funkle

WHAT!?!?!?!! Seriously, I always use ear protection. As a musician, it's too important of a thing to mess up. Using a fortner, then cleaning it up with a router is the recommended method. Don't even attempt to use a forstner if you don't have a drill with stop. A couple options if you don't have a drill press: You can use one of those little drill press attachment for your hand drill, or plunge router. -Sven

http://www.vintique.com/necks.html sells a kit complete with threaded inserts and neck plate. You can buy the threaded brass inserts at some hardware stores for a lot less than the vintique kit. These are a little tricky to install. The holes need to be very accurately drilled and sized, the inserts want to go in crooked, and the brass will break if you're not careful with your screwdriver. A drill-press is helpful, and carefully select the screwdriver you use to install them. I'd try it on a test piece before messing up a neck. -Sven

There is some great looking work at your site. Is this your own site, with your own guitars, or a collection of builders. I don't read Korean very well, sorry. -Sven

http://www.jenkinssoundshop.com/ builds custom enclosures loaded with Webers. There are some nice looking cabinets at the site if anyone wants some construction and cosmetic ideas. There are some cabinet parts for sale too. Building your own cabs would be fun. There's a lot that goes into it acoustically. Closed back and open back cabs sound very different, and the size, shape, construction and bracing all have an effect. The Jenkins cabinets have a removable panel that converts them from a closed back to an open back. I think I would like to experiment with that - maybe build a cabinet, then try different size backs until I find the configuration I like. -Sven

I've always had great luck with Stew Mac. They've shipped quickly, and their prices are great. I've not tried the necks. -Sven

It already has 3 bids on it, and it's at $70! That's pretty amazing. Somebody must want it because it's so weird. -Sven

It's like kindergarten! "tell us your name and a little about yourself" I'm 36, I live in San Francisco, I'm married (to a woman), and I'm really into mountain biking and scuba diving. I'm an Architectural designer, and I'm in the process of taking my boards to become a licensed architect. I've been self-employed for 4 years (a few of them actually gainfully!) I work on residential projects, and I also have a computer modeling business http://cmrstudio.net/ and I also own a web based business. so I have the freedom to allot my time as I please - and there are a thousand things I should be doing instead of this! I've made some kit and parts guitars, and restored a bunch of guitars, and I'm "I can build it" man. I was planning a Warmoth guitar project, when I decided that I really don't care for any of the traditional guitar shapes. So why don't I design my own? I've got design skills and woodworking skills, and access to a killer shop. I've been really focused on this for the last 3 months, reading and trying to absorb as much as I can for the first guitar. The wood is ordered and on it's way! -Sven

Here's some info on bending instrument wood: http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/BendingMaple.asp -Sven

Does anybody have accurate dimensions or a template of the AANJ in CAD form? Thanks -Sven

Great tutorial Drak, By "orange shellac" do you mean orange tinted? Why do you add the hot stuff after the shellac goes on? wouldn't you want to put it on first so it would soak into the wood? Will the shellac show the texture of the wood, or will it produce a smooth surface? -Sven

Or better yet, if you don't have a lot of finishing experience, you could hang onto that top for a later project, and buy something easier to finish this time around - perfect your clearcoating skills on a piece of more uniform closed grain wood. If you do use the wood, take John's advice and do a lot of test pieces before you do the final go. I was actually kind of surprised when you referred to this wood as dull. I think it will look stunning if you can get a good finish on there. I wonder if using conversion(component) finish would make sense here because of it's ability to flow and fill? Any thoughts? -Sven

Here's another place to check. Their prices are higher, but they have some very exotic looking stuff. http://www.gilmerwood.com/ -Sven

It is pretty standard procedure to wet down wood before photographing it for sale online. This does give a fairly good idea of how it will look when it's finished, better that dry wood anyway. http://www.galleryhardwoods.com/index.html has some nice wood. You have to click the Gallery link to see the guitar tops. They're all wetted down. http://www.cookwoods.com/ has some very nice looking wood on eBay, a lot of good sized pieces for guitar tops, if you have the capability to bookmatch. There's some great looking wood on eBay, but it's tough to know what your going to end up with. Some of the bigger outfits have a refund policy. -Sven

I always like it when builders push their designs. Here's a builder with a novel design. Manne Guitars It's a little like something from Battlestar Galactica, but the more I look, the more I like. Ergonomics and balance look great, despite a few sharp corners. I think guitarists are so traditional when it comes to guitar design, we're still fixated on the very first designs that came out 50 years ago. Bass players are much more progressive. -Sven

Did you look at warmoth.com? The basic strat style necks are just over $100, and the quality is first rate. -Sven

Hell, I'll give you my old Saga guitar strat body if you pay the shipping. It is birch ply construction (not fit for kindling wood). It has about 80 layers of Deft, and car spray that will have to be stripped - It'd be fun to see it turn into something pretty. -Sven

"G0013 Weathersquare" looks incredible! There's some really cool stuff there. The web site doesn't explain this very well - The bodies are actually 3D objects cast in resin on a mahogany back. Sorry to get so far off topic here, but these are the basses made by the same guy: http://www.spaltbasses.com/ And these are his conventional guitars: http://www.garageguitars.com/sandshome.html They are chambered construction with a deep penetrating tung oil finish. -Sven

They do look really cool. I want to buy one and hang it on my wall. They actually sound, and play great. They had a booth at a guitar show, and I tried them out. The mahogany back is responsible for the great sound. He uses rosewood necks with a tung oil finish - this was the best feeling neck I ever felt. -Sven

Anyone seen these? http://www.totemguitars.com/archive.html -Sven

Here's a few tremolos that require no rout: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailp...e_Tremolos.html http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailp...Tailpieces.html A Floyd style is different in that it is designed to have extreme range, both up and down, without going out of tune too much. The top mounted trems will not be able to dive bomb until the strings go loose, like a Floyd, but if you don't want that, these may be a better choice. To get the range of a Floyd, you probably need the routered design. -Sven

Umm.... That'd be me Interesting observations Drak, especially about the Rorschach test. Well put. Although, I would like some of you guys who have built a bunch of chambered guitars to share your impressions and describe what has and what hasn't worked. -Sven

Yeah, I wonder about the screws too. probably not ideal, but close enough to get an idea. Definitely bolt on! I'm talking about just slapping it together. No rounded edges or anything, just a hunk of swiss cheese with a neck and pickups screwed on. -Sven

Just throw some clear cote on there! If it's good enough for Ibanez, it's good enough for you

I have a lot of the same concerns myself. All I know about this is what I've pieced together. But the my info is sketchy at best. Here's a plan: Get a cheap hunk of acceptable tonewood, cut out the rough guitar shape. Screw on a cheap piece of 1/4-1/2" unfigured maple or something, router the neck pocket and pickups, throw together a quick and dirty guitar and record a bunch of tones from clean to dirty, and jot down playing impressions. Unscrew the top, router out some cavities like the warmoth mentioned above, repeat the playing impressions. Then continue to router away wood, recording sound and impressions with each pass. It seems like a little extra work and expense, but in the long run, you may avoid a blotched attempt, and get a much more dialed in result on the first attempt, which is what we all want, right? You may even be able to get wood that is blemished, checked or otherwise substandard from a supplied at a discounted brice. Any thoughts on this? -Sven

I would think that the more you rout away, the more you will effect the tone, approaching the sound of a hollowbody. The bigger the cavity, the more you will change the tonal emphasis from hi/hi-mid bite to a lower tones. Attack and other acoustic properties change as well, as you start getting more "acoustic" type qualities. And the more to add to the acoustic resonance of a guitar, the more prone it will be to feedback. As far as research goes, I think there's been quite a bit done by the builders that specialize in hollow guitars - only it's the trial and error type, not the quantitative type. Here are a few interesting FAQs from the Harmonic Designs site: Tele weights http://harmonicdesign.net/faqsfolder/faq15.html How Do Non-Factory Routs Affect Tone? http://harmonicdesign.net/faqsfolder/faq4.html This one is interesting too: Are maple necks really always brighter than rosewood necks? http://harmonicdesign.net/faqsfolder/faq21.html -Sven