ninoman123

Same here. I enjoy the DC shape but my body is nowhere near a DC. Its got a tummy cut and cuts into the horns for better access to the fingerboard like a PRS has. (Not sure if these have a name or not lol) Im also thinking about doing an arm contour but im not 100% sure yet. I like the look of contours in a body too. It makes a guitar seem more ergonomic instead of just a block of wood. There are things about the TOM and the hardtail fender style that I love and hate. Im kind of torn between them. I agree with the string clearance part too. TOM style bridges feel better to me when palm muting but I like being able to individually set the string heights on a fender style bridge. Oh well. +1 You cant beat simplicity. Thats another thing that drew me into the LP junior. I LOVE how its so simple. The paint isnt flashy. There just a simple black/tortoise shell guard. One pickup. No switches. The simple bridge. Its all good on a Junior heh.

@mattia and Mickguard: Yes I actually think that Im not going to use a wrap around tailpiece. I think Im gonna go with a hardtail fender strat type bridge. I really dont like the idea of not being able to fine tune my intonation or my string height. @Mickguard: I orginally played with some ideas just extending the original Jr type pickguard. None of them looked good to me. So I resorted back to a shape that has lasted decades. I will probably change it to the soapbar type P90. Heck I might not even go with P90s and just stick some single coils in there! Heh. I could always just have 2 different pickguards with different pickups in there. So my hardware isnt set in stone yet. Thats what I love about DIY guitars. Its been nuts thinking about the millions of possibilities of what I can create.

I would do something like that except Ill be mounting the jack and the volume and tone controls on it. So they would be way to close for that. But I do like. Very well done! I might steal that upper left part there. Looks very cool! Check this one out P.S. Changed to photobucket so you can see it. heh

Ok Im making a Gibson DC shaped guitar. Im going to do it in silver flake (hopefully) and a black pickguard. I made my own pickguard shape and I would like some comments or suggestions. Its P-Bass inspired. You can see in the picture where the usual jack would go but since Im doing a pickguard it will be mounted on the top like a P-bass too. I know most of you dont like pickguards, but oh well! Its my guitar Ill do what I want. check it out Its just a rough shape I know. Some corners are a little too pointy. But Ill work that out when I actually make the template. *EDIT* forgot to mention the controls will be mounted to the pickguard like a P bass' controls are.

Yeah when I googled microplane I kept coming up with brand names so I wasnt sure. Thanks for the verifaction though.

What brand is it? Got a link? Your neck looks awesome by the way

Symmetrical can look good if its done like an SG (Which I also didnt realize was unsymmetrical until this thread) But the ugly horns like that Gretsch posted above should not be duplicated twice. Its bad enough to have something hideous like that even one time on a guitar.

Wasnt there a company that made necks using a lathe? They would put two necks face to face and then sand them down that say? Seems like the neck would be very boat shaped but perhaps not. That would be cool to try if you needed two necks or to mass produce necks.

Paul Reed Smith built his first guitar when he was a senior in high school. It wasnt the PRS that we know today. I think it was just a neck from an old guitar and he built the body but still. Thats how a lot of us start.

Of course you can build a bass. Im 17 and building my own guitar right now. The guitar specific tools will hurt some but heres my suggestion. Call around where you live and try to find people that can help you with these specific things. For example, I went to a local website here in St Louis called Woodworkers association or something weird like that. That website had telephone numbers to people in the society. I called up one guy who said that he had built guitars before and he said that he could let me use his fretting tools. Im saving upwards up $150 there. So call around for help. Most people will be more than happy to help you. I found that being a high schooler infact helps more than it does hurt your reputation. People think its great that someone in high school has an interest in building with their hands...rather than smoking. My mom made a great line. "Id rather you be jointing wood than rolling joints." So enjoy! And keep us posted.

Wow! Im really diggin how you did the neck. Thats awesome! The guitar looks nice now. I cant wait to see it polished.

I would stop being so concerned about where they are made and footswitches and all. Just play them! Let them sell themselves to you. Tube vs solid state doesnt matter too much either. I have a few tube amps and I like the sound of my cheapo Crate more, so its about how they feel to you. And we cant really tell you how you feel.

Well he could use the template to trace out the pattern onto his own pearl. It would be very hard to actually cut using the pattern, but using the pattern just as a guide for the shape of the vine would work.

I agree with Devon. You said you would be sad in your head about it anyways, so whats the point? Chicks dont care if its a gibson or an epiphone. The only ones that are going to know are guys who play guitar, and who wants to impress them anyways?

How did it pop out? Seems like that would be hard to use if you used some really strong glue. Seems odd to be. Oh well, nice looking inlay! I really love it. I like the simplier looking vine compared to a JEM style. Its classy without being gaudy.

Yah i checked out that site but the material is too thin. I need something like 3/32"

I dont like the liquify. But the oringial is cool. I like funky graphics like that.

Im looking for tortoise shell material like the oringial LP junior DCs had. Its single ply 3/32" thick. Anyone know a source of this?

Im going to make my own mahogany neck soon. How thin is too thin? Perhaps you could have reinforced it with some of those carbon fiber rods that they sell at Stew Mac. Ive got some flatsawn mahogany that I plan to use for my neck. I plan on using a nice sturdy truss rod and two carbon fiber rods on either side to reinforce it. I dunno, maybe Ill end up trying to get some quarter sawn...Ill just see how this works out first.

Found a guy here in St Louis that will do it. Rock Hill Woodworking Co if anyone around here is interested. The guy said hes done it for other guys who are building guitars too. Thanks for suggestion. I would have never thought to try a cabinet maker.

I havent tried any cabinet shops. I called up all the hardwood and lumber stores though. Geeze I might have to buy a jointer. $250 isnt much but for what it does...it doesnt seem that worth it. I mean two passes of 20" wood doesnt seem worth $250. Ah who knows. What a pain. Are they any good hand methods? Or methods that use other power tools? Thanks for your response. Ill try some cabinet makers.

So I got some really nice mahogany from this shop thinking they already had it nicely jointed and planed. Turns out it wasnt. I called up everywhere I know around St. Louis and got NOTHING. There are no shops here that will do it. So what should I do because I want to use this wood. How can I get it nicely jointed? I tried a search and came up empty. Maybe Im just searching incorrectly. Thanks for the help -Steve

Russ- This guitar is looking awesome! I love how almost everything on this project is out of the ordinary. The jack idea is really cool and your wood selection is awesome. I love the neck and I like how you arent going with the normal ebony/rosewood fingerboards. A++ Ive been following this thread for awhile because the tang top is such a cool concept. Cant wait to see the finished product.

I highly doubt they would do any of that. They mass produce these necks and to make a one off neck for someone is unlikely. Best place for what you want is Warmoth, but it will cost a pretty penny.

Lets see the headstock. Im wondering if you included the cigarette burns.