Homebrew guitar project update

[Jonnda]

This thread kicks off the documentation of my next home made guitar.

Have a look see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx2kU...watch_response

So far:
My dad and my roommate like the longer pointy one.
TFF votes:
for the shorter curved off horn: 1
longer pointy bout: 2

youtube votes:
short:1
long:0

current total
short:3
long:4

Thanks ahead of time for your responses.

[djinn1973]

My vote is for "the curved off one".
Good Luck

[jerryjg]

Longer pointy. Have you considered a Les paul type cut? That might look cool, half paul half Strat.

[chuckocaster]

both of those look sort of "rickish" to me. what's the layout going to be like? as in regards to controls, pickups and hardware. that would determine (for me at least) what would look better.

[Jonnda]

Longer pointy. Have you considered a Les paul type cut? That might look cool, half paul half Strat.

The outline is a fusion of a Matao LP copy (a few traced lines), a Teisco kimberly (a few more traced lines then the LP), a National ResoGlass (free hand from memory), and jazzmaster (slanted guitar idea & fenderesque lower horn). And I guess I might have had Rick's 4000 bass and 600 guitar in the back of my head when i drew it. I do admire the look of those guitars now and then.


http://www.vintaxe.com/cgi-bin/vinta...uitar_airline2

But I don't want it to look too much like a les paul.

[Jonnda]

both of those look sort of "rickish" to me. what's the layout going to be like? as in regards to controls, pickups and hardware. that would determine (for me at least) what would look better.

The control lay out is not yet decided. The only thing i know placement wise is that the volume will be made accessible to my pinky finger for volume swells... like where it is on a strat.

to save money there will be one humbucker near the bridge, probably a Zhangbucker of some sort with a coil tap. The coil tap may be connected to SD's "spin a split" wireing. However, if i can't live with one pick up- I'm making it not too difficult to add a dano lipstick or something at the neck.

to keep visual clutter and the number of parts down, I'm thinkin of using the concentric volume/tone knob as seen on a Danelectro Convertible.

the bridge:


But if I strike it rich at some point I'll add a "Flat mount" kahler trem or Bigsby. Why those two? because they are easy to install!

Thanks everyone.

[NeoFauve]

Does the "Annenburg CPB Project" have any say?

I like the longer bout.

Also, you might consider having both bouts be either pointed or rounded, rather than one pointy + one rounded.

The points do have a Rick vibe.
Rounded would look a bit like an LP Signature, which is pretty neat, and not often copied.

Close-up.

[Jonnda]

Does the "Annenburg CPB Project" have any say?
an LP Signature, which is pretty neat, and not often copied.

Close-up.

Not much, but they do get a vote by proxy... and since I am their unofficial rep in this case, it's a vote for the shorter one.

Yep, I lean towards the short one. But as I like both of them, I can't decide... hence the whole popularity contest. I would consider rounding the longer one, but if the shorter one were curved it would look too 335. Not a bad thing, just not what i want right now.

[Jonnda]

Some one on youtube has created this 3d prototype for me:


the real one will have the center chunk of wood be black walnut and will be flanked by white colored pine. This one features the shorter horn.

It's a .bmp so can everyone see it?

[elicross]

I can see it. Looks cool. I can picture it with the black walnut and pine.

I think the horns look fine. I like that contrast between the pointy, shallow upper cutaway and the round, deeper lower cutaway. If it were mine, I might make that upper bout a little less pronounced. I like the angled waist, but making that upper bout a little smaller would make it look less radical...to me.

But either way, I'm sure it's gonna look good, man.

[Jonnda]

I can see it. Looks cool. I can picture it with the black walnut and pine.

I think the horns look fine. I like that contrast between the pointy, shallow upper cutaway and the round, deeper lower cutaway. If it were mine, I might make that upper bout a little less pronounced. I like the angled waist, but making that upper bout a little smaller would make it look less radical...to me.

But either way, I'm sure it's gonna look good, man.

Right, well when I get a bit further along I can test out ideas like that. Especially if I can get access to a computer that can run the software which made this image. The guy who made it is willing to send the original file to me so i can modify it as i wish.

Cool beans eh?

It will take a long time to make, as I'm leaving it at home to make so I don't get distracted at school, but still i can hardly wait

[hippiebob01]

The last pictures you post kind of remind me of the Doug Irwin guitars built for Jerry Garcia.

[Jonnda]

The last pictures you post kind of remind me of the Doug Irwin guitars built for Jerry Garcia.

I'm honored you think so.

I don't quite see the resemblance, but that's okay. I'll take the compliment non-the-less.

[Jonnda]

For my b-day the parents got me Building Electric Guitars by Martin Koch and a fret kit from stew mac. I wonder what I'll get for x-mas...

[chuckocaster]

looks cool there man!

maybe you'll wake up x-mas morning and find some wood blanks under the tree.

[Jonnda]

looks cool there man!

maybe you'll wake up x-mas morning and find some wood blanks under the tree.

I already have the body wood, what i really needed was the pre slotted fingerboard and some wood for the neck.

This morning I got a set of new wheels (not actual wheel):


So I'll have to wait a while for the wood untill I run into some spare cash.

But I did get some books that could improve my song writing.

[Jonnda]

I now have a Masonite pattern to work off of.



...but still not much cash.

I did however score some free walnut(?) to make more bodies out of later and I'm working on getting some free cherry for the neck. I've an extended family member that has been hoarding the remnants of a tree that he cut down- who knows how long ago. It's been sitting in my great aunt marg's barn for years, and I just gotta figure out which second cousin has ownership.

[bigdaddy]

Cool dude, but it's taken 5 months to get a Masonite template cut-out? Better get building or you'll be in a retirement home before you get to play that badass ax....

[Jonnda]

Cool dude, but it's taken 5 months to get a Masonite template cut-out? Better get building or you'll be in a retirement home before you get to play that badass ax....

Naw, it's taken that long to get a picture of it. I made the masonite shape over winter break, and just now got it back to school where they have a good belt/curcular sander thing. I used that to get the final shape. So I've had the masonite for about three months now.

My original plan was to work on this thing at HOME and not at college like my last guitar which was a distraction from schoolwork. Just keep in mind that my last guitar took about 2 years to make, and I was working on it at school.

There is allot of starts, stops, money shortages, "Hey free wood!", dang, no time. wait... More waiting... A bit of doing, school...

So right now I am doing R&D work with what hardware to use, and other such aspects.

As for retirement, that project I hope will be an arch top.
Hopefully things will pick up over the summer.

[TommyJ]

That shape reminds me of some of the washburns that are out now.

[NeoFauve]

That shape reminds me of some of the washburns that are out now.

Yeah, the left side, especially.


Whoda' thunk there'd be a Washburn "relic?"

I like the carved body.

[Jonnda]

That shape reminds me of some of the washburns that are out now.

Awe damn. I had not seen this before today.

Ya know, ya try and go do something original (draw up your own guitar plans) and then someone either goes and thinks the same thought you did thousands of miles away. Then that someone manages to spoil you fun by completing the finished product before you did. I was even entertaining the idea of carving the top similar to what they did.

Now instead of people asking and wondering who made my guitar, they'll think it's a washburn one-off clone.


I think I'm gonna have to go with the fender style bridge now to try and help distinguish my ax from theirs.

[NeoFauve]

I wouldn't worry about it.

If you really want to make id special, cut one of these into it.

[Jonnda]

I wouldn't worry about it.

If you really want to make id special, cut one of these into it.

Hey, anything could happen.

[Jonnda]

It's progress! Slowly but surely it's being made.

[elicross]

Looking good! Keep the updates and pics coming.

[elicross]

Looking good! The walnut stripe (and the line sandwiched between the top and back should look sweet when it's finished. Keep the updates and pics coming.

[Jonnda]

Looking good! Keep the updates and pics coming.

Thanks for the encouragement, I'll do what I can to keep trucking along and posting pictures.

[Jonnda]

Just thought I'd say that over the break I visited my mom's extended family and got some really old free lumber. Some of it came from the the small barn that they took down behind great aunt Marge's house. We're not sure what the beam I got was made of but I want the other half of it (it was too long to take in the car whole). it looks like really hard and very old pine. The interesting thing about this board is that while the other pine beams had been slightly eaten by worms or termites (just tiny holes, but not rotten and eaten away), this one was compleatly left alone by bugs. I am thinking it'll be great for guitar bodies and maybe even a acoustic or archtop top (if i get to that skill level), who knows. It's about 2" x 8" x 7'(might be longer?). The other board I got is also almost 2" thick, and 7 feet long or so, but it's made of cherry. The grain is such that some of it is quater sawn and I plan to make a couple necks out of it.

Question: how perfectly quartersawn does it have to be? if it is off by 10 or so degrees does it matter?

Anyhow, things are looking good as far as wood supplies for future projects. ^_^

Unfourtunatly I've been occupied with the school semester ending and such, but I'll see what I can do over christmas break!

[chuckocaster]

i think the quarter sawn aspect isn't something to worry too much about.

i have an old piece of pine that i'm going to use on a hollow bass i have to get around to building. it too was pulled out of an old shed/barn deal. i'll laminate it together and use it as a top.

[Jonnda]

i think the quarter sawn aspect isn't something to worry too much about.

i have an old piece of pine that i'm going to use on a hollow bass i have to get around to building. it too was pulled out of an old shed/barn deal. i'll laminate it together and use it as a top.

Tell me more about how you are thinking of laminating it please.

[chuckocaster]

like a bookmatched les paul top, the piece i have used to be a shelf (it's only 3/4" thick), so i'll take two pieces and join them in the center. it should turn out looking like those old gretches with the laminate pine tops. i think they look uberkool, plus i have an old gibson bass pup to throw in there, and an old epiphone neck i made a fretless to bolt up.

[Jonnda]

Ahhh. For a moment there I thought you were going to sandwich the wood into thin plywood.

Sounds like a neat idea for a bass. You really should get around to making it!

[Jonnda]

Started on the cherry neck blank, pictures soon... and a detailed description of the headaches involved. This is certainly a guitar made mostly for the sake of learning what works with the available tools.

[Jonnda]

long over due pictures:







The photot showing the screws explains my master plan of world domination... or at least a way of not having to make an access panel. Down side is I couldn't quite get it all to line up precisely with the tools I had, but it does fit tight.

the head ache mentioned in the last post involved cutting the angle for the head stock and making it more complicated then it probibly needed to be. Also one side of the cherry board got &^$%ed up when the wood drifted during cutting. That shouldn't matter much in the long run but it does mean I have only 5 out of 6 square and straight edges to work off of.

Yes that is a Hot Rod truss rod, and the head stock is currently way too long for even a 12 string. Here's a question though, where in the truss rod channel does it go? I mean how far from the nut is the brass block supposed to go? right in between the 1st and 2ond frets?

[Jonnda]

Hey all, I'm curious to know your opinions of the following headstock shape:


If people really like it, it could be the one I use on all my 3x3 headstock guitars.

[cwilliamrose]

I like it........Bill

[chuckocaster]

i think that looks nice. sort of reminds me of a d'angelico, i guess what i'm saying is there's a nice art deco vibe to it. headstocks, to me, are the hardest part to make look right. the strat, tele, les paul all have such distinctive shapes. when i look at some clones, they just look weird. jaded i guess.

[Jonnda]

Thank you Bill.

Thanks Chucko, I love art deco. In fact, My first thought was to use this style of tuner:


or:




But the most affordable route I think, with an added bonus of a higher gear ratio is this:

the good ol' "GROVER "VINTAGE" NICKEL STA-TITES IN 18:1 RATIO TUNERS"

Or maybe I could get some thing that is real plain lookin and make my own art deco knobs.

Just looked up d'angelico headstocks, and Ha! Looks like to top of a piece of furniture. But yeah the inlay work is purdy nice art deco.

[Jonnda]

I received the baby grand and the long awaited Zhangbucker when i got back from vacation in WI a few days back. I'll try to post a pict of the all the parts piled together soon.