Fonnybone

Are you a new welder?I mean no disrespect,so don't take it that way,but I long ago lost my fascination with steel and making stuff out of it...I tow 5 machines every day of the work week and put up steel buildings over and over and over and over and...you get the idea...

But after sooo many years of it the last thing I would ever want is to come home and build a guitar out of steel...building out of wood is my escape from all of that.

I guess you could say I am curious ...because if I never saw a piece of steel again it would be too soon...yet tomorrow I go back and it will be all around me yet again.

I'm not at all insulted, you're quite right. I have been a welder for a few years only, but i've done and studied quite a few things and i have finally found something i truly

enjoy. I don't work on big structures, i don't really want to either, the shop i work at specializes more in residential things, our bread and butter is mostly stairs (mostly

custom designs), gates, fences and such, but we also do a lot of custom pieces for designers and artists. Being an artistic fellow myself, i feel right at home. I've also studied

industrial design in my 20s so i have a good background for material, prototyping, designing, CAD models, etc... I love guitars and have always been a hands-on guy.

I made a few guitar stands at work and a fellow musician/co-worker thought it was pointless since you can buy one for cheap. Totally besides the point, i don't WANT a cheap

generic guitar stand, i want an original one i made myself. I also have plans for a combo amp stand with a self leveling 'swinging shelf' to adjust the angle. My best friend

is a mecanic and drummer, so we have other projects in mind also...We've always talked about eventually opening our own custom shop, so this is just a beginning for me.

I do get tired of making freaking fences from time to time, that's why MY escape is making other things i enjoy. Besides, i'm not into wood much (maybe later...), but i do

know a few fellows who are great at it since we do work with them from time to time. Metal and wood is quite popular with rich fellows wanting custom designs for their home.

Anyways, i'll probably just make a quick protoype to test out the sound and, if it works, i might get some laser-cut pieces so i get a precise and clean looking assembly.

I intend on canabalizing and old guitar for it's emg pickup, floyd rose bridge and neck (i'm NOT venturing into making a metal neck ). My problem for now is finding

a design that is very simple, takes little space while still being rigid and connecting these 3 parts precisely. It's turning out to be the hardest part so far since things aren't

aligning as expected, i might end up scraping the floyd rose for something simpler.

I'll keep you guys updated as i go along.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I'm well aware of the weight implications, i'm a welder and believe me, i know how heavy

a full body made out of steel would be. My basic idea was to create a small box containing

the pickups, bridge mountings and neck mounting. I'm looking to make a modular center box

to which i will later attach other parts like an electronics 'module', arm rest, etc...

I'm reading lots on resonance and how heavier bodies have more sustain, so i don't think

weight is the enemy, i just want to put it where i want so i don't end up with an unbalanced pos.

Adding counter weights attachments to the main box for example.

I wanna make a guitar body out of steel.

Is the steel gonna mess up the pickup-string magnetic fields ?

If so, what about stainless steel ?

I found these guys, but i don't see much steel...

http://www.britishcustomguitars.com/

I'm looking for your feedback/experience.