Muzz

Just before Christmas I made a base for an antique table top out of Tasmanian Oak, and I thought, what would Tassie Oak look like on a guitar? Now I know, your guitar gets the,

hello friends

I'd like to share with you my first experience on guitar building

hope you like it!

I certainly do like it it has a beautiful vintage look, the caramel colour of the body is great, lovely work

question,, when I strip the head I'm sure that the veneer top on it will come off as it has already started to pull up in a small area. would I have to replace this small top or could I leave it with just the bare maple????????

Have you tried lifting up the piece of veneer? If it comes off easily you could remove the whole piece then glue it back on or replace it. If it is stuck fast apart from the lift you could just glue that bit back.

With the buckle rash stain does it still look pronounced when you wipe the wood with turps?

(getting on the soapbox)

Speaking of lack of recognition, how about Rush! Snubbed every year by the R&R-HoF, largely ignored by radio, and generally considered "also-rans" in the guitar magazines unless there's a new album. Geddy & Neil are almost universally recognized as among the top 2-3 in their instrument. I don't know is Alex is capable of thinking inside the box. Insightful lyrics, masterful musicianship, critical acclaim by their peers.... Yea, I can see why nobody acknowledges them.

I agree, Rush combine virtuosity with skillful songwriting, this for example

is an amazing album.

Hey, more overlap than I thought. I did not know that Kirk Hammet was in Exodus before Metallica, yes it was Dave Mustaine I was thinking about. I haven’t listened to much from Exodus except that awesome version of ‘Bitch’ on the ‘Paint it Black’ album. Rawwwk solo and the stereo throb effect on the guitars is fantastic, if you listen to it loud on headphones it feels like your brain is being massaged.

One tiny bit of overlap between this set of influences

Gary Moore, Mick Ronson, LA Guns, Metallica, Stryper, George Lynch, Brian May and Warren Di Martini

and this one

I am into the more Exodus/Slayer/testament/Lamb of God/Megadeth sort of stuff.

A member of a band named in set 2 used to play in a band named in set 1.

Anybody get any good guitar gear for Christmas?

I like the dark colour, it fits the theme, my choice would be to keep it and go on to the finishing stage.

Yes a forward scroll headstock might be a bit much, but if you choose to shape the stock Saga paddle now or in the distant future. Something non symmetrical like this,

could look good.

Looking good, is it a Saga?

What are you going to do with the headstock? Something to fit the violin theme might be nice.

DiMarzio

Super 2

Yep there are lots of different ways to get cool and varied sounds. Some preamps can produce thick sounds that don't need any power amp clipping. On the other hand using a Variac to lower the voltage into the amp can work the power tubes and still keep plenty of snappy attack for fast picking.

The 20/20 would be a stereo amp but it should be able to be bridged to make a mono 40 watt power amp. I am way too lazy to use a stereo amp but I have heard some guitarists use it to great effect with chorus and delay modulation panning between the channels.

What sort of thrash/speed metal bands are you into Wes? I really dig intricate leads with melody, Gary Moore on the Over the Hills album really sends me to another place and Mick Ronson, LA Guns, Metallica, Stryper, George Lynch, Brian May and Warren Di Martini all have the technique that I like.

:D

Yep, different people have different opinions on this, and that’s a good thing. Two ratings I have never had a lot of confidence in, waistband measurements on trousers and wattage ratings on amps.

A few times I have used a 50 watt Marshall and I have turned it all the way up to 10 in a medium sized room, no problem, they don’t seem that loud to me. I find a 100 watt Marshall to be roughly 2.5 times as loud as a 50 watt, but everyone else tells me they are only 1.5 times as loud. You’re absolutely right other lower wattage amps seem louder than their rating suggests.

I love the sound of power tubes maxed out. It’s a lovely smooth, sustain for days that you can feel in your guts.

I don’t think that power amp distortion or even tubes are essential for the modern metal sound, so there are ways of getting that tone without 6L6s as an essential part of the equation. A lot of the sound is in the tuning and strings on the guitar, tune it down, get some nice tight response overdrive happening boost the bass and the mod metal tone should happen.

I have never tried a Sans Amp I must give it a go if you recommend it. I have noticed that the power amp that is paired with various preamps makes a huge difference to the tone. There seems to be a compatibility or chemistry issue at play.

This has been sitting at the back of my shelves for a while. I had forgotten how much fun this toy is.

I plugged it into my computer and played a little bit of Monty Norman for a sound bite

So don't be shy, boast your distortion toast

I was hoping it was an aftermarket attachment. Its fine if you need a new router but it does not help someone like me who will be looking for a new router in like 20 years.

Show that router who is boss You do not want to be cleaning up after it for the next 20 years .

Here is a pic of the attachment that will take your dust woes away. Should be easy to knock up something like it with some Perspex and PVC pipe.

Hope this has illuminated the way for you on the righteous path to routing Nirvana. I’m outy .

G’Day Matt, don’t listen to all that malarkey about having to finish soon, if I understand your first post this one is for you? builds for yourself have no schedule. Take your time and enjoy the journey, just keep posting progress pics

Nice job The Truth. I wouldn't be too worried about Gibson's lawyers, they have not caught up with Slash yet. Here are Slash's Les Paul copies.

The one in the middle you can hear on Apatite For Destruction.

I do agree with the boys' suggestion though that on your next guitar it would be good to show your pride with your own logo on the front of the headstock rather than the back.

Nonetheless, your second build looks cool.

I did forget one. These little red kidney bean things sound great, there must be a pair of tiny tubes hidden in there somewhere .

I see the picture and it does not look like it interferes with your view. If you have a manufacturers link it would be nice. I am always interested in keeping dust at bay.

G'Day Woodenspoke, I have a Bosch POF 400 A which is now superceded, you are absolutely right it does not interfere with your view, check out the new model

here

Distortion pedals are very useful for holding up the lounge when one of the legs break. There are a few ways to get some nice creamy tone,

Drop your amp off with the local amp guy and ask him to put an extra tube gain stage in.

or

or one of these

or one of these with one of these plugged in.

I would even bend my religious principles for this or this.

Who was it who said that life is too short for bad tone?

Any others?

I agree with brewu22, veneer can look fantastic if applied by an expert and really scheisenhaus if not , a new body is the way to go, and then you can do a paint refinish on the old body to build up a 2nd project.

Lights are a nice feature but rare. Dust collection is only available on the router guides used for cutting straight lines. and is usless for most operations in luthiery.

Hi Woodenspoke, that's true for collectors on the guide. It's probably not easy to see in the link I posted above but you can get dust collectors that sit on top of the router base and encircle the bit. These do not interfere with routing in curves at all so they can be used for all routing jobs on guitars, and they work great. Not a speck of dust anywhere except in the vacuum bag. I'll take a picture in the next few days and post it.

Muzz, here is a black Tele with white/black/white binding I have been working on (seemingly forever). It has a a contrasting pickguard, not pearloid but white/black/white. You can see the different effect although mine doesn't have the hardware on. BTW, the hardware I have is all black and the pickups have black bobbin covers.

After seeing Aidlook's, I may have to experiment with different pickguard material! Black pearloid, maybe?

Another gorgeous tele, I like the idea of the black pearloid John.

it works now

Yeah, that got it, great stuff.

It is amusing the things we sometimes hear guitarists say, and because I joke around all the time I often assume that other people are joking when they are being serious. A guy told me he was going to change the frets on his 1970's Gibson SG to a different scale (more than 12 notes), I laughed until he did it, man there were frets everywhere, and another told me he had fixed a negative energy absorbing disc to the chasis of his amplifier and got 30% more sustain , again lots of hilarity until I saw the disc with mystic symbols Araldited to the amp.

Anybody heard any other wacky ideas that you mistakenly thought were jokes?

Hey thirdstone, got the video, you look as though you are really hammering it

but I can't hear any sound

nonetheless, it sure is a good looking guitar, can anyone else get the audio?