WantzChas
I was suppose to study. . . . . . but
I kind of like it, what do you think, HONESTLY.
Manfred-Klose
looks like it gonna work ?
AlanRatcliffe
Musicman headstock, Ric body and Tele control plate... I like! ?
TomCat
Alan Ratcliffe wrote
Musicman headstock, Ric body and Tele control plate... I like! ?
So its a Telmus Rickencaster...... ??? ???
Nice one.......
FatBoy
So its a Telmus Rickencaster......
UBER! I want one please!! Sounds like something Albus Dumbledore would shred on! Awesome ?
Looks good to me dude ?
WantzChas
Only problem now is I assume I can't use a bolt on neck anymore. Or am I assuming wrong?
Gearhead
You asked for honesty... ?
I think your main focus should be on getting the technical details sorted (as opposed to things like shape and color). I made a list of tooling you need to consider:
- you can theoretically do without a router but a first build is not going to get anywhere without;
- having templates and knowing how to use them is essential in actually getting the outline, electronics cavity and pickup routs you want;
- a drum sander helps so much in getting that smooth flowing outline!
- same story about clamps. I have more than a dozen and I curse myself for not getting twice that number at least, whenever I do serious glueing;
- a perfect neck fit, alignment and good bolting down is going to be very important for your tone and sustain (I almost finished my neck pocket routing tool, will post pics at the end of this weekend);
- if you are not going to buy a finished neck (which with a headstock like that is going to be an uphill battle) you will need to radius sand your fretboard, saw the fret slots at accurate intervals and do all the fretting. This requires special tooling. Some of these things can be made but other stuff would take more time than a guitar to get right.
I am not even mentioning a drill press (helps a lot with getting holes for e.g. bridge studs and ferrules in straight), a band or jig saw (better get a band saw.. see G1's post), a planer and that sort of stuff because most people have those.
On your guitar description you do not mention bridge but you do draw through-body ferrules. Tune-O-Matic? Would make it a Les Telmus Rickencaster ?
I am definitely not trying to put you off, just trying to help get an overview of what's involved. If you already thought of all this just say so and I'll shut up ?
WantzChas
Thanks for being cynical (I love cynical people, my dad is one and without you guys everyone would've ended up very disappointed at unrealistic goals.) Remember I said I've been doing research for almost 2years now.
I (I meaning my dad, brother) have all of the mentioned tools except a drill press, band saw and enough clamps. Those I can get at my uncle (dad's brother, Oom), who lives 40km from me. Radius blocks can be made from scrap wood, using a ruler, line, pencil and initiative. I'm not so sure what radiuses I'm using yet, but let’s assume 8", 10", 12", 14", 16" will be sufficient.
I have a buddy in res studying architecture that owes me a favor that "agreed" to draw my templates. Which I will somehow duplicate so I have at least 3 (just to be safe). I am going to build the neck myself, going to be a laminated neck and the body is also probably going to be laminated, A tune-o-matic bridge with through body strings is the idea, I'll do more research on that, but if it's going to be too complex for a novice like myself, I'll use a stop bar.
So, router check, templates check, drum sander check, fret calculator via the net check, drill press check, jig saw check, clamps not check (will have to check with Oom about those).
Perfect neck, well I'm going to work hard getting it perfect.
EDIT: @Gearhead: Please don't take offence by me calling you cynical, in my opinion it is a very good quality to have.
Gearhead
WantzChas wrote
Only problem now is I assume I can't use a bolt on neck anymore. Or am I assuming wrong?
Why could you not?
The only thing that is a bit daring in your design is the length of the neck/body joint. If it's short, it will not be strong enough, might cause tuning instability and make it difficult to get the action 'just right'. There was a thread on Manne guitars a couple of days back; they use a very interesting neck joint to circumvent this issue.
Edit: Alan says I am not allowed to take offence anymore ?
BTW I wasn't trying to be cynical (maybe not trying hard enough not to be). I think it's great that there are builders on the forum, but would prefer all build stories to be success stories ? plus it's easier for 'read-only' aspiring builders on the forum to get good info this way.
WantzChas
And thus I applaud you for your help.
WantzChas
Hey guys, I'm going scavenging for off cuts today. I know that I'll need a 450mm (or 18inch) x 550mm (22inch) x 50mm (2inch for depth, thickness. Not sure, but I think 2inches will be sufficient). I decided that I'm going to build a EVH Wolfgang and will still use the MusicMan headstock. A really lovely guitar, more traditional and very stylish. I'm going to look for neck wood as well. Now, the question is for a Fender scale length guitar, what dimensions should my neck blank be?
Manfred-Klose
Measure one of your guitar necks, and get an imaginary block around it, dont know if it makes sense?
Or just do what this guy did:
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/neck.htm
WantzChas
I bought the wood today. An African Mahogany block for the body blank and a maple board for the neck. Find of the day was a HUGE piece of Imbuya off cut I got for free. Don't know how I'm going to use it yet, but will find a way. All in all I paid R340, which I thought was pretty decent as Silverton Timber Suppliers is the only place I could get a hold of that stock "guitar" woods.
TomCat
WantzChas wrote
I bought the wood today. An African Mahogany block for the body blank and a maple board for the neck. Find of the day was a HUGE piece of Imbuya off cut I got for free. Don't know how I'm going to use it yet, but will find a way. All in all I paid R340, which I thought was pretty decent as Silverton Timber Suppliers is the only place I could get a hold of that stock "guitar" woods.
Probably just an ignorant comment from me.....but possibly the Imbuya could be used for the fretboard...Very hard wood and depends on the grain whether its workable....I'm sure there are others more qualified than me to either make me a hero.....or completely trash my idea..... ? ?
WantzChas
I also had that in mind. Will look nice as a fretboard. Was also thinking of maybe using it as part of the neck. Laminating it with the maple to create a MIMIM neck.
TomCat
WantzChas wrote
I also had that in mind. Will look nice as a fretboard. Was also thinking of maybe using it as part of the neck. Laminating it with the maple to create a MIMIM neck.
I also thought it might look cool in a laminated neck.
Get really brave and make it a 5 piece neck......EDIT....I see you have already thought of that.....
Manfred-Klose
You could use the piece of imbuia for the center laminate, then you make it big enough for the truss rod(11mm - 12mm, depending on the truss rod), when you route out the truss rod channel you just folloe the center piece of wood.
Imbuia could work as a fretboard wood as it is oily and similar to rosewood/ebony, but i havent seen anyone use it as a fretboard wood yet(I Can remember G1 is doing imbuia inlays on his maple fretboard)
Infact i got a call yesterday from someone wanting me to finish his guitar, he took off the old fretboard and glued a piece of imbuia on, and cant complete the job, still need to go and inspect the guitar.................................but i think i will most probably see a mess!!!
Wizard
Wear a mask when sanding imbuia - one of the more dangerous woods for lung irritation.
Gearhead
Manfred Klose wrote
You could use the piece of imbuia for the center laminate, then you make it big enough for the truss rod(11mm - 12mm, depending on the truss rod), when you route out the truss rod channel you just folloe the center piece of wood.
Sounds to me like doing it the other way around is faster: cut the curved trussrod cavity out of the centre piece before glueing the laminates together. Saves you from making a cambered trussrod routing jig. Unless you want to be using a double acting trussrod, in which case you do not want the curvature and just take a straight cut; still useful to saw first instead of routing later. Maple is hard stuff.
@Wantzchas: presuming you got two halves worth of body blank (I know STM stock sizes...), did you get them thicknessed?
WantzChas
Gearhead wrote
@Wantzchas: presuming you got two halves worth of body blank (I know STM stock sizes...), did you get them thicknessed?
The body blank is about 300mm wide and 50mm thick which is not wide enough. BUT I will manage to cut the two halves out of that piece and then glue them together. I did a rough calculation in my head and think it will work out. Going to start with templates tomorrow.
Don't know if anyone want to see what the blanks actually looks like. I took a couple of quick pictures, wouldn't harm posting them I assume.
