joshvegas

For those who haven't noticed yet-- he means the note is one TONE higher, not one octave.

I can see that now!

Bummer about the neck astro but atleast you have an awesome excuse for building number 2!

That's a really smart shape I think the bottom is fine flames are only flamy(a word?) at the top.

I like it alot actually but is that switch not aweful close to the tailpiece and in the way of the knobs? (it would be for me but i tend to flail around trying to adjust the sound mid tune.

I take it you'l be playing smooth clean jazz licks on this yeah?

Even with the wrong neck the 12th fret wouldn't be out by an octave. are the strings hitting a fret further up the neck or possibly hitting a pickup. I'd check this while you're doing what Mickgaurd suggested.

Edited because Mickguard actually gave better advice!

I was factoring in the intonation sorry!

Hi,

Someone more knowledgable will be along shortly. But what do you mean by its almost an octave high at the 12 fret? do you mean the intonation is almost right or that it's an octave higher than it should be?

The distance from the 12th fret to the bridge will be slightly longer than the distance from the 12th fret to the nut to compensate for pressing the string down onto the fret making the vibrating section of the string ever so slightly longer than half the length of the unfretted string.

The experts will provide guidance but it's the weekend so you may have to be patient.

or alternatively hook up the sustainer to the mains 240v really would make an electric guitar!

That maketh perfect sense I was having a drummer moment.

thanks

I have a question that may be stupid.

Why do you need to use a magnet at all?

If you rap a piece of iron in wire and pass a current through it you already have a magnet so surely using another magnet is jsut complicating things or is it the reaction between the two magnets that creates the sustain in the string?

I used Humbrol for my RG (pictures of which some may remember, because i can't find them), worked really well and no thinning was necessary at all.

Note to self mix paint before use!

Haha not with the weather we are having! Idon't mind when it snows but i wish it would settle!

Okay I found my camera! I'll try and get this right in terms of picture rules!

This is my project i'll restart when I get my workbench shifted...

it was a two piece Ash blank i made up but free hand routing is not my forte so i chopped out the middle and got another block cut then put the whole thing under my bed but you can just see the outline pencilled in on the centre block. The pick up cavity was hand cut hence slight untidyness (i was running out of ash and scared of losing my fingers to the router! the pickup will be in a tele style bridge but there will be a hole predrilled from the neck pocket to facilitate a second pickup at a later date (or possibly a sustainer that i've been reading about!)

And this is the neck blank (or will be)

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/j...ct/CIMG5141.jpg

very slightly rippled sycamore and rosewoodI am gonna route out half the thickness of the truss rod into each half then glue the two together (i may be wrong but i think musicman does this sometimes?) And treat it as a maple fender neck with the two strips of rosewood running through the fret board. Headstock design I think is just going to be the smallest arrow head possible due to unbalanced design and faced front and back with ash to match the body.

The whole thing with be finshed natural probably a sort of dull sheen although i am toying with the idea of wire brushing the body to raise the grain like a piece of drift wood.

But until then I am working on this horrendous snake shaped guitar an ebay special.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/j...ct/CIMG5144.jpg

i'm carving a relief into it and generally making it look better. it purely an excercise in bad taste as i don't expect it to ever be an awesome guitar!

here's a close up of the relief so far and already i have got the line of the jaw wrong!

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/j...ct/CIMG5152.jpg

It's like one big, multinational guitar building, happy family!

it could be to large for the avatar...

Oops! right enough!

I have a bandsaw which is next to useless and i used a spokeshave to get from a similar point to a finished outline it was actually quite good fun for a one off guitar build I'd think it's probably quite a good way to go. thats what people were using way before electrickery after all!

This is probably to late but

humbrol enamals are used on model aiplanes (humbrol owns airfix models i seem to recall.) model shops stock them in the UK I dunno about world wide.

I just went and made a whole mess in the kitchen and I can can confirm that it works!

http://www.humbrol.com/search/?searchguid=200822918436

i found it to be really thick and kind of gloopy on the paper i used to test it perhaps thinning it slightly would provide a smoother finish?

Hope it helps... someone!

I love the lizard neck!

It looks like a creature from beyond roaming a hilly landscape!

you could have done a few people running away.......

Hi guys this isn't my first post but I just realised how rude it was of me not to introduce myself properly (my mum would be ashamed).

I started building a guitar with the aid of Mr Hiscock about six years ago whilst still at school and i swiftly realised that some wood work practice was in order so put the guitar to one side (actually under the bed).

Then I went to uni in glasgow and now that i'm away from a workshop all i want to do is restart my guitar!

To keep me sane i tinker with my shop baught guitars and one hideous broken snake shaped guitar off ebay which i will be carving over the next few weeks. (i'll put some pictures up when i find my camera)

I think that's about it.

PS is there a reason my avatar won't show up?

Aldi is worth a look too!

I guess I'll think it over some more before i decide.

Thanks for the help and opinions everyone.

I'll post my latest guitar project when I figure out where I left my camera!

If someone gets hold of the neck they stole my guitar and they are welcome to a very expensive re-fret!

As they have already been used on some very very fine acoustics I can't see how it's a crap shoot to be honest!

Thanks for the link don't know how I missed that on his site!

Hmm i was thinking about doing it with out the binding and leaving the ends exposed with a straight bottomed slot.

I'd make the frets out of stainless steel.

Still think i might try it i think it would look pretty smart with a neck i have in the pipe line!

I've been known to sneak into the bathroom with my acoustic (and my flute)!

If i get a long enough extension cable my amp will sit nicely in the bath...

Hi Josh, and welcome, I suggest reading up on what a fret's job is. A wider contact area is actually not desired. The reason for crowning frets is to minmize that contact area, The same same is ideal at the nut, you want to make the string slot ramp angle a bit steeper than the string angle coming off the tuning peg. So your string contacts the nut right at the exit point where it comes out over the fingerboard. This will eliminate dead notes. -Vinny

Thanks for the welcome. I guess i wasn't very clear the surface area increase was referring to the connection with the neck the the fret profile above the board would be identical to the usual fret profile. From what little information i've found on the subject i think the main issue is the extra work in fitting them!

Well one of the main reasons for them was to stiffen the neck before adjustable truss rods and can actually used to put a back bow on the neck prior to strings. I'm not sure about the slot depths that's half the reason i posted.

And as for tone surely the same agruments can apply to most things on a guitar by increasing the surface area (and the mass) of the fret in contact with the neck it will make a difference just like materials and construction of the bridge do at the other end?

I fully admit it may not make much difference but nothing ventured nothing gained!

But anyones views are welcome it's just hypothetical at this point but i do have an old strat copy neck lying around......

Sorry I really don't know how I double posted!

Martin used to use a rectangular cross section on their frets rather than the usual t section. So the frets sit in a wuch wider slot. To my mind this should sound pretty good and stiffen the neck if you cut the slots right.

I haven't found any pictures anywhere that really show what i mean so I thought I'd ask.

Has anyone tried sticking Bar Frets in an electric before?

If anyone has any experience I'd love to know!

Cheers.

PS this is my first post so be gentle.