fehgalloway

A belayted response to a previous answer...(As stated before, I don't know enough to make an informed decision, so these are just my thoughts and opinions, do not shoot me down) Isn't these people who need to vote? This is a stereotype, but one that we use quite a lot at uni when discussing different social theories. The less educated people are, generally, the less money they have, the more social services they need and so on..the digital divide, access to lower standard education, etc, are usually traits of less educated, lower income people. The government is SUPPOSED to support and protect those who cannot do it themselves (yes i know...it doesn't really happen). If everyone HAD to vote, maybe people would pay a bit more attention, stand up for what they believe in...If the government doesn't even take voting seriously enough to require everyone to vote, then why should people vote? It means that (generally speaking) you get a whole heap of educated (generally wealthier - certain social class) types of people voting only, it's not a true representation. Besides, if you don't vote, then noone has the abiltiy to complain. Anyway...as long as you're all happy...that's fine! I haven't seen any lethal weapons, but crocodile dundee is a cracker! And there are actually people like that here, they just talk a lot less... and Steve Irwin is a champ, and he is actually that crazy. His park is an 1 1/2 hours from my house! I guess we only get BAD news about the USA and gangs and shootings, etc..if nothing's happening it's not very news worthy is it? The same as you probably hear very little about because nothin every goes on! But if that was made 250 years ago, isn't it a bit out-dated? I don't think that anyone has the RIGHT to carry a gun or any weapon at all. If you live on a property, and you're out near wild pigs and buffalo, fair enough, but if no body had weapons, then nobody needs weapons. Just a personal opinion. Besides, Australia's legal system is so screwed, that if you kill an intruder into your house, you're more likely to go to jail - no i'm not joking...The only thing i like about the USA is the sentencing that people get for crimes. Anyway, I think that I'm not going to be convinced about this as much as i will not be able to convince you of it.. But it's been proven over and over, that without governance, everything turns to crap? Not saying either way is bad, just commenting..Anyone read Animal Farm by George Orwell? Here here....! That mightn't be what's true, but it's sure the way it seems....It usually rubs people up the wrong way... As previously stated, i think that maybe it's attitudes like that, which people find offensive, not having a go, just observing and commenting. Why shouldn't people have the right to health care? I know this is touchy territory, but if you're invalid relative cannot work, has no job, and no-one looks after him/her, then shouldn't they recieve health care? why shouldn't they? Just because of money? Isn't it a sign of a civilised society? one where people are taken care of? First people spoke, then read, then agriculture, then got rid of disease. If a country is full of sick poor people who can't get adequate health care, then what does that say about the country, it's people, it's morals, its government, its society? I disagree, all people have the right to health care. Health care is not something that only rich people can access. Society should have come further than that by now. This isn't the 18th Century. It's part of living in a community, you win some, you lose some...what if you did need it? what if everyone else said I'm not paying, and there wasn't enough money left for you? People in communities help each other when needed. I'm not debating whether public or private health care is more expensive, I'm saying that basic human rights, such as health care MORALLY, SHOULD NOT BE PERFORMED FOR PROFIT, It undermines the integridy of such a system, it stops being about people and starts being about money. As soon as that happens, then what do you think they think is more important? They don't care about you or me, they care about their bottom line. So if they can cut a corner here, and cut a corner there, but increase profit by 10%, what do you think they will do? Private health care is better...i'm not arguing with that, and I do have private health care (we pay separately here, voluntarily...no-one gets health care with a job here, that i know of), because the waiting lists are too long, i'm fortunate that i can afford it. If i could not, then too bad, so sad, I suppose. ANYWAY, i'm rambling... And, another beef on my part. We have a (pretty) good social security system over here. I'm 20, I go to uni full time (12 long hard hours a week;)) and I work 20 hours a week. Last year I wasn't working, I got Youth Allowance, from the government. My parents earn what is classed as a middle income and I live at home. Even with all this, I got given $220 a fortnight for doing NOTHING. I could earn $100 a week without it effecting my youth allowance. I earn too much now, cause I got a real job, but at the time, it's great. If you cannot get a job, they give you the dole. About 5ish years ago, they changed the rules, you had to show you were looking for work, and they brought in work for the dole. People who receive the dole long term and that are able to work fulfill meneal jobs such as cleaning graffiti, picking up rubbish, etc. I think the doel is ABOUT $350 a fortnight - that's not good at all, but it's enough to live on, because you get low income benefits, REALLY cheap medicine. If you have kids and are a low income earner, you get money for the kids, if you're old and don't have an income or enough money, you get the pension, $400 a fortnight, if you're disabled, you get a pension. No matter what, everyone over 17 in Australia should be earning at least $220 a fortnight, without doing anything. I'm glad I live where I do, I think we're very lucky, and that this really is the best place in the world to live. but that doesn't mean that everyone else isn't lucky too. Thanks all for the great thread, and for actually discussing this with people who know the answers to my questions, instead of having stupid discussions at the pub with people who have never even looked at the news. I'll leave you with my philosophy on life. Everyone is different, everyone should respect that, no body is better or worse than anyone else, we're all equal, and that's how we should treat each other.

Ditto to this, the neck and centre line looks to be a little to the left? is it the picture angle??

Thanks Strat Dude Dan, That was a really great, unbiased answer... (Highjack) I, personally, find it really hard to understand why the USA government does some of the things they do, and thank God that I don't live there most of the time..I do not agree with privitisation of anything, and since I am studying town planning, get a pretty good idea, first hand of what the government does, and why. Some things should not be done for money...Like health care, most infrastrucutre, some telecommunications, police, army (navy, airforce)...I think a moral boundary is crossed. The notion of a democratic government is to represent the people, for the best interest of the people. Health care is a necessity, and should not be done for proft, but for the benefit of the people. It is the responsibility of the government to provide this. We have public and private over here..you may nearly die on the public lists, but at least the government seems to be trying to fix this... Gun ownerships....well, after the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996, guns were banned in Australia. To own any gun, you need a license, and people with guns and no licenses are in big trouble. I must say I agree with you, however, if someone wants a gun, they're going to get one regardless, and maybe it's too late for you guys to go back...but we were never nearly close to where you guys are, so I guess it wasn't such a big deal banning them..i don't know, I was only 11 when it happened. Gun deaths seem to stay fairly well within marfia and gang land wars, which, thankfully for me are in Sydney and Melbourne, so I can't even remeber when there was last a gun shooting in Brisbane (probably yesterday! ) and Brisbane is the 3rd largest city in Australia. Even still, I don't fear for my life walking through Sydney or Melbourne, they ususally shoot each other, and not random people. Besides, our gangs are usually 25-55 year old italian/greek/lebanese/vietnamese migrants/children of migrants, not teenagers, etc (Gross generalisation). Bit more underground I guess. If you need a gun to shoot foxes, or roos, or wild pigs, you get a license. If you have a criminal record, you can't get a license. I wouldn't know a single person who owns a gun, just for the sake of owning a gun. Even still, I only know a few people with guns, all of whom live and work on cattle properties. All said and done, i don't think that ANYBODY has the RIGHT to own a gun...No one has the right to take another human life, only God has that right, so therefore, no one NEEDS a gun. Michael Moore, I think he's a crack up, but having said that, I take everything he says with a large pinch of salt. He just interests me with another point of view. I think it's great about how he pays out his own country... the war: as said before, Everyone i know thinks it's wrong, and now bush and all the other *@$(*#% &%&$% who followed him over there have been shown up. Serves them right. I hope he gets voted out simply because of that. My theory is this...John Howard (our Prime Minister) was basically stuck between a rock and a hard place. We are a small country, 20 million people, negative birth rate (you do the maths), we don't even have a big enough army to stop illegal immigrants getting into the country. We live next to Indonesia, one of the biggest countries in the world, I think the biggest or second biggest Islamic population in the world. If he says yes to Bush, then they hate us, possible increase in risk from terrorism (which may or may not be worse because of us going to war), BUT USA (biggest, most powerful country in world) likes us, so they'll help. If he says NO, then USA has no reason to help us if we get attacked, we only have the UK (enough said just joking). Liklihood is that we will be targets of attack at some time, I think I'd rather have the USA on-side, even if it is like selling your soul to the devil, so to speak. People bagged him out for going to war, and i don't agree, but at the end of the day, I don't think he had a choice. ANYWAY (takes breath) Thanks for reading my political theories (Highjack/) All said and done, Australia is still the best place to live on Earth!

Not being from the USA, I don't really understand what's going on, nor can I debate the policies of each party...but if this is anything to go by... we had our national election here a couple of weeks ago.. John Howard was part of bush's "Coalition of the Willing"...No-body that i have me or spoken to supported the war in Iraq, and expected John Howard to get squashed, or for the other party to at least sneak in. He actually did better in this election than the last...Which may (or may not be) because of the appeared disorganisation of the opposition leader and party...IE, people were voting by the old rule "better the devil you know". All the polls said that Latham (opp leader) would get in, so, I reckon it's too close to call... We hear a lot (TOO MUCH) about the USA election over here....so i have a basic understanding of what's going on.. I just have a few questions/comments, I may be highjacking this thread, so don't answer if i am, or mod's can delete this section, whatever... Over here, it is compulsory for everyone over the age of 18 to enrol and vote. If you do not, you can be fined. Why don't you all have to vote and what do you all think about it.. Why is your health care system privatised? Is that really the best option? Shouldn't basic human rights be controlled by the government? What is the general concensus on the war? over here, everyone thinks it's bad, we had no right to go into Iraq, and that it's a blind, knee jerk reaction by the USA at a sneaky attack that they didn't see coming. Is Michael Moore's movies/docos/shows even close to the truth? or is he full of ****? Why should everyone have the right to carry a gun! I just threw that in as an added bonus...ignore/delete if inappropriate/highjacking, etc.... Thanks in advance! I look forward to hearing your comments and opinions, as well as reading your responses so far.. As far as I can see, the elcetion in the USA has very real repurcussions for everyone!...they are the super power at the moment...until China get's it's act together Anyway...

I second everything said in the last thread. You could try making your own template...It mightn't be perfect, but it will do..the fender website has front shots of all their guitars, so you can get a picture off there, blow it up and use that (gibsons' photos are on an angle, so they don't work very well). I have a "junk shop" near my house also. They sell industrial waste (timber off-cuts, plastic, metal) it's a non-profit shop, so everything is CHEAP...I'm poor, so the price of a lot of tools horrified me, so i bought heaps of stuff from the junk shop and made my own, cost me next to nothing. I got a nice bit of clear perspex for AU$3.50, that's a bit more than a UK pound. That will do nicely for the template. As for tools, if you're at school - see if you can have access to the manual arts room at your school - a lot of the guys on here seem to do that. Otherwise, ask uncles, friends, dads, anyone who might have something..I don't reckon you need much stuff at all...From scrounging around, all i need to buy is a set of fret files, and i'm trying to get around that also...just compromise. I would have to say the best tool/resource will be this forum and a camera...If you need help, put photos on and people will help. There are some REALLY talented luthiers on here! Buy some books also, one on its own may cause more questions than answers, but between a few of them, you should be ok. source ebay and other places for parts - they mightn't be top notch, but they'll do the job. Or, you could buy one set of really good parts and move them from one guitar to another as you build them..just a thought! I read about a luthier who was challenged to make a guitar with nothing but a swiss army knife and he did it...so anything extra is a bonus :D

Thanks very much guys!!! Much appreciated...Sorry for late response ! I'm nearly finished uni for year, and it's REALLY hectic (i'm sure Luke knows how I feel ) No, unfortunately I didn't get any tools or money or parts or books or timber that I asked for, but I had a great birthday anyway.. Besides, I just paid off my car ! so now, all my money can go to the above mentioned stuff YEAY! I did buy myself some perspex to make a template out of though 20 - weird and scary, i no longer have a reason to act like a d*** head Oh well, such is life, as they say! Catch you all in 3 weeks when I start building properly yeay!

Thant guitar is great! it is really beautiful - and i love the clean look. I was thinking of doing something similar RE the hidden pickup, but I couldn't figure out how i was going to do it so i could get to the pickup - but you've answered that! don't worry about getting to the pickup..DUH! how stupid am I! Very inspiring! thanks very much! great to "younger people" doing such great work! congrats! hope there's heaps more in the pipeline!

Good Idea... You can become famous with the "Luthiers Diet" Become rich and then you'll be able to afford to make guitars all day.. I know I asked this before, but I don't think you answered. Do you keep all the guitars you make??? Or do you sell them??? By the way - that neck is beautiful! Lovely timber! Thanks for all the pictures...

As a total Newbie, i find it a little annoying that their prices are so high for most things... But having said that, most of things that are expensive, i can do without. For the amount of guitars I'm making, I'll need next to no specialty tools, maybe only a few fret files and alike...other than that, you can either do without the rest or make something similar yourself...I find it enjoying trying to figure out how to make an el-cheapo version of some of there tools...all part of the fun, I guess (maybe I'm crazy) If I was a professional luthier, not only would I have need for all that fancy gear, BUT more importantly I could claim it on tax... Either way, I still reckon they hit up WAY too much for most things...but as already stated - they have a monopoly, so good luck to them.... Besides, postage is too expensive to get most of that sent over anyway...

Hi Fluke I dont' know anything about wiring, or if this is what you want, try going to Guitar Electronics They have schematics for everything on there... don't know if this helps. I'm sure there would also be a tutorial on the main site, but I'm not sure.. hope this helped some

you should enter guitar of the month! Those guitars are amazing.. do you always do copies of existing guitars? you should try your own design - it would be fantastic!

There have been a few threads recently discussing relicing... Mostly in regards to Kiwi shoe polish, salty water, fire...check out the british flag/explosion guitar that's been on here recently... I don't think it looks good either, but do what you want and show us the pics as you do it!!!! And let us know what works and what doesn't... Thanks.

Do you keep all your guitars or sell them??? You seem to make a lot - just wondering what you do with them all Very nice - I love your guitars - they are always so perfect!

Just adding my AU0.2c, or about US0.14c I agree with all stated... Project Guitar - ENOUGH SAID!!! Please can we just get on with it?!?!?! and stop all this.???? Is it just me or is there a maths equation here More RUBBISH = less GUITAR BUILDING ???

Hi all (did search first) I was talking with some friends on the weekend who are into doind up cars and was saying how I thought it would be cool to paint a guitar with that chameleon paint that some cars are painted in. My brother always told me how it was $1000 a Litre, but I never listened because I thought he didn't know anything I was wrong, it is $1000 a Litre - OMG!!! So, I kept talking to my friend and he reckons you can get white pearl paint and another pearl colour (I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS, SO COULD BE SAYING IT WRONG, THIS IS JUST THE GENERAL GIST OF WHAT I UNDERSTOOD) and mix it together. It's not exactly chameleon, but it's white pearl which changes colour a bit, depending on the direction...... aparantly you can mix it yourself (which is really cheap - about $30 Litre), or go down to Supercheap or Autobarn and they'll do it for you... Anyone done this/know what i'm talking about/etc?? Thanks!

Hello, I was just wondering if anyone has/has heard of/knows anything about The Guitar Builders FAQ??? I'm just wondering if it's worth getting?!?!?! Does anyone know of any other good books/resources/info that isn't on the usual track (IE all the books from Stew-mac/Amazon) for example, the book by Jim Donahue that you can only get through his website... Just curious Thanks all

This I think it's good, although I can't play (am learning) so I wouldn't know... I just figured, the fingers are going to go in the same place whether it costs me $50 or $5000, so I'll just get this...Glad that I did... cost me $200 for lot, and the amp RRP is $150...I'm happy with that!

...This is my opinion, for what it's worth.. I had this same dilemer about a month ago. I am a complete newbie, and the jigsaw was SO much cheaper... I figured, that for the money, I'd get a good jigsaw...this was for the following reasons. a) better product for still less money that a bandsaw...Besides - if it can do the job, why waste the money on something else that is unnecessary? b ) more versatile - I can use it for all sorts of projects, on site, etc.. c) I don't care how long it takes to cut a body out - I'm doing this as a hobby, not a job, so I don't mind taking my time, I doubt, with my skills, that a bandsaw would make life so much easier or quicker... d) heaps easier to store. I haven't bought anything yet, but I've decided on a jigsaw... I guess it depends on if you're going to get better use out of a jigsaw or bandsaw...Both will do the job, it just depends on money and/or time... For me, money is more important than my time...so...jigsaw wins.

Nicely put Luke!! Ditto to that... I think they look tacky and "try-hard-ish" (if that is a word) However, I've never played one and probably never will, because I'm sure the quality and sound does not outweigh the ugliness... Besides they just look so uncomfortable.

I think that looks great!!! I want to try and design something original too, but always end up with a "samey" design... I can't really tell from the photos, but is the angle on the top of the headstock the same as the angle of the body? if not, that's my only recommendation... knobs look fine to me, but i don't really use them a lot, so i guess it depends on how you play! Keep the photos coming!!1

It is more expensive to buy them online if you're in Australia.... AU$490 for 3 pack strats You can easily get the Squire beginners pack for that much plus save $150... AU$445 If i go to the USA Shop.... How rude is that!! there would want to be a good reason - actually it's probably GST, which is 10%...but still!!!!!! I just was wondering if the BIG name companies can justify charging THAT much for pups when cheapies are SOOOO much cheaper... they're still made the same - just with not as good quality stuff... Do you think it's a justified price hike? or no....? I'm looking at making pickups myself - I reckon I can make each for $15...I'm buying a REALLY small quantity of materials - sure they'll probably be dodgy compared to Fender or Kinman, but all that is is a fancier machine....

Hi all... I've been looking around a replacement pickups for a while now and found this guy Kinman it turns out his shop is 10mins from my house, but nearly DIED when i saw how much he hits up for them (i'm sure they're good.....but..... ) Has anyone used them, know if they're any good...ie WORTH THE MONEY... You can buy a average 2nd hand guitar for the price he's asking (i guess if i'm questioning the price, then I obviously don't have the equipment or skill worth buyint them for - correct ...... i'm just wondering) Thanks everyone

Hi, I'm am by no means an expert, but i thought a fretless neck was the same kind of idea as a violin...you just put your fingers where the fret normally is, in stead of inbetween/next to the fret. I don't know if there's anything technical about it, or any special buiding requirements... A neck angle is used so that the action of the neck is ok (as far as I know, once again, experts, please correct me if i'm wrong). so, because the bridge is usually raised slightly, to have an even space between the strings and the fretboard, the neck has to be on an angle...the higher the bridge, the greater the angle...IE, a TOM bridge is higher than a standard strat, which is why a les paul has a neck angle and a strat doesn't. I think it's also true for carved tops, but i don't really know about that...(you said headstock...i should have read in stead of skim ) An angled headstock makes sure there is enough tension over the nut, otherwise the strings would be a bit lose (i think) that's why fender headstocks have string tees, to put pressure on the strings... BTW - NEWBIE WARNING - read anything i write with caution, as i haven't built a guitar yet and could be talking complete rubbish! Do you have any pictures of your timber, etc...please show.. fi

So...just asking - couldn't find it on the page at the main site... once you've donated, is that a "lifetime membership" kind of thing, or do you need to donate every year to get access to the "advanced supporter stuff"? And it's over US$10 to get access to all that isn't it? do the new I donated in 200X badges replace the advanced supporter ones? Do the old rules apply, eg, over 2000 posts of GOTM winner??? Thank you! Appreciate your effort in keeping this forum running Brian (and the other admin/mods)

Hi, so i know that this is probably going to be a stupid question, but does glue affect tone THAT much??? I don't really know much abou it all, but it just seems to me that if you can make a guitar out of metal and plastic, then who cares if it's got a tiny bit of glue in it? Acoustic - yes, electric - no... Shoot me down - by all means, just want some technical answers that make sense! Thanks ppl