westhemann

In that price range there are a lot of good options. For an all around guitar it's hard to beat these for a beginner. I've bought a couple of them and they aren't bad.

https://www.guitarfetish.com/XV-500-Series-Solid-Mahogany-SOLID-carved-Maple-Tops_c_182.html

Also, these are pretty comfy and versatile 

https://www.amazon.com/Ibanez-S521-Ocean-Fade-Metallic/dp/B071HT85NV/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=ibanez+s&qid=1586378619&sr=8-4

I had a Fender Blues jr. I liked quite a bit. It only had one sound, but it did it quite well.

If you're looking for something to do slightly dirty blues, that's a good one. If you want versatility in a solid state amp though, I'd look into the line 6 stuff. 

The Champion isn't something I've ever used. I never considered Fender to be good for solid state amps.

Looks awesome.  Now you need to make a display stand so he can sit upright and observe what's going on around him.

Research "ergonomic guitar ". See what shape looks like it might suit how you play and start there.

Everyone is different. When sitting I like a good strat, but when standing I like a V or Explorer. I sit in classical position .

Well Ronnie, the point is not to convince you. I have no idea as to your hearing range. Neither does the anecdotal "listen to this and tell me the woods used" argument hold any merit. By the time a track is run through all the processing in a recording studio and put onto a medium replayed by your own equipment of course telling woods apart would be tough indeed.

What does matter is that the artist hears the tone he wants through his equipment so he likes what he's playing. In person in your own home where you hear all your music it's much more noticeable. 

Every one of us has a different opinion as to what is most important for a "good" tone. Build quality is also a very important aspect, probably more so than woods used.

I find woods used have a greater effect than strings used, but more effect than the type of fretwire used.

And none of it is to say acrylic or aluminum,  etc have "bad tone", Pros.

But talk of you want about a fence, "some" is still a completely accurate word in this context. Assuredly more than "all". 

Tonewood is subjective. There are many ways to achieve a desired sound. Denying any effect at all though is disingenuous. 

Woods used do have an effect. That's obvious. Anyone who has made identical guitars with identical hardware and different woods knows this.

Everything affects the tone of the instrument. Doesn't mean a guitar will sound bad if less than ideal woods are used, but you always keep in mind the sound you are after.

You can definitely make up for bright woods with pickups that sound less bright, but it's  certainly in your best interest to consider everything. I once made a guitar of maple and cherry and it was so harsh I couldn't stand to play it without adjusting my eq to dampen the unwanted frequencies. 

It's not uncommon though for years of playing at volume to desensitize players to a degree where it's barely noticeable though. Some digital amps kill most differences as well.

I can't find the site I copied the guages from, but here is another.

http://www.tappistry.org/post/string-guage-and-tension-7267661

Yeah,  they don't want you to know the gauge because $50/ set is a pretty good markup. That's why I was researching on Stick forums. On the forums it was agreed Newtone was the place to go.

Personally,  I'm likely to patch the guages I want together from premade string packs. I'm not much on being heavily charged. 

Nat, I have been researching and I wanted to share some of what I've come across.

I was looking through Stick forums and checking string guages people are using "in the wild", and I came across this one.
Bass side .091 .065 .040 .022 .018
Melody side .026 .018 .012 .009 .008

Now, obviously the longer sca le requires longer than normal strings. I was looking at extended scale strings on Amazon and what I've found is that 8 string sets come pretty close to these guages and have a 40" working length normally.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NFEK63Y/?coliid=I2FPMDY8MXY64B&colid=3H4QDL3YO0GNS&psc=0

40" cuts pretty close on a 30" scale so the individual bridges that top load would be needed. If you went up to a bass string for the heaviest one you'd have ball diameter issues.

But the most interesting thing I found is this.

http://www.newtonestrings.com

The word is that they will make strings to your specs. Word is they used to make strings for Chapman and though they aren't allowed to call them Stick strings they do have them available if you contact them. I have not, but I suspect they can produce strings that would allow you to use the individual bridges with perhaps a little filing on the thickest string.

Using a press is easy enough. You just have to be careful and firm, while making sure you are lined up.

I have a press, but I hammer them in more often. Either way is fine. I can't say one is better than the other. You always hear people talk about deformed frets, but I can't imagine how careless or drunk a person would have to be to deform quality frets with a proper plastic tipped mallet.

Scott, if you don't have the exact right caul... say you are doing a compound board and it goes from 10" at the nut to 16" at the bridge... you would use the 10" to seat each fret at the ends first, then use a 16" to seat the middle. In effect, this works the same as having the fret over-radiused and pushes the tangs slightly sideways so they are less likely to pop up.

But like I say, hammer is just as good if you have a firm hand.

Also, bubinga doesn't splinter when routing in my experience. 

I have zero experience with paduak though. The images I've seen seen to show an overlapping grain that looks like it would be prone to splintering,  though that may not be the case, as again I haven't had first hand experience with it.

Also, the piece in the photo above was 3" by 28" by 24" iirc when I bought it and shipping listed it as almost 50 pounds. When lying flat on the floor it was very tough to get my fingers under to pick it up. This guitar is 1 3/8" thick, is a much smaller version of an explorer,  and even with the holes still weighs nearly 10 pounds. Sorry, it's a bit dusty.

Having worked with my share of bubinga I can tell you the giveaway is that bubinga is both dense and filled with mahogany-esque pores. Look for the pores.

Cool. I'm going to start posting my mental wanderings on this subject in the misc. thread so as not to derail your topic.

Interesting.  I didn't even consider a dampening device, but that makes total sense. I'll have to wrap my head around the first fret that can be hammered being considered as the "open" for tuning. 

Still, I suppose since it's for me I don't need to follow the Chapman string spacing. Theoretically that 9 string hardtail Pros mentioned would be perfectly acceptable  for me.

Pickups are another interesting consideration. If I use the 9 string bridge I should have a choice of pickups. I'm unsure what placement would be "best" for such an instrument,  but there's no reason I can't put three pickups in and choose between them. Obviously  I wouldn't need to consider palm muted tone like I do in my metal/rock guitars, but it seems like a hot rails/cool rails/single combo could be nice.

I never hear anyone using gain on these things,  but I certainly want the option for a singing, liquid sustain sort of thing for certain stuff I would end up writing and playing. 

Hey, Nat. I've been mulling over building a version of one of these and I'm thinking about a possible Stick/Megatar hybrid in a sort of blocky V body shape with the center of the "V" being a slightly lopsided roundish void meant to rest comfortably on your thigh in a sitting position so it could be played without that board I see so many people using as a rest. Also, the wider body would allow a more traditional  pickup cavity.

Anyway,  I'm wondering if you ran across any of that taller fretwire used on the newer stick models. I have seen the pyramid wire at Stewmac and I'm sure that would work, but obviously the super tall stuff would be better.

Also, While reading through I didn't notice any mention of a nut. Are you going to use a zero fret system with a spacing nut behind it?

Any reference links you've found would be awesome.  I can't even find any info on string spacing. I assume it's spaced like a guitar rather than a bass?

Just snobbery. It's prone to tearout when routing, but IMO it is a very tonally "dark" wood. It makes a great guitar with a very deep sound. Use slightly bright pickups to add some treble... the Gibson 500T or something similar.

I have hundreds of pounds of it. Mahogany is becoming increasingly scarce, and sapele is a much better alternative than most.

Actually, you can use standard nippers and tang cutters, they just won't last as long. Maybe two fret jobs before you replace all your cutters. Small price to pay.

 I use SS on everything, including when I refret a regular guitar. Mark the fret length you need(a hair longer actually), nip the tang, then cut the crown. After installation I use a file to carefully flush the ends up with the fretboard.

The real key to a good SS fret job is to have the neck completely finished before fretting(minus the actual finish) and make sure the neck is perfectly flat before using a fret press to install the frets. Use a two way truss rod in your build so just have complete control over how flat the neck is. That way if you take your time and install them right you won't need to level and recrown, just bevel the ends and polish out any scratches you make with the press.

Then, once the guitar is finished, string it up and let it sit under tension a few days before readjusting your truss rod to create the setup you want. I prefer flat, but some prefer to leave a tiny forward bow. Either way, do the job right and you shouldn't have to level and recrown.

By far, the toughest part of SS frets is recrowning and polishing out the scratches, so take the time to avoid these things.

Also, try not to pair SS with too much "bright" sounding wood. Mahogany body with maple neck is fine, all mahogany is great, but avoid an all maple guitar.

Bubinga and SS pair well. For some reason, in spite of it's density, Bubinga is surprisingly warm. I think it may be the large pores.

As far as industry standard, it's becoming used more all the time.

Prefretted board won't help. You will still have to level and recrown after gluing to the neck.

You know what I started doing a while back? I wrap the entire truss rod in just a couple of layers of saran wrap. I forget who suggested it to me, but it really seems to make sure no glue ever fouls the rod, while allowing you to glue the entire surface without worrying about squeeze out.

Those blue rods are already wrapped, so I never do that on them, but the exposed ones are quite common and sometimes I find a deal on a group of them.

On 6/27/2017 at 1:35 PM, ScottR said:

Only if it pleases you aesthetically. It is pretty much invisible after the fretboard is attached. I never do that myself. It would have some value in keeping glue out of that area whilst glue up the fretboard...but you are going to have to use something for keeping it off the rod anyway and would typically protect this end the same way.

SR

I use a small piece of masking tape right there just to keep the glue out .

I've noticed lately that a lot of guitar strings these days have an annoying sympathetic vibration on the A string, so I ended up chucking all my cheap GFS, Ernie Ball, etc and went back to Dean Markely vintage 9s. Much better.

I do have a lot of hackberry around,but I haven't set any aside for a guitar.I did set up a ton of elm.

Anything will make a body if it's dried.Basswood is quite successful and it's softer than anything.

It really is a tough choice,but for me,PsikoT's just looks like it would be pleasant to strap on.It seems built for a purpose,and I do love a good workhorse.

What kind of GTO?

http://finelumber.com/

It's all just in piles but when I was there last theh had some 8/4sapele in up to 20" widths.