Kith

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq171/L...ds/IMG_4574.jpg

My first build. I was 17 at the time.

Its pretty good. My main guitar. #2 is in the way...Neck thru!

I love the cover!

I used one of those eden necks about a year ago. The frets aren't perfect, but they are not horrible...I have pretty low action and only a bit of buzz on the 6th. for 40 bucks, you cant beat it.

I was thinking about how Daniel said that his guitar sounded "almost like there is a chorus on it." I think I know why.

Many subwoofers have what I believe is known as a "bass reflex port", or basically a hole which allows all of the speakers movement to be utilized to create a bigger sound. When a speaker moves, it pushes a compressional wave forward, out toward the audience. Then it must retract, or reflex, during which time it pushes another longitudinal wave (same as compressional) in the opposite direction. This sound can be harnessed by a bass reflex port, pushing sound out, and essentially making the speaker sound louder and fuller.

An interesting side effect of this, however, is that the wave created by the reflex comes slightly later than the original wave. The sound created by the reflex is actually 180 degrees out of phase.

A guitar operates on the same principle, but to a much more dirty effect. The top vibrates like the speaker, but the back and sides do too, so every sound played by a guitar naturally has a bit of reverb on it and much of the guitar's sound comes to the listener, out of phase (in varying degrees).

A chorus effect does just this. It splits up a signal, and pushes part of it slightly out of phase from the dry signal.

Having an extra soundhole in the guitar allows more of the sound from the reflex of the guitars top to exit the guitar rather than being absorbed, creating a chorus effect.

The effect would be maximized by placing a soundhole on the back of the guitar. However, since most people cover the back of the guitar while they play, it wouln't work.

Yeah the boulder creek ones dont have a regular soundhole.

I am going to buy an acoustic guitar soon, as I just sold my old one. Im looking at a yamaha, which seems pretty nice. I am really interested in the upper soundhole thing not so much because I hate bending over a little to hear the guitar better, but also because I read the little caption about how the extra soundhole helps the guitar sound better. I dont just want to go cutting into a brand new guitar though, but if I knew it would make it sound a bit better, I would have no problem with doing it!

Thanks for the help!

Boulder Creek Guitars has been getting a bit of press for their acoustic line with the soundhole located not on the top, but on the upper side, pointing to the player.

Daniel Sorbera's beautiful GOTM (October) acoustic also features a soundhole on the upper side, pointing to the player.

I have heard mixed reviews of the Boulder Creek guitars, but What I am wondering is how the top soundhole affects the sound of the Guitar. The GOTM description says that it makes it sound better.

I am wondering If anybody out there has an cheapish steel string acoustic they would be willing to drill a hole into. Unfortunately I do not, (my only acoustic right now is a nylon string). I think it would be a pretty cool experiment.

So yeah...Anybody want to give it a try???

I have built one guitar now, (a prs-ish shape) and now I want to do another one. I love the shape of Ibanez s and sz style guitars, but I cant find a plan for one. Does anyone here know of one?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Keith

you should make an entire guitar out of playdoh. that would be awesome

and then an amp.

After a couple years of thinking about it, one of my friends and I decided to try making guitars.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/dan...33/100_0989.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/dan...33/100_0988.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/dan...33/100_0889.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/dan...33/100_0880.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/dan...33/100_0878.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/dan...33/100_0852.jpg

(free) mahogany for the body (2 pcs. honduras, 1 piece quartersawn African)

pre-made neck

GFS fat PAF humbuckers

GFS tuners

Mighty Mite hardtail bridge

The pictures are not up to date. I will try to get some new ones up soon.

Keith

QUOTE(bvalentine @ Dec 29 2006, 03:04 PM)

QUOTE(GuitarGuy @ Dec 29 2006, 12:47 PM)

Whatever led you to believe guitar building is a cheap hobby has you grossly misinformed. This is just the start. It is a rewarding hobby but not an inexpensive one.

Alright. Whatever.

I paid about $210 for almost all the parts to my super-strat-ish project (i still need to get some wire, knobs, and a few screws), and i got some ugly mahogany for free. it doesnt always have to be horribly expensive!

o yeah, and instead of copying some other design, I would recommend drawing your own templates. you dont need a cad program or anything, i have made about 10 designs using 4 pieces of white paper taped together. It actually works pretty good. Use the center connection line as the centerline, and if you want part of it to be symmetrical, fold the paper over, and rub across the line on the back of the paper to transfer the line to the other side

oooohhh ooooh ooooohhh I have I have!
yeah, slash and satch, the 2 best

I think im sold on the Michael Kelly valor custom. now i just have to choose a color...

OK, one vote for each. anyone else?

well, I managed to save a little money and I decided I would like to get a new guitar with it. I have been keeping my eye on the Michael kelly guitars, especially the valor and hourglass models for a while now, but I have never actually played one.

Guitar Player Magazine reviewed the valor custom, and said it was pretty good. I am just worried about it's upper fret access because it's neck is set so far into the body. The MK website said their bodies are made of solid mahogany, but I read a review on harmony central from someone who said his was laminated.

I am also very interested in the Reverend warhawk electric, but i have never played one of those either.

any help would be appreciated

Thanks

I have played through several of the marshall mg amps, although not the one you are talking about. they were all aweful. i honestly hated every one. but just because i hated them doesnt mean you would.

try singing your idea for a solo into a tape recorder. then figure out how to play it. when you can play it well, then mess around with it until it is the way you want it. add things like bending up to a note instead of just playing it, vibratos, tapping, trills, etc.

it is usually better to have a clean sounding simple solo than a messy sounding complicated one.

Track and cross country. ...a million miles, a million miles...

just to note, some jems are made of basswood, others of alder.

you can get "more guitar" for your money through Ibanez, however, you will never be able to get close to that classic gibson sound if that is at all what you are looking for. And consider this: the $300 ibanez basswood rg guitars are almost the same as the $2000 basswood jems. Without binding and fancy woods, a lot of the QC issues which could spring up in a $300 guitar are eliminated.

Personally, considering the price difference, i would take the ibanez.

ive been fingerpicking for 9 or 10 years, and at first i tried to match up certain fingers to strings, but from i have realized there really is no rule for where each finger goes. generally your thumb covers the E,A, and D strings, but usually moves. if you are doing a bass line on those strings, use your other fingers instead. your pinky usually only picks the e and B strings. And you DO NOT have to have short fingernails or a thumbpick to do any fingerpicking. I have never used either.

try an ibanez gax before you buy one.

I know im going to get flamed for bringing this up here but ed roman makes prs style guitars with floyds. Im not sure of the price though. Dont listen to all his hype about "direct coupling" and all that stuff though.

I personally hate their sound, not as bad as a stratacoustic or telacoustic, but it has the same muddy bass as one. If you like them though...

if you are using a top wood and a base wood for the body, route channels in the base wood. they will be covered by the top wood later.

Consider how close your guitars are to those on the market. if you are build an exact copy of a strat, you cant expect to get a lot more than an equal strat would go for. If you are building something unique, with nothing like it on the market, you can get a lot more for it, but you dont want to stray too far from ordinary or you will have a very small market to sell to.

Both Dimarzio and GFS make p90s in humbucker sizes. I have never actually used one though.