Geo

That guitar is so over the top that I can't criticize it! I think it looks awesome! I would never "design" a guitar to look like that, but for a scrapwood guitar, it's great.

Well... To get a transformer to saturate, you would need to drive it near the edge of its ratings (I would think). This might happen in a tube amp with an undersized OT when it's cranked up. So for example you might get this effect with an underpowered interstage transformer within a tube amp. But think about it... your initial guitar signal is in the range of hundreds of millivolts and very little current (since the pickup is pretty high impedance). I doubt that any transformer would do what you think you want with such a tiny signal dribbling through it. I doubt it. Assuming you could get a lame enough 1:1 transformer to give out when slammed with a 500mv guitar signal, I don't think you would get bass such as you describe. In my limited experience, when bass F's distort thru a less-than-adequate OT, you get a mushy, squishy sound. Pretty cool if that's what you want, but NOT (to my mind) "rich, full and packed with harmonics". Winding transformers is a whole science/art unto itself (from what I've read). It would be simpler to buy a teensy isolation transformer, but I don't think that's what you want. No, the transformer won't work like that. A 1:1 transformer will give you the same Vout as Vin, and (I believe) the same impedance. Now, an OT in a guitar amp takes a 5k-some impedance and makes it into ~8ohm impedance (for example), but I don't see how you could apply this to a tiny guitar signal. Certainly it would need some kind of driver or gain makeup. I imagine it's much simpler to build a small solid-state buffer if you need to lower the impedance of your signal. I know very little about transformers and inductance, but I imagine if you read up on everything, you'll see why this has never been done. I don't think it will do what you want. If you want to distort your bass signal, build something that seperates your signal into frequency bands and distort the lower band. I could give you some advice for a tube circuit like this but not solid-state...

It's the concave radius of the file that matters, not the width. The file will only touch a section of the top of the fret, not the whole fret. Having used the large size on jumbo wire and the medium size on standard wire, I wouldn't dream of switching it up. I think the curve of the large file would leave medium wire pretty flat on top, while the medium burr would try to file almost the whole fret. Get the size(s) you need and use them properly.

I don't see any reason to try and "get away with it" when the normal thickness works. That said, I don't know if ~0.1" makes much of a difference in strength. But why not play it safe so you never have it break on you?

??? Sorry... The wood pickguard looks cool.

Perhaps in series, out of phase or something??? I.e., set it up so you can wire two of the coils as a humbucker out of phase.

Well, if you don't go thinner than it is on millions of Strats, it won't break.

You don't need to glue all of them together. In my opinion, that would be extremely wasteful. With careful planning, you have wood for three necks there. Here's what I would do. Cut off some of the extra length from the blank you're using and laminate that on for the heel. If you don't have enough thickness, don't do the volute. As Rich suggested, a 1/4" fingerboard will help things too. But... "My body issues are worked out. Just the neck construction and truss installation I'm worried about." If you're still designing your neck (and, thus, neck joint), then I really don't think your body issues are worked out yet.

Cut it up so it's quarter sawn. Although, I think people do use flatsawn maple for necks. I'm not sure how you're going to get six necks out of that though?

This body shape is growing on me. I think the soundhole really makes it work. One suggestion... increase the length of the soundhole (and allow it to taper to a narrower point) towards the butt of the guitar. Curve the increased length around, following the shape of the butt. Just my suggestion, it looks great either way.

You want the "wide" burr for jumbo/bass frets, but I agree, you might as well buy all the burs, or at least buy the medium too, then you can do fret jobs on normal guitars.

Oh... my gosh. The Tele shape is so adaptable! Love this guitar!!!

It is more for looks than anything. You reinforce the area with bracing from the back side. The edge of the soundhole (exposed endgrain), is not modified by the typical rosette. The wood or shell used for the typical rosette is not selected for strength or stability. Looks That's what I figured. I gotta have some artistic expression that isn't measured out by a ruler, you know?

Just FYI (and I'm not recommending this on this project), you CAN fill the holes and redrill. Just so you know.

Yeah... for non-structural things I don't really believe in perfection/symmetry. But that's a good idea, thanks.

Recessing the bridge looks like the simplest option. You could route out some wood around the bridge and still use the integral tailpiece. Otherwise, maybe switch to a recessed TOM without a tailpiece and run the strings through the body. To me, any of those solutions is better than removing and resetting the neck.

My fault, I still don't quite understand. Are you talking about the truss rod adjustment nut, the part that turns? The channel is 1/4" wide like the rod, so the 1/4" wide nut is sitting in a 1/4" wide channel. I think I understand what you're saying though, that's a good suggestion. I'll widen it a little there. @ Doug... thanks! This is exciting and crazy! All right. As Rich pointed out earlier, I cut out the soundhole without first routing the rosette channel. Considering that, I decided on a whim to use the following "rosette". Tell me what you think. As I understand the purpose of the rosette (to act like binding around the soundhole and stop the absorption of moisture), this should still accomplish that, as the gaps are small. That's cocobolo like the fingerboard. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ar/IMG_0918.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ar/IMG_0919.jpg

I really appreciate the kind words! The encouragement means a lot. There's one large bit of tearout, but the rest of it is some wood fuzz that looks like tearout in the picture. I drilled from the top and had wood underneath. I've never had much tearout on the top of tuning holes. I drill with an electric hand drill because I don't have a drill press. I drill a little hole first as a guide (using 1/16" bit). Can you elaborate a little on this? Do you mean the size of the adjustment recess, or the tightness of the channel against the nut? I have both sides bent and touched up a little. They're now very close to the template (within 1/8" at curves). The headblock and tailblock areas are right on. Any thoughts on that? I'm inclined to run with it. Thanks again for replies.

In my experience, a table saw is NOT a good tool for truing wood. If the wood wanders even a little, those teeth are going to cut on a new plane. Better to use a hand plane. But hopefully it went well for you.

I would suggest that even $638 for the materials for a first project is too high. With no experience, the chances of screwing something up are pretty high. Why not spend less, get some cheap hardware, get poplar or something cheap for the body, etc. That way you aren't investing so much money in your yet-to-be-developed skills. I'll provide my own price list, open for critique (materials only, no tools or shipping) Body blank $70 neck blank $20 truss rod $20 fingerboard $10 fretwire $5 tuners $30 bridge ~$30 misc. electronics $10? materials to make your own pickups $70 oil finish materials ~$20 $285 I think the most important thing is to not shoot too high. Rather than trying to build your dream guitar right away, build something that interests you: something where you can accept a less-than-stellar finished product. Take on as big a challenge as you want--carved top, set neck, fancy binding, whatever, as long as you've done your homework AND understand that your first project will not end up as a dream guitar. It will be a very exciting, nervewracking, and fulfilling learning experience. A small note: I bought a body blank from this guy once. It was flawless and the price was very good. They don't show anything in stock right now, but just so you have the link: http://mammothguitars.com/woodinventory.php

My only question is... why? But it looks like you did a good job.

Thanks Rich. I'm guessing that I didn't get the wood hot enough, as it was springing back a little. It seemed easy to bend, but when I was holding the bend away from the pipe to set, it was pretty tough and wanted to spring back sometimes. The spray bottle is a good idea, I'll try that for the 2nd side and for touching up this one (I'm sure it will need touching up.) "I can't really tell if you are using much force to hold the shape of the side in your clamped form, but don't use much force, that is what cracks sides. " Well, it was springing back a little, but I wasn't fighting it to get it into the shape. Thanks again for the advice.

Wow, gold hardware will look amazing on that mahogany!!!

If you want to build your neck, I think you should. I fretted everything I ever built (including the 3 or 4 fake guitars I threw together before building a "real" guitar). It isn't hard. You just need well-cut slots and a well-prepped fingerboard. Most of your questions will be answered in a good book, such as Melvyn Hyscock's "Build Your Own Electric Guitar". But... 1 wood: mahogany, ash, alder, etc. are the normal ones. Maple top if you want to spend more money. 2 depends on what you're building 3 based on your scale length and neck-to-body joint 4 based on your pickups and controls (how much space they need) 5 if you're buying a neck rather than building, get the neck first, then you'll know the size of the pocket. Basically, you need to read up on this stuff. Answering these questions in the depth that you need would take up the space of a book... and there are already good books out there. The fact that you asked those questions means you aren't ready to build a guitar but will be after you read a book. For example, are you aware that wood must be dried and stable before you can use it? Whatever you build, buy or draw a full-scale plan. Don't cut any wood before you do!!! Lastly... good luck, I'm sure you'll have a sweet axe when you're done.

Not quite sure what you're asking. Are you asking about routing/carving out the underside of the top? Or something else?