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foreigner

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Everything posted by foreigner

  1. Well, i just finished my first guitar made entirely (well, minus the body) of mighty mite parts. It's a solid piece maple burl guitar, and i used their Vintage Buckers, TOM style bridge & tailpiece and their Gibson replacement neck (part MM2924, if interested). I too was really skeptical about the hardware, esp. the pu's. I mean, for $20 a pickup, how nice could they be, right? However, i will pleasently report that all of my hardware is great. I play a lot of jazz & blues, and those vintage buckers really put out some sweet tone. All the hardware is stable, and from my vantage point, quite good quality. I'll post pics later tonight and you can see the product, if you'd like.
  2. hmmm, i took a very different approach in beginning guitar.... I didn't even bother with complete songs until i understood basics. Maybe it's just me, but i just wanted to have a working understanding of chords (open and barre) before i bothered with songs. That said, the first song i ever played was Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce. Kind of a strange tune to start on, but it's actually quite easy, and if you like fingerpicking (which i do) it's a great place to start. Keep up the good work mate, and tell us when that little girl of yours becomes the next Hendrix... We'll all be expecting tickets.
  3. Sorry for the noobish question, but i was just curious about how all of you carve your guitar tops. Really the only way that I've seen is to make small steps on the top and then chisel them off and sand until smooth. Is this how all of you do it? Cheers.
  4. Hello John. I'm in the middle of my first guitar, and i must say that it is one of the most fun things that i have ever done. I think the beauty of the process is that you can make it as easy or as difficult as you possibly want. Does your daughter want a carved top? Does she want an attractive topwood? What kind of music is she interested in playing? There are so many different directions that you could go, but im sure that no matter what road you take, your daughter will absolutely love her guitar. I cant imagine giving a better present than a beautiful instrument that you made with your own two hands. So once again, it simply comes down to what she wants and how much time you have. The possibilities are endless, but im sure that the end results will be very much worth every minute. Ja.
  5. Yeah, i had to spend about 3 hours seraching through wood until i found mine... I think that it was worth it, though.
  6. Well, if this is your first guitar, then i *suggest* that you use something fairly cheap and easy to work with. Alder, Ash, Mahogony, heck, Agathis if you want to; the point is that the sky is the limit. It doesn't have to be traditional to be a great guitar. As far as pickups go (and i know that people are going to ridicule me for this) I really would suggest Mighty Mite single coils. You could go and pay $50-75 per name brand coil, and get a great sounding guitar. Or, you could go to Mighty Mite and pay $25 per coil, and get a great sounding guitar. I'll put it this way: my brother has a crappy old Squire strat. It was like $120, and sounded terribble. $75 later, his guitar sounded like a $700+ strat. I know they're not brand name, and some people turn their noses up at Mighty Mite, but these pu's are really great. If you do go that route, just make sure you get the Alnico's, and not the Ferrite ceramics. It's probably just personal preference, but I think they sound a lot better, and you'll get a much more fat vintage tone with Alnico. Thats my $.02.
  7. sorry for breaking through the whole quagmire of diction that is going on here, but im in the process of building my first guitar and it has a lot of similarities to the original post. The body is a solid piece of burled maple with a little spalting in it. It's a crazy piece of wood, and i've heard two different takes on my choice: 1. It will sound absoulutely horrible, "dead" i believe is the exact term that was used, and will be very heavy. 2. It will sound very sweet, very responsive over all, with a little accent on the highs. And will be very heavy. It's based off a Cort guitar that my good friend was repairing, and i'm mainly going to be using it for Jazz and Blues, so i'm throwing some mighty mite vintage buckers in there, along with a maple neck. I'm not really sure what the outcome will be, but if all else fails, i'll have a pretty guitar body to look at.... Any thoughts or comments? Suggestions? Thanks ahead of time. -the foriegn one
  8. i imagine when i do finally build up the guts to purchase my first saw it will be something a little more than a 9". I've decided, however, that it's nicer having neighbors who also are carpenters. Learning i had free access to an 18" bandsaw and 12" planer anytime i wanted really made my day.
  9. well, being the day after thanksgiving, all stores are just getting rid of crap, and sears had this 9" craftsman 1/2 horsepower bandsaw for $119. Seeing all of your reactions to the mere mention of a scroll saw for this application gets me thinking that it might be $119 well spent. So, perhaps in the morning i'll go and lighten the ol' bank account... Thanks a lot for all of your input, guys.
  10. ok, i'm about to cut my first body and i have no idea what to use. I have access to a scroll saw and a jig saw (not my own) and i saw a 9" bandsaw for about $100 today, so if all else fails i could simply purchase that. However, before i go to shell out cash, i just wanted to know if it would be possible to cut my body with the scroll saw. I've got about 2 1/8" of solid burled maple, so it's pretty hefty, and i'm not sure that a jig saw would handle it too well. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
  11. Do you think that the solid maple body will be too bright? I mostly play jazz and blues, so having a piercingly bright sounding guitar might be a tad odd. Perhaps i could offest this by having a darker nekwood? Any suggestions?
  12. yeah, i got some burled maple instead, but thanks for the input.
  13. My first post! I've frequented the forums for some time now, but it's finally time to ask a question. Has anyone ever worked with burled redwood before? Is it suitable for a guitar body? If so, what's the tonal characteristics like? I've seen a few basses made from it, but just thought i'd ask people who know... Any insight would be very appreciated. Thanks
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