thegarehanman

I hope you're using a volute for your own sake. That huge truss rod nut route is gonna weaken the headstock substantially.

I do some metal sculptures. I built a very abstract looking tree from sheet metal and I turned the copper leaves I made for it green with vinegar. Just remember that when you use vinegar, you need to wash it off with water afterwards so it doesn't stink to high heaven forever. And just to save you some trouble...don't submerge whatever you coat in vinegar in the vinegar itself. It requires air to oxidize(that's why they call it oxidation, actually), so you just want a light coat of the vinegar. The best way(I found) is to moisten a paper towel in vinegar(just so it's damp) and then loosely wrap the part to be oxidized in the paper towel. This supplies the part with a constant supply of both oxygen and vinegar. Good luck with this; I've always contemplated building a guitar that's pre-aged.

ky?

Why'd you use only 2 coats of clear?

If you glued the pieces together well, a visable seam won't matter. Even if the grains are opposed at the seam, it will still look clean. Think about a bookmatched maple top. I'm thinking you should paint it black, fill the grain with the color fo your choice, then satin clear it.

Here's 2 reasons I'd never do that:

1. Guitars last much longer than wireless systems. Do you want to build a guitar with parts that you know will need replacing in a few years?

2. I wouldn't want to have to rewire my guitar just because I lost the receiver.

I'm actually considering getting an MBA after I finish up my bachelor's. The mechanical engineering course at LSU is very comprehensive; so I don't think I'll be able to get in any business courses before then. I am scheduled to take a philosophy course this coming semester though. Let's see how that effects my designs. I imagine I won't start building anything else until next summer. I don't know though. It really all depends on finances(which get tight when school comes around), but my dad owns a company that buys, refurbishes, and resells repossessed houses. So I make pretty good money doing that on my breaks from school.

To be honest, I’m really torn between wether I want to build the black and white P90 equipped guitar or the borealis themed bass next. I’ll have to think out the finer details of each one and then pick.

Ok, time to glue the binding to the back of this thing.

Just out of curiosity, how are you planning on planing off that 1/4"? Do you have a thickness planer wide enough to accept the whole body? Better yet, do you have a thickness sander? My thickness planer is quite old(still works very well though). It's open on one side so if you have a board twice the width of the planer, you just run it through, flip it around, and run it through again. So, hypothetically, I guess I could probably put a whole blank through it.

I'd say strip the paint off just the top, then take your 1/4" off. Glue up your maple halves before you glue them to the body.

Like I said, mine works well. It's just that your hand gets a bit raw if you're changing bits every five minutes. Good for building up calouses I guess.

Did anyone listen to the sound clip in that link? You'd think they'd play something a little more technical or entertaining than Freddie Freeloader(blues progression) if they were trying to sell a $1100 guitar.

You should know that black beauties typically have 3 humbuckers. However, I've heard it doesn't sound much different from their 2 humbucker counterparts.

Of course I'd have a few solid body models. Actually, I'd probably have only one or two hollow body models. I think my next build will either be that base I talked to you about or a solid body version of this guitar w/ some kent armstrong P90's in humbucker cases. They look really sweet with the polepieces in the middle. Take a look on their site, you'll see what I mean. For that one, I'd like to find woods that are either black or white. I think a guitar(finished naturally) built from woods that are only black and white would look great. There are so many woods available today that I'm sure I'll be able to get something that has good tone and fits my criteria. And I would make completely custom guitars for certain customers as well as myself, but I want to mainly sell production models. I have a few friends that are already quite well known in the music scene in New Orleans so if they ever hit it big, I'll already have endorsements.

Listen to Drak; he would know. I don't think he's neccessarily going for that look though. It seems like he just wants a transparent finish.

You're right about jazz; it doesn't get enough credit. Maybe it's better that way though. I like that jazz is under rated. Somehow I get more enjoyment out of it that way. Really, we wouldn't have the improvisational music we know today were it not for jazz. Jazz is all about improvisation. That's what I like about it; you can make a mistake and then turn it into something beautiful that people praise you for.

Back to the guitar...

Once it’s been sanded and is ready for staining, I don’t imagine it would take any more than 3 days for me to get the stain and clear coats on. It’ll have to sit a week before I’m comfortable wet sanding it though(I use 2 pack clear coats). While the clear is drying, I’ll be carpeting and lining the guitar case...

I was thinking about making a really eye catching case, but I'm not going to. I don't want it to scream "steal me." Also, I expect a guitar case to be able to take some abuse. I do a lot of gigs so all of my black cases are pretty much white now from paint scuffs. The sides of the case will be 1/2" pine. The top and back of the case will be 1/8" lexan. I'm doing a 3/4" round over on all of the edges. I'll then wrap the whole case in carpeting. Wrapping cases and amps in carpet is a piece of cake, and it looks so professional in the end. The inside will first get a layer of 3/4" foam on every surface. Then I'm going to wrap the guitar in cellophane, prop the neck up, and make a mold of it with expanding foam in the case. I'll put a large piece of squishy foam on the top portion of the case to pad the strings and body and what not. I'm lining the case with black crushed velvet. The case will look good, but ultimately it's all about functionality when it comes to a case(for me). I want that guitar to be well protected.

And as far as production goes. I want to start off with all of the guitars being handmade. However, I plan on making very comprehensive templates and jigs for every project from here on out. That way, I can do some rough cuts, and then finish the entire guitar with nothing more than a router, a bearing, and the templates. That will speed up the process exponentially, hopefully making it cost efficient. I don't want to build all out customs like ormsby though; I think I can make just a few models(each model having a few different electronics options) and have a wide spectrum of player covered...and pleased.

What kind of "feel" are you going for though? metal, jazz, punk, etc. etc...That could be the determining factor. There are many finishes that fit any type of guitar, but there are many that don't.

I honestly couldn't tell you, but I'm guessing you could get away with a pretty shallow angle(maybe 1 degree). Realistically, TOM bridges can be adjust pretty low(not as low as a hardtail, but pretty low none the less). It's good to figure your angle out w/ your TOM bridge's posts a little less than halfway unscrewed. This gives you room to lower or raise the action when the whole guitar is actually built.

I don't want to give an average angle. I wouldn't want to be held responsable for any damage it might do. You shouldn't see many guitars with more than a 5 degree angle though. It would take maybe half an hour to draw out your bridge, nut, and what not to determine what angle you want. You can have no neck angle and use a TOM bridge or have an angle and use a Fender bridge. The bridge does not determine the method of construction. The thing is, if you use a TOM bridge with no neck angle, you'd probably have to recess the bridge to avoid having the neck sit too proud(in a purely asthetic sense) of the body. And if you used a neck angle with a hardtail(fender) bridge, it would be a very shallow angle. I wonder why no one else has been replying to this? Does no one know this stuff, or am I just doing too good a job of explaining it? Or...does no one care?hmmm

Burn flame graphics into the front of the guitar. What kind of guitar is it? What kind of hardware? What color plastics? That might give us some inspiration for a cool finish.

The purfing on the back is drying as we speak. After that I will have to bind the back, do all of the fretwork, do a bit of hand sanding, make a mold for the inside of the case I'm building, and then it's onto finishing this baby. Very exciting.

Not at all, that's all dependent upon what bridge your're using and wether or not you have a neck angle. Only the fretboard will be proud of the body if you have a neck angle whereas some of the neck(and fretboard) will lie above the top of the body if you have no neck angle but need the clearance.

That blue pedal in my pic is a Visual Sound Liquid Chorus/Delay pedal. It has two buttons, one for chorus one for delay. I got a local guitar shop to sell it to me for 120 new(an oustanding bargain). It won't color your tone whatsoever. I stand behind their products 100%.

...that said

click me please!!!(buy it today, it will answer all of these questions...and w/o the laughing smilies)

Compensation is neccessary because of string guage. Thicker strings require more compensation. You really only have to worry about compensation when you're installing a TOM bridge because you don't have that much play with the saddles. Hardtail bridges and the like also require compensation, but more often than not, the saddles have enough play where you don't have to worry about(1/16" of) compensation when installing it. I always just use stewmac's calculator to figure out compensation. Most guitar scale lenghts won't need compensation of more than about .1" though.

I have a Ryobi 14.4v cordless drill. I love it. Only complaint is that the keyless chuck can be tough on the hands to get tight sometimes.