, but lots of things are like that down here....that's just the way it is! If you can find some second hand, you may have more luck at a cheaper price...but unlikely I guess.

There are a number of companies that are very strict on these kinds of things, fender australia are notorious. That's why you will find a lot of smaller music shops, and even some quite large one, don't or can't stock them or even get them in for you. Strange land!

sorry can't be of more help...maybe someone else will have a better supplier. Sometimes you can discounts on special orders or find some cheaper online supplier in australia...but remember, these guys are paying import and export duties on both ends and tax on top...they can only go so low.

Of course, dimarzio are not the only pickups and there are companies that make excellent products, even hand wound products that work out cheaper...if you know what you are looking for. I have been able to by fender and SD pickups effectively secondhand but, as new...for half or less of the new prices...

pete

I've had this discussion with guys who import stuff into Aust. The actual cost of importing is actually pretty small, especially when you do it in volume.

The price hikes are not due to import duties and freight (as they are offset by buying at wholesale prices), they are usually due to changing exchange rates, the lower volume of sales, and import licensing. Plus you have to have specialised stock that moves at lower volumes on the shelf that you've specially imported, gotta be worth a premium.

For small items tax's should be avoidable (under $1000). There are online stores that sell pickups and export to Aust. I can't think of any they sell Dimarzio pickups (haven't been looking for them) but plenty sell SD's.

Thanks guys. I'm sure Perry won't be that upset (probably just "disappointed") on the basis that I don't make instruments for clients, plus if anyone asks about the scalloping I'll tell them where the idea came from. That's the least I can do.

BTW - the scallop at the 15th (the one i'm redrilling and installing) looks like it's crooked at the apex - it's not, as there is a little smidge of CA from the inlaying which i've subsequently sanded out.

I would have thought he'd take it as a compliment. Like you said, it's not like you're selling guitars. You just have Ormsby Scallops TM

On the build side I like the look of that neck, especially the shaping at the 23rd fret there.

It was a close call between Swedish and Carousel for me this month.

As someone else mentioned, not a huge fan of the purple control cavity cover on Swedish's build. Which is what sealed the vote for Carousel's very simple and stylish build.

Never thought I'd find myself voting for a tele build. Good job RFR! Although Daniel's builds were both great and so was Simo's bass. It was not an easy choice!

Like the look of this one. Nice clean lines!

Did you use a spokeshave in the neck shaping at all, or just the chisels and rasps?

I'm just about to embark on my first guitar building adventure and have just read Melvyn's electirc book.

Hope the new one has the same whit and humour dispersed throughout. It made the electric book such a good read.

I actually like the look of the guitar so much that if you hadn't pointed out the pickup rings and truss rod cover I wouldn't have noticed.

Having said that a darker wood would probably look a bit better. Like avenger said I think it is the grain orientation that is off not the choice of wood itself.

I saw the advert for this yesterday on Facebook (of all places).

Hoping to get down to Perth that weekend. Either way forwarded this on to a couple of mates. Should be interesting.

Nice work Perry, but that's always a given.

I'm curious, did you manage to get the grain match to extend through the end grain? I always hate working on the end grain at the arse end of the guitar, even if I'm just doing a straight natural/clear finish.

The end grain was fairly good, just the faces didnt match.

Just got home from meeting Dragonforce. Took this guitar, and six others down to show them. Herman Li was a bit standoffish until he actually saw one of the Multiscales, and his tech starting telling him how great they were, and then we couldn't get the guitars back off him! Not sure what will come of it, but contact details were exchanged. Their tech ended up coming back with me to the factory, to hang out and see some other works in progress. Dropped him off out the back of the venue, and came straight home. They should be on stage within a half hour or so

That would be cool to have guitars popping up all over the place. Especially with guitarists endorsed by major brands.

Now watch for the Ibenez multiscale.....