soulchaser

Thanks Maiden. Yes I probably should have known I guess, but I have been very ill for the past year and a bit and am just getting back into building. It was just not all that important for a while. Thanks for the link to the thread.

Hmmmmm. When Gibson sued Ibanez in '76 the courts ruled that you could not patent the shape of a guitars' body. So the only thing that Gibson could do was protect the shape of the headstock. And they won that battle. I realize that Gibson has been trying to trademark the shape of the les Paul body rather than patent, but maybe they failed in that attempt. The human body is shaped in such a way that ergonomically a guitar body can only take on a certain amount of shapes. The origional les paul prototype was a converted acoustic guitar that was made solid. It had no cutaway. The cutaway was added, but other than being solid, the actual shape of the les Paul is not very different from any acoustic guitar. Take away the cutaway and that is what you have. A solid body scaled down version of an acoustic guitar. I don't see anything all that origional or "distinctive" about the shape.

Why has Gibson not sued Gretch? They have been making les Paul style guitars for a long, long time. And then there are the Guild solid bodys. Geez, if your going to sue, why not sue everyone?

The Gibson 336 is a copy of an Ibanez AM205 (allbeit a very poor example), but you don't see Ibanez sueing them over it. And Ibanez has been the most "sued" guitar company in history. If Gibson was a new company just coming into the market, with what they are building, and how much they charge, they would be out of buisiness in 6 months! You will notice too, that they did not sue Orville. Only because they had plans to buy it. And have. I guess PRS is'nt for sale so they must sue. Oh, also, is'nt half of Gibsons' acoustic offerings blatent Martin ripp offs. Is Martin sueing everyone who made a dreadnought body acoustic? Gibson must just love court. They are a make work program for Lawyers, and a second rate guitar company.

Started my first from scratch build. Check it out at www.soultaker.org

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looking good. It reminds me of the LP DC that gibson bought out a few years ago

http://www.gakkido.jp/EG-EB-img/guitar-ele...c-plus-db-1.jpg

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Thanks. In fact the shape was inspired by the double cut Les Paul, an Ibanez Artist, and an Ibanez Musician. Sort of a mish-mosh.

Started my first from scratch build. Check it out at www.soultaker.org

[quote name='bowser' date='Jun 11 2005, 08:53 PM']What kind of sound will a Laney get?  I did see that they were quite reasonable on the bay, but I don't know if they have as much gain as I would want, or the tone.
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A Laney is somewhat of a cross between a Boogie and a Marshall. More gain than the Marshall with more bottom end too. If you are looking for insane gain then get a Laney "AOR" series. I have the 100 watt version. Very loud. The clean channel is very nice too. Kinda Fenderish.

Don't buy anything untill you play through a Laney.

First design is better. Keep the lower horn the same and move the point where the upper horn meets the body back a fret. Flow the curve into the lower horn ( if the neck were not there it would be one continuous curve) and OH YEAH!! Would look alot like a yawning hippo. Cool.

With the exception of the Mesa boogie, a LANEY will mow down anything on that list.

does anyone have a set of plans for a router jig to use for shaping a neck?  would be either a set in or neck thru.

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Working on one now. Might take me a while, but when it's done, I'll share my plans.

Oil stains and lacquer, technically, is a disaster waiting to happen.

It 'can' be done if done properly, it's recommended to use a barrier coat of shellac in between the oil and lacquer, and let the oil dry a LONG time before applying anything over it, like 3 weeks to a month, This is the PROPER way to go about it, I'm sure others have cheated and gotten away with it, but I don't like to cheat the devil.

Let's look at it like this:

Oil is oil is oil, right?

What is oil?

Slippery, that's what.

What kind of finish would stick to it?

Not many.

Why?

It's slippery.

Oh.

It's really -just- that simple.

If not done correctly, the lacquer will delaminate from the oil, and blammo, suck guitar.

   

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Lacquer over oil stain. It's done all the time. I'm fairly new to building guitars but have built drums for quite a while and I mix my own oil stain with linseed oil, japan drier, and oil colours(artist oil paints). I apply the stain, wait 2 weeks and then spray about 10 coats of lacquer (I'm sorry, I know you guitar guys refer to it as "nitro", but I just can't do that. To me "nitro" means nitromethane or nitros oxide). It always gives great results. Oil stains are alot more forgiving than water or alchohol stains. Lap marks are not a concern, you have so much time to work. Oil stains don't penetrate as well but they don't fade in strong light. By the way, the lacquer you buy from Stew-Mac is'nt any different that any other spray can of clear lacquer. Just grab some from your local hardware or auto supply store. Just my two cents.

Hi,

I own a book wich is written by Ralf Denyer (?) He writes that a Yamaha guitar has a copper plate under the sadle to improve sustain.  Now I have seen a lot of pages on the internet about people building a electric guitar but never heard anyone speek of a metal plate under the sadle.

There is a drawing of such a guitar and it shows the plate, I would like to know if this is used often and perhaps some hints or tips, or just thoughts about it.

I have build two accoustic guitars and would like to build a electric but I think if you are going to build a guitar you should aim for the highest possible. So I believe that you need a good plan, good wood and so on.

If you want to build a formula 1 car you should not start with the plans for a stock car. I know I wil not end up with a formula 1 guitar with the experience of only 2 guitars but I dont have to win, just to go a lot faster than the stockcar is fine.

I live in holland and if I read back what I have writen here I see that it's not realy what I ment to write but hey, you should try to answeer me in dutch...

If I made a typo.. its the fault of my teachers 

Rob.

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Yes Rob, Yamaha did use a plate under the bridge on some of thier electric guitars to improve sustain. It was made of brass, not copper. I thought about doing this as well. Not for sustain, but to give the bridge studs something more solid to screw into than the press in deals. The brass plate screws into the top of the guitar with wood screws and provides the bridge with a stable mounting fixture that has lots of surface area. And you won't have to worry about loose inserts in the future robbing your tone. I think it's a good idea. But never let it be known that I knew what I was talking about.

you pay for what you get... i baught some of his 7 string ones thinking "eh, why not for that price"..... most useless thing i've ever baught... they had this awfull thin, tin can sound to them. Invest your money into a good set of pickups that have been around for a while. Armstrong seems to be a good inexpensive namebrand, but i prefer to stick to emg, dimarzio and seymour's

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Thanks, I almost ordered a set. I'll just stick with buying my Seymours.

Has anyone tried these alnico vintage humbuckers from Dragonmountain? They seem pretty inexpesive?

What kind of oak is it? The different types really act differently. Red isn't as stiff or heavy as white, for example.

It should be as stable as any other dense hardwood, if it's properly dried. If it's a hundred years old it shouldn't be an issue.

Buy it from someone reliable who can check the moisture content for you.

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Thanks for the interest. The oak is white oak. Both the mahogany and the oak were recovered from an old church. It is clear and straight as an arrow. I got enough to build 3 or perhaps 4 guitars. Paid $180.00 for all of it(planed both sides). I would like to put a maple top on it and was thinking that a good source of this may be kitchen cabinet doors. They're about the right thickness, and can usually be found around here for free or dirt cheap. What do you think?

I'll do it!!

I've seen a nice oak LP before but I'll have to admit it was a heavy beast.........

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Building a neck thru LP style guitar and I have enough mahogany to laminate the neck with, but I have some really nice oak (over 100 yrs old) that I thought would look nice sandwiched between two pieces of mahogany. Any thoughts? Would the combination of these two species make for a stable neck?

Shellac is thinned with alcohol. Any alcohol will disolve the finish. Don't get any beer or rum and cokes on your hand! Also, Shellac and water are enimies,even moisture in the air. That is why furniture makers use it ONLY on pieces that will spend thier lives indoors. Put a drink down on a table of shellac and it will leave an ugly white cloudy ring. I wouldn't use it on an instrument, being handled by sweaty hands and all.