Guitarfrenzy

That is definately the voice of somebody who hasn't tried carving maple! Mahogany is infinitely easier to carve, because maple is *HARD*. The maple cap does affect tone, but a number of LP's have featured solid mahogany construction, and by all accounts they sound great too. No, but your talking to someone who hasn't tried to carve mahogany. I just remember reading that somewhere, but I might be wrong on that. Anyway, I'd still use maple top simply for the tone factor. So, I stand corrected on reason number 1.. I see what assuming does.... makes an a** out of ya.. lol..

What's the actual name of those saws, backsaw? I'm thinking thats what the ones I saw at Lowes was called that looked the same as the stewmac models.

That might be a blessing in disguise.. That's the same one my brother in law had and we could never get it to work right. I ended up bringing it to someone who charged me 10 dollars to do it and was no big deal. I really feel that if I had a hand plane I could get a good joint with that if I worked with it long enough. Anyone else good with a hand plane?

Actually the best way I know of is using a pair of calipers.. or better yet.. digital calipers which will show you an easy to see readout of it.. but I didn't have any at the time.. You could also compare it to feeler guages.

There are two good reasons Gibson uses maple tops even on guitars that aren't transparent. 1. Easier to carve. 2. Give a little highs to balance out the natural darker tone of an all mahogany body. I also think they use Honduras Mahogany. And the Ebony fretboards are nice. I know you don't want to waste money.. but , I think it would be alot better to buy you some full size plans if you really want to get an exact copy, since they'll have exact dimensions for you. LES PAUL PLANS!!!! But my friend Rick, took a picture of a guitar, made a transparency of it, and since he knew the scale length.. he made an exact drawing from it.. lol.. So just be creative if you don't want to shell out the cash to get the good ones. Good Luck on your project!! Matt

We'll not sure, but your gonna want a kerf(width of cut) of around .024" width will usually work on most fretwire sizes. If it cuts the slot too wide the tangs wont grab and won't seat at all. That's just something I choose to buy from StewMac, since I didn't have a way to measure the ones I started to buy at a local hardwood store. Let me know what you find out.

I've only tried one time to cut a body out with a jigsaw.. never again..lol.. only because having access to a bandsaw and using a jigsaw is ummm.. we'll.. just stupid.. lol.. but whatever will get the job done.. just got to be willing to do more sanding, and not cut anywhere close to the line to make sure you have enough wood to correct the angle the blade will make on the edges... But as long as it gets the job done and that's the best thing you have access to.. then i don't see a reson why it can't be used with good results.

Yeah.. so from what I gather each one is great glue.. unless you plan on playing a concert in the middle of the hottest desert in the world, and use your guitar as a pogo stick on your final blazing guitar solo.. lol

Yes, on acoustic guitars there is a slight noticeable difference to my ears, and this whole post has nothing to do with acoustic guitars, only solid-body. As far as electric guitars go, I've sprayed both types and have guitars that have both types, and can't tell one bit of difference. If you say you can blindfold a person and let them listen to a guitar and they say.. Poly.. then I think your way overestimating the effects of poly on a solid-body guitar. And Butnut, as far as being biased about nitro because of owning a vintage that has it, I have alot of guitars that was sprayed with nitro that I do love but still prefer poly ones. And your not gonna find scientific data to back up the nitro claim some people make, simply because there isn't any, and because the majority of places are still wanting to make money by selling you nitro. They don't tell you that it's gonna chip off easy and that you could use an alternate method of painting. But really doesn't matter as far as I'm concerned as long as you don't put too many coats of poly on, you should not even notice a difference. Just my opinion though! Matt

Yeah 400 grit would be plenty, just use a sanding block and sand it down till the run is all the way out.. you can usually tell by looking and by feeling for any bumps. You don't really have to use wet sandpaper at this stage.. mostly in the polishing stage. Also, since your going the aerosol can route.. your gonna need to spray more coats than if you was using a spray gun, since they go on paper thin layers. So as a good measure, spray 4-6 coats color basecoat, and 10-12 clearcoat, that way when you are finished and let it cure out, you can polish it with less stress, since you have a nice layer of paint, but you still have to be careful, you sure don't want to sand down to the sealer or primer. Here are some tips to maybe help you paint better and eliminate runs. 1. Start by spraying off the guitar (ex. to the left) and make a steady swipe across the guitar body and only stop spraying after you spray past the body(to the right of it). Just an example, you'll can paint vertically and horitzontally, since you need to do both to keep streaks out. 2. Keep a nice steady even pace when painting. 3. Let the proper flash time go by before painting more coats. 4. When spraying you want to keep it straight and the next pass, aim to spray directly on the edge of the last pass, or basically just have the spray fan go over the last pass halfway.. in this way you'll be covering any missed areas and will have a nice non streaky finish. When you have sprayed the last coat of clear. You'll have to let it cure for at least a week and up to a month. After it has cured out, read LGM's polishing tutorial and you should be able to get a really great finish you'll be proud of. After you work with acrylic or nitro lacquer you'll want to throw it away and get some Polyurethane or Polyester and use it since it's alot more durable and easier to work with.. and buy a decent compressor spray gun.. and oh yeah.. make sure you wear a respirator no matter which paint you decide to use!!! Good Luck Matt

We'll I think that he should show us exact dimension since it was one he designed for the "First Guitar". Why not show the exact dimensions? Or at least give some tips and tell how to find where to put the bridge. I think the book is great, but fails to show you step by step instuctions which is what is needed for your first couple of guitars since you don't have any experience. So basically what I guess I'm saying is that since the chapters that give instructions on building an already predesigned guitar should have step by step instructions, since that's what your building his guitar design not something you created.. Matt

Very good suggestions so far.... But your probably only gonna try to build a guitar two ways. 1. Buy the neck, build the body. Least expensive way. 2. Build neck and body. Costlier but more self gradifying. Considering you picked #1... Then you won't need the costly fret working tools. Basically borrow someones bandsaw to cut the body shape out and templates. You will also need to borrow a plunge router to cut out the pickup cavities, bindings, neck pocket, round off the corners of the guitar, etc. A dremel, jewelers saw will help you do inlay work. Buy alot of glue(titebond II, hideglue,epoxy, superglue), various grit of sandpaper(220-2000), and a good small orbital, palm sander will help alot. Spokeshave, surform, will help if you want to carve the top of the guitar any. Clamps, clamps and more clmaps. You can build a good glue press if you get into veneering. There are alot more things to consider also, different router bits for different jobs, and many more I can't think of at the moment. Let's say you pick #2..... First off, your gonna want to find someone with a bandsaw, this is critical if you want precision work with alot less hassle. You'll need a bandsaw for cutting out the neck shape. Find someone who has a drill press if you plan on drilling the tuner holes at the peghead. If your gonna press frets in, you'll need some arbor press radial cauls from StewMac, neck support caul to hold the neck without hurting it and you can use drill press to press them in or buy a arbor press. You'll need a Fret Bevel to make the fretwire edges smooth, you can make one by using Brian's instruction in the Tutorial section. Radius Sanding block to get radius the neck.. you can get by with just one type.. for instance I bought a 12" since I like the feel of a Gibson neck, read the tutorial section you can learn how to save money by making one. Fret Slotting Saw and read Brian's tutorial on refretting to see how to cut the slots. You'll need a way to slot the nut slots.. quickest way is to either buy 3 from StewMac or just take a set of feeler guages and rough up the edges so they cut and they work great (plus cheap)!!! You'll need fretwire, truss rod, nut, and inlay material. If you buy a preslotted and radiused rosewood top.. you can get by without buying some of the tools above. Then your gonna need to buy either a piece of wood big enough or laminate some together to cut out a neck. Mahogany, maple, purpleheart, etc. etc. Make sure if you get enough wood to make a one piece.. say a 3x3x30.. that it is quartersawn and not flatsawn, since it will make it alot less likely to twist, bend and warp on you. UMMM wow.. this is getting to be a long post.. The END.. lol P.S. Hope this has helped.

You still didn't say what kinda polyurethane you was gonna try out first.. just wondering.. I'm gonna try Nason Select Clear for my clearcoats.. what do you plan on using?

that's why I'd never use that type of bridge... not that I don't think I could get it right.. but, you can't get the intonation as precise with them.. obviously lol

Derek is right about this.. I remember reading about it in the Dan Erlewine book.. when I get home I can directly quote him.. but alas. you'll not find this kinda information in Merlyn's book.. unfortunately

First song I learned all the way through was "Purple Haze".. but I don't play much Jimi Hendrix anymore.. went on to Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Randy Rhoads, Santana, BB King.. etc. basically tried to learn as many styles as possible

Yeah, at first I thought the book was awesome, since the first couple of chapters was really well written. Then when the "First Guitar" chapter came up, I was excited, but after reading it, all I did was scratch my head.. lol.. It just leaves out alot of stuff and doesn't explain it very well... and the bridge is one of the things he fails to even mention. I found nowhere in that chapter where he told how to find the exact location to place the bridge. Other things he's very unclear on are, neck pocket dimensions, pickup placements, actually he didn't even explain how to build a neck very good. Wish he'd gave exact measurements since he was showing you how to build a guitar he designed, but he only gave vague descriptions of it. But all in all I did learn alot from the book, and hope he does make it better. I had already had the book that Dan Erlewine wrote, and it tells exactly how to do it and his book wasn't even about building a guitar.. just repairing. But I'll reread my book tonight to see what Dan says about placing a strat bridge, I remember him talking about it but I don't have a very good memory... lol All in all the book Dan Erlewine wrote is much better... and actually goes in depth on finishing, which was one thing Melyvn failed at miserably.

Wow.. I wonder if they do make toothbrush attachments.. lol

Yeah, Monticello has grown alot in the last couple of years.. it's the 2nd fastest growing towns in the state next to Fayettville area. Umm.. lol.. you summed up how I feel about Pine Bluff.. lol.. Only reason I go there is to get to Little Rock.. lol

Yeah, I broke down and bought a Dremel about 2 weeks ago, they will work great for doing inlay work, binding, etc. But I wouldn't think you'd want to use them to route the pickup cavities.. unless you take your time. They sell a plunge type router base that I bought that theoretically would do the job.. but would take much longer than a good router. Just use a small straight router bit for taking out most the wood for a inlay job... and use small chisel or other tool to do the edges... or so far that's what works best from my experiments.. Hey while we are at it.. Maybe some other people can tell what they use a Dremel for also. I know there are alot of other things you can do with one, not only what I mentioned. What does anyone else use the Dremel for?

Yes it's better to be safe than sorry... what kind are you looking to buy at the moment? Dupont PGP?

Chris I live in the southern part of the state.. real close to Monticello... you might not have heard of it... what did you live near Jacksonville?

cool

Great suggestions guys.. and just know that that although that book is great in some aspects.. he doesn't show you everything he does.. he kinda skips parts.. hope the next version he'll clear up alot of the left out parts.. but just like Scott said.. if you get in a bind.. come here and ask for help.. I"m sure someone has already run into the same exact problem and would be more than willing to help you out. There are alot of great people who know alot on this forum.. just don't take what I say as truth though.. since I'm still learning myself.. lol..

I live in the intelligent section of Arkansas.. lol btw I see you live in a Not Given.. humm.. never heard of that before..