GUITAR PROJECT: Number of guitars required is always n+1
Although not strictly "music", this thread sits right in this community imho.
For those of you that know me, I am keen on woodworking, and like to spend some me time out in the garage playing with wood, and am a certified wood hoarder.
So the last few weeks, perhaps month, i disappeared down a rabbit hole - it's not the first time - this will be my 4th home-made fiddle and probably won't be the last... and have started another guitar build!
Here it is.. it is based on a Jackson Kelly design made (in)famous by Marty Friedman out of Megadeth.
This will be a full build - I am intending to do everything myself.
Here is the template:
The wood is sapele (pronounced sap-eel-ey)
Here is the body rough cut ready for routing.
Body routed, and marked up. The astute of you may notice the lower horn is ahem slightly shorter than the template - i had a 5mm section tear out on the last cut as the router was going against the grain and so tore out - no other issues, and I still have all my fingers!
Here is top - it is 5mm bookmatched ash - basically the wood "plank" is cut in half and the grains are mirrored.
I rough cut the ash top, and glued the top to the sapele, and left overnight 0 i used about a dozen clamps in order to do so - i hit the centre line on the money, whic means that the centre of the book will be central to the guitar... next up the other half of the guitar.
The other side of the guitar glued and then routed to match the body - minimal - almost zero visibility of the join to the naked eye - very pleased with this. It was super difficult, but very rewarding to achieve.
To aschieve a very high gloss finish, i sanded the ash to 3k grit - starting at 70 > 120 > 180 > 240 > 360 > 500 > 1000 > 1200 > 1500 > 2000 > 3000.
Check out that mirror finish! - still some router burn outs to tidy up, but super pleased with the top. Originall i was going to face with walnut, but that ash top is far too nice to hide under some walnut... so i now have some walnut for the next build... refer to my n+1 subject! :D
The rough cut body and body rout was done before the UK Easter bank holiday, and the glue up was done over the course of the bank holiday weekend.
Next stop - building a neck. I was going to purchase a neck, and fit, but I am going the whole hog on this one.... i will carve from scratch... this is going to be the terrifying bit now!
This is what I am aiming for:
(pic from the net, not mine)
If i remember , i will try to keep this thread updated with my progress!
Dang! I’d be afraid of the neck too, so much going on angle wise to not alter the note cadence the further you go up the fret board while also making sure it’s far enough away not to buzz against the frets. Good luck!
I'm not an expert in musical instrument manufacturing, but I'm curious about the role of wood selection in electric guitars. Does the type of wood significantly impact the sound, as it does in acoustic string instruments?
Wood selection is important in electrics - principally for sustain. Wood thickness, and density also play a huge factor. Arguably, the wood plays a more critical role in electrics than in acoustics. This is because the wood has to transfer the vibrations to the pickups and then the amplifier, rather than "self amplifying" like with an acoustic guitar.
Anyhow - that's my very limited knowledge on the matter... here are the fiddles! :D
These x2 were done in lockdown,
Tele type ..
Bass - note the fancy design on the headstock!
Here's the full gang! - the home-made is on the right - this was my first - I made this one back in 2007 maybe 2008? From the left Washburn KC40V, Washburn KC70V, Jackson PS4 iirc?
Fiddle update! Decent weather this weekend, only hampered by my ineptitude to understand that 6 does not go into 3, and having to wait for a 3mm router bit for 24 hours!
Neck laminated with 3 piece paduak and 4 pieces of ash laste week and cut and roughshaped this weekend, truss rod and titanium re-bars fitted, ebony fretboard prepped, and control cavity basic rout completed. I am opting for an ibanez style headstock rather than the traditional Jackson pointy headstock.
I am aiming to recess the cavity control with akidny bean shaped piece of ash (possibly from the same sapele that the body is, and try to grain match - aiming for magnets to hold the cavity cover in place with a thumb access point.
Next things to do... secure fretboard to neck and glue, rout the basic neck shape to fretboard, and then I am going to carve the neck by hand using a japanese shinto file / rasp. Then rout the neck pocket, and do the neck fitting.
Jokes aside, if you ever fancy doing a guitar kit, 100% recommend it. If you are UK based you can pick them up relatively cheaply - under 100 quid. & tbf, they play alright. It also allows you to fiddle tweak customise and make the guitar your own :) - great fun, especially now that the weather is getting slightly milder!!
Not a huge amount more done since the last update... but it has strings.... and a secured neck now.
I've been waiting to see how the neck reacts to string tension etc before i progress.. Its been stable for a good few weeks now, and plays nicely, and is surprisingly loud - i put that down to the fact it isa string through - next stop is electronics and pickups!
