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MuffinPunch

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Posts posted by MuffinPunch

  1. Hello all! And sorry for leaving you all high and dry for so long. I just wanted to get back on here and update this thread really quick with the life altering news that I will be resuming work on this project starting tomorrow! Ive been at my current job for a while now and I feel I have achieved sufficient seniority to feel eligible to use the facilities after hours to build more guitars. Also, I wanted to ensure that this thread remained active since appearently these all have an expiriation date once nobody posts anything for a while. (My Tabar Zin thread got deleted. :D Im going to finish that one too!)

    Anyway, stay tuned!

  2. I get what you mean about a business plan and license, but I hoped it wouldn't be an issue considering the microscopic scale of my operation (at least for the first good while). But if lawfully I need one in order to sell anything, than obviously it goes without saying. I figured Ebay would be my friend until I figured out my own business plan.

    You don't legally "need" a business plan. However, you don't need to wear a cup to play in a baseball game either but we've all seen how that one works out. Write a business plan. After a few months, when your head starts spinning, break out your business plan, read it outloud and it'll put things back into perspective. You'll understand what that means in a few months. Good Luck.

    This was more in reference to the license than the plan... I dont even know how to go about writing a business plan or what that is! I just want to build guitars. The main reason for selling them is to be able build more guitars! Having a bunch of extra income wouldn't hurt, but its certainly not my primary motivation.

  3. I love how this topic became an outlet to quote motivational cliches. All very valid advice though! Thank you all.

    If anyone has any specific advice as to how to go about building a guitar business from scratch beyond what has already been shared id be extremely eager to hear that as well.

  4. Solid advice RAD. Coming from one of the most admirable builders I know on this forum, Ill definitely take it to heart.

    I know what you're saying about the market being flooded, which is why I thought it might be a good approach to make bodies and necks and sell them as a "kit". Currently, the only bodies and necks for sale I've come across are licensed classic styles: Strats and Teles mostly, with the occasional SG or Les Paul, etc. I want to offer the user something that can't be found at a typical guitar shop without having to commission a high dollar custom builder. Unique body styles and headstock designs without being obnoxious, finished or unfinished and ready to be equipped with whatever hardware and electronics the end user wants. If there is a market for that, I want to find it. If not, like you said, at least Ill have some fun finding that out.

    I get what you mean about a business plan and license, but I hoped it wouldn't be an issue considering the microscopic scale of my operation (at least for the first good while). But if lawfully I need one in order to sell anything, than obviously it goes without saying. I figured Ebay would be my friend until I figured out my own business plan.

    Does anyone else have any gems of wisdom they wouldn't mind sharing?

  5. Hello all,

    Its been a while since I've made my presence known here, but I have been around. I lost the ability to build for some time due to not having access to tools, workspace, etc. But Im back in action and hoping to hone and use my acquired skills to make the world a better place. Ha!

    I really want to start making and selling custom designed guitar bodies and necks finished or otherwise, and the occasional complete guitar, but I am not really sure what would be the best avenue to take, or how to get my name out there. I am a professional vehicle designer by trade and work full time at Polaris Industries, so this would be and after hours "job" for a supplementary income. I am by no means under the delusion that I can become a professional guitar builder full-time. I more than anything want a way to finance my hobby of woodworking and help ease the crushing financial burden of student loans.

    I have a few of my own body and headstock designs that have proven successful on an aesthetic level if nothing else, and one conceptual construction method that has proven successful on a prototypical level, but I plan to keep that one in my back pocket for a while. For the time being, providing unique and well thought out variations on the already proven super-strat platform seems like the way to go.

    To all of you inspiring builders out there who actually build lines or one-off custom guitars for clients and customers: Whats the best and simplest way to get started?

    I don't have a lot of capital to work with, but I do have tools, and skills, and a relatively good supplier for materials (i.e.wood). I also know an amazing musician to potentially endorse the product. Any advice is very much appreciated. Thanks.

  6. Sorry to be a disappointment to everyone, but I haven't touched this project since I last posted. In fact the half routed bodies are sitting in storage along with the unshaped necks... I have been Uber busy as of late and having just finished school in Dec and starting a new job I just haven't had a spare minute to devote to this. Unfortunately now I no longer have access to the shop at school so anything I have to do now will have to happen on the porch of my new apartment. That meant power tools are out probably. I'd like to get back on this and my other projects Once things settle down a bit. I'll keep you guys posted.

  7. Hey man, sweet guitar!

    I think if you read my post without being defensive, you'd see that I was pointing out that;

    A: its already a commercially available product

    and B: the technology is being used by a few other people, it might help to look at their methods and see if any of it helps you form a solution to your own issues.

    Not knocking yours down, just commenting on my view of the legalities of the situation and the fact that you don't have to tread unknown waters if you look at the map. Others have worked on this. switchable bodies are out there , switchable pups too.

    EMG owns the 'quick connect' . whats left?

    Hey, for a thread that started off as a SHRG7 but changed mid-stream, it still ended up like a nice, one-off Ibanez. The finish is beautiful and if it plays like it looks, you got a winner. :D

    Sorry if I came off defensive. You can understand why I might have assumed you were attacking me given our "history". I appreciate it all the same. I've been taught not only how to look at all aspects of design with a critical eye, but also to defend my designs when others do the same to my work. I see what you mean though. I'll have to go back and check those links with an open mind and see what goodies I can take away from them. Thanks man.

  8. Steve, nice build.

    cool to see it get finished , its a shame it wasn't in the timeframe of your classes, but what can you do ?

    as far as 'rights' or lawsuits , you using EMG logo's and brand name with no permission is more of a legal infringement than anything else. :D

    For 'interchangeable' guitars already on the market click here tho : http://www.rksguitars.com/

    or here: http://www.ricktoone.com/2008/12/interchan...ass-bodies.html

    or these,one of which is patented back in 1997 and good till 2015........

    http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5637823/description.html

    http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5252777.html

    a quick google will reveal a lot......

    as far as the core to body wiring, a ribbon cable would be a decent solution. PCB's for the body and neck and you'd be in there.....

    As always, thanks for your concern and advice. The links you posted are pretty cool, tho I fail to see the relevance of the two patents you included as they are about as similar to my guitar as a bolt-on SG is to a Strat IMO.

    As far as "using EMG's logo and brand name with no permission", I got in contact with EMG prior to selecting pickups in hopes that they would "sponsor" my education by donating a set of pups and notified them I would be "branding" my project as an EMG, so they are aware of it and have no qualms. Unfortunately, and as expected, they weren't able to help out any.

    On another note, its standard practice in design school to choose a brand for any project prior to development and there's no requirement to obtain permission from the company. This is a well known procedure. Besides, Its not like Ill be marketing and selling this guitar as an EMG product. If I decide to further develop this idea in the future, I will not restrict it to only fit EMGs, nor will I only make 7 string guitars.

    I still realize the "interchangeable" guitar has been done before, this project is just another way to do it. You may have noticed that there are many ways to reach the same goal... Thanks for the compliments bruva!

  9. I would put money on your idea being stolen and used commercially.

    I would put money on your idea being stolen and used commercially.

    i think EMG could do so - all the evidence they need to prove it belongs to them is in the photo :D

    I would take that as a compliment then sue tier pants off! I've got enough eye witnesses as school who are heavy players in the design industry that would back me up. :D

  10. And a few more:

    IMG_4718.jpg

    IMG_4722.jpg

    IMG_4726.jpg

    Unfortunately, all of the process pics of the finish were lost when my phone was stolen last week. :D But the result turned out quite nice I think. It could use some finish wet sanding to remove a couple of little dust particles that found there way into the spray booth, and the fretboard needs a bit more love. Ill be working on that shortly.

  11. Its been a long while since I posted anything on here. At least it seams to me that way. I finally finished school last Saturday so I have some time to spend doing "leisure" activities for a few weeks. Anyway, I finally finished the guitar for my senior show... I didnt ever end up getting in contact with a rep from HR Giger so I went with a simple solid gloss black finish. Im not completely satisfied with it just yet but its to a point where I can call it complete. The EMG-HZ7 pups really suck, but they do their job for the moment. I didnt get a chance to work out the trick wiring, so its not really "modular" right now, but thats all stuff I have time to work on now. This finish ad assembly were more for the sake of having a physical representation of my concept for the show. Here are some pix from the show: The lighting was horrible so Ill have to get some better shots this week.

    IMG_4713.jpg

    IMG_4714.jpg

    IMG_4716.jpg

  12. I dont mind the carve at all. The uniformity across the bass side makes it look quite nice and unique at the same time. I agree that a veneer of dark material between the top and back would have produced and even nicer result, but big deal. To Johns point tho, would carving a matching contour to the treble side and transitioning it thru the rear of the body take too much material away? maintaining a nice two-tone edge all the way around could very well iron out some of the awkwardness you may feel it has? (tho I dont feel it needs it)

    P.S. I am dissapointed the the gorilla no longer shows thru now... :D

  13. Wez, I just had another look at your last post. I must have been sleepy when I initially responded, because I didnt get the full meaning of what you were proposing. As an answer to future development of this product your idea sounds very feasible and frankly is a perfect fix for my original problem. That being the ability to offer different pickup configurations without having to alter the standard control setup. For use with 2 pickup configurations I would simply delete on of the mini toggles, and ignore the #3 contacts. I like it a lot, and I can see it being done by creating a module for both ends of the contacts and wiring them prior to final assembly. Sounds simple enough, unfortunately im still an amateur when it comes to wiring. :D Ill definitely keep it in mind as I develop this concept further.

  14. I love that so many have taken an interest in this project. It will truly need some innovation to get the electronics to work properly. I currently have the pups wired directly to the output, which actually works fine for me at the moment, but the guitar is still in primer. School starts on Tuesday so I want to get cracking on this right away as I will be graduating this semester. I really wanted to cast the clear body and display both of them at my grad show, but after the chaos of last semester, im not sure im up to it... Ill see what I can get done in the first few weeks, but after that I really need to focus on school. Kind of disappointing really.

    I will definitely be trying out a few of your suggestions on connecting the wiring though. Using a quick connect device like EMG uses would likely be too delicate and break after a few disconnections and reconnections are performed. I like the idea of using Pogo pins, since you dont have to insert them into anything in order to make a connection. The strip idea sounds good too, but will require quite a bit more research before I would feel capable of experimenting with that. If it didnt require modifying the body I might entertain the 3 mini toggle idea.

    Thanks again for all of your ideas. I will update with pics as soon as I get this going again.

  15. don't know diddly about the EMGs, but as far as the jack goes, general standard seems to be that the outside arm is ground, the shortest is positive/tip and whatever you have left is ring.

    http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_p...utput_Jack.html

    http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/pro...Jack?sku=363051

    Thanks Tom, thats what I figured as well. Its seems to be the logical solution anyway, so I wired it accordingly. Unfortunately the issue still isnt resolved so Im guessing the problem lies in the connection to the selector switch, or the mysterious hanging white and black wires from the pickups. As far as I can tell the only difference between passive EMGs and other passives pickups is that the EMGs have a "quick connect" cable so its easier to replace the pickup itself without having to mess with the wiring again (assuming your switching to a different set of passive EMGs that is) and that 25k pots are used instead of 250k or higher which is more regularly used in guitar wiring. As I stated, im using a prewired pot set from EMG:

    100_5606.jpg

    So that part is is set. Its connecting the pickup wires to the switch and output that im having trouble with...

  16. I take the lack of responses to mean one of two things: Either no one has a clue how to help me, or nobody cares enough even acknowledge that they have noticed my post at all. Im banking on the first one as people have always been very helpful on this forum and I expect that if any of you had any clue what I need to do, you wouldnt hesitate to offer help.

    But, at the risk of sounding redundant, I really would appreciate any advice whatsoever regarding any of this so that I can finally put this project to bed. I have no doubt that many of you have had experience using one or more of these components on a project before, so as implied, any info you can lend me is greatly appreciated. If you have need for more information in order to lend advice I can gladly provide at the drop of a hat. Like I stated previously, my knowledge of electronics is very limited. In fact this (as you might have gathered) is my very first guitar wiring exercise. Thanks again.

  17. The idea was actually to use flat strips of metal that would be mounted on the bottom of the core, and on the top of the body's cutout. Then when you screw the core into place they would make contact with one another.

    I'm having a hard time explaining this, and I can's seem to find a picture on Google either.

    -Stormy

    I like that idea better, only problem with that is: as I pointed out earlier, the top of the core is not quite flush with the top of the body. I would have to either compensate for this gap by A. adding riser pads like the felt strap button gaskets im currently using, which creates a gap between the bottom of the core and the surface of the cavity making a connection like the one you described no good, or B. deal with the tops not being flush and try to "fill" in the gap with a decorative "plate" or something over the top of the core. This second option doesnt seem like such a bad idea considering that after I have cleared the body and added the matte Giger graphic over the top the core will no longer match. The "plate" could be sand blasted to continue the graphic, thus making the core integrated. My only issue is time. I really cant be spending a whole lot of it working on this during my last semester of school. My studies really suffered last semester when I tried to tackle building two of these along side the two San Dimas', and I didnt even really get into finishing, which I understand can be the most time consuming and patience trying part of building a guitar. Im presenting this as part of my Grad show this Dec., so it needs to look great, but its not the focus of my presentation so I dont want to give it too much attention just yet.

  18. Here's an idea for the quick-connect, not sure how well it would work, but it's an idea.

    http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Stormleader..._disconnect.bmp

    I think I kinda see what youre talking about, the problem is wiring the leads from the pickups to a jack or plug that can be inserted into a mated plug or jack where the continuation leads are wired to the electronics. Then I have to figure out how and where to mount those plugs/jacks...

  19. I like the finish like that honestly. Flat black, no gloss, and the gold hardware look good. To bad when you put clear it will get glossy.

    I like it flat black as well, but what you cant see from the crappy phone camera pics is that the surface is pretty fugly. Anyway, I still plan to do the Giger graphic on the top. It will probably be matte over the clear.

    Great build. The only way I could see the electronics working is by using the EMG solderless set up, but that would seriously limit your pickup choices. Given the right amount of time and effort, you could really come up with an ingenious solution for the wiring I'm sure.

    I agree, I dont fancy using the solderless wiring as Ive heard bad things about it. I had intended on developing a "quick-connect" like feature that is embedded into the corner of the core that connects itself when you plug the core into the body. Ill work it out eventually.

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