Hitone

Great Job. Here's to recycling. I just got finished doing the same thing. Check out my refinished bass I bought this bass off eBay for $40. I wanted it for the vintage pickups. It was in a similar condition. The previous owner had primed everything. Including the fretboard. With a lot of elbow grease and paint stripper I found a nice solid-body bass underneath. A little burst on the body and it's almost new. And those old pickups sound great. Good luck. Post pics

I am working on a new guitar that I am making all the hardware (pickup rings, bridge, headstock, etc.) out of one type of Texas Ebony. I bookmathed the headstock and the tailpiece. It looks great. I am just stuck on how to hinge the tailpiece. My question is how do most people attached the tailpiece? I see that Benendetto uses a violin style fastener. Which seems like a pain to use, especially when changing the strings. Myka uses some kind of brass bracket. This is what I am wanting to use, but where can I get or how can I make one? Artinger uses a wooden bracket, which is killer looking. I am just worried that this method would break over years of usage. I haven't found an info out there about this. If anyone knows of instructions (other than Benedettos method) please post a link.

Here's my version of a reverse V with a twist. I worked with a marketing firm to design a Mavericks styled guitar for their catalog. This is very closed to the actual logo with a few updates to make it playable. And it is very playable. Check out the video that I have showing build images as well as a few friends jamming on it. The guitar is a solid body poplar with a maple neck and fretboard. Humbucker and two single coils off a vintage Japanese guitar that I bought on eBay. I did all the painting using colored lacquer and a bunch of masks. I was even able to add white be flecked with some pearl additives I bought at a local hobby shop. I have donated this guy to an art guitar auction and it will be sold during a 3 day concert event in Richardson Texas call the Wildflower Festival. The proceeds benefit our local ISD art programs. I got to see the other builds and I have to say that as wild looking at this Mavs guitar looks all the others are just as incredible this year. However mine is the only totally hand made instrument. Hopefully that will show in the bids.

I guess I can make use of this posting and show off some of the Art Auction guitars. Background: Richardson Texas holds a music festival each year called the Wildflower Festival. During the event they hold a silent auction. The auction is made up of about 20 or so guitars that have been turned into works of art. Always a good time and a fun event. See more event images here. See more event images here.

The Dallas Mavericks guitar is an interesting story. A marketing company that was developing a catalog for Dallas Mavericks season ticket holders contacted me. They wante over-the-top items like the Neiman Marcus holiday catalogs. They had Mavs cars and diamond jackets. All kinds of crazy items. So I worked with the guys to design a Mavs guitar. I am not a huge basketball fan, but I have grown up in Dallas. That said I am a designer and I really like the logo they came out with a few years back. So after several designs and a photoshoot (notice the other HiTone in the picture) I was in the catalog. This guitar will be on display and auctioned off this weekend May 16-18 at the Richardson Texas Wildflowe Festival http://www.wildflowerfestival.net/

I always do my logo out of cut vinyl and it works fine under several coats of laqcuer. Though, it does take some coats to build up.

I mask mine off with blue painters tape. I put down a block of painters tape, take a computer print out, spray mount it down, then trim it out with an exact-o knife. I have a video of it on the tube. Note: Make sure you seal bare wood first. If not you will get bleed through under your tape.

Hey Everyone. Thanks for the nice comments. The Calendars are in. Order and I will ship. Order at GuitarTree.net Happy New Years!

Thanks for the leads. There are some really cool bridges here.

I bought a vintage bass in pretty bad condition and I'm planning on refinishing it. I bought it because it has some cool vintage humbucker pickups. The only thing missing is the bridge/tailpiece. Is there any resource for bass parts that offer more than just the standard fender style bridges? I would like to at least find a Gibson floating bridge or even a Gretsch hollowbody bridge style bridge. It seems that StewMac, LMII, and All Parts only carry Fender style.

I wanted to invite PG builders to check out the Calendar I put together. It has many PG builders in it, as well as that sweet "Guitar of The Month" that Wes made. http://www.guitartree.net/index.php?option...3&Itemid=34 I am Pre Selling them now. They Should be in this week and I will be sending them out. Not sure if they will get there by Christmas, but should be soon after. I am donating a portion of the proceeds to VH1 Save the music. Have a great 2008!

Awesome. Wow I am sooo happy for you. Let me know what I can do.

HiTone Guitars - Wedding Ceremony Guitar He likes to play guitar for his fiancé. She loves to sit and listen him playing. A marriage made in heaven. What better to give as a wedding present than a handmade instrument to commemorate this matrimony. I was commissioned to build this wedding bond. No pressure here. What I came up with was a Rosewood back and side acoustic version of my HiTone Fatboy acoustic guitar. This is the same shape my earlier made Fatboy hollowbody. Beside the body shape the rest of the instrument is based on the specs of a Martin Herringbone. Update: I just added my video to youtube. It's still a little rough, but you guys should get a kick out it. I made a few minor fixes to the video Specs: Back and Sides - Rosewood Top - Sitka Spruce Neck - Mahogany Binding - Cocobolo with bass woos strip Fretboard - Rosewood Inlay - MOP (couples initials) Tuners - Schaller™ vintage style, open back Finish - Pre-Catalyzed Lacquer, Black Lacquer masked top Blog of the build www.guitartree.net/hitone Note: I videoed the process I went through to create the top masked pattern. Look for it coming very soon.

I was surprised to see that Benedetto uses a straight truss rod in his book Making an Archtop Guitar. I guess it does work. Personally, I always route a curve channel. I do like the idea of routing a straight channel and adding in the curve with a few glued in strips. That would save me from always setting up a crazy curved jig. Recently, I made a truss rod for my acoustic guitar using Jim Williams book. I bent the rod, made a bronze cap and used tape (I forget what kind) to wrap it. It works. I used it when I was fretting the guitar just two days ago. Now if I could only figure out how to make a 2-way truss rod. Doe anyone know who manufactures truss rod's? Or fret wire for that matter? Good topic Jehle!

I like the mirrored tops. How do you do the cracks? Do you engrave the cracks under then apply mirrored vinyl? As for using thicker plexi I had a hard time trying to bend the 1/8" stuff. I would hurt myself or burn something down doing larger. I am thinking about going to 3-d design shop and see if I could get a mold made or something. Maybe even CNC the arched top and backs out of thicker blocks.

That's vinyl that's used for signs. I had the logo cut out to add to the Wildflower guitar. You can get plain sheets of it and apply it to the underside of a plexi pickguard.

I guess I can let you guys in on the real instrument I tried to build. I had a grand idea of building a clear hollow body guitar. I spent about a month forming the body and went through like 3 4x8 sheets. I was so close to getting it together. As you can see the side split on me. I spent so much time working with the bottom curve that I didn't realize the stress that the top side had on it. The other issue is that the glue for the plexi weld makes it very brittle. That's when thing start to crack. I did have some issues with the bending. Too hot would start to melt the plexi. Not hot enough would break it when you force it into the mold. I still want to build a clear hollowbody or semi-hollow body. How cool would that look with the center board floating in the guitar. Anyway, I thought I'd share my idea and see if any of you guys have good ideas on how to achieve this kind of instrument. I was looking into acrylic instead of plexi. I hear it's more flexible and easier to work with. What's you thoughts?

I have spent many hours for a guitar that I donated to be auctioned off. This may seem like a crazy thing to do. I certainly had that thought more than once. But, the magnitude of free advertising will hopefully more than pay for the effort I put in it. The Richardson Wildflower festival is celebrating it's 15th year. For that I made the Wildflower 15 year Hollow Body. The guitar is completely mahogany with a mahogany/poplular/mahogany neck. The tuners are vintage open back and the pickups are GFS vintage pickups. They sound really cool. The Richardson Wildflower Festival is a 3 day event. Some of my personal highlights will be Bo Diddley, Shooter Jennings, Eddie Money and The Romantics. At the event they have an auction of guitars turned into art. I saw this last year and told them I would built them a guitar. I did a guitar and CBG. I hope Bo stops by to check them out. http://www.wildflowerfestival.net/ My cheesy smile and the guitar Close up of the front The Headstock the pickguard graphics

Dave that is soooo nice. I have many questions. How did you laminate the veneer to the top? Did you use a vacuum seal? What kind of clue or cement did you use? It came out great. I also have to ask how did you spray that blue fade? Was that from a gun or a can?

http://www.guitartree.net/HiTone http://www.guitartree.net/HiTone image 01 http://www.guitartree.net/HiTone image 01 I have been working on a Tele for friend of mine. It was his request that I do it with my headstock. Which I think is working. I also finished the entire fretboard the same color as the body and neck. I wasn't sure how well this was going to turn out. I've seen fender do this on some custom shop instruments. It looks really cool now. Hopefully it will wear nicely. The color is a kind of TV yellow. I used the StewMac Guitar Finishing Step-By-Step book recipe. Actually I was going for a honey blond, but I the yellow was a bit brighter than I expected. Lucky for me the client loves the color. Next time I will experiment more on some scrap before I commit to a color. So far I have no string buzz without doing a fret job. Hopefully this will be the an easy set up. Something I'm not use to.

That's a really cool guitar. It reminds me of a Joe Driskill guitar I recently saw. It's a guitar he made for a quadriplegic player. Good work on the carbon fiber. Can't wait to see it done.

The pinstriping rocks. Big fan of the old hot rods and that plays off that style so well. Is that done over the clear or did you clear over it?

You know Rich, I've heard that and have thought about it. What I came up with is that if ever there was an issue with the neck. It could be replaced without destroying the instrument. I'm sure (way down the road I hope) that I could cut the neck off at the body, build a new neck and attached it with a dovetail. Now, I haven't looked into building an acoustic with a bolt on neck, but the thought really doesn't appeal to me. All of my electrics are set neck. I seem to have more issues trying to get a bolt on neck set up and aligned as well as a glued in neck. And there has got to be some added benefit to having essentially one unit with no screw or bolts to vibrate. But that just my thoughts.

I've made some progress on my Acoustic. I even contacted Jim Williams, the writer of the book I'm using. I thought the book left some details out. Come to find out I was just jumping ahead of the book. It's a pretty interesting way he builds a guitar. He uses a Spanish style neck for his 6 strings. Some people on this forum thought that was very strange. Personally I'm seeing some incredible acoustic response. Not sure if it's from the neck or not. I just can't wait to get it together. My Blog or images Front Back Binding

I recently built a guitar out of basswood and was blown away by the sound I got out of it. It was my first string-through. When strummed and I placed my ear to the body it vibrated just like a piano. The nitro finish also came out really nice and rock hard. The owner is extremely happy with the guitar. I've had very good luck with using somewhat lesser quality wood. One of my best guitars to date was made with a poplar top and back. Look at Benedetto's pine guitar. It's all in how you built it.