JamesW

I have just bought a Fernandes Montery X guitar. It has an angled neck, so the bridge and strings are therefore quite high from the body and the bridge pickup has to be raised a lot. Is this normal? The body doesn't have an arched-top, so I guess the string/bridge height is even higher than it would be with an archtop. And what is normally the reason for angling a neck anyway?

I have just bought a Fernandes Montery X guitar. It has an angled neck, so the bridge and strings are therefore quite high from the body and the bridge pickup has to be raised a lot. Is this normal? The body doesn't have an arched-top, so I guess the string/bridge height is even higher than it would be with an archtop. And what is normally the reason for angling a neck anyway?

I'm in the UK. I'll keep looking, although I can get the Epiphone EB-0 reissue for around £180 by mail order...although I'd rather have something else, as they only have a neck pickup so are a bit limited on tone.

Is it me, or is it hard to find a short scale bass guitar? Most guitar shops don't seem stock them, but there must be some demand for them. I'm guitar player mainly but need a bass for recording, and I find 34" basses a little on the large side, whereas a 30" or similar is far more comfortable to play. I know you can get short scale basses if you look hard enough (the reissued Mustang, and the Epiphone EB-0, which I would have to buy by mail order), but it's not like there's much in the way of choice. One reason to build one I suppose!

I like the the 5-string one he made for Keith Richards in the mid 70s - similar to the one above in shape, but dark wood and inlaid with mother of pearl daggers and skulls.

Also, it's worth mentioning that Gibson didn't invent the LP shape as such...it's based on a traditional guitar shape that's been around for centuries.

The most successful guitars seem to be not too way out, pretty normal looking, with style and generally appealing to look at. No wonder the Strat and LP were so successful. Any new guitar designs, if they're also not going to be way out, are going to be subtle variations of these well known guitars. So really, most (normal, not way out) guitar shapes have been done. I don't think there's anything wrong with new guitar designers being influenced by the classics. And I think it's worth noting that, in my opinion, that the success of the Strat and the LP and Tele was surely down to the shape of these guitars and nothing else. Obviously build quality and sound of the instrument is important, but this is assumed. So I reckon a nice new fresh guitar shape, if someone was to design and produce it, could be very successful...and the shape is what will do it. ....I look forward to making my first million....!

Just been reading the posts and some questions occur to me... Can a carved solid top be flat on the underside? Is it a good idea then to lacquer all the inside of a hollow guitar to avoid moisture warping? Myka Guitars - I'm wondering how practical it would be to make, say, an ES-335 with a solid piece of mahogany and then route out the inside, perhaps leaving the solid 'log' part in the middle. Would such a body be as strong as a normal 335's body? What are the disadvantages of doing it this way? Too me it seems like an easy way of making a hollow body guitar, if perhaps a little wasteful on the wood.

Has anyone tried the materials from this UK company: http://www.touchstonetonewoods.co.uk/ttwp4.html ? Down the bottom there's a grain-filler listed, but it says it's 'mahogany' - meaning it's been stained...? I too need a clear grain-filler and I live in the UK. I tried the Axeminster site but it was down. Is two-part epoxy practical to use though? What can you thin it with and has anyone done this before? I agree about B&Q, but they do have good tools....like routers, dremel, sanders and also cheap band-saws and drill presses (£39!)....meaning useful workshop machinery is within reach.

I get it, thanks

So you you might do all stages...grain-fill, sand-seal, prime, then paint?

Can you use grain-filler then start applying the coats of paint, or do you need to grain-fill then use sanding-sealer, then paint / lacquer etc...? What is sanding-sealer, and can it be used instead of grain-filler, or are they variants of the same thing?

Could it be made sweepable I wonder, like a parametric equalizer?

I'm wondering if it's worth painting glue over the foil (both sides) to stick it down and also help toughen it up and avoid it getting torn? Although perhaps water-based glue would make moisture get into the wood.... Maybe use double-sided sticky tape then.

In my lunch break I just went out and bought one of those cheap History of the Guitar type books. It's full of good quality photos of guitars, taken straight on, with no distortion of the guitar shape in the photo. One could use a digital camera or scanner to get the image onto a computer then print it out enlarged or use it to trace onto a CAD drawing. They wouldn't be absolutely perfect but they would be good enough to use as plans.