prs man

there are all kinds of things that can be done to change the tone. how things are hooked up even the volume pot you use can play a part. the wood body and neck play a part. the finger board [maple or rose wood] both has a different sound. there is a lot more then just the pickups or electronics wiring that make up good tone. what kind of guitar are you trying to make and what is the sound your looking to get from this project. is the neck have a maple or rose wood finger board will this be a hard tail body string through bridge the more info you have the better reply you might get.

good luck

hi there I work in a wood shop making all kinds of interesting things on the side [guitar and necks.] if you glue the purple heart to another wood I would say it will come out fine. depending how thick is the other wood the purple heart is glued to.

I think the guitar center thing sound good. I know the guitar center here is good about things like that always trying to help if they can so give it a try

look on eBay I have found some nice wood there that is nice for builing. try http://stewmac.com they will have a lot of what your looking for good luck on your first project

I think this is a good topic. I wish I was the one taking the class here is my thoughts different wood will sound different and a set neck or /a glued in neck will have more sustain. there is so many things that make up a guitar sound. for me I like useing alder maple cherry and walnut for guitar projects. another thing is the fret board maple or rose wood. pickups single coil [strat] or humbucker les Paul sound] everything from the bridge to the nut you use has some kind of change in the sound you will get. there is a lot of people here at PG I would think that you will have a lot of info to think about when all is said and done. now to get the data on papaer is the real thing. I would start at your local music store and go from there and document everythigh to back up your findings. cool class I'm there in the wind just listen for the sounds.

I see what your talking about all is not lost I have used eppxy putty from http://woodcraft.com you can get it in different colore to match the wood. the epoxy putty will dry in 30 minutes and sands out nice. you might need to get a couple different colors and mix [vary easy] check it out hope that helps you

spray natural lacquer and if its not what you like you can always spray a burst over the natrural. I would go with the natural if it was me. I like to see the different wood that you have used love the strips going through the neck.

vary cool nice looking would like to see it when its all done

on one neck I used tung oil varnish whiped on with a old t-shirt. let dry over night and give it another coat . do this untill you get a finnish that you like. sand with 400 grit sand papper between coats. french polish you can get a nice finish on the neck with frech polish. this is a hand rub finish and is not hard to do. it is basicly thined out varnish that is whiped on by hand. please do you research for this and you will have no trouble.

I'm going through the same thing making my own fret boards. I started out making maple before going with rose wood.rose wood is vary cool and I would like to try one. I would think build a few before going with the rose wood. I can make all the mistakes on other woods like cherry or maple before going with solid rose wood that cost $$$ compaired to maple Good luck.

I will go along with luke and like to see the wood that I'm using natural.

never seen one. A good router is worth its weight in gold. I use a dewalt plunge router with dust collector and I have 3 porter cable router and never had trouble with any of them. I guess it would depend on what you want to do and how much you will be routing. I use mine all the time building solid bodies for guitar and bass. makita is another good router. you will want to stay with a 1/4 and 1/2 collets. the 1/2 router bits are more $$ but if your routing body shapes this is much easier. the 1/4 router bits are good for pickup cavities and neck routing. Good luck hope that helps

hi jackillac92 I go along with what justinF posted you don't know what is under the dark edges on that body. this might be a plywood body witch is nothing wrong I learned how to play years ago on a plywood guitar. being onest with you learn to live with the look of the guitar. to me it looks fine. you should see what I had to play on in my early years it was junk the strings sat about a 1/4 off the fret board but I stayed with it because I wanted to play. have you ever finished a guitar its not like painting your living room if it was me and this was my guitar I would not do anything but play it until you save enough money to get a little better one.

I would say for a blues tone to use {2]rio grande muy grande strat pickups neck and middle and a hot rail in the bridge. this is the pickups I use on several guitars and just love the sound. I have 3 strat all with rio grande pickups. have you thought of doing a hard tail string through bridge bridge. I think you can get a hard tail bridge with piezo. emd pickups they are no noise and that is cooll until you want a little feed back. check out the sound that the old blues player got and they did not have emg pickup and that is the tone that we are all in search of. I have a couple of guitars that have fender texas special pickups and they have got a nice sound. after all is said let your ears be the judge I hope that I have helped Good luck

if I understand you correct you got tear out using your router when using a pattern bit. some woods are harder then others that will happen now and then even with a good sharp bit and one way to avoid that is band saw 1/8 or [less] from you line then use your router with the pattern bit . the less you have to rout off the less chance you have for tear out. when I rout this way I have vary little trouble.. when rounting then end grain this will be when you might get tear out from any router. I hope this is what you asking and I hope this helps you good luck

ryanb I;m with you on that one all the way Southpa I use the same drill you gave your brother I love that drill and when I needed a new batt I found a new one on Ebay for 15.00 + shipping. so yes I got over 20.00 in one batt but I like the drill and have used it to build all kinds of stuff from [decks and speaker cabs I love it]

you should be fine as long as you seal it good on both sides and put some clear finish on it. I have made wood pickguards with no trouble. you might find you like them better for your project and you could make different pickguards out of different wood to go with what your working on.

with a bolt on neck I would go with the string through hard tail bridge the sound will have more sustain as you would get from a hard tail strat/ tele. what kind of pickups will you be using.

that looks cool love the woods you have there. I'm thinking of doing a neck through with curly walnut and maple.

Hi jimhndrx3 sorry to here about you getting riped off I would watch eBay and your call your local pawn shops and second hand stores. good luck to you

carbide tipped blade are out there but cost a bunch. I have a timberwolf re-saw blade that is like a hot knife cutting through butter. I think there cost around 35.00-40.00 give or take a couple of buck. a good blade is worth a few extra $$$ and once you use one then there is no going back to a junky blade. check out woodcraft.com has timberwolf blade be sure you set your band saw up correctly to re-saw this makes a world of difference. I hope I was some help Godd luck and work safe

Hi Jeff I did the same thing with my first finish. I let it dry in the sun and it baked it and the finish was cooked. I thought what did I do now. I sprayed out side then bring inside to dry. do a good wet sanding job and get on with the finshing and you know not to do that again.

looks cool I love the woods your using. I think the ash and walnut is a great combo. can you tell us what kind of tone are you getting using ash and walnut. this combo might be good in a music man eddie van hallen style guitar. what do you thinnk great looking Russ

I would use alder or poplar not to much $$$ if this is the first building project it might not be perfect but the next one will be better and so on. alder and poplar and bass wood would be a good choice. will you be building neck and fret board that can be a little more money. what I have found building my own. you learn with every project what to do and when to do it. building your own guitar is vary cool. I know I won't buy another guitar as long as I can build them. other thing to think about set neck or bolt on both are cool what bridge will you be using. do your reseach and things should be cool. and use project guitar forum peole are cool and the info is great I agree with Rich There is no wood perfect for all designs. You will develop personal favorites as you build with and finish different woods. great advice Good luck Russ