Robert Irizarry

How's the balance on the instrument? And, once again, very nice work. Regards, Robert

Right now, I've got the following floating around my brain... A chambered Klein electric type guitar with a short scale compound radius neck, humbuckers and piezo pickups. Just a thought. Regards, Robert

I've seen a few images of it at this point and I think the image is a good representation. It is a pretty cool finish. :-) Regards, Robert

You're correct about the wedge body. I chatted with Linda Manzer a while back about her Wedge body designs and, in fact, this is the first instance of it. It was later incorporated into more conventional instruments. More about Linda Manzer's "Wedge" guitars. Regards, Robert

Welcome aboard! I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay here. You'll find both great information and cool folks. Don't forget to take advantage of the search function - there's a tremendous amount of information in the archives. Nice guitars, btw. Regards, Robert

I'm a big fan of the design. I love my Klein Electric based guitar but I think Chris has taken the whole ergonomic guitar design a step further with his work. Regards, Robert

Hi Salvatore! The avatar is a pic of my very first guitar build based on the Klein Electric Guitar. Click the link to see more on my first guitar project. I did not make the neck for this first one - instead focusing on the body. A neck build is in the near future I suspect. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to your headless design. What hardware are you using for the bridge and nut? Regards, Robert

Looking forward to the posting. Very interesting stuff. Its good to see some innovation. Regards, Robert

Here's a list of guitar making resources I used for my first guitar. It includes books, forums, tutorials and some key vendors. Regards, Robert

Stevie Ray Vaughn and Gary Moore come to mind immediately although there's a broad range of guitarists I idolize. More recently, I've been listening to gypsy jazz so I have to include Django Reinhardt and Stochelo Rosenberg. Regards, Robert

It can definitely be a problem especially for those with shoulder problems. The nice thing is that even acoustic guitars can get into the act where the problem is even more pronounced. Linda Manzer came up with the "wedge" guitar where the bass side of the guitar is narrower than the treble side. And, Leo Burrell actually twists and warps the top and body to create a forearm contour in his designs. Both pretty interesting concepts. Regards, Robert

Based on my own experiences building a Klein based guitar, I would tend to agree. However, I have to say the Forshage I've recently written about looks to be an excellent contender as well. The Forshage is influenced by the Klein, the Teuffel Tesla and the Ovation Breadwinner. Here's the main article which includes links to follow up articles on the neck and body build - The Forshage Hollow Body Electric Guitar. Regards, Robert

That's actually quite an interesting idea that I think merits further thought. It reminds me of what a beginner goes through learning the basics or when someone closer to intermediate starts to delve into more complex chords or patterns. Muscles have to develop strength in slightly different directions, pressure has to be applied in new ways, etc. Very cool. Thanks for that. Regards, Robert

In the real world, where we can actually talk and debate in real time, there are still misunderstandings and miscommunications. Forums, where communication is limited to a few words and a limited context, are rife with opportunities for misunderstanding. I've admitted to having misunderstood or misinterpreted a fellow PG member's statements. There's really nothing more to say on the matter and hopefully this thread will return to topic. Regards, Robert

Sorry if I don't consider the differences things like the sitting position of a strat vs. a vee "minute" or inconsequential. And, if we're limiting ourselves to the strat, the vee and the tele then there isn't much to discuss. But since this WAS a thread about ergonomics I was expecting it go just a bit beyond what everyone already knows. Besides, this is a forum for and about guitar building. I would think we could be a bit more expansive in our thinking. And yes there are inherent problems in the "nature of the instrument" but elements of that can be refined and rethought without the guitar losing its nature. That's what ergonomics is about. Look up the definition of ergonomics and it talks about designing to fit the way the human body works. If we stop at what we know then nothing changes and nothing improves. And while this may have not been your intent, someone reading your comment might think that the guitar has no impact on the musculoskeletal system. In fact, this is the system that succumbs to issues of Repetitive Strain Injury, muscular pain and stiffness, and tendinitis. Guitarists have suffered and continue to suffer from all of these. The idea behind designing with ergonomics in mind is to eliminate potential factors where possible and mitigate those that can't be completely eradicated. Finally, I wish to apologize to Drak if I misunderstood his comments. BTW - there was no outrage behind my earlier statement. Regards, Robert

While variables will exist this doesn't make everything completely fluid either as you suggest. To claim that human beings are so different that certain design or scientific approaches are without merit is as absurd as someone claiming ONE perfect solution. To state this is to deny entire bodies of knowledge around technique, physiology, kinesiology and the science of ergonomics. While we obviously vary from person to person, the very nature of how our musculoskeletal system operates demands that there are certain preferred approaches in order to best serve its efficient and healthy operation. Regards, Robert

Time to resurrect one of my favorite Project Guitar threads. I thought the folks here might be interested in the Chris Forshage Hollowbody. It's design is influenced by the Klein Electric Guitar, the Teuffel Tesla and the Ovation Breadwinner: I've been chatting with both Chris and one of his newest customers, Dr. Marc Ybaben of the jazz group The Marc Why Group who've generously shared a bunch of information on the design. For those who are interested, I've posted a couple of articles about the guitar: The Forshage Hollowbody Electric Guitar and Building the Forshage Hollowbody Guitar - Making the Neck. An upcoming article will cover the guitar body construction. It's always fun to see how different luthiers approach issues and Chris has been particularly great about sharing his approach. Regards, Robert

Very cool stuff. I love reading about new approaches. I'm looking forward to more on these projects. Regards, Robert

Update - I just put up an article on the guitar neck construction. It's the current article on the site. The guitar body construction will follow. Regards, Robert

It's been very exciting chatting with Chris and Marc about this design. You can see the Klein and Teuffel influences and as you can tell by my avatar I'm something of a fan of the Klein shape. I'll give a heads up when the build stuff goes up. Regards, Robert

Thought you folks might be interested in this headless hollowbody design by luthier Chris Forshage. I've been chatting with both Chris and future owner Marc of the jazz group The Marc Why Group about the guitar. Here is a pic of Chris' personal guitar: I recently wrote about the guitar - The Forshage Hollowbody Electric Guitar. In addition, Both Chris and Marc have been generous enough to provide me with pics and details of the various stages of the build which I'll be writing about in separate articles. Regards, Rob

I drew out the contours on the body and then used a sanding disc in an electric drill to work out the contours. Being new to woodworking, I found the angle grinder too much for me - I was taking away too much material in my tests. The sanding disc proved to be just the right combination for me - lower rpms and higher grit sandpaper let me control the removal with relative ease. It's certainly not as fast as an angle grinder but at least I have a guitar to show for it. Regards, Robert

Thanks for sharing. I'm going to start looking at purchasing a bandsaw for my next guitar build but first I have to set up a proper workspace. A cold, cramped corner of a garage is no place to build. Regards, Rob

Lovely work and good luck with the sinusitis! Regards, Rob

That looks lovely. Did you end up going with the straight Minwax Sedona Red? Regards, Rob