Luthier altert: building your own guitar

[brammy]

Thanks Paul------My original design was to use the Gotoh 12-saddle bridges, however now I'm going with more of a standard tun-o-matic 12-string Bridge/Saddle and will divert the thin higher strings 90 deg over a bar between the bridge and saddle and pass them to the back side through ferrules. They will then be tuned (in a large backside recessed pocket) with these (not using tremelo)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWNX:IT

The reasons for not using the Gotoh have to do with color (I'm going all-black hardware), general looks, and the desire for a neck angle.

[brammy]

I AINT OUT OF THE WOODS YET

I'm struggling with selecting the wood for this semi-hollowbody guitar. I'm hoping y'all will help guide my thinking here.
So far (based on some reading and advice from various people) I have:

ALDER BODY - Was originally going with Ash, but supposed Alder is a lot easier to work with. Ash is denser and would have more sustain, but since its a semi-hollowbody a lot of that effect is minimized anyway.

3-PIECE NECK - Maple--???-Maple (for a tiger stripe effect) any suggestions for that middle layer?.... one that would be a similar hardness to maple....
or I could go with a 2-piece quarter sawn maple.

FINGERBOARD - Ebony is possible.... I'm going with all-black tuners and hardware so it might match nicely.

As for color, I'm planning on using a brown dye to create a subtle sunburst effect on the body.

[wim]

How about a DIY kit?

[ken_j]

Here is a link to different tone woods and their sound qualities. It may help you in your descision. I built a solid body, neck through with siilar woods you are looking at. It has a maple/walnut neck with an ebony fretboard, and swamp ash body wings. It is a bright sounding guitar. So it pays to do your homework, to get the tone you are looking for.
http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies/Op ... tions.aspx

[brammy]

Deze bijzonder mooie DIY SRC-10 gitaar bouwkit is een volstrekt unieke kit, welke gemodelleerd is naar de Rickenbacker 300-series?

Thanks... hadn't seen that before. Actually, my project is to make a guitar from scratch (at least as far as the wood goes).

[brammy]

Thanks for that Ken... yes, I've seen the Warmouth site and their descriptions of woods. Another consideration that I'm facing is the ease or difficulty is working the wood. As this is my very first effort at this sort of thing, I'm thinking of Alder for the semi-hollow body. From your experience is that a reasonable choice?

[brammy]

Well, yesterday I bought the pickups for this thing.

- 5-way switching - ala Strat

- 3 pickups - one single coil in the middle. The other two are combo P90/Humbucker/single coil pickups that will be controlled by
making the volume knobs push-pull tap pots..... in other words, it'll have a TON of sound options. Only time
will tell if ANY of them are any good. All pickups seymour duncan...

Two of these
http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/e ... ils_shpr1/

and ONE of these
http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/e ... o_for_str/

wish me luck, I'll need it.

[jimk]

You'll do fine, I'm sure.
JimK

[ken_j]

I'm am sure that Alder will be fine, there are many Strats and Teles built with it. If you want more of a Gibson type warmth I would choose Mahogany or a wood at the other end of the spectrum.

If you want to be able use all of the pickups capabilities I would use mini toggles rather than the two position push-pull pots. As noted on the web link you provided "...use a three-way switch (DPDT on-off-on). This would enable either single coil and a HB position.

[brammy]

Thanks Ken... I'm going to get help in wiring this together and I'll discuss that point with the guy.

As for wood, I generally want to keep the sound on the clean jingle/jangle side, and therefore chose alder. As I haven't yet bought the wood, I'm still wide open to suggestions, but I do want the wood to be easy to work with and alder seems to fit that bill.

[jps]

As for wood, I generally want to keep the sound on the clean jingle/jangle side, and therefore chose alder.

What about maple?

[brammy]

The neck will be 3-ply maple with (possibly) an ebony fretboard. Maple would be fine for the body (and was my first choice) too but it is very hard and alder will just be easier to work with..... or so say everyone I've been talking to.

[egosheep]

The neck will be 3-ply maple with (possibly) an ebony fretboard. Maple would be fine for the body (and was my first choice) too but it is very hard and alder will just be easier to work with..... or so say everyone I've been talking to.

How about an alder neck as well?

[brammy]

Alder isn't a good choice for a neck wood, especially for a higher tension neck like a 12-string or a bass. For a neck you want a harder wood.

I bought the alder body and the eastern hard rock maple neck wood yesterday and also the ebony fretboard. I'm headed out in a few minutes to get the center "tiger stripe" wood for the neck.

check out.....
http://www.theguitarfiles.com/guitarfile131.html

[egosheep]

Alder isn't a good choice for a neck wood, especially for a higher tension neck like a 12-string or a bass. For a neck you want a harder wood.

I bought the alder body and the eastern hard rock maple neck wood yesterday and also the ebony fretboard. I'm headed out in a few minutes to get the center "tiger stripe" wood for the neck.

check out.....
http://www.theguitarfiles.com/guitarfile131.html

I can't speak about 12 strings, but Ric made a lot of alder necks in the 50's on Combo's, Capris... and I believe a bass or two. I'm not saying you should use it, but I don't think it's bad necessarily, just uncommon.