Dave M

That might work out well in an Equal Temperament scale. It would especially help where the frets got a bit tight, with 31 frets per octave. It sure would make a bigger job out of laying out the fretboard though. I have decided to start with a 19 Tone Equal Temperament setup, and to do it with a six string, instead of a stick with 8 strings. There are a couple of people who have done this already, and there are already some tunings, and chord charts that people have worked out, as starting points. (For a real kick, check out Neil Halverstick on MP3.com, and listen to his Swing 19. it takes a few times listening to it, to adjust to the difference in scales, and to start to dig the notes between our normal notes.) This scale seems to lend itself to jazz grooves quite well. The other thought, is Just Intonation, where the notes aren't evenly spaced. There are large and small gaps between them. The problem here is that any sequence of frets only works for one root note within the scale. That means that each string will need its own fret intervals, requiring seperate short frets under each string. This could be a nightmare to calculate out, and when it was done, the guitar could only be played in one key. I even found a webpage about a player who convrted a guitar to 21 tone JI. It has a bunch of small partial frets and the like. He has some neat tunes as well. Any further thoughts? anybody at all tried microtonal music? Thanks, Dave

Our fusion project has included some alternate tuning systems recently. We are currently exploring the 19 tone and 31 TET systems (19 or 31 notes per octave, evenly spaced out, like standard scale.) I also really enjoy the sounds possible with the 43JI (Just Intonation) system (43 tones per octave, unevenly spaced, all based on true fractions ) but that is very difficult to play in, and if we get a great chord, it is usually by accident. There are other JI tunings with far fewer notes, that would be easier to play in. Except for keyboards (With special software) we play infinitely tunable instruments. (Trombone, Violin, Fretless bass, Slide guitar, fretless guitar, etc) They are nice, because they can play in any scale we need, but they are also very difficult to play in perfect tune, especially when you have to play by ear in unfamiliar scales and tuning systems. I plan to build some instruments dedicated to alternate xenharmonic systems, starting with an 8 string stick style guitar, that I have the parts for, but haven't started the fretboard on yet. I am thinking of doing it in a 31 note per octave tuning. I am also thinking of making a harp that could be tuned to different scales, but that is a bit outside of my realm right now. The other thing I was thinking of was making an electric guitar with interchangeable fretboards. I was just wondering what would happen if I made the main neck really stiff, and designed the fretboard to fit on top of the neck. It could either slide in from the side, into dovetail style grooves, or fit on with a couple of screws, or bolts. This would allow swapping of fretboards between tunings, without even loosening the strings. Is this a really stupid idea, or would it be possible? My other thought was to find a way of making the frets moveable. This way, I could just slide the frets up or down the neck into their proper positions, and clamp them tightly into place. This would rule out a tapered fretboard, or a compound radius, but would make for an infinite number of possibilities. I forsee a lot of technical problems with moving frets though. What I am trying to avoid is having to build a separate set of instruments for each tuning system. Has anybody here stepped outside of the world of standard western tuning yet? At first it feels like falling off a cliff. There is just nothing to grasp as you play. You keep looking for familiar notes, chords and structures, but they aren't there. The results can be really incredible though. There are a few instruments available, but I like to make my own. Anybody here dealt with the string intervals for alternative tuning systems? This is probably a bit too "Outside the box" for this forum, but this is the stuff that gets my creative juices flowing. Please feel free to comment. Thanks

Congrats! That's going to be a nice looking axe. I always liked the Hardtails myself. For a finish, the TV yellow would be cool, but also a Sunburst Style finish would look great. If the grain is really nice, just Tung Oil it, and admire it. (The real, unspoken advantage to tung oil finishes, is that they need to be periodically re oiled, and rubbed out, giving you an excuse to spend quality time caressing your guitar, and running your hands over its perfect curves... OK, getting a bit carried away here, but guitar lust is pretty cool, and even more so when you built it yourself!) That looks like when it is cleaned up, the grain will finish up fairly well. That would be a great place for a vintage burst finish. I would personally go with an orangish, yellow three color burst, and leave the inside of the body fairly dark yellow, or orange. I have always likes those finished on Strat style guitars. I have had Strat style hardtails, and some with a Humbucker, and two songle coils, but I have never done one with twin humbuckers before. That will make for a really nice sounding guitar. Let us know what type of hardware you go with, and keep us posted. I would really like to see pictures of that when it's done. Good Luck.

That's why I play Hardtail guitars. The best ways I have discovered are to make sure the strings aren't hanging up in the nut. They either need to be locked, as with a locking nut, or fully free to move back into place after a bend. Try making sure you don't have any tight, deep slots, where they could be dragging. Also make sure your tuners are tight. I had a tuner that would slip a little bit, when I got crazy with the bar. (Floating bar, and I was raising the pitch as well as lowering it.) The other thing is to make sure you don't have seven or eight loose sloppy turns of string on a post, as this will create tuning problems. Play without the amp turned on. Without strumming, shove the bar all the way down. Move it back and forth several times. If you hear creaking, or pinging noises from the strings, that will sometimes show you where the strings are hanging up a bit. I have never had a strat style trem that would really stay in tune for me. The only one I ever had, that would, was a Floyd Rose, with a locking nut. Even then, I had to retune between sets. Maybe some of the guys who still play with bars can be more helpful.

Those are wild guitars. I had seen the cuttlefish when I first checked out the site. I hadn't seen the sushi yet. I guess if somebody can cast that, I can stick a few broken rocks in a headstock! I think I will just get an old piece of wood, some sawdust, some clear epoxy. (I do resin casting and moldmaking) and grind up some shiny stuff, and see what I can make. If I like it, I will do it again, and put it in a headstock. I figure that the material wouldn't survive on a fretboard too long, although it might be neat to do a big fancy inlay with it on a scalloped fretboard. It would be able to handle the curved surfaces better than MOP, and it would not get as much abuse from strings and fingers. (Maybe after being inspired by the cuttlefish guitar I could do a scalloped fretboard with ... Scallops!) Thanks for the links, Dave

I am just toying with the idea of a 7 string hollowbody guitar. I would probably go with a flattop single cutaway single F hole design. It would be a fairly large bodied, guitar, and would probably have Carvin humbuckers in it. (I don't have the guts to carve an archtop yet.) I would probably try to tighten up the string spacing a bit, and not make it as wide as a regular 7 string, as it would be a bit easier to play that way. I would also need to think about pickups. I was thinking of Carvins, as they have the 11 plepieces, and would have better coverage of seven strings. My other choice would be bar magnet pickups. Any other problems I would encounter? Anybody built this beast yet? The possibilities are endless here. I could see a 7 string 335 copy, or a totally custom archtop, with doubled F holes on the upper bout ,and a radical cutaway. Any plans out there? THanks, Dave If nothing else, I hope this stirs up some discussion in the acoustic column here. I can't be the only one in here who tinkers with acoustics.

That's cool. What type of epoxy did you use? How fine was the ebony dust? How thick was the mixture? did you just work it into the slot with a tool, and then wipe off the fretboard? It looks like the kind of thing where pinstriping tape would make good masking material. Would it look okay on a larger area, or is it mostly for filling in fine lines? I really like the look of the vine on the maple fretboard. Thanks for the tips, Dave

I keep seeing crushed jewels, shells, etc on Ebay, for inlay work. They sell clear jewlers epoxy for this purpose too. I know nothing about this, except that my ex girlfriend thinks that it is a jewelry technique, and that it is related to enamel jewelry making. Maybe they are using the epoxy, because the glazing stuff has to be baked to cure, which might not work so well on a guitar. (Stratocaster BBQ in the kiln anybody?) I could see this looking nice on a guitar, maybe even combined with some fine metalwork, such as a headstock signature logo done with turquoise, coral, and MOP, with silver wire dividing the colors. (Churchwindow artwork anybody?) Am I onto something, or just out to lunch again? I remember seeing a couple of guitars a few years back, ,with small inlays of polished stones, and hammered silver in the headstock. The guy who made them was supposedly a jeweler from Chicago. They were really sharp. Anybody actually know how to do this type of inlay? do you just rout it out, ,and pour the stuff in, or do you have to prepare the bottom of the cavity. Does it shrink, and pop out? Any books, or websites on it? (I tried searching, but all I came up with was people selling jewelry) How hard would it be to stick a polished stone, or piece of polished glass into an inlay. I know I tend to get lost when I think outside the box, but sometimes the results are worth it. Thanks for the time and advice. Dave

Wow! great timing on your question I was just getting ready to write up a post on epoxy inlays when I saw your post. I will keep my thread separate, since it is a bit different technique, but I am sure we will be able to share some info from our answers. One thing I have seen, is a guitar that had a light amber quilted maple headstock, and a logo inlayed in Holly. The holly was cut undersized by about 1/32", and it was filled with Mother of Pearl, and black stained wood filled epoxy, leaving a dark cheatline around the light logo on the med/light background. The thing looked great, but I have no idea about the technique. I just saw the thing with a sign listing the materials used, and noting the holly and and Stained Mother of Pearl in wood filled Epoxy headstock artwork. I wish I could have found the maker, and asked about it. Anything that looks that nice is probably too much work for me anyways... Dave

A router and templates might help here too. You could at least take some of the excess amterial out of your way by using a router, and a couple of different sized templates. Use a template that covers the part of the top that will be say less than 3/8 below the top of the wood, and rout with 3/8 depth. then use a smaller template around the middle part of top, and rout out your next contour with a 1/4 inch depth. Make a couple three templates, and you're in. They don't need to be terribly accurate, as you are just roughing it here. Make sure you error to the side of leaving too much wood behind! (Don't ask me why I emphasize this...) (Wood filler just doesn't look right on Flamed Maple) When you are done, you should have a top that looks like it has two, three or four steps going around it. then start removing the peaks, and working the whole thing down smooth. Much easier than doing it totally by hand. If you don't have wide enough bits to remove that much wood, just remove a channel at each depth. It still leaves sort of a road map to follow, as you trim down your surface. One thing we did for half hull models at a buddy's boat shop, was to take a contour drawing, and place it on the block of wood. Then we would drill a bunch of holes, to the depth of the contours. We laid out a grid of these holes, all over the block. Then we just started attacking the wood with gouges, planes, chisels and the like, until we started getting to the bottoms of our holes. We were still about 1/8" off of our final dimensions, but it saved us a lot of time and measuring as we went, and it was virtually foolproof. A lot of hull models, and a lot of guitar tops have been wrecked by a slight loss of patience early in the shaping game, or by overlooking one measurement, and going too deep. I like to have some kind of a guide or roadmap to follow when I am doing these types of things.

Actually, it's pretty easy for a small time builder to knock out a few compounds. I use the blocks, myself, but I have seen the twin arm jigs. Just make the arms two different lengths. Make it like a swing with one chain shorter than the other, then swing it back and forth over a huge belt sander. I would build the belt sander into a benchtop, and build the frame over the top of it. By angling the top bar, and altering the uprights, any compound radius could be done. we had a jig just like this that we used to make the curves for wooden boat rudders, except we had a few extra steps in, as there were three different coumpound radii cut on top of each other for each side of the rudder, or daggerboard. I have seen wooden frames, with adjustible arms that look fairly easy to make. I wish I had made a couple of fretboards when I was working on the boats, but I never got the chance. One other small safety tip. Always know where everything is, when you turn on a 42" belt sanding table. Especially if you have a 38" inseam, and are standing next to a 42" workstand, with workboots on, and there is a coffee cup sitting on the belt. I'll let you all guess where that thing hit me, and the worst guess is gonna be the right one :o

This looks cool. I was thinking about doing a double with Strat or Tele parts. I had settled on the idea of an alder Tele, with a six/twelve setup. Just have more ideas and dreams than I do time and money right now. The body would be a bit different than normal for me, because a wide body like that, would ba a bit wider than my bandsaw throat. I would have to either work in the waste material for all of my cuts, or I could cut the outlines for my sections before I join then together. (I don't think I can afford a board capable of making a 1 piece body for this.) I would also have to scratch out a 12 string neck. I made a 12 string a long time ago, but I got the neck too durn heavy, I had no tone, and it felt like playing a water ski. I was afraid that if I went too lightly, it would warp, so I overestimated. Now you have me thinking about using two kits... This is a workable solution, except that instead of a 12 string, I could make a regular Tele, and one with a humbucker in the bridge position, along with hotter pickups. The difference in tones could make for some possiblilties during shows. I wonder if it would be feasible to just graft a new headstock on to one of the necks. either this, or look for one of the big paddlenecks, and do some careful engineering of the holes. (And use mini tuners and light strings) really cool stuff. Teles still rule!

I cut it fairly close with a band saw, then use a hand plane to shave it down. Much more control for me than a router. (Probably because I use planes a lot more than routers though) Final touchups are done with a cabinet scraper. Then I install the frets, ding it all up, and gouge it out, while smoothing the ends of the frets, and generally trash it. :o I think I'm gonna build a fretless next Dave

I am not sure if you would need something that thick. I would think about using an angled headstock, and then stacking a lamination on right at the heel. Would you make a bolt on neck? For something like this, my first thought would be to run the neck all the way down to the bridge, and just put some wings on it for the body. Takes a bit longer piece of wood, but takes all of the problems of a joint out of the picture. The main thig that I would be wondering abut is the neck contour. I would probably have the bass side a bit thicker than the trebel side. Even so, you would gain a bit of strength, as the middle section would have some extra mass, compared to putting a pair of necks side by side. Looks like two truss rods would work pretty well. You might even get away with making it a tiny bit thinner than a regular neck, depending upon how heavy your bass strings get. I built a regular 6 string, back in the '80s, and set it up from the start to play two handed tapping style. I had a 24" radius, and almost no relief in the neck, and killer low action. I made it a neck through, with wings, and had both magnetic and piezo pickups in it. I think the guitar was okay, but I never learned to play it very well. Later, I tried the same concept with a seven string model, and had the same problem. I couldn't play it too well. I don't have either one any more, but I keep thinking that an 8 or 9 string model would be cool. I might even make the next one with a stand, and play it seated, like a steel guitarist would. Just a few random thoughts on the subject, Dave M.

That's sweet! I have built Tele kits for buddies, but I usually left them stock. Now I am doing a Tele from an aftermarket neck, and routing out my body from a slab. I am going to do the string through bridge too. I used to jam with a guy who had both options on his Tele', and he would start a new string through the body. He always broke E strings at the tuning peg. (Don't ask me how, he just did) When it broke, he would then pull it out, and thread it through the bridge the normal way, and have another half inch or so to rewind onto the peg. He saved money by breaking each string twice! See, that feature isn't just cool, it's practical, and efficient. Tele's rule! Kit Tele's are even more boss! Truly the everyman's guitar. How does it play and sound? Any noticeble difference in sound when you run the string through the body, or just to the bridge? Which do you like better for bending? How do the Kluson tuners work during bending?