avengers63

I haven't sold any full guitars, but I've sold probably 10 bodies. Every time I post one for sale on eBay, someone contacts me for a commission. I end up with a sale about 3/4 of the time.

Wouldn't THAT be sweet. Feed the geek in us from two different angles.

Swamp Thing: A Murder Of Crows.

And that isn't what I was referencing either.

Incorrect on your guesses. Only one is for me. The other is just a body. I figure I'll post it with an opening bid of $25 & no reserve and see what happens. With it being a reward in GH, someone might actually want it. If it only goes for the opening bid, I'll have more than doubled my money from the cost of the wood alone, so no worries.

Gluing up a pair of body blanks. One for me, one for the Bay. With Pete's good teaching, we know that Corvus means crow, and that more than one could constitute a flock. From my swamp shall this thing come, this Murder Of Crows. Wez, I fully expect you to be the only one to get the reference, but can you tell me what I'm actually referencing?

I still don't see the bird in flight. And I personally think your second sketch looks more like a BC Rich than a Corvus.

Well... I lost. j/k It looks better than the original, and it's just a sketch. So I take it this means you're back in?

The outline of the body needs to be as close to the original as you can manage. If you think it'd be sweet as a bound, carved, chambered body, that's great, so long as the outline remains the same.

Would that be in the Corvus Build-Off?

Awesome idea. I'm sure a plexiglass semi-acoustic would have an interesting sound.

Cool. So... what's with the change in the capitalization? Playing off of your "V in the name" trend?

I couldn't agree more. I publicly apologize for impugning your character. It was said in jest, and as a comparison of our respective skill level, nothing more. So you're in, right?

Clearly, I don't get out enough.

I'm OK with that. It's called being resourceful.

Wez: Not any more. Some minor opposition and a fair amount of reason caused me to reconsider the paint rule. I only used Stew-Mac as a point of reference - I never said anyone had to use their prices. I DO appreciate your spirit of fairness in not wanting to use your discount in the budget. As of today, one British pound = 1.3746 U.S. dollars. The budget was figured in U.S.D., therefore the British budget would be #275. ...which puts you WELL within the budget. But then there's the issue of the finish. Did you WANT to paint it, or were you painting it due to the rules? Also are you capable of painting it yourself, and at what cost? I know you have someone else paint your stuff, but IIRC, that's for professional/time reasons, not capability. Here's a question to everyone else: Do we give Wez a break on the painting because he's a professional and has business considerations to factor in? Majority rules on this one. MattHarris75: I don't think anyone cares when you commit and do it, so long as it's in by June 31. I was wanting Friday evening as the date to set the rules in stone, not as a sign-up deadline. Orgmorg, Pete, Dirge: I did base my Corvus template off a tracing of my LP template. Orgmorg's 10 1/4" might be right. I ended up at 11", but I eyeballed it instead of sizing up the pic. Is ANY of my template tight? He11 if I know - I've never even seen a Corvus in person, much less had the opportunity to measure & trace. For template distribution, I suppose I could put the thing on my scanner with a ruler for size comparison and email it out to all who want it. It'd take multiple scans, so you'd have to piece it together. I was originally thinking to trace it and mail it. I could still do that for the folks in the U.S. I can look into international rates to see if it's reasonable. PM me with either you house address or email address and I'll send you the template. The current participants are: avengers63 / John Dirge For November Todd The Telecaster Kid Orgmorg Matt Harris Pete Wez Pete & Wez seem to be teetering on the edge, sh here's your official push. You're both in until you say conclusively "I'm out".

To recap, what we have so far is: Corvus body shape I'm offering to mail out a tracing of my template $200 budget, not including pickups include the cost of what you have lying around June 31st deadline, judging to start July 1st So long as it fits within those constraints, anything goes. To date, Wez is the main opponent of a budget, but he has professional reasons. Komodo raised the next reasonable objection to the budget, but later bowed out. Nobody else who was interested to this point had an issue with the budget, so I'll take it as a sign that the budget is set. So far, here are the builders: all-in avengers63 / John Dirge For November ToddW The Telecaster Kid maybe Kenny WezV (not counting you out yet) PSW / Pete Orgmorg MattHarris75 Let's let this simmer for the rest of the week and see what else gets brought up. I might propose giving it until Friday evening, then finalize everything and get the show on the road. That's let those of us who can/need to work on it this weekend the opportunity to do so.

I made the offer to mail out a tracing of the template I made. Just in case you missed it. Wez: What exactly are you thinking to do to it that would mean going over $200 in parts & wood (pups extra)? I thought I did a decent job of pulling out decent quality hardware from the catalog, just to show that it could be done on a budget and still have decent hardware. Is Gotoh below your normal quality standard?

ToddW: That's where you'd have a LOT of leeway to work within the budget. Remember that pups aren't included in that $200. I don't spend a lot on some parts either, but that's me. I'm positive that Wes would call us all sorts of things for buying a discount pot or switch, but he thinks differently than you & I. Maybe a prop would have access to some parts cheaper than us - so be it. I could trip over a set of Steinberger tuners for $50, or a great neck for less than that. The budget would be about how resourceful you are. Drak: C'mon, dude! Join in. You know you wanna.

Use the stripey side. It's a LOT more interesting.

I don't think there has to be a winner. Just seeing the various interpretations is enough. If it was to be judged as the GOTM is, I still see no reason for there to be such constraints just as the regular GOTM does not. It it's a build-off with a deadline - there's a winner. It's just the nature of the beast. Otherwise, you're right - we'd all just make it for the sake of making it. If that's the case (which I don't believe it is), then the whole idea needs to be scrapped. So far, the ones I see who are against a budget are the ones who 1) have more resources available, 2) want to change the guitar into something else, and 3) weren't interested in it in the first place. Seriously - we have a no-holds barred contest every month. Let's leave this one with a budget and a relatively even playing field. I agree with whoever said that working within the budget can show off your creativity and resourcefulness.

exactly, the challenge isnt really about who can make the best or how quickly/cheaply they can do it!! the challenge is really to see who can take such a questionable design and make something worthwhile from it. From that perspective the body needs to be at least 90% the gibson corvus shape - whatever goes for everything else I'd go so far as to say the outline has to be there. EG: A LP is still a LP whether it's a flat studio model or a chambered, carved-top, f-hole, uber-bling edition. As for budget, I completely disagree. The above differences in the LP is the perfect reason. The rule could be "use the LP shape" and one on a budget would bring a melody maker with another without a budget bringing the bling machine. Which one wins? Seriously... who wins? No, my friends, a budget IS important. It helps level the playing field considerably.

Hi Avenger, Guessing that's probably not fair. I have an extra slotted ebony fingerboard, all my wood, P90 pups, switches, pots from my amp building stuff, an extra earvana nut, a jack and plate, an extra truss rod from Grizzly, fret wire, a paduak/bubinga neck blank I never used. Might even have an extra tone-pros bridge if I can find some replacement pegs (those are still in the guitar it came off). So other than tuners, I don't need to buy anything. Not really fair if I don't count the cost of those accidental purchases. . . Setting a price limit is tough! Still, this is just a friendly "contest", so let's not get too hung up on the price part. Are you ok with: Corvus body, can't be heavily modified. Try to stay under $200 w/o PUPs. (The penalty for going way over is the judges won't think you played fair. No no... that's that I'm saying... even if you already own it, factor the cost of it new into the budget.

I was including pups in that $200. Take that with a grain of salt though - I get mine on eBay and refuse to pay a lot. Thinking this through and only going with one source for parts.... pulls out the Stew-Mac catalog... a set of dot inlays looks to be about $5 truss rod is $15-$20 sheet of pickguard material is $14 a switch is $13 basic pots go $2.75/each jack is $3.65 or you can go the easy way with a wiring kit for $$15-$25 usable tuners for $35 gotoh TOM combo for $38 wraparound for $37 gotoh hardtail for $41, bushings add another $7 knobs for $2.25-$9.00 strap buttons $3.50 jack plate $$6-$9 neck plate/ferrules + screws $10 I missed the nut, but I think they're $1-$2 That brings us to a reasonable $150 for decent stuff, and we all KNOW we can get better prices than Stew-Mac with about 5 minutes of looking. So, add in the body wood, a pre-shaped/slotted fretboard, and misc supplies and I agree that $200 + pups is a very reasonable number. Let's put in this caveat - it's not $200 out of pocket, it's $200 in value. Having the item on hand already doesn't mean you don't need to factor it's cost into the budget. Fair? So here's where we're at: Corvus body shape with only very minor changes. A budget of $200 + pups. Guitar must be finished by June 30, 2009, with judging to start July 1, 2009. When the time comes, someone will make a entry thread like GOTM. On July 1, someone will start the poll. Anything else? Do we want to have a signup deadline or just leave it open?

I'm all for a budget in lieu of build specs. Thinking back, with the components I'm taking off the Tulip to make this with, then factoring in new wood & a neck, I'll have an output of +/- $150. I don't know if that's what y'all were thinking, but that'll be about where I'm at. If that's a reasonable number, then let's use it. If not, speak up. What about the time limit? Seven weeks seems like it wouldn't be long enough, so how about May 31st? That's over 11 weeks from right now. As you all know, I've made my own template. As a time saver and help for consistency, I'm willing to mail you a paper tracing of the template. You'd have to show it off in the build thread sooner or later. So you either don't want rules or you do. Don't make it headless or change anything is still a rule. If the limitations are time & budget, not specs, that alone will restrict what can & can't be done. I say if it's in the budget, it's OK. For MY mind, I think more of the body shape than the headstock or other little tweaks when a model is mentioned. Think about it - is it still a flying V if it uses an in-line headstock and a bound body? Can you REALLY say it isn't a V just because it's not made exactly the way Gibson makes them? No sir, the basic body shape determines the name.