Guitarfrenzy

Very impressive work Donald. You make the use of CNC look so easy, and your guitar prototype looks awesome. I also look forward to seeing more of your work.

What would be neat is if you get to build your own guitar from scratch before you hit the stage.. lol

Do you guys have any pictures of your setup to do this? I think the standard size is .063" wide right?

I need to get some of my bits shapened as well, thanks for reminding me.. lol

Very true Drak, the accelerator will make the CA and wood turn yellow.. lol At least that's from my experience with it also.

The only person I've seen show a picture of doing that is from Thorn's site. Cutting Paua Purling Picture I don't have a cnc machine, so.. I guess I'll have to devise something that will get the same results. The way he does it looks to be as wasteful as using a bandsaw, but probably way more safer. The cutoff wheel idea is a good one, might have to try that. The reason I want to cut my own is because if you price it out, it way cheaper this way, than buying them already cut into strips.

I almost understood what Drak was saying.. lol Anyway, tone is the sum of a lot of things. Sure I wouldn't doubt direct coupling makes a very small change in tone, but a lot of other changes do also. Change of resistor, cap, pot ohms, pickups, wood, all have a direct effect on how the guitar sounds. But does direct coupling make such a big change it's worth doing it? Not to me, maybe to you though.

I found this new game by accident. It's called Guitar Hero and here is the link... Pretty cool game it looks like, but I think I'll stick to playing a real guitar.. lol

I'd definitely check closely to find out if it is explosion proof or not. But you don't have to have an explosion proof motor if the motor is isolated from the blower part. In other words, if the blowers air it pulls, can't get to the motor. That's the kind I've got and plan on using.

humm.. I've never seen that tutorial and I thought I read everything.. lol Interesting concept, but does it actually work? I'd take Perry's experience as a no, and I do trust his experience. Although I've never tried it myself, I just don't see how it could work very well. I'd rather use sheet of metal, like cSuttle suggested, and cut the inlays like you would shell. I know some guitar builders will use brass, and if it was clearcoated over wouldn't tarnish. While we are on the subject of inlays. The paua purfling that some guitar builders use is way expensive to buy. I'm sure they have ways to buy a big sheet of this and cut it out to whatever size they want. The only thing I have is a bandsaw that could possibly do something like that, but I'm scared to buy a sheet of it and find out I can't cut it into small strips. Anyone have experience in cutting purfling?

Drak and Setch are exactly right, you probably tried to cover too much area with the 5 minute epoxy. I'm sure it works great, but I've never used it before, usually the 90 minute variety is what I use. I'm definitely not saying my way is the only or best way, it's just something that works for me. Also, like they said, practice on scrap first, because planning everything out is good, but putting the plans in action is the true test. All the greatest plans look good on paper, but might not work so well when followed. PS. lol. No, I'm not a boxer, but I do weight-lift still. Also, my forearms wasn't as big before I started sanding away the epoxy.. haha

Yeah it's messy, hard work sanding, but you'll be proud of the finish you'll get when your done with the guitar. When I introduced the black epoxy method in the Strat tutorial, I did warn everyone that it's a long sanding process, and hopefully that everyone would use a slow setting epoxy because it gives you more time to work with it before it dries. Read near the bottom of the page. Sure it takes a while, even with clear epoxy, but is definitely worth it in my opinion. That is if you want your finish to be flat. The funny thing is that on my last guitar I ditched the black epoxy method and I'm still mad at myself for not doing it that way. I still think that someone could build a guitar with a natural finish and just colored epoxy grainfill like below.. It would look unusual to say the least, but something new...

What would be cool is if we devoted one GOTM to Pine guitars, everyone could get creative and just make some wild Pine guitars.. lol I think I'll call mine the "Pineocaster" with beautiful Knotty Top clear finish. Whose all in for a Pine Guitar contest? Raise their hands..

You summed it up perfect Drak, I guess I not only wanted to make an awesome looking guitar, but I was putting too much emphasis on what others think of it. Lesson learned. I agree GOTM is only for fun anyway. That's why I quit commenting in GOTM threads a long time ago. Agreed... True.. Thanks Gemleggat, I'm not trying to make anyone vote for me, I was actually just shocked that it didn't do as good as I thought it might. No biggy though. GOTM is a picture show, and I take bad pictures.. lol I'm glad you like the tutorial, I had fun making it and I still hope it helps people out with their builds. I would do more tutorials but finding the time has been a challenge.. Now to a more serious matter, I think Bush would come near knowing Australia's location than being able to spell it.. lol

Thanks Perry, and yours does too. As a builder, you also know how much time you spend designing, building, and perfecting your instrument, and after all the hard work how proud you are of that instrument. That's the problem, because when someone gets critical, it tends to hurt your feelings even more. Especially when you feel you've done everything right, and excuted your dream into reality. It doesn't mean that I think the JV-1 design is flawless, it's not and I look forward to the challenge of making it an even better guitar. Just because people on PG didn't like this one, they may love the next one, who knows, who cares, it's just a contest anyway, that's based on how a guitar looks, and not on playability and sound. I understand that, and that's cool. But simply put, I'm not going to stop building guitars, it's too much fun and no matter if I never win a GOTM, I'm going to hold my head up, because I truely feel that each one of you who could play this guitar would love it. So what if the JV-1 001 didn't turn any heads, I'm still going to enjoy rocking out each weekend onstage with it. Also I want to personally thank, fryovanni, lovekraft, idch, marksound, and Gorecki for the kind words. It means a lot to me that you guys actually took the time to lift my spirits, and I owe each and everyone of you. That's why I like PG, not just because of the guitars, but because of the friendships we get out of it. This was a learning experience for me, it showed me that no matter how hard you try sometimes things don't work out the way you think. That being said, I wouldn't have taken this experience away if I could. I'm going to keep on smiling and striving to make better guitars, even if I never get another vote, at least I will be moving the right direction. I also have no hard feeling toward you Frank, or your opinions on my guitar. The reason I installed the Leo Quan that way was because I had researched some old PRS that had a similar bridge on it and used it as my guide. Probably not the best thing to do but still the bridge works great and also it has Tone Pros Locking Studs that I got from specialtyguitars.com and not the standard ones. "Whenever you make a mistake or get knocked down by life, don't look back at it too long. Mistakes are life's way of teaching you. Your capacity for occasional blunders is inseparable from your capacity to reach your goals. No one wins them all, and your failures, when they happen, are just part of your growth. Shake off your blunders. How will you know your limits without an occasional failure? Never quit. Your turn will come." Og Mandino Thanks for everything... Matt Vinson

I can't wait to see that black burst guitar, are you going to use a black pickguard as well? My friends Strat was done that way, and was killer. Bring on the pics my friend..

Thanks Drak, I appreciate it and value your opinion a lot. I never said my guitar was the best in the world, it's just a guitar that I built, put a lot of time into, and built it from scratch up, from design phase till finish. Just because the majority of the people on PG don't care for it, it's ok with me, I'm not going to quit building just because someone didn't care for something I did. Hey, I'm not ashamed of the guitar at all, and learned tons of new stuff that will make even my next guitar that much better. Some things I've learned is: my black epoxy grain fill method really brings out the grain 10 fold, even more than I thought.. and I learned that taking a good photo is half the battle since GOTM is only judged by photos. No two people see things the same way, or have the same taste. Some like pointy guitars, some don't, some like shiny, some don't, some like pickguards, some hate them, etc. So what. It's only in the eyes of the beholder. Some persons gold is another persons dirt. I think everyone who entered this months competition did a great job and Perry, Mattia deserve to be right up there, because their guitars was excellent and I give them all the credit in the world. You know, it's so easy to sit back and be critical of every little thing you don't like about someones guitar, but at least give them some credit, because they are doing what they love, building guitars and not just talking about building them. No matter who wins GOTM; Perry or Mattia, they are both winners in my eyes, both of them made a beautiful guitar in their own right, even though neither of them are even close to being the same design. Congrats and good luck to both of you!! Also, I want to thank everyone who voted for my quote "gangly" guitar! peace... Matt Vinson

Nice tips Drak!!!

Wow.. great thread, very nicely done, actually makes me want to try to build a violin.. but the only problem is that I can't play one.. lol

Exactly, not only do you need to build a great guitar, you need to learn all you can about photography if you really want to capture your guitar the best way possible. I also think that Red is a real hard color to capture correctly for some reason. On your beautiful GOTM entry guitar, you had to deal with red also, and I did notice you didn't take the pictures in direct sunlight. Your dead on about the overcast day being better, because in direct sunlight the red almost looked orange and the grain was no where to be seen in the photo. So I basically had to take pictures in the shade to get a decent photo. Thanks Marksound, I hope to have some sound samples tonight, and hopefully you guys will like the sound of it also. Later guys

Appreciate that Gun... I had a real hard time photographing this guitar, the pictures don't do it justice at all. The grain pattern gets lost in the red for some reason, and it's hard to capture the way the guitar really looks. Like the picture below. You can see the grain pattern somewhat, but it just doesn't show up as good in the pictures.

Well guys I finished the JV-1 yesterday and took some pics. Here it is. Thanks Drak, CudBucket, thewrathofraf, for your positive feedback, and I hope you guys still like it after all the gold hardware. I can't wait to play it on stage next weekend, it plays so great and has a very bold sound. I'll have sound clips later today. I'm just so glad I finally got her done... lol Also, thanks for everyones suggestions and help to make the JV-1 that much better.

Introducing the JV-1... with all gold hardware and cherry burst finish. Hope you guys like it. Closeup of the headstock. JV-1 body closeup pic. You can read more about the building of this guitar at this link!! Here is some more pictures of the JV-1 below. Back of headstock. Body closeup. Front pic outdoors. Back pic outdoors. Side pic outdoors. Here's a rundown of the specs... -Swamp Ash (ultra lightweight) body with wild grain pattern. -Set Neck -3° Neck Angle.. -Deep Carved top.. -24 Fret Rosewood Fretboard with MOP inlays -Two Seymour Duncan pickups... JB Model (SH-4) for the Bridge Pickup, and a Jazz Model (SH-2) for the Neck Pickup. -No pickguard -Bone Nut -Leo Quan Bad Ass Bridge (Wraparound) Gold with Tone Pro Locking Studs -Grover Tuners Gold -Gold Knobs -Cherry Burst Finish -Gold Fretwire -Ebony veneer on headstock -MOP Inlayed Headstock "V" logo for Vinson -Thin neck for fast playing (19mm 1st fret) -And no Heel design, I don't want a PRS fat heel getting in the way. -Carbon Fiber Rods to make the neck really strong and eliminate dead spots. -Volume control, Tone control, and 5 way Rotary switch knob. Look for sound samples tonight... Matt Vinson

It's times like these that remind you just how important bridge placement is. Then you vow to never make that mistake again.. lol

Very neat Drak.. I think that's the oddest guitar I've seen in a long time.. lol