avengers63

not much sustain there and it wouldn't take the paint well

I wasn't looking for a contest in the first place. I'm still not, but if there's desire, then why not. I'm building one anyway... Make your own template. It's not like construction grade pine is expensive. And with you not working either, it's not like you don't have the time. That'd be well within my proposed limits, so long as it's maple or mahogany.

I'm open to suggestions. That's all my proposed guidelines were anyway - suggestions. AND I figured the time was too short, but I wanted to throw something out there. Honestly, I don't think it'd look good with a lot of bling and wood porn. The shape just doesn't lend itself well to our usual trends.

Here's the motivator - I'm making the thing anyway, and I'm not going to change my overall plans for a build-off. It'd be all too easy for someone with the time & money to swoop in with some fanned-fret wood-porn and steal the show. Add to that it's a proposed Corvus build off, not a whatever you want build off. We already have one of those every month. With things simplified like this, there will be very little there to hide or disguise whatever minor mistakes we might make. It's just as hard to make a clean, streamlined ax as it is a bling machine. In some ways, it can even be harder. And don't forget Wes - some folks work a LOT faster than you do. Seven weeks might not be long enough for you to do just the neck, but for someone else it might have 6 weeks left over.

Isn't getting Pete all riled up reason enough to have a bunch of them made? OH, I'm sorry - to have a murder of them made.

That's EXACTLY what I was remembering. Same guitar and everything. I'd want the truss rod adjustment at the heel. I wouldn't want anything in the way of the ferrules. One less thing to work around. I'd want it for neck dive and balance issues. In my mind, if the tuners aren't there, there's no point in having the extra wood either.

I remember reading through some old threads with build-offs. Just remember - I didn't suggest it. It's not on me when I'm the only one with a finished instrument.

WezV and Dirge suggested a Corvus build off. I feel some ground rules and specs should be in place and agreed on before anything happens. Here's what I propose for all who are interested. Basically, it's "follow my original specs" so you don't come in and kill me... I'm NOT changing my plans around an impromptu contest. Set a finite time limit, like be done by April 30th or so. The body must be painted one solid color. Basic woods only: body - poplar, alder, ash, maple, mahogany neck - maple, mahogany fretboard - maple, rosewood inlays - dot one pickup minimal controls - 1 vol, 1 tone, output jack. vol/tone are optional - no extra switching no trem hand made pickguard optional everyone posts their build thread as they're going - no surprise last minute ringers additional GOTM-like poll to decide the winner If this sounds reasonable, sign up. If not, make a suggestion. I'd think the most reasonable thing to shift is the time limit. At the same time, we're currently at 7 weeks and a couple of days.

So what... you just had a need to kick my a$$? You'll probably pull off some fanned fret jobby with a zircote fretboard and some other funky wood porn bling. I'm probably going to end up with an Eden paddle-head that I'll recut into a headless and a poplar body painted orange. Yea... THAT'S an equal comparison. Your mother. In all seriousness, I have no objections to a build-off. Let's continue this in another thread.....

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking when I thought of having a little lip for the string ferrules. It wouldn't be that hard to rout a thinner shelf for the tuners along the interior angle. A straight-edge and a couple of stop-blocks with double sided tape would do the trick.

I got me some poplar. I found a nice piece 8" wide & 12' long and a mammoth 16"wide by 10' long piece that'll make some nice 1-piece bodies. I'm not feeling the need for the wood to take too much time to acclimate. I bought it across town - same region, temperature, etc. I think by this time tomorrow you can see a rough body. Don't get too excited now, Pete. We all know you're really having Corvus envy.

Do you see any reason I'd need anything other than the existing nut, which would effectively become a bridge, and the top & bottom ferrules? I can't see it being any different than the strings traveling over the nut on a headed neck, but you never know.

I just talked with a couple of local yards and clear pine is about as expensive as maple & ash. HOWEVER... one of them has 8/4 poplar for $3/BF. WOO-HOO!!!!! I'll be back in a few hours.....

From the research I've done, I'd need AT A MINIMUM: leveling beam, proprietary sandpaper for the leveling beam, fret clipppers, fret press, beveling file, and a dressing/polishing kit. All that adds up to $300-$500, and that's for the cheap stuff. To get the RIGHT stuff, I'm looking at $750+. And that's if I buy radiused & slotted fretboards. If I do my own, it'd be even more. I'm just not going to spend that much money on the tools. From a quick Stew-Mac lookaround: "Essential fretting tool kit" - $165.30 stick-it sandpaper kit - $86.33 3.75" fret beveling file - $43.90 total - $295.53 And again, that's getting it the cheapest route possible with the least expensive tools. Jaws set - $220 OR fret press system - $164.72 fret bender - $89.90 tang nipper - $47.64 nut slotting files - too much to discu$$

And speaking of which... Now I gotta make the body blank. I think I'll give a couple of lumber yards a call and see if they have any 8/4 clear pine.

Whaddya mean IF it's built? Oh, it's getting built... ooooohhh yeaaaa.

I'd LOVE to. Wanna work out a deal for you to make me a headless neck? How would I take a normal, non-tiltback headstock (Fender style) neck and convert it into a headless neck? There's more to it than just cutting off the headstock and reshaping the end. I have a Steinberger, which has a zero fret and a tailpiece-like object that is mounted on the end of the neck which the strings hook through. Assuming I could even find the tailpiece that would mount on the end of the neck, is there any real possibility of interference with the truss rod? Another thought might be to leave a little flap of wood sticking out past the nut and put in ferruels, running the strings through the back of the flap and over the nut. I seem to remember seeing something similar on a Scott French guitar once. Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

I'd LOVE to. Wanna work out a deal for you to make me a headless neck?

DANG!!!! I can't even catch a break in someone ELSE'S build thread! Y'all are killin' me.

And I shall help it along, one ridiculous guitar at a time.

Buddy, you like ripping on this thing as much as I like reading your rants. Don't pretend this is anything other than a symbiotic relationship. Of course, you're taking the role of the parasite to my host organism... :D B)

Who... me?

13-11 Not including this post, Pete's comments trying to dissuade me from making this outnumber my comments 13-11. This one bring it up to 13-12, but I'm sure he'll bury me before too long. I don't deny for one second that the guitar looks silly. That's part of the point in making it. I think what I'll do to help combat the imbalance is put the neck as far into the body as possible. This MIGHT necessitate altering the trebel part of the "cutaway", but that's yet to be determined. If I can get away with not altering it, I will. I have really long fingers, so it might not be an issue.

Is Pau Ferro hard, heavy, and smells odd when worked?

Don't you dare use it on that C**vus thing you are building... Check out the "other woodworking" thread.