Anyone here build guitars?

[crazymandolinist]

A good friend o' mine wants me to build him an electric guitar. The catch is this: he's played acoustic most of his life and can't get used to a heavy electric guitar like a strat. He wants me to build an electric guitar that feels like an acoustic guitar. He likes the middle strat pickup sound, and he wants a rather thick body with an armrest in the side, or a wooden one. He also likes the idea of a violin tailpiece.

So far I have this much figured out. I can use a one pickup, 2 knob setup with an endpin output jack. The top can be spruce or cedar or something of the like. The tailpiece and armrest are easy enough and I've seen it done many times. To keep the weight down I'll hollow that stuff out as much as possible. The neck and tuners will be the same ole same ole setup.
I'm having a problem finding a way to do the sides on the instrument. The easiest way to do this is I figure is to make a frame out of a softwood and shape it from there on the drum sander. Or I could simply bend sides. The problem is I've never done that before and wouldn't know what to practice on, plug I'd need yet another jig which My shop really doen't have room for.

How am I doing? Let me know if you electric guitar builders have any better Ideas because I'm open to some.

The real goal is to get an electric guitar that feels and sounds like an acoustic. He wants something that is about as light as an acoustic.

[Pastor Bill Pawlyshyn]

look into martin guitars, they have plans and maybe they can assist you. if you want to visit Nazareth PA you could visit their store. I went there and was very impressed with both the standard guitar side as well as the self help construction side...but since this is a mando site... ;{0

[mandroid]

There have been some designs that use a slab of spruce for the body,
but would still be heavier than
a steamed bent side shallow body acoustic.

my fender FM 61 electric mandolin is of a design where construction is half way between solid and acoustic.
band-sawing out the rim parts, the bridge is on top of a block that connects the front and back
top is spruce , the back is same as the sides, and 1/4 round router/shaper ran around its edge.
like a tele or strat, all the electrics are mounted on a single plate of plastic .

[martinedwards]

Here's my doublecut

the body used to be the bar top in a powerstation social club.

its a single mahogany block milled out hollow. the back is about 4mm thick, the sides about 20mm.

the top is 6mm maple.

tailpiece from Guitarfetish.com.

there is a piezo under the bone saddle (just like an acoustic) and a stereo output so I can process the piezo signal and the signal from the regular electric pickups seperately.

The string path should be supported by HARDWOODS from nut to tail. PLEASE don't do a spruce block as it'll loose all the tone. bear in mind that in an electric, the STRINGS vibration is picked up by the pick-ups (duh!) and amplified. in an acoustic the strings vibrate and drive the TOP to produce the sound.

The other alternative is to build an archtop, but thats a LOAD of work!!

feel free to as me LOADS of questions as I've built all sorts of weird one offs, electric mandos, doubleneck acoustic guitars, acoustic and electric bass guitars, guitar bodied zouks.... all sorts really.

[Stephanie Reiser]

I would go to the Musical Instrument Makers Forum. They can answer most of your questions.
Also, the Stew-Mac catalog has alot of neat stuff for electric guitar.

[thistle3585]

Try this approach. http://www.cuatro-pr.org/Home/Eng/In...pianothin1.htm

[crazymandolinist]

Try this approach. http://www.cuatro-pr.org/Home/Eng/In...pianothin1.htm

Hey thanks Steve. I was thinking along that aproach. If I can get this straight the body is made out of mahogany. Is there something lighter that I could use?

[crazymandolinist]

Here's my doublecut

the body used to be the bar top in a powerstation social club.

its a single mahogany block milled out hollow. the back is about 4mm thick, the sides about 20mm.

the top is 6mm maple.

tailpiece from Guitarfetish.com.

there is a piezo under the bone saddle (just like an acoustic) and a stereo output so I can process the piezo signal and the signal from the regular electric pickups seperately.

The string path should be supported by HARDWOODS from nut to tail. PLEASE don't do a spruce block as it'll loose all the tone. bear in mind that in an electric, the STRINGS vibration is picked up by the pick-ups (duh!) and amplified. in an acoustic the strings vibrate and drive the TOP to produce the sound.

The other alternative is to build an archtop, but thats a LOAD of work!!

feel free to as me LOADS of questions as I've built all sorts of weird one offs, electric mandos, doubleneck acoustic guitars, acoustic and electric bass guitars, guitar bodied zouks.... all sorts really.

How heavy is that compared to a regular acoustic?

[martinedwards]

a little heavier than a dread, but a LOT lighter than a regular electric (it's hollow, remember?)

here's a pic of another acoustic Les Paul (ish) sort of thing I built, with a more arched top.....



and the process is pretty similar to Cumpiano's Cuatro, except that I left the back in place rather than adding it later, and the neck is a seperate piece.

he cuts his out with a bandsaw, I have access to a vertial milling machine in work where I can hollow a body like this in about 15 minutes.

oh yeah, the MIMF has a FANTASTIC library, but the atmosphere........

well, by all means see what you think yourself, but I'm not a fan.......

http://luthiersforum.com/ is a LOT friendlier!!

[thistle3585]

Another example would be the Rigel instruments where the rim assembly was milled from a glued up frame. The photos I have seen show a fairly thick rim, but I'm not sure how they compared to other acoustical instruments along the lines of weight. Look at the current thread about the Rigel G5 and there are some photos that may help.

[Mandobar]

go over to the gearpage.net

that is where the electric guitar guys hang out.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/

[crazymandolinist]

go over to the gearpage.net

that is where the electric guitar guys hang out.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/

Gee I don know, what if I don't fit in?

Thanks, lemme see where I can go with this, pretty sure I have all of the info I need though.