billsterl

I have been doing woodworking for all my adult life and have only been building guitars for a couple years. I admit I was surprized when I saw many guitar bodies made from basswood. In the woodworking world basswood is used for carving as it has little to no grain but it is very boring to look at and it is cheap. Poplar is cheap as well and is used for molding as it takes paint well. I think swamp ash has the best of both worlds because it is light and tonal but has the striking ash grain. It all comes down to if you want a painted or natural finish.

thanks for the info-does anyone have a source for swamp ash lumber? Or should I just buy a made up blank? Has anyone dealt with the www.guitarmill.com ? They sell several types of blanks at reasonable prices and have a interesting selection including pine.

I want to build a Strat with swamp ash. Number one what exactly is swamp ash? Black ash that grows in the north or is it a southern wood anyone know the genius and species? I am looking for a source to buy a couple boards. I have a jointer and planer so I can make up the blanks myself.

Hi-I want to make a long compass to draw arcs ot make contour discs. But I don't remember the formula. I took geometry 40 years ago maybe thats why I can't remember. Thanks in advance.

well, yes, that's mostly what I've done, mind you. But sometimes what you're clamping is a little smaller than usual, or a little taller, and a small shim solves that problem nice and easy. My current deck is much taller than my old deck, so I'm building a 5" raised platform (actually a combined router/thicknessing/neck angle jig when not in go-bar service) to raise it up. Go-bars are cheap, yes, but I've already got 45, don't want to buy a bunch more stock if I don't have to

Do you guys make you bars or by fiberglass ones? I was thinking of white ash milled to- what dimensions?

More info:

http://www.peternaglitschluthier.com/evens...ollow_forms.htm

Thanks much SwedishLuthier-also got and printed out tutorial you sent on side bender-great info

I want to build a go bar frame with plywood and black pipe. I have seen a couple but I can't really figure out how they are put together? Anyone done this lately. I assume the top and bottom decks are fixed and the center one moves up and down. I was thinking 30" square? Thanks in advance!

Recently discussed here:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...c=28908&hl=

Thanks much- I printed it all out now I am going to try ro read and figure it out. I would like to see how many of my jigs I can build myself!

Hi-I need contour discs for sanding as well as clamping cauls. Has anyone ever made them or do you HAVE to buy them? I was scheming about make one on a drill press or lathe with a reverse sanding form.

Unfortunately the only two I was able to try weren't very impressive. One's neck was bowed quite a bit, and the other just didn't feel right to me. However, that doesn't mean they won't feel nice to someone else!

That is sad to hear. I hope the Spiders are made with at least good quality control. I would imagine that overseas built models built poorly could crush a fairly new name to the larger markets like Babicz.

Peace,Rich

I got an email yesterday they are having a special sale. Award Winning Babicz Identity Series Dreadnought model: ID-DRW-06-ND

SPECIAL OFFER -- only $688.00 -- with Fishman Neo-D Pick-up!

For a limited time only

www.babiczguitars.com

I've been playing for around 18 months now and have been having lessons for the last 3. I'm currently using a guitar that cost me £40 from a charity shop (new) and apparently it's a very good guitar for £40 but it is still a £40 guitar. My teacher has recomended that I think about upgrading as I'm progressing well and, luckily, I've just been given a bonus at work.

In theory I'm looking for a pure acoustic guitar and was going to spend up to £300, figuring that I'm not close to being good enough to justify anything more. I tried around a dozen different guitars in 2 or 3 different shops and was settling down on either a Yamaha FG720S or the Yahama FG730S when I saw the Babicz Spider. I do really like all black guitars (I discovered when trying some out) but tried it a liked the sound a lot.

Being fairly new I was having difficulty hearing the differences between a lot of the different guitars but the Spider sounded fuller, less 'stringy', a more wholistic sound (does any of this make any sense?) . . . generally it sounded like it wanted you to play it and play it hard.

Having decided that I could maybe spend a bit more I started looking at some higher priced guitars and eventually settled on the Yamaha LL6. It sounds much nicer than either the FG720S or FG730S. I eventually found a shop that had both the Spider and the LL6 in and was amazed in the difference in sound.

The problem I've got is this. I don't need an Electric/Acoustic guitar. I don't need all the fancy stuff that the Spider can do (like and adjustable action height) but I really do like the guitar. Is it worth spending just under £500 for it? I'm most worried that I'm not really experienced enough to tell if the Spider sounds 'good' . . . I know I like it but is that enough??? Should I just go down the more traditional Yamaha LL6 route???

Does anyone have any experience with any of these guitars . . . I'm going mad here, HELP!!

BTW, here's the web address for the Spider, http://www.babiczguitars.com/spider.shtml

I had the good fortune of meeting Jeff Babicz at a local guitar shop in New Paltz, New York. He is a very nice guy and gave me the name of his local tonewood supplier. I have not had direct experience with his guitars but my guitar teacher plays one that is owned by a guy in his band. He likes it and I have a women that I work with that owns one also but she is a beginner. I am new to this so the design is not something that I can make a judgement on. They are pretty expensive and I would probably either build something or go for something more traditional. He is local his main office is in Poughkeepsie, New York. I think the Spiders are built overseas.

They're not that complicated even if you dont' spend a lot of time planning. Mine's just a half-body shape, wide enough for a side (5"), smaller by the thickness of my heat blanket and sides, with about 1/8" of overbend built into the waist, about the same at the head and tail (some use a little more, up to 1/4"). Add some clamps of some sort and bend. My bender with a side in it:

Works fine, and I really, really, really reccomend you spend the 100 bucks on a blanket+controller (Say from Blues Creek Guitars) over lightbulbs. One set of expensive wood not broken and you've saved money. The rest of the bender is trivially cheap; MDF, a couple of bits of threaded rod, mostly scrap.

Looks good-what is overbend? Is it like the name implies? Thanks for your help.

I am interested in building a side bender. Maybe a Fox style. Has anyone done this? How hard is it to build? Or should I buy one?

Hi- I am new to the forum so I thought I would give it a shot. I have a Jay Turser Les Paul Clone I am upgrading and I am trying to find pickup rings to fit it. I bought a set of Gibson style and they are a tiny bit to small. I am trying to get parts through Turser no luck so far. They are for a curver top on the Les Paul. I would rather buy the right one and not have to modify something. Any ideas. Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi,

Grizzly Tools has some curved plastic humbucker rings that are very inexpensive. If they don't work, at least you wan't be out much money. Because they are plastic, you also might be able to modify them somewhat. They also have a very thin metal ring that you could probably curve to shape.

Peace and good luck,

Dave :

Yes Grizzly fits and I thought I would post this if anyone was in the same boat and needed rings for a chinese clone. I am impressed with the two things I bought a nice LP switch and the ring. Nice quality for the money.

Hi- I am new to the forum so I thought I would give it a shot. I have a Jay Turser Les Paul Clone I am upgrading and I am trying to find pickup rings to fit it. I bought a set of Gibson style and they are a tiny bit to small. I am trying to get parts through Turser no luck so far. They are for a curver top on the Les Paul. I would rather buy the right one and not have to modify something. Any ideas. Thanks in advance for your help.

Anyone know where I can get templates to do the inside router on a semi-hollow tele? I assume the outside body is the same. I also need a template for the f hole. Thanks

Hi- I have done alot of woodworking over the last thirty years but I don't know much about tone woods. I know the common used woods alder, swamp ash, and basswood. But what about other softer hardwoods like Butternut and Walnut? Is white ash good? I see some places selling African mahogany and other selling Honderan (sp?).Which is the better of the two? Is solid Maple and Cherry to bright? I have a beautiful thick Butternut plank I have had for twenty years waiting for a project I would like to use in a tele body. Has anyone use birch red or white? I have a 3" plank of red birch also. Is oak ever used?

I am new to this and this may be a stupid question. I am putting together a tele from purchased parts. I have a question about the bridge placement. This is a through the body set up. My body has holes for the strings but no holes drilled for the bridge. Do I use the string holes to line up and reference the placement of the bridge or is a better way? Thanks!

Just listed it on ebay. I started it at 19.95 plus $10 shipping

Has anyone had experience with the shop built copy carver and how to modify it to carve solid bodies say 14 inches wide?

I need a set of tele templates. Does any one have them to sell? Also is it common practice to make a working template from the master set? It so what materials is best masonite or mdf? New to this-thanks.

I just bought a Saga Tele kit but I bought a pre finished body for another source. I have the body, the brigde not through body, and the tuners I want to sell. I would sell them together or separate. The body was nicer that I thought I would get made of Basswood with a very heavy sanding sealer but the wood looks ok.