the telecaster kid

You sure can do a maple neck on a Les Paul. Here is an excellent example, and it has an ebony fretboard as well:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...c=27222&hl=

Not doing any inlays won't cause any issues.

I just noticed that you said your top is only a 1/4 of an inch. I guess you don't plan on a carved top?

You'll also want to grab some EMG active pickups, which is what he uses.

CMA

No carved top, im too cheap to buy maple that thick. The 1/4" set is for a drop-top.

As for the pickups, I'm jsut gona go with the Stewmac Hot Classic Humbuckers, sans covers. Partially because I'm cheap again, and partially because i hate the idea of changing the batteries on a guitar.

And i wasn't really concerned about the no inlays thing, i just think buckethead's guitar looks cool with the all black fretboard. Plus, i played on my friend's les paul custom, and i really like the feel of the ebony, very responsive.

I'm new in the guitar building scene, and as I've learned from my first build, I have to do a lot more detailed planing before jumping in. This time I'm thinking of buying a les paul plan, and doing everything standard, with a few exceptions. I already have a bookmatched spalted/flamed maple top set, which i think would look very cool with a classic sunburst finish. I alo have access to all the mahogany I need, but I can also get some maple. I mentioned this because I really like Zakk Wylde's sound, and though I know most of the sound come's from the technique, I don't think it's unimportant that he uses a maple neck. Basically, I'm looking for a les paul sound with a little more edge. I don't know though, should I spring for the maple neck? The maple top I have is only 1/4", so it won't have too much noticable effect on the sound, but I'm sure a maple neck would have a huge effect. I'm also thinking of doing an un-inlayed ebony fretboard (ala buckethead). Would that have a big effect on the sound, without the maple neck?

Wow, that looks really good. I like pretty much everything about that guitar, nice job. One question though: where'd you get the korina? I just read about how great it is, and how it goes good with spalted tops(just bought a spalted top), but I haven't been able to find any. Thanks

Here's a suggestion, sparked by your "two-pickups-in-same-cavity" idea that I've wanted to try for a bit.

What about having a single-coil sustainer pickup right up against the bridge of a 22-fret neck, then a regular neck humbucker pushed right up against that, and a normally-placed bridge hum. You'd be able to use the sustainer to get a really warm, mellow, sweet note, and the neck pickup would sound as if it were placed against a 24-fret board. I'd love to do this for a guitar project, and wire the 3 pickups to a 3-way switch.

Seriously, how many H/H/S setups have you seen?

Jerry garcia had one.

Dude, i looked at the other ones you designed, and theyre pretty sick. That wild design jsut does it for me. Keep it up, but, you know by now, make your own logo.

thanks. im still learing about all this. ive been at it for about 2 years, but i am all self taught. im only 17, and is hard to pay for supplies. that wild one is going to be a flat black with emgs. i am starting another one soon that will be neck thru mahogany wings and neck.

Yah, I'm sixteen, and i started my first project a month or so ago. http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...=my+first+build. Its coming out alright, but nowhere near as professionally as the people on this forum.

Dude, i looked at the other ones you designed, and theyre pretty sick. That wild design jsut does it for me. Keep it up, but, you know by now, make your own logo.

How`s your 8 coming along?

Well Im waiting on a few parts but things are moveing along very well, Im trying to find a set of active pickups that are not EMGs to try on my build

Any way man thats a wicked guitar and I love its slick clean look and the neck is PURE SEX

WICKED STUFF

!!METAL MATT!!

Thanks Matt.

Yeah, your kind of limited on options fo r an active 8 string pup, but I have been talking with a few pup makers about this sort of thing. I have a pair of 808`s on the way and I`m anxious to here what they sound like. Eric gave them high reviews when he tried them @ Messe.

Ive been thinking about an 8 string for my next build, but I don't know where to find 808s, where did you order yours from?

Sorry to say,dude,but I think you should start over.This time with a plan.I have no idea how you are ever going to get proper fretboard height or ever shape your wings or neck profile properly with it all glued together rough cut like that.I say that because I made the same mistake on one of mine a while back,and it sat in the corner for over a year before I finally cut it back apart and started over.

Well, I've invested a lot of time and money into it, so I'm going to try to finish it, if it's not playable, damn, lesson learned. I'm definitely going to plan out my next one much more thoroughly.

Update:

As you might be able to tell from the pics, the magony neck channel is too wide, so I'm going to my friends house, (friend who has a better workshop than me) and I'm going to put some redwood on either side. (he just had it lying around.) Not sure how its going to look, but It'll certainly be better than te grooves on either side.

Draw it to scale first. Get the scale, string spacing, pickup location, neck location etc. figured out before you go any further. Building an 8-string guitar will not be cheap.

Yah, I did a little research and found out that 8 string pickups and bridges are almost impossible to come by, so I think I'll go 7, with the extra high string. I don't really want the low string anyway.

I did, well, the guy at the lumberyard hit all the sides with the joiner, taking off at least a total of an inch. They were really good edegs when i glued them, the top looked pretty bad though.

I like that body shape, it reminds me a bit of the Vampyre basses that Warwick makes. Very cool

I'd also agree with Jon, though, in either jointing or dowel-ing the pieces before gluing them. Even though you said you did, it doesn't look so in the pictures. I'm not calling you on it, just saying.

Also, the glue pictures show 4 pieces being glued together, but the cut out body is a 5-piece. What happened there?

I didn't want to waste the mahogany, so I cut a channel into the body and set it in.

I suggest jointing the boards before gluing.

I did. The top and back are still rough int he picture, but the sides were smooth.

I'm starting to get to the end of my first project, and I'm already getting antsy about making another one. This time I'm thinking of an 8 string, as their starting to become poplular, and i like the idea of it. I've got this wierd cutaway violin shape that I drew out full size.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/spie...X/guitar001.jpg

I'm thinking of having a rosewood through the body neck, and a chambered mahogany body with f holes, an arched sitka spruce top, and flame a maple arched back and sides. That and an ebony fretboard with 24 frets, 25 inc scale, and two humbuckers. I know this sounds really ambitious but what the heck, I might as well shoot for a nice guitar.

Has anyone done this yet? Any input is great.

Well, at long last, I got my digital camera working. Here are some pictures:

Wood Being Glued:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/spie...rX/IMG_2752.jpg

Wood after being glued:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/spie...rX/IMG_2755.jpg

Sideways: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/spie...rX/IMG_2754.jpg

And the blank as it is now (Ignore Cat):

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/spie...terX/guitar.jpg

Any input is great!

I haven't planned out my guitar very well either, but I find it gives me the oppertunity to learn how to fix mistakes and turn them into design features.

I don't know what shape you are planning to make it, but if the wood is too big couldn't you just cut it smaller, or change the neck join?

As for the neck not being as thick as the body for a neck through, I think you could probably rout out a channel in a one piece body blank and fit the neck in that way.

Well, I suppose this is going to sound really unprofessional, but I've decided to change the direction this project is going in enteirly. I realized that the fact that the body was too big might be a blessing in disguise, and decided that I don't really need three electric guitars, but I do need a bass for recording. So, It's going to be a 34" scale 4 string bass. I suppose you could call that turning a mistake into a design feature. As for the neck, I took it to my friends house, a friend who has a real shop. I did end up cutting a channel out of the body, and setting the neck in that. Im pleased with how It's turning out now.

OK, feel free to ignore this. I found the problem, my ruler's 10 inches long. Forgive my stupidity.

I'm obviously doing something wrong, because, from what I've read, the scale length should be exactly twice the distance from the nut to the 12th fret. Well, on my standard fender mexican telecaster custom, the distance from the nut to the 12th fret is well over 15 inches. Does that give me a 30 inch scale? I've checked some other fender guitars, and none of them have strings that are 25.5 inches from nut to bridge. Help! What am I doing wrong?

Well, I jsut realized that my body is huge. It's not really going to work with the 24 fret gibson scale, because the bridge will need to be 2/3s of the way up the body. So, I';m going to change the whole idea, and make it a bass. 5 string, 24 frets, with whatever material fretboard i can get. Anyone have any comments?

Yep, it is, but I can't find the cable for my camera, so I cant upload any. Whatever, i got my blank cut into shape today, and im now shaping the neck.

Laminated on the headplate. Some kindof curly ash i had lying around. Looks good, it's a little thick, but everything's gonna get planed down anyways.

I say go for it, but don't listen to me, I'm in the middle of screwing up my first build.

Also, what program did you use to design that?

Yes, I plan on doing so early tomorow. Thanks for the input.

Yeah, I know, but the bad part is that i actually did. I got my protractor out and figured out the angle, just when i started cutting the saw was off a couple millimiters, and byt he timei figured it out it was too late. It all worked out tho.

Well, ive got the headstock laminated on, but it was way ahrder than it needed to be, cuz i messed up the angled cut, so I had to spend about half an hour planing and sanding it to the right angle, and then, getting the clamps to hold it in place was another wonderful project. But now everything's good, except of course, the piece is four feet long, and i dont know how long itneeds to be exactly, so, obviously, i can't laminate the heel on just yet. However, I have also reached another dilemna.

My piece of mahogany is about four feet long, and i think i might want it to go through the body, as it simplifies things and from what i hear plays and sounds better. The body isn't one piece anyway, so i wouldnt't be debeautifying anything. However, my piece of mahogany isn't thick enough to be part of the body, so I don't know what to do. I suppose i could laminate something to the back of it, not sure what though. Ok, now im just thinking out loud, if you ahve any suggestions, they would be much appreciated. And like i said, pictures will be up tomorow.