Matt

Hey thanks guys!! Bday was good thanks

Matt

Well Ive made a couple guitars before and Im around half way on my JEM project. just thought id post som,e of my progress pics and see what people think. I have done most of the routing/shaping on the body but forgot to take pics.

here are a few pics of the neck (the one with the skunk stripe).

The neck itself is birdseye maple with Lacewood stripe scarf jointed, then cut down with walnut sandwiched on either side, which is also scarf-jointed in the headstock into lacewood. I did this as I liked the idea of having the glue joint in two places to add to stability.

The neck itself is thinner than a wizard, so it will either be pretty incredible to play.... or snap!?

so we'll see.

The body Im thinking of doing a laquered material finish. was thinking of black silk but I think it will be too thin and the glue will soak through.

Also a big thank you to Feline guitars for their help and patience. Those 6000 are killer

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/mcmeat51/misc_0347.jpg

<a href="http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/mcmeat51/?action=view¤t=misc_0348.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/mcmeat51/misc_0348.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/mcmeat51/?action=view¤t=misc_0350.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/mcmeat51/misc_0350.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/mcmeat51/?action=view¤t=100_0371.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/mcmeat51/100_0371.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

MMM

"Go to Oxfam and look for a fat birds skirt"

Hahaaaa

that was classic!!!! nice one!!

Great Idea marksound. looks gorgeous!! I'll look into that.

just while the idea is fresh in my head, I was wondering about doing the material finish but with black silk!!!

yea I know sounds like a whole heap o problems but would look cool if it worked. My main problem I think would be using an adhesive that wouldn't show through the already wafer-thin silk. then seeing what it looks like through rustins plastic coating(it's what I have lying around)

Anyway, any other idea's would be greatfully appreciated

Thanks

Matt

Yea tis a good idea, however the markets near me are useless and just full of people selling cassettes cheap watches and mobile phone covers.

Thanks anyway

Matt

Im looking at putting a material finish on a JEM that Im building from scratch and want to get some decent looking oriental/Japanese material but not having much luck on findings. My inspiration was one of the floral/material finishes that LGM made and was GOTM at one stage. (by the way LGM that looks fantastic!!)

Id like something preferably mainly White with balck and red graphics but Im open to ideas.

Thanks alot to everyone who takes the time to help a guy out;)

Matt

Try www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk These are hand wound PU's. The forum is extremely helpful and have some of the most knowledgeable people around on to give advice. they havn't been around long but already Muse, Steve Stevens, Gweeof Whitehorn, Rooster amonst many others are some of the more popular bands that use them. check out the Warpig or MiracleMan. And if your not completely satisfied with the standard ones, Tim will custom wind you one. These guys are the sh!t. I have a MM and it kicks my EMG arse.

the downside is that they are more expensive but totally worth every penny!! I bought one for my first guitar I made, and have a £3500 godin, a PRS style with EMG Zakk Wylde set and a les paul copy with a Kent Armstrong Motherbucker sitting next to it, and I can tell you that even tho my guitar has a neck thats almost an inch thick!!! I still prefer it because of the pickup!

hope this helps

Matt

Fair play to all you guy's who have posted!!

Im 19 and made my first guitar at 15/16.

Im fortunate enough to have a father who has always been a DIY Dad, and so I inherited his enthusiasm for wood work. He retired from the Navy a couple years ago and now is cabinet making so he has now got a table saw, big bandsaw, Planer thicknesser. However on my forst guitar he didn't have all that. so I used a mixture of router, baby bandsaw, jigsaw, angle grinder and lots of sandpaper.

Im also fortunate enough to live in Dorset in the English, so I have alot of space as well as extremely beautiful surroundings (which I now appreciate alot more as Ive just come back from a trip to Australia for 7 months)

Anyway, the point is, like alot of these guys you don't need much to start off.

e.g. price of tools if you search around a bit

Angle grinder new from screwfix/tool station (Magic place!!!) £10

small bandsaw from ebay or second hand mag £10

rounter not sure but lets say £30

jigsaw £20

electric sander £20

e.t.c

alot of the prices are for new, and Im sure you might be able to borrow stuff.

Where I live there's a mail order company (that just so happens to have an outlet shop close to where I live) called 'Tool Station'. you can get some great bargains there and tools from it are generally very cheap and also not too bad.

Anyway happy hunting

Matt

OK well everyone is familiar with the FR copies against the real deal quality issue.

Im looking for some TOM style bridges, how do I know if what Im getting is good quality and if it matters?

Thanks

alot

Matt

cheers guys

I might go and pick-up a piece over the weekend.

Matt

Ive had a look around on the site,

Is Bubinga usefull at all as body or neck wood(apart from laminates)?

Thanks alot

Matt

Ah OK, I wasn't sure how it would sound. I THOUGHT it was like maple in terms of density and tone, but looking around I see that is in fact more like Alder so I agree with you guys.... Im not gonna use it as a Fretboard.

HOWEVER I am thinking of using it as a Laminate in a neck.

So back to the question of finishing.... Any ideas

thanks alot

Matt

Nah mate I garentee you. although as I said it IS better to have it one piece, It is better to have a tilt. The best option would be to have a one-piece tilted headstock, but this becomes inconvienient when cutting a neck blank as it has to be thicker to accomodate the headstock.

He's just giving a more 'pleasant' excuse to having a tilted headstock, which actually he should do If he's any sort of salesman, so I wouldn't knock him for explain his reasoning as at the end of the day he's gotta sell guitars. And this is just his way of covering up a compromise so he can actually make cash.

However his attitude is a bit Over-the-top to say the least.

Matt

Yea I think Zachary is using it as an excuse to make neck manufacture easier.

Althought having one-piece neck and headstock is probably better, Having a tilted headstock in my view will add to sustain and tone not to mention aesthetics.

This is becasue the strings are pulled down on the nut better which contains the vibration in the strings. Also having a tighter bond in my view means that the interaction of the wood and string vibration is stronger, meaning the whole guitar will resonate more and give more depth of tone. -much like having a glued-in/neck thru compared to a bolt on neck joint.

Not to be big headed, but Im pretty sure Im dead right on this.

I was thinking of using a dark lacewood as a Fingerboard, but my Father has used it before and said that it was hard to get a good finish on it?

does anyone have any ideas or tips, I have done a search but I havn't found quite what Im looking for.

Thanks

Matt

Ever thought that It might be an old PU that your not completely satisfied with, plus re-winds are alot cheaper.

I know people who have spent just as much money on lots of different PU's until they find one that suits them, but have loads of discarded PU's lying around.

If Im gonna get something, I make sure its the right one for me first time around.

Yea I admit I am a fan, but they deserve it!! theyve even had WCR and lollar pickups in to be rewound!??

Even if you don't like the PU you get, you can swap it or have a completely custom one wound for you... how's that for customer service!!

Mate, seriously try out www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk

these PU's are handwound and although quite expensive, really are better than all than DM SD EMG(I have a set and they are very good but...), Bartolini, Bardons and nearly everything Ive heard from. Plus you can have them with custom finishes and cover options. try reading reviews on them and they really are that good!!!

The BKP forum is full of very experience players who have all tried and tested lots of other manufacturers and now will never look back. thers quite a lot of ex-SD forum members on there. Steve Stevens, Matt Bellamy, The Darkness, are few of some of the more famous users

I have a custmised Miracle Man (Zakk wylde style PU) its 18k and sound awesome!!! the harmonics just fly off of it and it is the clearest and most defined PU I have ever heard!! EMG 81 or DM EVO eat your heart out!

anyway just my 2 cents worth

Matt

yea I have as well

I found if you go to the history on Jemsite.com and there are free blueprints of the Jem

Kent armstrongs in my opinion are excellent. they surpass SD and DM and are at like half the price. I have a high output and a Motherbucker and both are good. Read sonme of the reviews on Harmony Central and they all seem to be great!

I think you have hit the nail on the head there

Well wethere you care or not about low action, alot of people do and prefere it low rather than high. So I see no surprise that there has been a large debate.

One thing I noticed was that people who don't seem to care much for low action, seemed to do most of the flameing of the posts from the opposite side of the argument.

Some people seem to take the low action argument really badly and get really defensive about it.

Others try and state some bullcr@p theory of how a guitar string vibrates when they clearly know nothing about it and seem to tottaly forget what a guitar string actually looks like when they pluck it.

In my opinion, Id rather have low action with heavier guage strings (which DO actually have the most effect on tone rather than hieght) than spindley strings that are higher up, which to my ears, just sound the same but harder to play.

The effect of having high action means that you have to put more effort into playing the guitar and so more feel and more of a 'connection' between player and guitar.

By having heavier strings, not only do they have greater moving mass and so have a more 'meaty' sound but also vibrate less to get the same theoretical output as thinner ones. Also becasue of the higher tension that they are under, it means that they are also harder to press so easily against the fb, and so in turn have a similar argument to the high action side of the debate.

In my view, no arguments are pointless if they have a realative goal and are put across in a structured and constructive way, that everyone can feed off.

well said thegarehanman

No it doesn't work like that because that is only the fundamental frequency that a guitar string vibrates at. There are literally hundreds of overtones and other frequencies that is produced when you pluck a string.

What do you think a pinch harmonic is (Zakk uses these loads). which you produce a pinch Harmonic, by touching the string with the side of your thumb, it cuts out the larger wavelength frequencies such as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th ect fundamentals, so That you just get the short wavelength frequencies (higher pitch) vibrating and so hence the high pitch squeal taht sounds kick-ass.

Just take a look at the guitar string when you pluck it.... are you sure that above the 12th fret the string ISN'T moving.

.....didn't think so.

So actually when you pluck a string it vibrates most in the middle becasue of the addition of all the harmonics and over tones.

Matt

I did 1mm on my Charvel once, without ANY buzz. I also tuned it down to C standard, and still no buzz. I had set her up myself, but then I changed string gauge and it was never the same again

←

Hia,

When you said you had 1mm low action, did you have much neck relief (bow), or was the FB perfectly straight?

Thanks

Matt