WezV

its a fernades ravelle. I was going to suggest you take a look at that, heres one i built:

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/wesley.ve...132.jpg&.src=ph

theres also my version of the same design here, it has a more explorer like upper bout:

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/wesley.ve...re2.jpg&.src=ph

Last time i spoke to craft supplies about a month ago they told me that they hadnt got much in because they were moving buildings soon and wanted to have less stock for that. I ordered some gorgeous zebrano neck blanks from them.

If you are doing a walnut top on top of a walnut body try adding a veneer of maple or something between them. It can look real classy

I made one of these

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...y&cmd=si&img=67

I drew the plans myself on some wallpaper. First i drew on all the parts like neck and bridge full size. I started drawing the shape by putting the waist where i wanted it and playing with the angles till it looked right. Lots of drawing, rubbing out and redrawing.

I think mines a bit smaller than a proper ML, less room behing the bridge but i am happy with it.

remember that there is a truss rod in there, and they can be quite close to the back of the neck. I wouldnt remove more than a mm without knowing exactly how far off i was from the truss rod.

On my 3rd neck through i decided to go for a super skinny neck - i hit the truss rod, its not nice, i didnt patch it i cut the neck off and made it a set neck. now i use a truss rod that is quite small so i know there is very little chance of me hitting it.

When building a guitar with binding and a carved top i do the binding before carving the top. This lets me use my router with the stew-mac binding set on the body while it is still flat. Obviously the ledge will be taller because you have to allow for the carving, actually i use the binding as my guide to carving.

definately 2 volumes and a master tone for me, but then i am used to jazz bass wiring. I tend to stick with the bridge with a little bit of neck rolled in, couldnt do this without the two volumes. the tone is the one i tend to leave where it is anyway, if i had two they would both be on full.

Squint hard at my avatar, or check out the gallery link below. I did this sunburst(ish) effect by hand. First dye the wood black and sand most of it off, so it just leaves a little (almost none) black in the flame. Then it was dyed dark blue and sanded back, but not completely this time, just leaving it mostly a light blue colour. Then i think i did a few coats of dark blue lacquer and sanded from the middle outwards, leaving an 1" or so of the dark blue untouched. Then i think it was a mid blue coat of lacquer again.

Basically i just kept applying and sanding back till i was happy with it. It wass never supposed to be a subtle burst effect because i dont think that would have suited the sharpness of the shape

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...y&cmd=si&img=67

I did a 50mm wide six string for someone, he wanted a bit more bending room at the edges so i think we set the strings 4-5mm from the edges and had quite a wide spacing. He loved it, i strained my hands.

I agree with Mattia. The flatsawn paduak could work just fine, and no doubt there will be some examples when people will tell you its worked fine for them. But laminations and carbon fibre are bloody good insurance to make sure it works fine and you have a stable neck.

Oh, I recently made a one peice flatsawn paduak neck (not neck through)with no CF and it worked fine for me Actually it hasnt, the action has become quite high over the past few weeks, just needs an adjustment of a truss rod in this case but i wouldn't have had to bother if i had laminated and used CF, and who knows how often i will have to play with the truss rod on this one, it seems like its going to be a regular mover to me.

definately use 11's or more. I quite like my 24" guitar but only when its got heavy strings on it. It will easily do Eb that way and not feel to floppy.

Speak to Larry Davis at galleryhardwoods.com The website isnt updated often. I recently got some burl+flame maple, quilted maple, macasser ebony fretboards and black limba body and neck blanks from him and was very impressed with the quality and price

I would probably add a 2mm veneer to the top of the neck blank (the bit that is glued under the fretboard) before cutting the truss rod slot. Then when you have the fretboard glued on (6mm) you have a neck that is 23mm. That should be enough but if you need a bit more at the heel you can add a bit more veneer on the underside of the neck just at the heel.

If you go with a maple veneer between the neck and fretboard it will show as a very nice contrasting line, kind of like purfling/binding.

Rule No. 1: Make yourself happy.

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I agree with that completely. My comments are hopefully constructive so feel free to ignore me

Okay, I made a mistake there

I wondered if anyone else had experienced the same. I don't have to know it.

BTW The guitar is a acoustic Fender, the >saddle< is plastic, and maybe you're right louder, but also clearer and less "buzz" in the sound.

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What was the string angle like over the saddle before you added the plastic strips underneath?

It may have been that the angle was way to shallow so the string didn't "act" upon the saddle enough to transmit a clear sound, it would also explain a strange buzz, which is diiferent to the sound of fret buzz.

I dunno, I havent had it happen to me, but thats my $2.

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I agree.

Low actions on acoustics are not the way to get the best tone. You have raised the action which has increased the downward force on the bridge which is consequently forcing the top to vibrate more. You have probably also lessened the chance of fretbuzz because the strings are further from them so they are ringing clearer and you can probably play harder before the buzz kicks in.

People tend to forget about bad strings coming straight from the packet because we are lucky. String manufacturing is a lot more accurate than it used to be so it aint something we think about as much.

But it does happen every now and again, even with the expensive strings. It just happens more with cheap strings.

Sounds like you are at least aware that you need to look after your strings, i havnt heard of using acetone to wipe down though. I have had to tell alot of people that they should be wiping there guitars down after playing, when a set of 11's turns black in a couple of days its time to take preventative measures

Check out the 'Fernandes Ravelle' for some ideas for sharpening up that contour on the lower bout. I think your design would look better with Les Paul Double Cut style horns and i think you need to play with the curves at the waist, they look just a little too round tomy eyes.

Its a cool idea so far, i just think it needs a bit more work to make the curves flow better.

I have seen some classicals with concave radiuses (radii???) before. I seem to remember reading something somewhere that suggested this had a function, but i have no idea where or why so maybe i imagined it.

How about something a bit more retro and sci fi looking.

http://www.angelfire.com/punk4/melmusic/pi...ramus_super.jpg

Maybe not

EDIT: Hmm, not sure about the link there. Search for Framus Super Yob

generally you have the bridge pickup with a higher output because the neck pickup is naturally louder (something to do with strings moving more above the neck pickup i think). Its Ok to use a bridge pickup in the neck but i would still add something even hotter to the bridge, it makes it easier to get the volume to match when switching between pickups. Some bridge pickups are made wider to accomodate a wider string spacing at the bridge so these would be unsuitable, avoid pups with 52mm/f-spaced/trem spaced (could be called something else) pole peices because the balance between strings could be affected if the polepeices are not in the right place, directly under the string.

I find it much nicer to round the edges over by hand. If i was building a tele i would use the roundover bit, but i dont want that factory look on my own designs.

The backs of most of my guitars are rounded over a lot more than it would be safe to do with a round over bit so i attack it with a microplane rasp and sand it smooth when i feel its close, this lets you play with the contours a lot more and you may start to develop your own style. If Davids doing it by hand i know its good enough, the backs of his guitars are very organic looking, much nicer than anything you will find coming from a factory.

i really like the unsymetrical f-holes

While I'm posting I'm applying tru oil on it, then I will paint the headstock but I can say the neck is done!!!!

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I wouldnt paint the headstock, its quite easy to apply a wood veneer and can look alot more proffesional

Craft supplies do week long courses in buxton for acoustics and electrics a couple of times a year. I was thinking about doing one of these when i started but didnt have the cash. So i taught myself instead. I have since shown 3 or 4 people and keep thinking i should be charging for the service.

I have a 90's epiphone les paul standardand its definately mahogany with a thick maple cap. The back is about 6 peices of mahogany, its not a veneer cause you can see the wood all around the edges. The top is normal thickness maple covered with a thin flamed veneer. You can see the thickness of the maple under the binding in the cutaway, like on proper old gibsons. I have also checked by stripping away the finish in the pickup holes.