Supernova9

Funny how you get trade-offs in life - like cocobolo, beautiful wood, but work with it for any length of time and it can really mess up your skin, lungs, yeesh.

If you think that a set neck is too weak, you need to read some more because you obviously don't have a great understanding.

Stop and draw everything out in 1:1 scale. That's why you had to scrap the original guitar style. I will bet you a brand new 14" bandsaw that if you stopped and planned it out it would go much better.

I've got a router jig where the angled sides screw on, I spent 1 hour one afternoon making angled sides, and now I have 10,13,15 and 17 inch sides ready to screw on. With that and a #4 plane, it's easy work. Perry - looking at that diagram, looks like a pretty short edge to pass over the jointer? or is that just my misunderstanding

You see 335s with laminated maple tops. Not solid. As for backs/sides, they're not made out of spruce as the top is the primary vibrating/resonating part (other acoustic gurus here may correct me here) the back and sides aren't as important as the top. Also, the reason for spruce is the strength to weight ratio, because the top takes up the string tension far more than the back and sides. You want it strong enough to stop the strings pulling it apart, but light enough still to resonate when played and therefore project. Maple would need to be heavier than spruce to reach the same level of strength, thus wouldn't vibrate as readily, and therefore isn't used as often. However, on backs it'll hold together much better. Backs are less critical to the strength of the guitar as they are not holding string tension.

A simple search brings up: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...l=rosewood+neck http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...l=rosewood+neck http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...l=rosewood+neck http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...l=rosewood+neck http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...l=rosewood+neck The last two are by David Myka, and real top quality builds.

Perry, you just made me laugh so hard I spewed coke all over my keyboard

If you're 1/8" to 1/16" from your final size, use a router to do the final shaping. When you're that close there's far less risk of tearout.

I've got an LV-03E (that's the larrivee shape with a cutaway and electronics), and I like it. In terms of sound, compared to other makers like Martin or Taylor, it kinda tends to sit in the middle - a balanced sound, not too bright, not too bassy/boomy. But that's not a negative thing, I find Martin's too boomy, and Taylors too bright, so it works for me. I've had absolutely no problems in terms of durability, and mine gets a decent amount of pounding as I lug it around, no splits or anything. If that D03 works for you and makes you want to play more because of it's sound, then that can only be a good thing, buy it!

If I were you I'd think again about the contours - or at least the roundovers. They will make the guitar a very 'harsh' style. At least 1/4" roundover! As for veneering the top and sides - Use a laminate top (at least 1/4" thickness) rather than veneer, it's actually somewhat easier. Also, venering the sides would look quite strange in my opinion, you'd create 3 'faces' rather than a face and two edges, and it would be a beast to get the veneer to match, thereby making it look stranger than if you left it as it is. Show us a close-up of the superglued chunk - I'll bet you can get it looking more invisible than going to such drastic measures. Nice start to your project, as for the router worries - I used Northern Ash for my first Tele - whoops!!! That feeling when you push the router a little too hard and get a massive BANG followed by a piece flying across the room just makes your heart jump!

I think you really need to do more reading, especially after the last thread you created. Seriously, most of your questions will be answered by reading the tutorials on the main site (www.projectguitar.com) and by reading Make Your Own Electric Guitar by Melyvn Hiscock.

Yeah, I heard from TGP (The Gear Page), and it's on the front page of his website. To be honest, I was surprised at how quickly he changed his mind - with the name he has, even scaling back and raising prices to compensate, people would pay the prices he asked to get one, so it would have made life easier for him. But hey, guess he just wants to keep people happy.

Then lay out the steps in the order you think you're going to do it, with measurements etc and then people will point out any obvious mistakes.

He's changed that one. The massive outcry at the possibility of Anderson scaling back means he rethought his decision and will be changing the way he works instead.

I think the only 'super sensitive hero' here is you. Chill out. If you've played basses with Zebrano and purpleheart and liked them, then go for it. Think about it, if alembic make basses from purpleheart, why are you asking questions about it's density and suitability for guitar making on a distinctly hobby-builder site? Congratulations on being able to sing as well!

I think the point people are trying to make is that luthiers know far better than any ordinary guitarist how a piece of wood in the rough will work out, in terms of dimensions, shrinkage, moisture rates, stability, potential tone, figure, weight. Because they have experience. The luthier (if they have any real experience) would have a far better idea of this than you, because quite simply, how many guitars have you taken from wood to finished instrument? To use your session analogy - it's like you being called up to a recording session as a guitarist, then playing all the other instruments because you think you're better than the other musicians, even though you've never picked up a bass or played drums in your life. Just as an aside, how many guitars with Jarrah, purpleheart, and/or zebrano have you owned or played? I'm curious. Also, 1.25 inch wide sections of Jarrah would equal around a 12 piece body.....you're scrap taking wood from a bank counter and you're worried about compromise on the luthier's part? Joker.

Why not put the truss rod adjustment at the headstock end? Seems even more convenient than a spoke wheel at the end of the neck - that would require a slot through the fingerboard or for the truss rod to sit out the back of the neck.

I agree, I'll even go so far as to bet you that you wouldn't get even 1/2 of any money you put into doing the guitar up. Why? Because give someone a choice of either spending 1700 Euros on a new guitar, or 1700 Euros on an old guitar with parts put in by an unknown person (regardless of how good the parts are), and the choice is obvious. No matter what you do to it, it'll still be, at base, a Bronze series BC Rich.

I think it'd look less tacky using just White MOP or just Abalone, but it's not too bad a concept. No worse than other slightly over-zealous uses of shell in other designs I've seen.

Yes, that's doable, and you'd need to cover it with lacquer or similar finish. Though it's simpler these days to create a waterslide decal with gold ink and stick it down with lacquer on top as it's less fiddly (I think).

It looks like the bottom wing isn't glued to the body?? Nice bass though, a bassist friend of mine is in love with the Thunderbird, and I can see why. Great body shape!

In all honesty that looks tacky and ugly imo.

Oh dear god yes. It should be at least 6mm thick MDF or plywood.

Different people will suggest different things, but I'd suggest a Router with template cutting bits, a jigsaw to cut the body outline, and a drill press for the tuner holes. You shouldn't need anything more. Dremels are only really useful for inlays, the drill press attachment will not let you use a big enough bit for the tuner holes. The plunge router attachment is not good for body cavities such as pickup/control routs as the Dremel is not powerful enough. If you use a router and template to cut the body outline, then you won't need power sanders for the outside edge, you can do it by hand. If you're only going to build one guitar, get some cheap ones from somewhere like harbour freight or home depot.

Thanks for that idea. there is no way that I am brave enough on my first project to try to nail a perfect cut-out from the back piece so I am going to try the thin slice idea. brilliant ! If you're going with that route, you might want to look at this - it's how Setch did matching covers on one of his guitars - rout the general shape of the covers higher than the rest of a thick back, then slice them off with a thin kerf saw. The picture will give you a better idea of what I mean: