masterblastor

My take is that strings run flat between the nut and bridge. It's ergonomically on the same level as an angled or non angled headstock. Players will decide what the angle is to their body by either holding the neck further away or closer to their body by pivoting the guitar body. Bridge height is a big deal tho. I like mine as low profile as possible so I lean towards recessed bridges on a neck with no angle.

You can pull up on the arm with your pinky at about 3" out on the arm so you could pick and operate it at same time. This design is actually quite customizeable as far as bridge plate setup, arm design and cam profile. It doesn't have to be one size fits all.

Totally get that. That is why people use their wrist to pull up on floyds. The trem arm is in the way. Personally, I remove the trem arm from my gits and move the bridge itself, either with my palm/wrist for pullups or my ring finger for dives. If you can solve that problem, you've built something you could sell that is more versatile than a floyd or kahler from a players perspective. Maybe offer a second style trem arm with the package?

You are asking a guitarist to completely rethink and relearn the way they use a tremolo. All tremolos throughout history have used an upward/downward motion for raising/lowering the pitch of the strings. You are asking the guitarist to rotate the bar across the string path to raise pitch. This could seriously get in the way of their ability to pick strings while they raise pitch. On a plus side, I could see one adopters using some variation of sweep picking with this type of tremolo, which could provide a few neat sounds.

I partially agree. My problem with the design is with the trem arm. With a floyd a pull up is a simple as pivoing your wrist and putting pressure on the trem with either your palm or arm. This is how you can get around pullups without interrupting your picking pattern by grabbing a trem arm. In this design the trem arm is dictating your picking position, not the other way around. In order to get serious action, the trem arm would put your hand completley out of position.

Honestly, I would cut that trem arm down to about 3-4 inches in length, drop it 1/4 inch towards the bridge, and put some sort of hook or anchor on the end of it so you can keep your pick over the strings and hook the trem arm with your little or ring finger. Actually, now that I think of it....that would be freaking awesome. If I understand the mechanics correctly, you could dive by applying pressure to the trem and pull up simultaneously without loosing your pick position.

Boomers for my electrics and Martins on my acoustic. Why? Because for the last 20 something odd years, I've habitually walked into the shop and said Boomer 9s, Martin heavies, and 6 dunlop medium nylon picks. Sorta like my pre work ritual where I walk into the corner shop and say, cup of joe, pack of camels, and a lotto ticket.

Creature of habit.

If they're out of boomers, I'll pick up some EBs. If they are out of Martins, I wait until next time. That's all that's ever been on my only acoustic that I've had for 27 years. It's broken in with them.

Sometimes it can be a bitch getting some timbers here aswell. I need sapele, Ash, Maple, Limba, Spalted beeech, poplar & rosewood just now. Did the usual tour of my wood suppliers & found most of it, But Ash, sapele & limba are a no show in the sizes I need. Rosewood is non existant. Found one poplar board I can use.

There is something very annoying about not being able to get Ash in IRELAND, it grows here like grass, everywhere. I mean my house has 6 out the back along with some beech & 2 huge eucalyptis.

Do they sell chainsaws or axes in Ireland?

Beautiful work. Definitely see all the adult toy resemblance though. But if it works, its better than I'm doing.

Early Steinberger basses came with a plastic strap mount that placed the upper strap mount in about the same place.

You are moving the balance point and changing the center of gravity for the guitar. That would be why the ergonomics of the upper horn work.

Does it really need to be there tho?

The pegs are already in a position to make your knuckles bleed like stuck pigs if you dig into a power cord over the bucker. If you tried to anchor your little and/or ring finger in that position for a "nasally" bridge lead, you couldn't because the vol pot/knob is in the way.

Don't take this the wrong way avi, it's a bitch of mine about a lot of production guitars as well. It's also one of the reason's RAD in particular, and also the guys who posted observations here are my favorite builders (lol other than RAD doesn't use floating trems often ). They think of this stuff and we are lucky to have brains like that on the net willing to share/collaborate. It's not forum attitude man. It's artists and craftsmen who are passoniate about their trade. AKA..they give a **** about guitars more than making a buck.

Maybe if you kicked the pegs back a few inches. At least far enuff back that your knuckles don't hit peg razors when you smack a power chord like a madman over the bucker unanchored while jumping around on stage...and extend the control leg a bit and/or move the pot's back a bit so you can at least anchor a finger or two so you can play technical leads on the bridge while your body is moving. It may shift enuff weight towards the back so you don't need a giant @##%^ to get it to hang level.

Again, PLEASE don't take this in a bad way or like someone is sheiting on your work. Just trying to give an insight of what I look at when I walk into a room full of guitars looking for one that fits "me".

...His answer was that the quality is fine but in order to sell it, it should look like a Strat and painted black. I can not understand this conservatism. I even see this attitude in this forum, a cold wind toward anything that is not in line with the standard. Sorry forum members for saying that.

Is it possible he was trying to politely inform you that you are trying to be unique for the sake of being unique?

From the lemming player in me. Here are my honest thoughts if I imagine seeing this on a rack in a guitar shop... At first glance that guitar looks like an attempt at an egro guitar that appears uncomfortable to play. the top horn looks like a ribcage buster. Why does it even have a top horn? The controls appear too close to the bridge, at least for my playing style. Same with the pegs. Also lower fret access doesn't appear optimal either. You've built a guitar that is no more ergo than a strat, other than weight, and looks like Patrick from Sponge Bob Square Pants with a neck sticking out of his head.

Keep refining it and make design decisions based on real life problems players face and I'm sure you'll end up with a killer guitar.

I was going to get one of these too just for the air.Now I do realize that the price of this is the same as the price of the big vac demonx posted,but I want less cumbersome stuff to move around.This one hangs from the ceiling and just catches what the shop vac will miss

http://www.amazon.com/708620B-AFS-1000B-Filtration-Electrostatic-Pre-Filter/dp/B00004R9LO/ref=sr_1_24?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1333279686&sr=1-24

PM me your email address. I have plans for on that can be built for around $30 - $40 in parts. I'll send them over.

Saw a member posting up pictures of a "lowes find" he had with some flamed maple. Well I was inspired and bored, so I took a look around my local lowes' to see what they had. Well, I found an absolutely SICK peice of flamed maple for 1.83$/foot. Got 8 feet of it. Ill be using it as a dye tester for sure. Ill post a picture tonight after I do some grain enhancing.

Bottom line, I've seen pieces of wood like this sell on ebay for 30-40$, so it may be prudent for some of you guys to check it out!

(They also have other great woods available, saw some figured oak of all things....)

I think you'll find that most of the stuff you see on ebay for that price was bought at a local lumber yard by someone with enough free time to sit in the parking lot and wait for the trucks to drop it off. In my area I call them Warf Rats. I've been to the local hardwood shops literally 2 hours after delivery and the pallets are already picked over. Count yourself lucky that none of these d'bags are vulturing your Lowes.

Wicked!!!

So far I'm pretty happy with the physical results of the epoxy. I just have to get some white under it I think. Hopefully Woodcraft will get in my white Mixol soon

Chris

Post back the results. Only mentioned the testors because that is all I've ever been able to get to set properly with 2 part epoxy.

For the sake of documentation I wanted to put this here:

I spoke with my own personal rainman of all things woodworking. He agreed that paint at that position under a bunch of other layers of stuff is a bad idea. New suggestions include veneer if with light wood and then doing the material, or laying a based coat of white tinted epoxy as my sealer, and then fabricing.

Chris

Get some testors model paint. Let it sit until the pigment and thinner seperate. Remove the thinner. You can use the pigment to tint the epoxy. I do it all the time when putting epoxy on top of ferrule wraps on fishing rods. You can do it with inlays too. Metallic gold epoxy looks bitchin. Try some white on a test piece.

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.

Badass!!! You just wrote the first two lines of your business plan. -> "I just want to build guitars" <- and ->"The main reason for selling them is to be able build more guitars!"<-

Put that down on a piece of paper. Below that, compile a list of what you are and are not willing to do to acomplish that.

Example....

Will: dedicate X ammount of cash and X ammount of time to perfecting my neck designs.

Won't: Dedicate any ammount of time building a birdhouse for my neighbor to buy some new router bits.

The hardest thing about starting any business in any industry is getting sidetracked by what appears to be lowhanging fruit. It is never really low hanging and it's usually rotten lemons. Next thing you know you're Muffin Punch the fancy birdhouse guy who doesn't have time to build a guitar. It happens to every smb owner and a business plan will keep you focused.

Also if you're in the US, You may want to look into forming an LLC. It'll cost a couple hundred up front, but you'll make up for it in taxes and little to no personal liability if you find out you or one of you biz partners suck at running a biz.

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.

Actually yes thats the main reason why I doubt that... Because I've seen so much fender neck warped beyond repair

possibly because most maple necked guitars are fender style and most fender style necks are (or should be) flatsawn. your going to see a lot more of them warped simply because there are a lot more of them

there is nothing inherently wrong with a flatsawn maple neck. i am happy with either perfectly flat sawn or perfectly quartersawn maple for necks, both would warp in the wrong conditions, both will be fine if looked after

For what it's worth, which isn't much. I've rarely seen flatsawn necks with a straight continuous "back" warp way to the left or right of centerline. I remember reading an article when i was making an english longbow about picking proper wood and tillering. It sorta made the concept click in my brain. A guitar neck is really not all that different from a bow. I'll see if I can dig up the article. It was pretty interesting.

Cream pearloid.

Yeah I'm 100% sure it's not trem buzz as I can tell the difference. I think the frets might need to be dressed as there is a bit of wear from playing it almost everyday for 11 years now. There's a lot of space when I fret the second fret inbetween the string and the first fret. Going to take the shim out and see how that goes as far as action.

Totally man. Toss those shims in the freakin trash. You'll go thru at least 1 refret before the nut goes. With a JEM you're dealing with 2 reliable failure points. A floating trem and a noodle neck. If it wont't setup following the steps in this forums tut and you checked all of the Trem checks, either a new neck, fret level, or re-fret is on your horizon. I'd base that decision on weather or not it has the evil Wizzard brand of "W" showing up on it.

Good luck!

I went through the tutorials but I'm still getting buzz even with pretty high action. I guess I'll try and save up and send it to a tech or just have it PLEK'd. Thanks for the help though guys. The frets do look a little worn.

Are you really sure it's fret buzz? JEMs love to buzz at the trem. It can be hard to tell the diff sometimes if your ear isn't looking for it.

Trem buzz....

Check the saddles for burrs

Check the knife edges for wearing, cracks, chips or burrs

wiggle the trem posts with the trem springs off. if they move it will buzz.

Make sure all of the screws are tight.

Make sure the grounding wire isn't touching the springs or laying on the claw

Make sure the trem bar isn't loose.

Make sure the knifes line up with the trem posts properly and the posts are perfectly vertical

After that, run through the setup tutorial on this site. You should NOT have to shim the nut if it was factory installed. Those nuts are pretty solid and can handle many thousands of hours of playing without any wear at all.

if none of that works...

I'll bet $0.01 it needs a fret level

lol, I was eating a deer burger while I read this (non-itentional). Classic I miss the east coast white tails. Much better table fair than the blackies we have out here. I also can't wait untill my little girl is old enough to hang out in the shop or track a buck with me. Kudo's to both you dads!

I noted that you use the Bosch GKF-600 laminate trimmer. Is that your main router? Any complaints about it?

I have that same router..it is strong and light,but you can't see what you are routing,so you have to be careful not to push too hard into your templates,it wanders around too easily,and it is really easy for it to chatter and throw itself into a bind,which can get real scary real quick.It works best for small routs in light woods and it can really save a lot of trouble in tight spots,but the larger double handle models are much more comfortable..I like the big ryobi..I have one similar to this

http://www.amazon.com/Ryobi-ZRR163K-Peak-Horsepower-Router/dp/B0015GBIPO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1320356089&sr=8-3

But depth changes are much easier and faster with the small Bosch.If I could find a router as comfy as the ryobi with a better depth change I would like it very much.

For sure, you have to make sure you are routing in the proper direction or it can get very scarey! If you get a chance try making a slightly larger "round" base out of some acrylic. It will calm down the wandering a bit.

I noted that you use the Bosch GKF-600 laminate trimmer. Is that your main router? Any complaints about it?

I would like to know as well.

I love mine. It's been reliable. Can't beat'em for the price. It doesn't replace a good heavy plunge router with a big base for serious removal but can handle moderate removal and is nimble enough to one hand. For guitars, it can get you thru complete builds.

Very Very Very cool man!!! One of my favorite SS body styles with my favorite finish style to the t. And a zr 7 trem to boot. Badass!!!

Would you be so kind to provide your link? And thank you

It's in his signature man.

As painfull as it was to watch that wood not turn into a guitar.....

That thing is freaking beautifull. Outstanding man!

So this is the guitar at work... down under with Sensory Amusia

SWEET!