Dylan

Interesting. Thanks errbody.

A while ago I asked your opinions on Indian Rosewood for a neck wood (click here for the thread) and I'm wondering similarly about teak, mainly because you could leave it unfinished and I like the wood in general. Anyone know of the sonic properties of teak? Thanks, Dylan

That's some nice clean work you're there. By the way, Walnut is one of my favorite woods... along with Alaskan Yellow Cedar.

That's quite the bargain. Really great work. Glad he liked it... and that you had a chance to see and hear it played. Dylan

I have a favor to ask... could anyone here who owns a Les Paul measure from the end of the scale at the bridge to the center of the bridge pickup and also to the center of the neck pickup? Measuring this along either of the e-strings would work fine (just mention which one you used). To clarify my purpose, I just want to figure out placement of the pickups in relation to a Les Paul's scale length. Thanks in advance. Dylan

You're gonna get a lot of comments on those aluminum parts - the pickup rings and the jackplate. They are very nicely done. I hope you've decided to keep them how they are. I like them like that, very much. Great job. Dylan

Southpa - Funny how those things work out (or don't work out) sometimes... it's a small world. fryovanni - Thanks so much for the advice... the rant. I think I've been learning to recognize the insights that can be gained, and the years of experimentation, from studying under a master. Now, whether or not that will come in the form of a school, an apprenticeship, or whatever else, I will find out. After more research, that is. ibanez_crazy - That looks like an interesting place. Some of the instruments looked pretty outlandish. An electronics course might be something I'd be interested in. Even though I want to ultimately focus on acoustics, I do have an interest in experimenting with what you can achieve through different wiring set-ups and mods on electrics. Thanks errbody.

Thanks for all the input, guys. Let's see, what can I respond to.... First of all, I found it interesting that Vinny said this. My oldest brother (just turned 30) is getting his shop set up to be the local cabinetmaker. He lives in our hometown, Cushing, and he will, in another year or so, be needing employees for his shop. So I could do that, yeah, and I would like doing that. I'd have shop space, too, and tools (he's very well set up in that respect) so I wouldn't have to make those investments all at once in the beginning of my transition into guitar building. Also... a few of you mentioned business/marketing. They do not teach you to market your guitars, according to one of the students I emailed. That's definitely a negative point. And to what GoodWood said, yeah, there are a few luthiers in my area that I could work with (not for free, but for less than the Summit School). I would definitely consider that over this. The feeling I'm getting is that, though I would benefit from this school, I would also invest a LOT of money into something that I could achieve more easily right here in Maine. I'm glad you were all here to bounce ideas off of. Thanks, Dylan

GoodWood - I've built a solid body electric and I've dabbled in other areas of woodworking, which is the only thing I've been passionate about as a career in the future (I'm 16). Most recently I built a greenland kayak. If you're interested: The frame My completed kayak (in the middle) The whole gallery Vinny - Yeah, I think I'd like to go into luthery as a career, ultimately. I would most likely start in whatever other areas of woodworking I could get my hands in. verhoevenc - I don't want to work for a big company like PRS or Benedetto. You have a good point in that if I learned from such a school as this, I might lose that sense of originality that comes with learning on my own. fryovanni - You, too, have a good point, I think. It could save me a lot of time and effort, a lot of messing around before I got it right. About justifying the potential class in terms of value, I think I especially am in a good position to do that. Not because I have a lot of money or anything, it's just that I am, as a high-school junior, supposed to be thinking about college right about now, and though $32,000 a year is expensive in terms of college, it's less than I would pay for the entire four years of most colleges out there. Thanks, everyone. Dylan

I don't know if this is the right place to post this... Are any of you familiar with the Summit School on Vancouver Island in BC, Canada? I'm considering doing their full-year course... if any of you have any information or experience with it, it'd be much appreciated. Thanks, Dylan

It's looking really good Simo. Interesting placement of the truss rod access hole. Is that commonly done? Did you get all the wood from Gallery Hardwoods? Dylan

I don't think you could've said it better. I'm wondering... where do you want to go with the tone of this instrument? More Les Paul-ish or more Tele-ish? Somewhere in between? Having a neck-through design, for example, would definitely lean in the opposite direction from the Telecaster's bolt-on neck, which would shift the tone away from Tele-ish. Or did you mean that you want to combine Les Paul and Telecaster visually? Because I can see elements of both in the drawing. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this guitar -- I like it. Dylan

I like the design. I agree with Perry somewhat, that it looks like you may be trying to incorporate a little too many different features of different instruments, but, hey, the outcome is pretty original, I think. The upper bouts remind me of a harp. I like that. I like the cutaway-horn-thing... but might it be a bit fragile, vulnerable? What program did you use to create that drawing? I like that too... Good luck.

Those are both nicely done. I wonder on the second one, the bridge looks a little far up, as in close to the neck pocket. What's the scale on the neck?

A really nice job on that first one in general. On the tele, that finish is inspiring. And shiney.

I like the shape and the way the mahogany accents the sycamore... very organic. How is sycamore tonally? Like maple at all? Keep up the good work. Dylan

You could do something similar to what Rickenbacker does on their 12 strings... http://homer.netmar.com/~muscon2/r211b.jpg Only without the tuners for the other six strings, of course. If you were looking to keep a solid headstock, you could work with some variations of the Rickenbacker design. I don't know if theres a significant difference between nylon and steel string tuning machines, but Stew-Mac has some nice slotted-headstock-style individual tuners. Dylan

Thanks, David. Encouragement is just what I need in this sort of project. On that asymmetric acoustic you made, is the neck joined similarly to how Steve Klein does it? The accessability of that appeals to me... especially since I'm planning to go without a cutaway. Dylan

I second that. Oh, if I could do that with my time instead of writing essays and factoring polynomials... Really. Nice. Job.

Jammy, it's interesting that you chose to finish your -beautiful- rosewood neck... One of the major selling points (for me) of that kind of wood for a neck is the fact that you can leave it unfinished. Any reason why you chose to finish the neck? By the way, I listened to the soundclip of that guitar; it sounds really nice. Thanks for the comments. Dylan

I do that anyway. I could tie a cinder block to the endpin... But seriously, from what I understand, Indian Rosewood is only a slight bit more dense than maple. I recently got a new jumbo-bodied Gibson acoustic that has a maple neck, and I haven't even thought of neck dive on that instrument until now. The neck dives a little bit while sitting if I let go of it completely (none at all while standing with the strap at the headstock), but I honestly haven't noticed it until I intentionally tried to balance the guitar on my thigh. Point is, I don't mind the weight. Thanks for the comments.

Hi, I've long been dreaming about building a steel string acoustic, and I'm still weighing my options, especially with tonewoods. One thing I'm wondering about, considering stability, tone (assuming all other variables are constant), and general good-idea-ness, is the possibility of using Indian Rosewood for the neck (like in Marcovis' guitar and other PRSish instruments). I've never seen an acoustic with any kind of rosewood neck, and I'm starting to wonder if there is a reason why people don't do this. I know its a pain to work with, especially for a guitar neck virgin like me... but I'm not worried about that, I like a challenge. Any thoughts or experience with this? Thanks a lot, Dylan

Hi, I came across this page: http://projectguitar.com/tut/blackice.htm And tried it out yesterday. I got some Schottky diodes from Mouser, and set it up like the diagram said... but it does not work. I looked on Stewmac's site, at the actual Black Ice unit and read this: "In order for this passive circuit to work, the pickups must have a DC resistance of at least 10K ohms. Guitars with pickups with a lower DC resistance will not “drive” the Black Ice to properly clip the signal." I don't know what the DC resistance of my pickups is, but I think a possible problem may be that it is less than 10K ohms because they are not hot to my ears by any means. My questions are, 1. How do I check DC resistance? (I have a multitester kickin' around here somewhere) 2. Are there any solutions if the DC resistance is indeed to low? Thanks, Dylan

Ok, so people are paying anywhere from $100 to $300 for these. Great, that's all I wanted to know. Thanks, Dylan

It's impossible to return this guitar to stock. The tuners are the only major piece of hardware left on it. My uncle replaced and sold the bridge/tailpiece, most of the electronics, even the strap buttons, before he gave the guitar to me. I'm a crack addict........ Just kidding! But really, I'd just like to know what these original tuners may be worth, even though I'm getting rather attached to the looks of them now that I've cleaned them and I may just keep them in a box on my shelf. Can anyone just give me a rough estimate of what their value would be? I really appreciate the interest in helping me realize what I may be doing if I sell them, but at this point I just want to know what they're worth. Thanks, Dylan