JackyB

I picked up a Fender Newporter for $40. It's absolute trash right now. I'm guessing the strings it came with were the original ones it was sold with. I'm not sure about the story behind it, but I'm guessing it went into storage for 30-some years. It has all kinds of imperfections in the finish. The tuners are terrible and are showing signs of rusting. There's a huge split in the wood running from the bridge to the tail. The body looks like it's mainly made out of mahogany, same with the fingerboard. The neck looks like maple. The purpose of this project is to prepare me for my first "real" project guitar, and to show maximum gain from minimum effort. Here are some "before" pictures. I didn't decide to take pics until after I took it apart, so it's in pieces. Here's an overview of the body: A view from the bridge looking towoards the tail: A lighted angle to show finish damage on the back: An overview of the back: A better view of the crack from the bridge to the tail. Also notice finish damage: Angled view of the crack: Rear of headstock, tuners: Front of headstock. I might fabricate a new tree for the strings, the stock one is almost rusted through: Overview of the fingerboard. You can't really tell because the blurry picture, but it's covered in a layer of grime. Rear of neck. It's covered in some sort of nasty, green grime. Any ideas on how to fix the crack? I was thinking about sanding it all down level, then filling up the crack with some wood putty and sanding until it's level again. Then stain it with the rest of the wood. I'm going to have to sand down the whole body regardless. I'll clean up the maple part of the neck, too. I'll pick up some sandpaper and wood finish tomorrow before work. I'm guessing this project will take a week or so to finish up. Open to thoughts/comments.

I don't know about the Warmoth guitars... By the time you pay for a finished guitar, you might as well have the real thing. I'm eventually going to get a real Wolfgang, but right now I've shifted my attention to this right here: http://www.rondomusic.bigstep.com/item.jht...98&PRID=1037784 $300. I haven't heard anything but raving reviews for them on harmonycentral. Plus the price is right...

I'm living in an appt now, so I don't have access to my router. I left my tool chest close to the front in my rented storage garage, so I can still access anything in there... Now what are my options? I obviously can't route a new body. I could find a place that lets you rent time in a wood shop, but that could get costly, and I wouldn't want to make my first guitar with tools I'm not familiar with. This basically limits me to three options: 1. Premade, unassembled guitars. 2. Premade, assemebled guitars. 3. Production guitars. Once I found a website that sold cheap Strat and Tele copies that you put together. It came with all the wiring and such you'd need. However the bodies aren't finished, and the headstocks weren't shaped at all. I also vaguely remember a website that offered several generic body shapes, and gave lots of options as far as customization goes. I don't think they ship with any kind of finish. And of course, I could just go to a guitar store and buy a guitar. The only production guitar I'm remotely interested in right now is a Peavey Wolfgang, however very few guitar stores carry them, so I would probably have to order off the internet. If I did order a custom guitar, how would I get it finished? Would it be hard to find someone to finish it for me? Also, if you could provide me with links to either of the afformentioned website, that would be great. I lost all my links when I had to reformat. Thanks.

OMG! That's cool as hell! Probably cost a fortune though. Yeah, I'd imagine it would probably cost more than the guitar they put it on, but I can't find any sort of estimate on exactly how much they run for. I'd imagine anywhere around $3,000 to $4,000.

Check this out, pretty damn cool. It sounds really cool going from the Dmaj7 to the Cm9. It's cool how you can like hear it start to lock in. http://www.selftuning.com/video/tuning_example.htm

Check your PM box.

Great inlay job, I'm sure your mom will love it. Did you do the design completely by hand, or did you have a reference photo or template of some sort?

You'll find everything you need to know in these two links: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...p?showtopic=220 http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...?showtopic=2828

$10 is a small price to pay for everything you get.

I've been doing some Googling, and yeah most of the Wolfgangs have carved tops. I didn't like the shape either the first time I saw one, but it kind of grew on me. The headstock is particularly fascinating. Probably my biggest obstacle would be finding a decent build plan and/or templates. I'm thinking I might stick with the LP just for simplicity's sake...

Wow, that looks incredibly cool. Makes me want to do one of my own, but I know I'd end up with a disaster. I had another idea of making a Wolfgang, that would probably be fairly easy. I would probably use all the wiring etc. from a LP for more tone options. Then I could just buy a LP copy from JHS or something. Has anyone ever tried a Van Halen style body? Are they carved top? Thanks again for all this info.

Sweetness. Be sure to 'donate' it to the download section.

Boobs or guitars?

I feel a bit silly for asking all these questions, but I'm new to all this, so please bare with me. First of all I love the designs of both the LP SC and PRS DC, but I need to decide on one for my first project. I know either way I go, I want a carved top. The PRS' carved top looks very intimidating to do, whereas the LP will still be difficult, doesn't look nearly as difficult to do. Which one do you recommend I do as a first project? Thanks again for any help and/or insight.

You might find this website useful. He did his carved top using a router, chisel, and belt sander. http://members.fortunecity.com/jtfish/lpc/...c/cvr/cover.htm "Shaping the Body."

Thanks for the information. I'll gladly contribute to PG. Stewart Mac charges $12 for the LP template alone. Paycheck next week.

If I'm not mistaken you have to make a donation. I'm not sure how much exactly, but I'm trying to figure it out myself. If any senior members know please enlighten us.

I think they make cheaper ones... The kind they sell at wallmart. It's a strat-style electric guitar, a small amp, cables, picks, strings, and a tuner all for like $80. Quality is soooo poor, but it's not that bad if you're just starting out.

It's looking pretty good... Man that thing is tiny. And I can't help but comment, that stainless guitar looks like it could kill someone if you're not careful.

Excellent design. I was skeptical at first because you said "Tele design" and Teles are something that I'm not too fond of. But the design was great and I like the headstock shape. I usually don't like pointy and obnoxious headstocks, but there's something creative and original about yours that I can't help but love. I like the finish, too. Not too many people would just leave it natural like that. Nice job, man.

Hmm... How much do you think is a fair amount to donate? I couldn't find anything on ebay. I found these dimensions: And this picture, which can be expanded to scale and used as a template: So what dimensions of which wood do I need?

Okay that makes a ton more sense. Thanks for the help, I'll probably have more questions later. Looking forward to the links.

Yep that's it. It doesn't appear to be on all their SC's though.

This best example in the pictures you posted is the teal one in this picture: http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/...9/417925_20.jpg It's also in the brown one below, but more obvious in the teal. Contoured heel is when the cutaway is sanded down a bit... Allows better access to the higher frets. Maybe countoured heel isn't the right word for it..

Okay, from what I understand bookmatching is when you cut it through the z dimension, and fold it open and glue those together so the wood design is symetrical. Is this correct? So I'll be needing a block of wood that is twice as thick as the actualy guitar body? Sorry about all the questions, I'm new to all of this.