GarrettS

What is Tang width? (Obviously this is not referring to the Kool=aid man.) Can the lower frets be wider, but be tapered down to transition to tall, narrow frets 17-14? Can the last 4 frets be tapered down even more narrowly? I hardly get up past fret 19. Very narrow frets there should help playability and intonation and since I hardly make it up that high, I don't have as much worry for fret wear there. I play my guitars very hard with lots of vibrato and I practice a lot, so I need a hard fretwire. Should I go for EVO? SS? Or a blend? Thank you.

Who wants to build the prototype BBBJ?

First off, I need to get the basic shape down. The BBJ probably will work, so I need to try one. Shorter is perhaps OK for your shoulders, Norm, but that does not work for me for reasons stated. Again, that right-shifts the guitar and that's the opposite of what I want. I want the guitar left-shifted. The way to make that happen is with a longer body shape. Different body types fit things differently… Automobile manufacturer and clothing designers don't get this either… They design clothes and cars I can't fit into. No jeans fit me and with my broad shoulders, few coats that aren't designed for obese men will, either. In the most obnoxious cases, I hear things like "Oh, you can fit in the car, just lean the seat way back." Guitar builders will say these general-purpose best practices, too; things like "a strap button on a long horn is best because it gives the guitar more stability" without considering that that right-shifts the guitar and pulls it too close to the player's torso. Some players have a more prominent breastplate abdomen, with set-back shoulders and for those players, it can work. I have the opposite. The counterweight for a headless guitar idea is getting ahead and seems unnecessary. Rather, chambering the guitar and choosing a lighter tone block will lighten it and that will be better.

Yes. Yes. Yes, long body design. And the upper strap button a bit lower, like around 19th fret, like with a V. OK. I've never tried that. Yeah, looks good. Similar dimensions to the BBJ. Can't find one at GC or sweetwater. Can't try it. That's the plan. Headless, thicker body. I'm worried the body will be too heavy, especially if I go thick, like 9cm, even with heavy contours.

I've made no progress. V guitar are light and the strap buttons are roughly in the right places. But they can't be played sitting. The billy bo jupiter model is almost like a V but can be played seated. But I can't commission a guitar I never tried. I want to try it, even if a knockoff, so long as that knockoff has the correct chambers. Explorer is a heavier guitar. The firebird might work if it has the right cutaways. Razorback and Xiphos felt uncomfortable. I don't know what to do. =I tried playing standing up again today. Almost impossible. I've been playing seated with the guitar three inches from my torso, so my left arm has room to be. I tried standing and playing because playing funk seated is difficult because the right arm is curled up. Standing, the right arm is more extended.

Where can I try a Billy-Bo Jupiter? Should the builder build a custom mock guitar with the right weights and measurements? How much should that cost to get an idea of the balance of it?

Cardboard guitar gets me the shape and then I can weight it with rocks or metal. Thanks for taking a look at my other thread. Troy has already started deleting my posts, so it's not a reliable archive for where my content resides. Unfortunately, there are some good comments on there, too. I'll refrain from posting over there for now until I can figure out how to get an archive of my posts. A bulk of my life's writings have been lost due to censorship. The problem is not necessarily what to build at this point, it's how do I start. I don't want to commission a $4000+ experiment. I want get as close as possible to trying it before building it. The strap button being on the face of the guitar there would be good if the guitar had a longer body. That will make the guitar longer and left shift it. That's why the BBJ looks appealing. Similarly, I've wrapped the strap over the top of the flying wing and it works great. I did this with an RRX24 and a Vulture (James Hetfield ESP). I don't have one position for playing standing up. I move the guitar around. For rhythm, it's normal; mid-level; a bit higher than Satriani. But when I want to play higher on the fingerboard, I want to be able to get the guitar so it's at an angle, higher, and away from my belly. There's a few ways to do that but none of them are easy with a super strat. https://www.instagram.com/p/BsKYHaalrcE/ Your idea for neck pitch is what I want to do on a neck thru.

I also want to try a Billy-Bo Jupiter. Gretsch doesn't know who has one. Guitar Center, Sweetwater, Musicians' Friend, do not have any. It's special order only, so no returns.

How would I try out a prototype with the builder? How does it usually work? JMI is in Indiana, thousands of miles away. He charges just under 3k for custom guitars. Here, in Mountain View, CA, we have Halo guitars. They charge just under 5k. I'm paying a premium for the cost of rent/RE prices. I'm confident in the quality of work. I'd be able to try stuff out, but they charge 60% more. What would you do?

Maybe the woods will be close in density. I want to know how it will balance. The thickness I suggested will add mass (maybe it shouldn't be so thick?). If I take the original: 1) https://www.electricherald.com/gretsch-billy-bo-jupiter-thunderbird/ 2) Make it neck-thru with a thicker body (maybe 7-10 cm) 3) add body contours like a deep forearm rest… 4) Make it headless How can I know how it will balance?

I wan't planning on installing pickups, but why not… I have a few extras. I don't have a kitchen table. No room in this tiny studio. No tuners on a headless, but I emailed sophia about their CSL bridge. They couldn't give me one weight for any of their bridges because it depends on various blocks and options. I picked some options and hopefully they can give me a semi-accurate number. If I can make the model look good, I can deliver the model to the builder who can build it for me. The nearest Builder is Halo guitars. I like their guitars and met one of their builders[1], But they're expensive. JMI is about 65% of the cost but not local. [1] https://www.haloguitars.com/store/marcus-henderson-joins-halo-custom-guitars

Yes, that's right. A non-functional cardboard prototype. I'll try and get wood mass and weight estimations from the builder and we'll add weight the cardboard accordingly.

Yes!!! if you can make one cardboard Better BBJ (BBBJ), for me, I can pay you. Headless.

Well I don't know how to build a cardboard guitar. I don't have desk space. I suppose I could use my kitchen counter space… I saw one other guitar I want to try. Billy-Bo Jupiter. Look how much space is between the bridge and the strap button. It looks like I can play it sitting down, too, unlike a Rhoads V. But I want to play it, to get a feel for the balance. Where can I try it? I think I would not like this guitar as it is. Put the volume knob in the right place. Remove the knobs below the bridge, move the pickup switch to about where it goes on a strat, put the lower strap button on the front, give it a deeper cutaway with 24 frets (15 jumbo, 9 slim-tall), make it headless & change the bridge. Weight is reduced by removing the heastock and some electronics. But it might be added back by installing a tremolo system like the CSL Sophia.

OK! How do I do that? I have scissors, tape, and wood glue, and I can probably find some cardboard around. Do you make it paper maché? I don't have a workbench, though. That's a problem. I'm thinking it should be thick, maybe 10cm, in the center of the guitar, below the headstock. The wings should taper down to very thin, like the ESP Vulture but more tapered. How could I do that? And with no bench?

I want an electric guitar. With acoustic guitar, the guitar neck is far enough away from my body that I don't have a problem playing it. With electric guitar, my problems are: The guitar body is too close to my body and shifted too much to the right. This makes it harded to play standing things above fret 12, especially 3-note per string or stretchy things. The neck is often less than a 45° angle. I addressed two of these problems by moving the strap buttons of my Ibanez RG's to behind the horn and to the face of the lower body. That helps me push the guitar away from my body so I can play the upper frets and it tilts the guitar so the headstock points upwards. But the strap feels "tight" like it's cinching around my body. It's still too close to my body, and it's still too right-shifted. V guitars are a bit better. I bought and returned a Jackson Rhoads V from GC. Terrible sounding guitar. Would not stay in tune at all. But the fit was better. The strap button is behind the neck and the lower strap button is further down. These "right shifted" strap buttons shift the guitar to the left and that makes it easier for my left hand to play the higher frets. The neck is usually around a 45° or better angle. I attached the lower part of the strap to the button from the topside, running it on the top side the lower wing, not under it, and I did that to pull the base of the guitar back, and that made it easier to get the guitar away from my body. But V guitars are still too close to my body. I build a guitar that's thick as my acoustic, it will be out in front enough. But a solidbody that thick will weigh twenty pounds or more. https://forum.troygrady.com/t/the-guitar-doesnt-fit-issues-with-size-and-position/10903/62

Right handed guitarist, here. I'm trying to find a guitar that will fit me. I think I need to build one. How can I know if it will work before I hire someone to build it! How can I avoid making some mistakes?