StratDudeDan

and that frighteningly makes sense...

i guess i didn't figure in that the wood quality could suck. if it isn't that good, is there anything i can do to make it better, dry it out or anything? i just don't have the budget to buy a korina or wenge body blank (i do, but if i do, i won't have budget to buy the rest of the parts later on...).

okay, i was offerred a blank of Osage by one of my professors today. i guess he has 6 trees (formerly 7) and is trying to get rid of the wood. looking up prices, the stuff usually runs higher than Wenge or Ovangkol, so i figure this is a very good thing to be given to me. i know it's heavy, but that's okay. i had the wierd inclination to build a semi-hollow anyway, so i'm just wondering how good this stuff is and what kind of sound i'm going to be pulling out of it.

Gracci for your answers.

i would say...some type of color shifting paint...maybe metallic...hmm...pretty...

or do something just plain wierd with it, say, a rainbow...who know's it's not a normal guitar and it does not deserve a normal finish.

make us all proud!

you know, i haven't built guitars yet or anything (though i'm trying to get started on one as i write this...looking for parts stilll), but i had that idea already! i was just gonna do it to a cheap SG body (possibly the one i build) and instead of using F-holes, i was gonna go with the uneven "X" that you usually see on pianos (one of the pieces is 3 times as long as the other and they cross at a 120 degree angle instead of 90). just because you beat me to it...grr...

still, though, the thing looks great. keep up some pictures, and don't torture that poor body much anymore. how would you like to have your inards hollowed out?

StratMan

thanks a ton, man. the first photo essay should prove amazingly helpful (though unorthodox). thanks for your help thus far and i hope i can count on everyone that answered to answer further questions down the road.

yeah, i got the tools. half of my family are carpenters, garage doors, cabinets, furniture, tons of stuff, so i have three carpenter "garages" to play around in. the things i'm most worried about are wood costs and then (if and when i finally get there) the electronics. also, i had this crazy idea to go for a semi-hollow body (cause sometime's i'm stupid) and wondered if anyone had tried this before. i know it may be a large project to take on for my first one, but i believe i have the woodworking skills (just not the guitar building skills) to handle it. if anyone has anything to offer as to whether this is a good idea or not, lemme know.

uh...wow, that korina looks awesome. so, for the sound i'm going for, that would be the best choice?

also, about how pricey is that? it looks to gorgeous to be cheap or any semblance of cheap. by "small budget" i meant i have about $250 for the whole freaking project, pickups, woods, tools, everything. i'm on back pay right now so i haven't been able to let that grow.

okay, as i said before, i was planning on building an SG style guitar. after finding schematics that suited my build style and prepping a small budget (that i'm hoping to god will get larger soon), it's finally time for me to get down to work.

...or some semblance of work...

in order to actually get this thing moving, though, i need wood. and i'm guessing good wood. here come my two questions...

first of all, i'm wondering what the SG's are most commonly constructed from. i'm not sure if i'm going to go the "purist" route, however, which leads me to my second question...

i really like the crisp, high-endy sound out of most SG's, whether they're P-90's or humbuckers. i'm looking for that, but with a little bit more of a growl or punch to it. so instead of more "mid-highs" that the SG is popular for, i am striving for more of a "mid-low" sound. an LP disguised as an SG, almost, but not quite. kinda like the two combined...

if there's any type of wood that would be best for this, or anything special i can do to make whatever wood i end up with have this type of sound, i would greatly appreciate and love the person or persons that tell me.

also, be prepared 'cause i'm sure i'm going to have a ton more questions coming up during the process of contructing the neck and getting the tune-o-matic to sit right.

Sam Rivers is his name. that bugged me when i didn't remember it, so i looked it up. Sam Rivers.

btw, that's the bassist from Limp Bizkit. i don't recall his name off the top of my head, but the bass drum head in the background gave it away (a beautiful orange county drums and percrussion set with three vents instead of two). that was for whoever was wonderring. and he's playing a Warwick Streamer 5-string. possibly a Stage-I or Stage-II, which are just better versions of the Streamer.

just so you know, Warwick Basses/Framus Guitars is the company that puts LED's into their fretboards as a custom option. it cost an addition $350. my guess, since it's LED and they have a separate battery pack at the base of the neck with a switch, is that they built electronics and just routed it through the truss rod hole, then cut a hole in the fingerboard and stuck the little glowing nobules in there. probably used some type of clear putty or poly-coat in order to smooth them out.

i'm not a "seasoned wood veteran" or anything, but i do believe they use honduras mahogany. if i am wrong, someone correct me. the major difference between the two of them (coming from a licensed carpenter that happens to be my uncle) is that honduras mahogany is very slightly lighter and a little less dense, giving the sound of the guitar a little bit more of a crisp, high-mid edge, while brazilian would be more of a warm, bell like tone.

now it can be affected by how the wood is stored and handled, as well, but by nature, the honduras mahogany is also a bit drier than brazilian, making it a little easier to carve, but a little harder to sand (drier wood flakes and scratches a lot easier than an air-conditioned blank).

there's my two cents. hope it can help.

StratMan

thanks, should be a lot of help.

btw, i had already thought about the bridge idea, that was my second big worry of the whole project, that and the initial routing which won't be done in my hands.

well, after a long conversation with one of my friends, i've decided to finally build a guitar, understanding how crappy and horrible it will probably end up. the model i'm going for is an "SG" esque look, and i currently can't get to one to measure it and get it's size specs and whatnot. now, though i have played around with finishing and stuff along those lines, i'm not planning on doing more than a clear stain or possibly a colored stain (at the request of my friend as well as my fear of trashing an already trashed project). back to the point, though, some specs for the SG body, whatever can be provided even if it's just how long the body is or something, i don't care. i'm always looking for just the smallest amount of help because anything passed down to me from above will most likely be taken as my holy grail until i find out it actually sucks. thank for whatever you post!

StratMan

belive it or not, but automotive paint was suggested to me a while ago, and i've kinda stuck with it, mostly because the people i do finishes for are my friends and the crowd i hang with treats their axe's like ****. so having a good solid, hard finish on there (which the auto paint provides) is really helpful to them. as for the curing, usually, i just layer on the paint (2-4, depending on the color) and then go throught the process for vehicles, wet sanding and smoothing, followed by a coat or two of C144-19 laquer i had made for me, a very nice, smooth, semi-gloss. i like it a lot. once again, though, i said i'm new and am looking for any and all advice as to what to use for what and when...

StratMan

Alright, so I'm a kinda new guy in this whole re-finishing, re-working, working on, and altogether just playing with guitars thing. I mean, I've repainted my own guitar countless times and my friends have had me refinish theirs as well, and I'll say I've even been able to make a little money out of it as well as turn out some really good looking guitars. The problem is, I seem to have come to a standstill and can no longer create better and better looking guitars. They've kinda plateued at good but not great looking, and I would really like to kick it over and start actually doing something with this. If there's anyone with just a little bit of advice out there for me, it would be more than appreciated.

StratMan