funkle

Melvyn Hiscock offers this method: Trace the cover with a sharp scribe on the guitar body. Set the depth of the router to the thickness of the plate, and carefully rout as close as possible to the scribed line. Clean up the perimeter with a sharp knife and chisel. -Sven

Oops, my bad. -Sven

There's a very good description of how to calculate your neck angle in the book "Make your own Electric Guitar" by Melvyn Hiscock (Required reading) -Sven

Check out these examples of highly figured mahogany http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woo...any,%20misc.htm There is a really nice guitar at the bottom of the page made from a mahogany crotch (ouch) -Sven

Thanks, interesting... Sounds like so experimenting is in order. When you bottom mount the PU, is it possible to have the PU mounting brackets and screws concealed? I suppose you could just put on a PU ring after the PU was mounted, or you could even make a ring from wood if you were delicate enough. -Sven

If you have a guitar body made of 2 different woods, lets say a mahogany bodied guitar with a maple top, will bottom mounting the pickup on the mahogany vs. top mounting on the maple effect the tone? Or does all the tone signature come from the bridge and neck? -Sven

I'm wondering how this wood sounds. I will be using either just the Shedua, or in combination with mahogany. It is used extensively in Warwick Basses. Rampart describes it as: "reflect a more round-range, not as bright as the hard rosewoods, but more lush" Sounds like the direction I'd like to go. I want a dark, warm mahogany sound. Padauk would be a possible alternative. Any opinions on how these woods sound would be great. -Sven

My 2 cents: I really think you have to take price into account when evaluating the quality of a guitar. It's not fair to compare a Korean, a Japanese and an American guitar on equal terms when they cost $400, $800 and $1200 respectively. Ibanez turned to Korea when Japanese labor costs became too high to produce for the mass market. The guitars that are still made in Japan are $800 or more, and they're very nice. I think that Korean guitars are technically very well made for the price, amazingly good actually. The workmanship, fit and finish are all very good. The parts may be on the cheep side, but acceptable. They've really come a long way in the past 15 years. And their quality control is very good, not like Current american offerings that are basically a crap shoot (I've seen $3,500 Gibsons that I wouldn't pay $300 for - don't get me started! ) Now Korean labor is getting expensive, and the big companies are turning to countries like China and Viet Nam for their production. My only complaint about the Korean guitars I've owned it that, although they look great, they just don't play quite as nicely as the older Japanese and American guitars. This is subjective, and possibly not important for a beginner, but the old (15-30 year old ) Japanese guitars are just looser and more musical feeling to me. So when I buy Ibanez, I turn to the used market where you can usually get a fine Japanese made model for the same price as a new Korean one. -Sven

I think it really looks pretty nice. Will it have a flat top or eased edges? I wonder if you could round the slightly pointy part of the lower-right bout (the convex part of the body in the bottom left of your drawing). I think the shape would flow a little better. -Sven

I saw McCoy Tyner give a speech, and he said "The most important thing about a chord is where it came from and where it's going, not the chord itself" Its the movement of jazz chords that gives a jazzy sound, rather than the chords themselves. And you can get by with pretty sparse voicings (2 and 3 note) and still get a great jazz sound, with the occasional big fruity jazz chord thrown in for effect. I guess what I'm getting at is that learning a few big jazz chords is still not going to sound at all like jazz. If you want to get a (quick) handle on this, I highly recommend the book "Contemporary Chord Khancepts" by Steve Khan. It breaks it down into such understandable and usable chunks. You'll be playing great sounding chord lines after a few lessons. And they are very contemporary shapes that use a lot of suspended voicings, very hip, and "out" sounding, not the excruciating "All the things you are" 7th chord type of thing. -Sven

Hi folks, The plans are finished (for now) and I have posted them in a bunch of formats at http://www.speakeasy.org/~sven/site/radius.html The plans are pretty involved, but I tried to get them to the point where someone could come very close to the correct shape with just the plans and photographs (which I will add later). This is a tough body shape to reproduce accurately, because it is really a 3 dimensional design, not 2D like many guitars. And getting the contours right is key to getting the awesome look and comfort of this guitar. Please note that I haven't actually built this yet, and while the dimensions are very accurately taken from the actual guitar, issues may come up during construction, so be careful, and I'm eager to incorporate any feedback that you can give. -Sven

It's a Novax. Charlie Hunter plays one of his guitars, it's guitar/bass. I saw another local jazz guy, named Pete Kraemer (I think) playing one. Cool idea - takes some getting used to. -Sven

Warmoth offers that as an option. Seems like a good way to go if you want to lighten the instrument and open up the tone a little without causing feedback issues. Here's something to drool over, and maybe get some ideas from: http://www.kbguitars.com/ he has really maxamised this technique -Sven

Yeah, I thought of that, but I don't think that's the case, because there are plenty of cheap semi-hollow ES335 type guitars, which are harder to produce than a chambered solid guitar. And even in the higher end market, you don't see that many. The thinline Tele is really the only major one around. Maybe the market is driven more by looks than sound? Or it could be because guitarists are so conservative about body styled. -Sven

I've noticed that many, if not most solid body projects end up being chambered, or semi-hollow. I was just wondering what it is about this approach that is attractive to everyone. I personally love chambered guitars. Once I got my Ibanez AM300, I was hooked. I love the mellow, open, woody sound. It's interesting to me that they are so appealing to builders, but are so scarce as production instruments. -Sven

Hi, I'm tuning up the drawing and adding some more info. When it's ready, I'll post it for anyone who wants it. -Sven

The Ibanez parts will take a long time to order. Stew Mac has some generic ones - the type that are used on a bass neck. -Sven

More like 100K I think. The machine actually calculates the relief and radius of each fret, taking into account the shape of a vibrating string, fine tuned to your playing style. It takes into account string bending when it does this too. It also corrects the intonation of each fret, so if the crown is not where it should be, it will move it. Pretty slick, I say. -Sven

Will you be using Figured sycamore? That is one beautiful wood! -Sven

I have not had a Plek set-up, but there is one of 3 machines in the US just a few miles from me 2 of my friends have had it done to their guitars. It is pretty incredible from what I've heard. Not that expensive when you consider what you're getting. -Sven

The trus rod, nut and bridge height are only part of the equation. In order to have the lowest possible action, your frets must be very level. If some are higher than others, or not properly seated, this can cause buzz. All of these parameters must be in balance. your local repair shop should be able to take care of this for you. If you want the ultimate in low action, you may want to consider this: http://www.plek.com/ There are only a few machines in the US, and it will set you back $200, but no human can come close. This is a better investment than pickups, effects or any other mods in my opinion. Your playing style can have an effect. If you hit the strings hard, or bend a lot, you may require higher action than some one with a lighter touch. Strings gage and fretboard radius have an effect as well. -Sven

The terms hardwood and softwood actually have nothing to do with how hard or soft the wood is. Softwoods come from evergreen trees and hardwoods come from deciduous. (I just learned that from studying for my architectural boards) -Sven

OK, There seems to be a lot of interest, so I'll put it up on my server in all formats and post the link. -Sven

Sure, I'll need to know what format you'd like: .dwg, .dfx, .pdf, .jpg, or Pwercadd for MAC. -Sven

I have detailed scale CAD drawings of the Radius body (same as the JS). I'd be happy to share them. The contouring is achieved with a combination of round-over bits and carving with surforms/spokeshaves. -Sven