Robert Irizarry

Very cool! Thanks for sharing that! Regards, Rob

Personally, I think the issue is one of conservatism among guitar players. I don't think that it's because the size of the guitar is somehow a limiting factor in exploring new and interesting designs anymore than I think the bass is a better canvas for exploring design. There's a world of opportunity in either case but musicians ultimately have to be willing to accept new approaches in order for them to succeed. Regards, Rob

+1. We all have to decide what level of functionality we will accept from our instruments but I can't imagine that moving the controls would be a practical solution for a gigging musician. That said, I'm glad for the links. Thanks RGGR! My observations are similar to yours - bass builders are more inventive and bass players much more open to change. I've been starting to look at bass designs for fresh perspectives on guitar design. If you're interested in cool bass designs, check out Xavier Padilla's bass from Jerome Little of Little Guitar Works. According to my discussions with Jerome Little, it was developed over the course of six months of talks with Xavier Padilla. It has a number of interesting features. Regards, Rob

An alternative to the forum search is to leverage Google's advanced search functionality which let's you put in your search terms and specify searching against a particular site. Here's an example: 1. Go to Google.com 2. Enter the following and execute the search: cad site:projectguitar.ibforums.com What this does is instruct Google to search for the term "cad" ONLY against the PG forum. Apart from leveraging the power of Google's search capabilities, it also lifts a very specific constraint of our existing forum search - the inability to search three letter terms. You can also force the search to look for very specific phrases simply by wrapping your search terms in quotes. Of course, the effectiveness of this approach is dependent on how often Google indexes PG content but I'm guessing that's fairly often based on my own experiences with Google and the site search function. Finally, I'm wondering if switching the site's search to be powered by Google is an option. With Google Adsense, Google let's sites add a Google search which you can toggle to point either to the site or the general Internet. My experience is specific to blogs but it might be feasible for a forum as well. Incidentally, this Google search could also become a source of income for Project Guitar that is relatively unobtrusive to its community. Just a thought... Regards, Rob

Demars Guitars has what they call a solid body acoustic - essentially a solid body with piezo pickups which several outfits have done. The twist that Demars introduces is a piezo located under the neck joint in addition to the typical piezos down by the bridge. Adrian Legg's Custom Guitar is a "chambered solid body" as you describe. It uses piezo pickups to provide the acoustic sounds he used to get from a conventional acoustic. Regards, Rob

Musicyo's inability to keep the part in stock is what got me looking for alternative solutions. If you're not averse to a fixed bridge then several guitar builders have come up with excellent alternatives. Two in particular stand out and I wrote about them on my blog as possible alternatives for a future build. The first one is by luthier Todd Keehn - a very cool guy who I had the opportunity to chat with a bit. Here's the post - Alternative Headless Guitar Design - TK Instruments. More recently, I wrote about a similar solution by Scott French - Alternative Headless Guitar Design - Scott French. Regards, Rob

Thanks! I appreciate it. I just revamped the whole blog yesterday in the hopes of improving the reader's experience and in preparation for the next build. Regards, Rob

Very nice! I see you based it off the Klein Electric like I did with mine! Here's my latest blog entry on my build - Guitar Build - First Ergonomic Guitar Build Nears Completion. I'm curious - you're looking for a new trem for..? Are you looking to replace the existing one or are you looking at a new build? Maybe you should start a thread about it. I'd love to hear more about your build as well as any future plans. Regards, Rob

The only vendor I've seen that sells these is Reid and Son Violin Company on ebay - http://stores.ebay.com/Reid-and-Son-Violin...3QQftidZ2QQtZkm. You could try contacting them to see about availability. There are other sources for headless hardware as well. Here's a list I put together a while back - Headless Guitar Resources for the Guitar Builder. BTW - I did not list them because of their inability to provide any information on the product. BTW - What's your impression of the bridge? Regards, Rob

By my calculations, that ought to be right about the time you noticed the first pick marks on your finish LOL. Actually, it was actually prompted by your exchange with psw back in December. My primary focus has been on functionality but I started to give some thought to aesthetics now that the heavy lifting is out of the way. For example, I'm thinking of painting the pickups black as a means of tying them into the rest of the elements on the front of the guitar - black switch tip, black bridge, black volume knob. I also thought about the signature idea across the guitar but couldn't bring myself to splatter my name across the top of the guitar. So, I started considering the scratchplate as a means of adding a bit of visual interest as well as provide a place for some sort of name/designation/logo. I'll post an image of the basic scratchplate shape I've come up with as soon as I have a moment. I'm always interested in what my fellow PG'ers have to say... Regards, Rob

Hi Mick! I intend to write up more detailed observations with photos to illustrate but here's a quick overview in the meanwhile. My preferred playing position while sitting is classical position and I've found that the Klein shape is particularly suited to it. In classical position, the guitar adopts a neck up balanced position without any support. It literally sits in that position requiring no effort from the guitarist. You can take your hands away and it remains balanced. I also find the design comfortable in a casual sitting position as well although not to the same extent as in the classical position. Still, the guitar is easily balanced with minimal effort due to the geometry of the design as well as the majority of the weight being concentrated close to the guitarist's body. Also noteworthy is that neither position requires elevating the guitar in order to comfortably play it. There's no need for crossing your legs or using a footstool to raise it. Both feet are planted on the ground and you can sit in a neutral and balanced position. Eliminating this need reduces exposure to back pain which can result from pulling the spine out of alignment. In addition, the wide body encourages you to sit up rather than slouch which is also a good thing. Standing, the guitar is also comfortable. The guitar is very light at about 6lb and what weight exists is carried close to the guitarist's body. Overall, I'm very pleased with the results. Oh and right before the holidays, I started playing around with a small scratchplate for the guitar. Regards, Rob

Have you been able to confirm compatibility with the Synapse headpiece in terms of string spacing? If it's a custom neck build then it's not so much of an issue but otherwise a concern... Regards, Rob

Headless guitars are a particular interest of mine so I've done some research into resources which you can read here. The problem with the Steinberger system is that Musicyo really is the only vendor. You may find them on ebay but I have rarely seen them. I ended up buying a lower cost Musicyo Steinberger and stripping it for its neck, bridge and headpiece. If you're willing to look at fixed bridge solutions there are a couple of companies that produce such bridges. It also opens up the opportunity to take advantage of some alternative solutions which I've written about on my blog. The latest I've written on is a solution by Scott French. (Scott is a participant on Project Guitar and does beautiful work btw.) I also wrote about a similar solution by Todd Keehn of TK Instruments. Regards, Rob

+ whatever number we're up to. Definitely a good way to go - not ideal but a good alternative. Regards, Rob

Very cool - keep it coming! Question - How do you find playing them in different fretting hand positions? I've heard they're fine in classical position but haven't gotten anything firm on a rock position... Regards, Rob

Definitely keep us in the loop - I'd love to see what you come up with. Regards, Rob

No shame in that. Looks like a very nice guitar. Enjoy it! Regards, Rob

Hi Zeke: Do a search for saga on the forum - there are several threads related to saga based builds as well as other references to them. Regards, Rob

I'll have to disagree with you. Fat lacks resonance and dampens tone. What you really want is to be rail thin. Bone conducts sound far better than fat. You may also want to go that extra step and sandpaper down fat fingertips so you have bone on string. That way you can get that tone in your fingers to contribute as well. Not only do you not have to eat donuts, but you don't have to eat at all. That way you can literally be a starving musician and tell everyone how you suffer for your art. Seriously though, those are just another take on Fatheads - brass plates you attached to the back of your headstock. Did anyone ever use those? Regards, Rob

I've posted on several forums as you've discovered. With a subject as narrow as guitar ergonomics, its been an opportunity to get additional feedback. Its been helpful to hear a variety of opinions on the project as well as the concept of guitar ergonomics. Here is a shot of the entire guitar (there is a larger view is available on the blog along with a rear view - click the images for the larger views): I considered a neck build but decided against it for my first project. I ended up stripping a Musicyo Steinberger for its neck, headpiece and bridge. I'm sure I'll want to build a neck on a future project but I'm still planning what I want. I'm thrilled that my first attempt has been successful. Once I finally got started, it was a bit of an obsession. There were a few brief moments of frustration as I struggled against my own inexperience but, as a whole, it was an amazing process. I'm looking forward to the next project and the next and the next... Regards, Rob

Thank you very much Mick. Sorry it took a while. I started on the idea in late February and by March succumbed to tendonitis. It was very bad for several months and it wasn't until August when I could even start thinking of taking this on. The build didn't really start until late August when I made my second attempt at a template. So in the scheme of things its only been about 4 months by my way of reckoning. I knew the pickguard situation would come up! I actually spent some time trying to work out a pickguard design that wouldn't require both front and rear routing like the actual Klein's pickguard. I think I went through 15 or so designs and I was only ok with one of them. I started mumbling to myself, "If I don't come up with a pickguard, Mickguard is going to have my head!". It got so bad even my wife knows who "Mickguard" is. All kidding aside, I see where you're coming from. A few decisions were practical in nature given my desire to get the first one under my belt and more importantly in order to have it to play. Having said that, I am enjoying the stripped down approach. I have a tendency toward clean designs although I haven't completely stopped thinking about ornamenting it in some way. If something occurs to me, I'm sure I'll implement it. For the moment, I'm just really happy to have gotten this far with no woodworking skills coming into the project. That is high praise Mick. Thank you not only for the comments but for the ongoing help and suggestions. I came here in February knowing nothing about guitar building and I thank you and everyone else who helped me get this far. Regards, Rob

The build is now in its final stages. Cavity shielding remains but I loaded the switch, volume knob and output jack to show how it will look in the end. All that remains is the following: 1. setting intonation 2. making a cavity cover 3. shielding and wiring the cavity Lace Sensor pickups in the neck and bridge are controlled by a 3 position switch. The output jack is mounted on the face of the guitar so that its not in the way when sitting in classical position. I went with a single volume control but there is room for a tone control if I choose to add one later. There are a couple more pictures at the blog. Overall, I'm happy with the results of my first build especially in light of coming into this with no woodworking skills and learning the necessary skills along the way. There are a few aesthetic gaffs here and there but nothing that affects playability. Regards, Rob

I'm glad that was helpful. Google is an amazing tool and I've used it to great effect in researching all types of subjects. A useful and simple thing to do when searching is to start with a conventional search and then switch over to the image search. You'll be surprised at how many more results you'll get that way. You can take this another step by then switching to another search engine and performing the same steps. You'll get a lot of duplication but you'll also come up with some hits that are unique to each engine. Each search engine has a slightly different formula for how it indexes content which you can use to your own advantage. Regards, Rob

Just do a Google Image Search - you'll get almost 200 images of guitar stands - Google Search - guitar stand. That should provide you with plenty of ideas to start. Definitely keep us posted on your progress. Regards, Rob

Curious - Why do you think the recessed bridge adds sustain? Regards, Rob