GregP

Hey Monkey, Your design started off... "lacking", to put it politely, but I respect the persistence and work you're putting into it, and the new design is the first that I'm able to say without feeling like I'm lying to you, "Cool! Not Bad!" My problem is with the OUTSIDE shape-- in other words, if you drew a line around the guitar and then blanked out all the details (ie. the legs, etc), you'd be left with pretty much an oval. Most guitar outlines are very simple to begin with, but feature some sort of recognizable silhouette that you'd pick out from a distance. If I saw a Strat, Tele, Les Paul, or Warlock from a distance, I'd know it was one of those guitars. If I saw yours from a distance, I fear that I'd see an unremarkable oval. Now, don't get me wrong. I'll go back to my original point for a second-- I'm really and HONESTLY liking the design and the direction it's taking. But I would personally say "screw comfort" and make a few more radical design elements. Branching the legs out a bit more is my first thought, and it would help you get that upper fret access, too. Greg

If it's not stock, you won't get that price for it; however, I still say pick it up. Pawn shop guitars are funky. If it doesn't play very well, and you're not worried about devaluing it (ie. if it's already worth only... well... $100) you could try your hand at a restoration job at some point in time. Point being-- go get it! Greg

If anyone has a spare 3/8" bearing, I'll happily take it off your hands. Couldn't find one around here. Greg

I've posted the links in other threads too many times to be arsed, so you'll have to Google. Windows hosts for under $100 that you should consider: -Podium -Tracktion (newbie alert-- easiest software I've seen for newcomers) -Quartz -Energy XT (geek alert-- if you don't know what you're doing, this'll be tricky) However, as Erik mentioned, there's not too much point if your soundcard is ass-tastic. If you use an on-board soundcard, or a Soundblaster, you'll need to install specialty drivers (geek alert) to get your latency down so that things don't sound all echo-y when you try to record them. Honestly, it's not something to just jump into without trying it out first. Freebies to get you started with just mucking around-- -Kristal Audio Engine -Audacity -Computer Muzys (comes on the cover disc of Computer Music magazine, so it's not exactly "free", but there's a lot of good software on the disc each month) And if you REALLY want a very basic starting point-- Start-->Accessories-->Entertainment-->Sound Recorder Already on your system. Greg [edit: just so that I wasn't completely going off the cuff, I checked out Band In A Box. It's still the same product I thought it was, which means it's PROBABLY not what you want; however, I did notice that they have another program called "Power Tracks Pro Audio" which was only $29 US and looked to be a decent enough starter program!]

Band in a box has its uses, but I think you'll find that a ) you will not get much variety in backing tracks for the genres I suspect you like b ) It can sound a lot like elevator music if care isn't taken. Frankly, I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole. Greg

At the beginning of this thread, I was prepared to think, "Er, that's crappy, dude." But by the time you were up to your more recent revisions, you had fired up my imagination, Shreddy. I think you've got a potential winner on your hands. Your most recent headstock is king, and the body is ALMOST there. I like the general shape of the bottom, but I think it could be more "V"-like by having the outsides a bit longer, keeping the middle where it is, and adjusting the other pointy bits to fall into place. Gotta say, though, monkey-- I'm not feeling the spidey tribute just yet. Greg

As far as Tracktion goes, the v2 is in production and will blow the socks off people; however, it will also cost more. To be in control of your mix, there are still other options-- First off, any time you pick a plugin, you will get the same interface as any other application; for example, if you select your EQ plugin, it will come to the front of the screen and you can adjust it just like any other host. As for the mixer, I don't like having one myself, but there are options such as the free TF Mixer (found at tracktionfaction.com), or you can easily set up EnergyXT as a mixer. I'll keep posting help/links as I remember them, though. Greg

Not to sound "holier than thou" or anything, and I've used my share of "demo" software in the past-- But I would avoid file share as much as possible. If you're just a hobbyist, you can support independent plugin developers by buying the more budget-friendly (but still affordable!) alternatives. Many users have jumped ship from the big sequencers to Tracktion for starters, and I have to admit that I'm biased toward this intuitive, powerful, and FUN piece of software. A newcomer to the market is Podium, which is looking to become a legend in its own time if it stays on course. Then there's the lesser known Energy XT which is simply the most flexible piece of sequencing software I've ever seen, and costs $39 US. It's a ridiculous price. Don't let the simple homepage fool you, this is a serious piece of work. And since it operates not only as a sequencer, but as either an effect or an instrument, you can still use it as a modular routing environment (that sounds more complicated than it really is... it's just a flexible way of plugging your stuff in... like taking a splitter and going to 2 different amps, only the amount of splitting and routing is unlimited) within your preferred host. I use EnergyXT within Tracktion and I have more power than I could ever hope for. In terms of FX, there are lots of free and cheap options. In addition to the free Kjaerhus effects mentioned earlier in this thread are their reasonably-priced and yet AMAZING (many many positive reviews) Gold Series (new Golden plugin in development). If you haven't seen their free stuff, navigate to it from that page; it's called the Classic Series. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Just as a point of reference, my 80's rock tribute (and the earlier blues thing I did) were recorded entirely with only 2 pieces of commercial software: Tracktion, and Green Machine Amp II, a product that pays for itself. (But if it's still too expensive, the developer is working on a smaller version) I didn't even NEED to use the GMA II, because there are so many capable free distortions and FX around. Anyhow, again, I don't want to preach-- I've used downloaded stuff before, and don't feel too badly when people used hacked versions of Windows or grab the occasional MP3 (for example), but I just wanted to remind everyone that there ARE alternatives. Greg

I like it. Nice cyber-tribal (yeah, there's probably a real term out there, but I just made that one up) inlay there. As per obvious intent, it really complements the shape of the body. Greg

Keep in mind that with most of these kits, they already come sealed (if not sanded), which has a bit of give and take-- it saves you steps if you're doing a normal paint job, but if you wanted to try staining, it'll make things trickier. Since the kits probably use a very thin veneer, you won't be sucessfully sanding back the way lots of the PG tutorials explain. Greg

Mantis is no good, unless you want to be relegated to selling them to the children of the very rich. Greg

Blade... Just sounds like a cheap comic book hero or something. Wait. It is! Then again, Edge is the name of a cheap Pro Wrestler, or a kick-ass guitarist from U2. Still, I voted "Edge" over Blade.

Amazing work. Absolutely amazing. You should be (and are!) quite happy with the job you did. Greg

Thanks for those VERY helpful replies! Setch-- I'll check the LP thread, but if I'm visualizing what you're saying correctly, that method of binding the neck not only sounds like a good one, but one more in keeping with my comfort level in how to get things done. MKG-- I'm not sure what the 8" size refers to for the drill press. It's small. Is that the distance from the bit to the nearest obstacle (the support post or whatever it's called)? Goran-- thanks for the reply. A few points I won't be able to follow through on, because my fingerboard is already radiused and slotted (by LMI); also, the very last thing I'll be doing on the neck is getting a fret job done... this, I will take to a local guitar wiz to do. He'll be letting me sit in on it and will sort of "teach" me as he goes so that I can possibly do my own fretting for the next guitar. For the binding, I won't be doing anything fancy whatsoever. In fact, it's barely binding at all, just a single piece of .60 ABS from StewMac with no purfling. I'm not going to worry at all about having some portions wider and/or thicker. Back to the carving-- I'll tell you all one thing... I wish I had the balls and skill to just take a sander to it like some of the members here do. <grin> Thanks, all. I have some more research and planning to do. Thankfully, my personal deadline is to have this guitar completed by May 2005, so I have all the time in the world. <laff> Greg

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm a picture fiend, too, so don't worry about that side of things-- as soon as there is anything new to take a picture of, I will do so. So basically, here's what I'm thinking-- I was planning on binding the neck anyhow, which means that at some point or another, I'll probably be using a binding router bit. So to my mind, the process should go something like this: -inlay the fingerboard -glue the fingerboard to the unshaped neck -taper the neck using a template or jig -route the binding channel and install the binding -shape the back of the neck (haven't decided which method yet) A detail I mentioned earlier but which may have been forgotton is that the fingerboard is already pre-slotted and radiused (15") As for overhang, I wasn't planning on having any. I almost never go beyond the 15th fret anyhow, so I'm stopping her at 21 or 22 frets, whichever makes it easier to have no overhang. SO, that means that until I can afford more parts and tools, I'm pretty much screwed, because I don't have my inlays yet. I hate being broke. Which means I could do a bit of work on the body at least-- From what I can tell, most people are recommending that I just glue'er up and go from there! That means there's at least one tangible step I can get done. I won't be able to do the carve yet (I agree about cutting the binding channel first), leaving me with the following that I can get done: 1. Cut a channel for the pickup wiring into the limba body before gluing the top 2. Glue the top 3. Rout the pickup cavities 4. Create the access panel for the electronics cavities As for the carving, yes I do have a drill press, but it's one of those small ones and so I may not have full access to the surface of the guitar in order to get the holes drilled in the right places. On a related note for the carving-- it will be a fairly shallow carve, not a 'holy crap, look at that' kind of carve, but I want it to be symmetrical/uniform, ya know? I was thinking that the topographical map and router idea was very similar to the drill press idea, so I might still stick with that-- the problem I have, though, is that I don't trust my router bit 100%. It is/was a nice Freud bit, but somehow it got dinged. Also, I suppose I can cut the shape of the headstock pretty much at any point in time, no? Greg

OK, Well, might as well look for answers here to keep all my 'from being a dumbass to making a guitar' motif going. Plus, it works as a bump for people who don't know anything about my slowly-moving project. Today, though, no update... and no pics... bummer. Well, a minor update-- my fingerboard and headplate finally arrived from LMI, and they're pretty nice. The ebony fingerboard is 2nd grade in order to get some streaky bits. As it turns out, the streaking is very even, and a very dark brown, so it's still a nice dark fingerboard. Of course, the headplate is made from a different tree or part of the tree, so it doesn't really match, but it IS more 'classic ebony' in its darkness and uniformity, so that's still a good thing. Now, to the problem: I am unsure how to procede and I have an unnatural paranoia of doing something "out of turn" which will make it impossible or difficult to do later. Here's a list of what remains other than finishing: Guitar body ------------- -Carving the top. I'm hoping to do the 'topographical map' way of carving, but it's throwing me off a bit, and I'm wondering if there's a better solution. I don't mind spending days and days doing it, so time's not a factor. However, I don't want to hand sand through 5/8" of maple, and I'm not doing very well when I've used the scraper on practice pieces. -Routing the humbucker cavities -Creating an electronics cavity (there's the hollow bit already, but I haven't cut out an access hole) -Drilling / dremeling holes for the pots and the blade switch -Fitting the jack (and?) routing a channel for the wiring if necessary -Gluing the top. I imagine this'll be one of the last things, and the procedure's pretty fool-proof... add glue, line up, and clamp. -Neck pocket. Incidentally, I have to decide real soon whether to stick to my bolt-on plan, or go mortise-and-tenon -binding Guitar Neck ------------- -everything except the scarf joint, which is complete The only thing I need to do first for sure, that I know of, is fit the truss rod. Everything else, I'm not sure the best order. -taper -profile -attaching fingerboard -inlaying fingerboard -binding -attaching headplate -shaping headstock Do I attach the fingerboard before tapering? Or taper the neck and use it as a guide for the fingerboard? I'm worried that if I try to use my router on the ebony, I'm going to crack and chip it to ****. Anyhow, if that's too much to ask, and too much to sort through (I HAVE both the Hiscock and Koch books, but I'm getting burned out on them), then you could limit the focus of your answers to the best 'order' in which to do the neck. That'll narrow things down enough to not be a total pain in the ass. Incidentally, I have absolutely no budget left for tools, but I don't want to screw up my guitar, either; so if it means waiting until I can afford a binding router bit, I shall do so. Thanks for any and all suggestions. Greg

Thanks for the thread bump, Stalefish! WICKED AWESOME!!!! That's kick-ass in a way that leaves all asses sore from the ferocity of the kicking. Woohoo! And stuff. Greg

A Strat trem-to-TOM conversion is just asking for a world of hurt. Greg

While it's true that people rarely (especially to your face) will say something negative about a thing that you've hand-crafted, it's not likely that these people would be saying $1500-2000 just to be nice. If it was a piece of crap and they just wanted to be polite, they'd probably say $900-1000 (even if in reality they'd only give $100). So, I'm taking it as a good sign. The guitar REPAIR, on the other hand-- I'm shitting bricks on your behalf. If you make it clear to him that you have practically nothing for experience and he still wants you to do it, well that's pretty cool. Otherwise, you might be better off giving it back to him for a while. On the other hand, no matador ever won a set of bull's ears by hiding behind the wall. Greg

Lookin' good. The non-prototype one is way sweeter than what your initial designs and pictures (when you were designing) would have indicated. Looks great! Greg

I am **** compared to most guitarists. But I'm glorious compared to Jimmy Fallon. Therefore, I consider myself talented. Greg

True dat, true dat.

Hopefully not the same BAD music, though. Let's see more good VH before they bite the dust.

I haven't the time to read the whole thread, so I dunno what arguments have been presented for and against-- but knowing the people on here, and not even having voted yet, I'm guessing you're getting a lot of recommendations to buy the guitar, coupled with a few sensible words from the usual suspects. ;-) You asked "guitar or ring" on a GUITAR forum, dude! I suspect you want affirmation for what you already know to be true-- girls come and go... but a guitar, THAT's a relationship. Greg [EDIT: Now that I've seen the current results] Almost HALF are recommending the ring? I'm practically ashamed to be a part of this forum. On the other hand, maybe it just shows that half of our members don't have girlfriends and therefore are under the delusion that a woman is more worthwhile than a guitar. Just spank the monkey or get laid, and when that energy's out of your system, you'll realize that a guitar is the right choice. (I'm just taking the mick, by the way)

Audacity is a great piece of software, esp. now that they've added VST compatibility. I still use it only to edit audio, and do my main recording in Tracktion; however it's a very capable piece of software. I've been recommending Kristal a bit lately, so I decided to try getting more in-depth with it in order to give advice and instructions to people. I have to admit, I still prefer Audacity. Greg