Jehle

Is that from a 2x4? If it is, I plead no contest.

I'm the only entry? Okay... here is mine... Action shot, with stick and dog snout. Note the careful fingering of the "G" chord. and sound clip here... 2x4 The action is still a little high, but this is a great guitar for feedback and it's overall rock tone. The nice broad fretboard feels smooth and natural to the touch.

Here is a list of the rules for entries. Show us your 2x4 guitar in this thread! Deadline is March 12th then the voting starts! Or just laughing and pointing if there is a single entry. Please post a maximum of your 4 best pictures per 2x4 guitar entered.

In the first post of this thread I suggested people submit them here... <edit> I started a new thread for the entries. Y'all can put them there.

I wonder if anyone is doing this. It's March 9th and there has been zero noise here.

I'm sure this will come as a shock to you all... but I have another cigar box guitar to enter. This one is a full up electric 6-string. Everything used for the build was bought through eBay auctions. Everything was really cheap and either from unused parts or from Squire II tat that people had traded out. The neck is another eBay find for $15. Nothing special and that's why it's not pictured. Okay. It's a semi-hollow cigar box Tele using a 1/4" thick all wooden cigar box that was just long enough to bolt a neck and bridge on for the 25 1/2" string length. The box is filled with 2 planks of poplar maple to accomidate the bridge and neck. It gives them the support that they need for the string tension. The pickup routes are also in those poplar planks. What was interesting to try on this was the pickup holes on the lid. I was able to assemble all of the electronics on the lid, solder, and then shut the lid. It was very practical actually and something that I may try on a future build (of a real guitar). One other interesting note is that the box has enough space above the pickups to cut an F-hole. It could become a Tele Thinline cigar box guitar. Sound clip pending... It's nice a bright sounding, again, like a Tele.

Okay... Here's the volume and tone pot answer from my chum over in England (thanks Adrian!) It's usually the opposite on lefty guitars... anti-clockwise is full on. There are some exceptions, though, such as Gibson. I've been thinking of reversing the connections on my 335, but... it's a 335 :roll: I'm too scared to start pulling out pots through the f-holes and pickup cavities! cheers, Adrian I just had to go and check to be sure :roll: It's the same old knobs, but they work in reverse. On a Strat, for example, I use the bridge pickup's screw as an indicator, and full volume would be "1", whereas minimum volume would be "10". I never really think of the numbers, though... it's either "full on" or "quieter" cheers, Adrian So there you have it! The answer is sometimes they are backwards, and there are no lefty numbered knobs. The tuners question is another matter at the other end of the guitar strings... In short, yes, they turn different directions. It's the same issue with the 3x3 configuration. The 3 top side turn in the opposite direction to the 3 bottom side tuners. For your upside down headstock, you want 6 of the bottom side tuners.

As a south paw, I feel the pain of things that are not made for me all the time. The strangest has to be when I'm at a restaurant and the food is presented on the plate right handed. All the food is angled the wrong way for me to poke it with the fork and slice it with the knife. I know that sounds strange, but I've heard from several other lefties in my family that the notice the same thing. By far the worst has to be the right handed scissors. Trying to work those wrong handed is just downright painful. Anyone that makes those or designs those today without a lefthanded version needs to be poked with them.

I can't believe that no lefty guitar players have chimed in to say how it really is, or at least how their guitars are set up. I'm going to stop by a shop on the way home and look for myself. I had no clue that this was going to be such a hard to answer question.

It depends on if your home is in the States or Europe. Up is on in the States. Down is on "over there".

Well, I got half my answer. For most lefty guitars, the volume and tone pots are anti-clockwise for full on. Not what I expected. Now I'm trying to figure out if there are left handed knobs to go with it.

Been there, done that. Won't etch my own any more. There's a Canadian company that I've used in the past that does top notch work. google Alberta Circuits and that should get you there. Of course then you have to figure out a cad program to lay out all the circuit traces. You could also get into perf board and do one that way, or wire wrap a quick and dirty one. Alas, this is why I don't futz with electronics any more. My tollerance for working with small parts is just not what it used to be. I like working on guitars and just the simple volume/tone pots kind of stuff. I'll leave the small details to you young wipper snappers. --- Shoot, I checked out that tone pad site. They sell the board and everything already. Just buy it from them.

I've built a few delays. One digital and all others analog. If you want simple, look into the Panasonic bucket brigades. I would get the book that describes the bucket brigade devices. It'll give you a few cook book circuits which (from memory) cover the basics of MN3101, MN3005 and such. You'll need their clock chip, and their bucket brigade device to make any of their delays. The rest is just adding some simple op amps, and a power supply. I wish I could say that it was easy to build one, but even having made a few, I cut a lot of corners and prototyped several before I found something that worked. I wish I had a picture of the spaghetti monster that made the digital delay. That thing was HUGE and used some recycled PC computer parts. It sure did sound cool. And I could play around with some really retarded sounding echos by setting the clock rate to really really low. --- go to www.digikey.com and search for part number 9102B-ND

All the more reason I wonder why left handed guitars were ever made in the first place. I'm not aware of any other instrument that is right or left handed. A left handed piano would be cool though.

So the jury is still out on this then?

I thought that at first too, but what about the plastic knobs on top? Wouldn't they need lefty numbers going around them too?

Even though I am left handed, I play right handed. I build right handed guitars. I was trying to explain to someone how a volume knob worked the other day and it occured to me that I didn't know which way you turn a volume or tone knob on a lefty guitar. On a righty, turning the pots all the way clockwise is all the way on. Turning them all the way counter-clockwise is all the way off. Is it the same way on a lefty guitar?

He has a pretty good picture of what you get in the auction listing. IIRC, there's not much of a radius there, but there is a little. I've been using them to make all the cigar box guitars lately which have no radius anyway. I can't recall how they fit in the slots to be honest.

Make sure your fret-slots can handle that .025" thick tang. No problem there. Coping saw. I also use Chuck Norris spit to lubricate them into the slots.

I'm sorry, I thought this was a thread on fret wire. I meant to mention this great seller on eBay, chucknorris4u, that sells blood sweat and tears of Chuck Norris. I think they might be fake though.

I've been buying mine from eBay through a Canadian seller. Precut wire, 22 frets, $2.50 plus shipping. Looks like the price is up a little from that now. Still that's really cheap for a set of 22 frets. Here he is... frets4u http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ2...Q3aMEFSQ3aMESOI

WOOT! Beers all around! This reminds me that it's time to donate for 2006.

I'm not sure what to think about this one... http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-TEISCO-TELE_W0...1QQcmdZViewItem

Profit was a lot considering what went into it. I don't know the exact figure or percentage. It's enough to make me build more and sell them though. I have 3 done at the moment (two 4-strings and one 6-string) and I will sell them eventually. I have plans for them first. By the end of the year, I should have about 10 of these to sell off or more. Thanks, BTW!