jmrentis

And to think i was nice to him earlier huh.gif *feels rather stupid*

~~ Slain Angel ~~

If you read through all the GOTM thread with him whining about entering and then through the kevans thread you will see thats exactly what happened to me! I didn't like him at first, but after a couple pages of talking with him, I felt he was alright and maybe he should be allowed in, but no more than 5 minutes after that, he had started another fight in kevans thread, stating that companies like perry's were a million years behind gsr and they shouldn't even be considered a conmpany. Can you believe that, and only 5 minutes before did he say that his company was no different from perry's and since perry is allowed in he should be too. After all that, I just ripped into him, I wrote a couple responses that were almost a full screen long about why he should not be allowed here or to enter his guitars.

It just makes you feel like an idiot, that you believe him, but there's nothing you can do because he is just lying through his teeth. How fair would it have been if he entered a guitar that was made in a factory, and then it was slightly modified by 11 or 12 other people from his company, then entered it. Perry is a one man team basically, it's two totally different things, and perry doesn't buy his guitars from a factory and just add to them, he makes them from scratch, which is the way it should be. And one thing that strikes me as funny is, gsr always said how bad this place was and how the mods were bad and everyone was out to get him, then WHY the hell would you stay,and even more why would you try so hard to stay and come back, if it's as bad as he said it was then why?

The reason is because PG is one of the best sites for builder to learn and teach, an in gsr's case to show of his companies work in attempts to build a customer base. Which he made damn sure will never happen by the way he acted. Even if they were nice guitars, I would never buy one just because of the people who were involved with it! And that totally sucks for the other 11 or 12 people that do the actual work because they had no part in this, he basically ruined it for all of them. And some of them were incredibly talented like I think Sue was her name, the one who did the inlays(I'm not quite sure if thats right). So I wish that whole thing just never happened, he just pissed everyone off and caused a lot of other problems. Every single thread he was in was a huge fight, Why man Why? What is that going to do for your company? And for the people that were on his side, I would change your ways, there is a reason your in the minority, because you are wrong and acting bad about this whole thing. This place is run great, if there is something you don't like about it, find somewhere else that will suit your needs better. Almost noone has problems with this place, it's a great place to learn and to help others. So if you don't like it SEE-YA!

Hey Slainangel, sorry that you fell for it, believe me, I did too along with a lot of people I'm sure. I'm just glad that the mods and admin are all over it. Quickly too I might add. Well hopefully with time he'll go away, and if not we'll discover him again and again until his company falls to pieces and he has no more reasons to try and be here, because without his company he has no reason, he admitted he can't build for crap, he hasn't ever built a guitar, he started one and never did anything with it, makes you wonder why they chose him to market as he know diddly squat about guitars! I'll talk to you later! Jason

Sweet!!! I'm so glad I finally got to see them! Excellent stuff! Thanks for setting it up so I got a chance to see, I was wanting to see them badly! Again glad to have you here, I'm sure you will make a great addition to the crew! Have fun and enjoy yourself! Jason

See-Ya!!

I wouldn't give it away, cut it up so you could build a bunch of bodies and tops then let it dry for a year or two, or a lot longer some let it dry for years and years. Then when you feel it's nice and dry and won't do any moving on you, test it, knock on it and get a feel for it. If it's anything like the other maples I think it would be worth a try. They all seem to be fairly good tone woods, and most are great looking, and you never know what kind of figure you might find. Flame, quilt, stepped who knows until you check it out.

I used to think that only certain species of trees had certain figures, but recently I found out that almost any tree can have almost any type of figure. So just keep it and see how it turns out, even if it's not the best tonewise, if it had a great unique figure you could just do a thin veneer on a body for it's looks. Anyways thats just how I feel, I wouldn't get rid of any of it, you will always find a use for wood, be it for guitars, something for your shop, or for practice, or hell even a bird house. You'll find a use for it I'm sure. Good luck with that and have fun with it! Jason

Hey no worries! And if you ever get the chance I would really like you to introduce me to Banjo, I hear he can really rip! Maybe you can just get me his autograph if his flippers aren't too tired. Thanks !

HUH? I thought I already wrote a response here but I guess I must of not submitted it. First off thanks everyone for your help, I'm ready to start doing some sexy volutes now Perry, thanks for your pics, I believe that the pics you posted were the ones I was talking about. It is scarfed right? And to me it seems that the volute is slightly closer to the headstock side, it looks good and I'm just not sure where mine will end up.

I'm having a hard time trying to decide the thickness I should rough cut the laminate. I was thinking 1 1/4", but it seems big and there will be a lot of shaping involved, but also it feels like if I go thinner than that I won't get a nice solid volute which I would really like. The profile I'm shooting for is around 19-20.5mm at the first fret, I still need to decide on exact thickness by doing some more research and playing some more guitars. And yes I want it that thick, I just get cramped way too easy on thin necks, I've always felt really comfortable on acoustic necks for some reason. So I want to beef up from the jem777 by just a little, but I will go by feel as I'm shaping and if it turns out fatter or thinner then oh well!

So an 1 1/4"is 31.75mm that doesn't sound bad but the fretboard I'm getting will probably be .25" or like 6.35mm. So lets say 20mm at the first fret -6.35 for the fretboard would leave 13.65mm for the actual neck at the first fret. And that makes 31.75 sound huge, more than double, so should I only use an inch will I still be able to get a good volute with that?

Also consider this is my first neck and it has a angled headstock no scarf. Any help here would be great and I'm not putting an blades near it until I figure this out, and hopefully I should get at least two necks, if I plan it right, hopefully. Thanks for all the help guys, I want every detail to be as good as I can make it, no matter how long it takes. After I get a few builds behind me, I will become more relaxed I'm sure, but right now I'm being very picky about the smallest of things. I know if I do this guitar well I will get a lot more confidence in my building skills and relax. Thanks guys, you've been a huge help! Jason

Thanks Rich for the beautiful Maple Top. It's going to be perfect for my project. The shipping was extremely fast as well. Along with being well packed. I'm going to put a link to the pic off your wood page, to show everyone. Also I will get some pics up of the piece on my progress page, I can't wait to see how nice it will look with a finish, I wish I had all the tools that I need at my disposal right now, but when starting out it takes a while to gather all the necessary tools. So thanks again Rich and I'll be wanting that cocobolo fretboard soon, I like those things more everytime I take a look at the photos. I'm really excited to get this project together. Have a good one! PM you later! Jason

Maple Top from Rich

Thanks guys for that info, Myka I always admire your work and how well you design ways to accomplish certain tasks with efficiency, if your jigs and ideas are built properly even a begginer can do an almost perfect job. All the tutorials, jigs, and table setups are a huge help to me and I'm sure many, many others.

I am currently building your neck pocket router table, I still have a little more to do, but I was just curious if you had any more improvements on it yet, I know you are constantly redesigning your ideas and I was just curious. I am thinking of using some plexi/acrylic and I was wondering your thoughts on thickness. I am using a plunge router that has a plunge that goes just a hair under 3". So anyways thanks for all your help and info it is a tremendous help for someone as myself that wants and needs all the info and advice people have to offer.

Thanks everyone for posting your thoughts and ideas on the scarf joint, I should have enough wood left over from my headstock angled laminate, that I should be able to do a scarf joint as well as the angled one. I would like to do both that way I can get a feel for what I like personally. It seems that most people that have built a lot of necks prefer the scarf joint, but I as a hobbiest I am not to worried about the waste of wood, which I will end up using anyways for other things. But also I want to have a neck that is going to last, so if I feel that I can do just an angle and not have it too brittle that will be what I do, but if not I will be doing scarfs. Thanks again for the help! I will post how it goes when I finish the neck! Jason

Hey guys I searched about the volutes but I couldn't get a feel for exactly where to position it. On some of perry's guitar I think one with a scarf joint the volute seemed a pinch more towards the headstock, and on others I've seen more towards the neck and some dead center. I don't think it will make a huge difference but I would at least like to try and put it where it will create the most strength. By dead center I mean where the ridge of the volute lines up with the guitars nut. I would feel that this would be best as this is the skinniest part of the neck, right where it makes the angle. But as I said I have seen the location vary, this just might be in part caused by carving by hand, it's probably pretty difficult to make it perfectly centered. Also I don't have a scarf jointed neck, it's a 13 degree angled 3 piece laminate neck with a bit thicker overall size, maybe similar to the original jem 777, maybe thicker but I doubt it. So any thoughts on this would greatly be appreciated. And by the way I think volutes are sexy too! Thanks for the help guys! Jason

Hey George no worries, I enjoy helping people out and I feel that it is only fair being that only just a short time ago I was asking those questions and people were helping me, so by me helping you it's making this site go round, a cycle if you will. All set in motion by Brian the man that started it all. He really deserves more credit than he gets, I think. A few people especially recently have been saying some not so nice things about this site and the people that run it, good thing they are gone now because of their very poor social skills and attempting to harrass and insult mostly everyone that enjoys this wonderful site. The biggest thing everyone and especially those people I am speaking of need to remember, is noone is keeping you here, it's your choice to be here and if you don't like how it's ran or the people or rules that are in place then leave! Mostly all the members here get along, we all have different opinions which can be the cause of debate, but other than that it's a great help to anyone that builds guitars or would like to build guitars. Anyways thats just a quick update on what this place is like, enjoy it and use it to it's fullest potential, it's a great source of info and experience.

Well here's a link to a thread that has a list of Some of the tools you will need. Everyone has variations on what they like and what works for them but there are some essentials that you will need. Look through all the links and pages on that thread, it will give you a good idea of what you might need. Thats a good idea you had about buying a guitar thats used but has all the parts you need, I was going to do that but I am going with a different setup, so I am buying everything seperately because it's all custom like the bridge, pickups, electronics, strap locks and so on. But since you are basically going for a RG, then your idea is perfect for you. So good luck with it and if I come across a used Rg for a good price I'll try and let you know. Again welcome to the forum, enjoy it and ask for help when you need it. Talk to you later! Jason

Project Guitar, Tools needed for building

Very nice! I'm glad its working out for you. I like looking at everybodies work and progress because it inspires me and gives more ideas. How is the weight on that thing, I know basses are heavier than most regular electrics but I haven't played many basses. Also what are you going to do for a finish, I can't wait to see it done really good work so far. Thanks for posting your pics! Jason

Hey George, Welcome to Project Guitar,

Try and only take my response only for what it's worth as I have only just started building myself, but I have done at least 3 months of homework and studying for the project I'm doing, so I have a real good idea of some things but very little experience of others, but I've been playing guitar for 10 years so I know a bit about guitars in general.

I myself am doing a RG style body with a neck thats a little bit thicker than most, It's just easier for me to play on a bigger neck. As far as the neck pocket, you will need the neck to get a proper fit and scale, with those things done correctly among a few others you should have no problems with getting it in tune. If you really like the feel of an RG I would attempt to buy a neck for it maybe off ebay or something. The reason being is the feeling you like about the RG is most likely how the neck fits you and building your own is a bit difficult to get exactly how you would want it, it can be done but it is a little harder than building a body. Anyways you will need the neck to rout the body to fit the neck well and to set the distance from the nut to the bridge which is considered the scale of the guitar. I think your is 25.5" scale, so that means it 25.5 inches from the nut to the bridge and that means you must make the neck pocket exactly the right depth to get that distance, otherwise as you've been told it will never tune correctly. And as far as the neck angle, that will depend on your bridge height, the higher the bridge usually means more of an angle, so you can keep the action of the string reasonable. The way to do the angle is usually by angling the neck pocket, so the neck will sit with an angle when placed in the pocket. If it was already done with no angle you can sometimes add a shim to boost the angle.

If I were you I would do a crap load of studying and homework on this sites tutorials and forum searches and other sites as well and build your own body, in my opinion it's not worth ruining the guitar you have if you just want to change the pickup layout, not to say it will ruin it but there is a chance and why take it if your could just have another guitar with exactly what you want and still have your RG which you love to play while you build this other one. Plus building guitars is so much fun, but you must understand it is quite an investment. Besides the wood you will need a lot of tools that are specifically for guitar building, which basically means you probably don't already own them. Also the wood is pretty cheap, especially if you have a local source, so you don't have to pay for shipping. I would definately look around well, and see if you can find a hardwood supplier. If not look around a lot of sites for what you want, sometimes different people have different prices, there are a number of people on this site that have wood for sale such as Fryovanni(Rich) and I think guitar frenzy gets some and maybe one or two more.

If you like your Rg exactly how it is, use the same wood for your body, but if there is a different sound/feature you want, learn as much as you can about the different woods and pick one that will work for you. Some tend to dent more than others, some don't take a finish well, some sound more warm, or more bright than others and so on, so pick one that suits you. Also you might want to buy a template of an RG so you can have the exact size and shape of the guitar. I didn't want to spend the money on one and I wasn't worried about having it exact, and I made some slight customizations anyways. But since you have the guitar that you are going to build anyways you can try and do what I did and make a template by tracing it on paper or cardboard then use that to make one on some mdf or plywood. But you won't have everything like pickup cavities and electronics cavities and all that stuff. Templates are definately the way to go for a good replica and you will always have it for future work or reference. And they are not that expensive compared to spending a bunch of money on wood that didn't turn out the way you wanted.

So those are my opinions. Like I said I haven't been doing this that long, but that is some of what I picked up so far, I learn a lot more everyday. This site is one of the best sites to learn from, it has endless information, all the tutorials which there are a bunch of, are great and the forum has so much info, and there are a number of somewhat professional builders here that have excellent advice and will help you out and there are also a lot of just very experienced hobbyists that have great info as well. So just keep learning as much as you can for a while and if you feel you are up to it building a body, money wise and skills wise, then go for it, it can be so much fun. But if you want to justify buying all the tools needed, I would make a commitment to building more than just this body, maybe have it become a long time hobby of yours, because it can cost quite a bit if you have to buy all the tools needed, but also if you are just going to start with the body, then it will be a little cheaper because you don't need all the tools for the neck, which you could just buy when you started building necks.

Good luck, I'm sorry this was so long I guess I just got going, but once more I am new to this so there will be better opinions than this, it's just how I feel, so wait for some more posts to make up your mind. So have fun and do as much research as you can, it will help tremendously I promise. Jason

I'm not a 100% on this but I think someone had posted this a while back, but I think it would work pretty good. It might be good for getting a rough cut close and then switching to a robosander to clean up and smooth out the job. I really want to get a robosander, but would like one of these as well, you can never have too much stuff. You'll find a use for everything eventually. Thanks for posting that, I had forgot about that tool and Rockler in general, just bookmarked it so I won't forget again! Jason

Not my cup of tea, but if its yours, drink up!

*Gulp, Gulp*

Oh man check out this site!!! It's all fish caught on Allan Cole's ac plug. Some serious fish, lots of largemouths, stripers, huge brown trout, and so many others. I think the lure hold a crap load of records, I haven't gone through the page yet, as I just found it. I just thought you guys should check it out, I have not used this lure yet, but I have one now. They are sold at most tackle shops and there are a good variety of sizes, shapes and colors now. So check it out and let me know what you guys think of the page and I'll check it too.

Sorry I'm having no luck with your pictures, I guess my computer has something to do with it. I guess I'll just wait to see if anyone has issues and see if they know why I can't get in. Anyway welcome and check out that page, if you like striper fishing you really need one of those lures in your arsenal. I hope the link will work, it should. Jason

Allan Cole's; AC Plug

Oh man that rod wrapping is incredible, I don't know if I could ever have the patience to do something like that. Very difficult I would imagine. Oh and I haven't been able to get your pictures to work. Have you made it a public account? Sometimes you have to change some options so that we can view them. I really would like to see them. If you don't have it public, it will just link to the homepage and ask for your password. Good luck and if you need anymore answers about posting pics just ask, if I can't help I'm sure others can. Jason

Thanks for your advice. I'll try get some soundclips up, so you can admire the sexy tone (and sloppy playing) biggrin.gif !

Hell yeah! Can't wait, I'll bet it going to sound great. Jason

like that inlaid top...i am thinking about how to make a set of templates to accomplish that....

On that note do you think it would be best to have the inlaid portion of the top angled in along the edges, with the body cut to accept this angle to give a tight fit. So it doesn't have 90 degree edges, because I think if you angled the tops edges inward, maybe with the top edge being 45 degress, you would get a stronger edge around the guitar, basically be a little thicker. Just an idea! Jason

Nice stuff! I really like the white and the pickup. Good job man! Enter it, you never know. Getting it checked out is a good idea, if you are not sure if you can set the intonation and truss rod it would be wise to have it setup by a professional, then you can start making minor adjustments so you can get good at it. Here is a link to the Project Guitar main web site, it is the page for the guitars setup. If you don't know everything about the setup this page can give you some help. There is a lot of info. Good luck with your guitar, I like it a lot. Nice work.

PG tutorial setup page

Yeah I'm still unsure as far as inlays, I've seen a few places where I can buy as blocks already then I could trace them right onto the fretboard with an exacto, then bust out the dremel and knock it out. I probably will save the engraving for my next attempt, one reason is the fretboard I have picked out from Rich(fryovanni) is sweet. I would really hate to ruin it. It's a great piece of cocobolo.

I can imagine how difficult tapering neck laminates would be. I spent plenty of time just deciding how thick I need each laminate to have it wide enough to not have to add pieces to the headstock, and without having an oversized middle laminate. Easy stuff but since this is my first project and I spent a lot of time just researching if I should do a laminate then deciding on woods and sizes. I think most people just starting don't have a clue as to how much time goes into planning a build. I've been planning and doing homework for almost 3 months now and have had most of my wood for about 1 1/2-2 months. I still have quite a bit I need to know but for the majority I have a good idea as to how I am going about this. I have a post in this thread somewhere called solid body progress pics I think and it has my basic idea and some pics of my wood and first try templates that I'm redoing.

Anyways I look to people such as yourself to learn how to do certain tasks. Inlays are one area I haven't fully become schooled in, but I'm starting to do this now as I am getting my fretboard within 2 weeks. It won't be glued up for a little while, til I get the truss rod ready and installed. But thank you for all your info and progress pics as they have helped me out a lot and it's just so cool to watch someone go through the whole process of building a guitar. Good luck with yours and take a bunch of pics when you do the inlays, I would really like to see how you are doing it. It's a pretty complex layout. Nice stuff though and thanks again! Jason

Cool thanks for letting me know. I thought it might be hard to do an f hole on a carved top as you would have no flat surface to use, but I wasn't sure if the hole would stay clean and straight while carving the top. I'm glad I'm a long way off of being good enough to do carved topped semi hollows as I would get many headaches trying to figure it all out, it seems the planning that went into your guitar was immense. Great planning though as it seems that everything is working out according to plan for you. Keep us updated with pics when you get a chance!

Oh yeah that red abalone idea is great. I only have very minimal experience with inlays, and I was unaware with this option. I see colors, but I never knew what they were made of. If it's possible to use strictly shell and mop that would be the best for me at least. I am curious to see your inlay and Wes'. I think both will be great and both will be something I can use as information and technique for my current project, though since it's my first experience I might just do block inlays, even though I have a great idea of what I want all mapped out. Thanks again for the info and keep up the killer work! Jason

Over a 1/3 of the way there to your original asking price and still have more than half your listing time left. Good looking piece, I hope it works out for you, I guess people just like to see that $0.99 before they start bidding. Hope you reach your origianl price, as I'm sure it's worth it! Jason

Oh my goodness, that thing is insane. I never knew you could do half of the things he did on that guitar, inlayed whole bodies and headstocks, every piece seems to be from the original wood. That guy doesn't know the word waste when it comes to wood! Very unique and inspirational piece. Thanks for showing it here, it's a killer guitar. Jason

Wow that is really a great looking bait, in some areas I think that would work for bass as well, though I think the perch are more common further north than bass, but I'm sure they coincide in some areas. I bet your right about the pike, it would probably be a killer. I had never thought to apply my woodworking towards making lures but it indeed would be fun and I could end up with a great lure, the balancing and finish have got to be tough though.

Maybe I'll try to make a trout swim bait for the local giant bass we have in so cal. Probably be mostly wood for the front end and the back end use some soft plastic for the life like tail, my local shop has made many soft plastics designed by me. They require you buy at least 100 but it is not very expensive at all, well worth it, if you want something that hasn't been made or if they don't have it in a color you want it can be a great service. I got some custom made reapers made the last time. In my favorite colors and oversized as I feel that it works better oversized down here, where the bass are finicky, they tend to eat less but make their meals bigger in return.

Well tonight or tomorrow I will look for some pages with the ac plug and Alan Cole himself. I'm glad to know there are more fisherman here. Later guys! Jason

Is it black mop? Are you going to use any different colors for the parts you still need to design like the teeth or an eye? I know there isn't really any red mop but maybe some red plastic could work for an eye, that would look mean! Also have you decided on fretboard wood? Jason