Thread: First Guitar

thanks for that R3R
explained it better than i would have

floody i was just looking through my files and found these
dont remember where i got them
but they should be right
just use a converter to go from inches to mm









we better get pics during this build!

Originally Posted by Andrew_B

floody i was just looking through my files and found these
dont remember where i got them
but they should be right
just use a converter to go from inches to mm

we better get pics during this build!

Now those are some detailed plans ... do you have any for a neck through bass?

Floody ... you could take Andrew's plans as a starting point, and then vary them to suit the size of the wood you have. Experiment ... draw it on paper and cut it out to size. There aren't too many rights and wrongs in designing guitars ... just personal preferences.

And yes ... there'd better be pics!!

thanks heaps andrew. big help dude. there will be plenty of pics (and screams for help!) im gonna start buying my parts soon so prob be another few weeks before i start

thickness can be an issue depending on the pick-ups. I put emg passive single coils in a strat copy. the body is a bit thinner than an actual strat so the pick-up cavities are not as deep. the emgs go in but there is no room for adjustment. lucky they sit just nicely! anyway just my two cents!

well ????....
just spent an hour writting up my reply and going through my bookmarks to find you various links to suppliers, and then lost it all
time to start again...
(see if i remember everything i typed originally... lol)

glad to help out floody

i agree with dadovfor,
you should just use the real measurements as your starting point....
as you draw it up you may have ideas of little design features that you can change to make the over all design better... (well i do that)
i guess you will find out as you get into it more
and yes... there better be lots of pics... or else!

dadovfor,
i have a digram of a jazz bass and a few cad files of other basses i think, and a pdf or something of a rick bass... i have a few cad files of neck thru guitars i think.. an explorer and some other crap...
probly have lots more,
just need to go through my many many cluttered files and find them lol
i may go through and clean up my files during the week and see what iv got,
and maybe, just maybe,
if your good,
i will email you some goodies

ahh yes, thickness.
well, you can look at it like this (well i do lol)

if your gonna use a TOM bridge, you can have a thinner body with a shallow pickup rout (depending on your pups) and you will need a neck angle.

if your gonna use a hardtail bridge you can have a thicker body, deeper routs and dont really need a neck angle.

you also need to take into account the switch you are using
(iv had problems squeezing blade switches into a few shallow cavities over the years)


oh, to answer your latest scream for help
i shall compile a list of various suppliers that are closer to home, that i have user and/or have plans to use in the future:

http://www.guitarwoods.com.au/catalog/index.php
http://www.aceguitarparts.com.au/
http://www.ormsbyguitars.com/parts.html
http://www.guitarparts.com.au/
http://luthierssupplies.com.au/
http://guitarpartsaustralia.com/inde...ewCat&catId=62
http://www.guitaraust.com.au/shop/
http://www.evatco.com.au/pots.htm
http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/res.../suppliers.htm

i think thats all

thanks heaps man. your a big help. there is still heaps i dont understand so im sure ill be asking lots more questions. like your point about the bridge and thickness. dont really understand. i was hoping to use a floyd rose double lockin trem. and the neck angle????? im confused!!

Originally Posted by floody_85

thanks heaps man. your a big help. there is still heaps i dont understand so im sure ill be asking lots more questions. like your point about the bridge and thickness. dont really understand. i was hoping to use a floyd rose double lockin trem. and the neck angle????? im confused!!

We just put a double locking Floyd in our latest build. I can't say that I see the benefits over a single locking Floyd (which we used on our first build - see below) but at least I can say I've done it I spose

yea maybe a single would be better. thats a sweet lookin axe too!!

ooo nice one dadovfor
is that an acoustic endpin jack?

floody, ill see if i can find some diagrams to show you about neck angles and stuff

Originally Posted by Andrew_B

ooo nice one dadovfor
is that an acoustic endpin jack?

Nahhh ... the build wasn't quite finished when I took that pic. I experimented with different shapes for the jack but nothing seemed quite right. In the end I simply made an oval shaped surround with a slight curve and sprayed it to match the body. When I took this pic the surround was still drying / curing.

But it does look neat in the photo!

And Andrew ... I will get back to you at some stage regarding your offer of bass plans. I'm eventually going to get on to a bass but I have nothing to use at all to use as a reference. Once I choose a scale, most of the rest will come together around that ... except fret-board widths and neck profiles!! The basics.

oh ok
yes it looks quite interesting in the pic lol

pm me with your email,
and i will start to go through and see what bass stuff i have.
im actually meant to be designing a 4 string...
but i have to find a nice long ruler and straight edge before i can start
my ruler is only 50cm or so, which doesn cut it any more as my designs are starting to get in the 27 inch and longer scale lengths....

Hey everyone.
I wanna order my wood this week but im really not sure where to get it from. I dont want to spend much seems its my first one and i could stuff it.I have been looking at the student grade double cutaway blanks at guitarwoods.com.au but im not sure if its big enough for the rhoads v. ive looked at other sites but theyre more expensive and i dont really wanna spend more than 100

i did a quick sketch to show you what i was talking about before

Originally Posted by floody_85

Hey everyone.
I wanna order my wood this week but im really not sure where to get it from. I dont want to spend much seems its my first one and i could stuff it.I have been looking at the student grade double cutaway blanks at guitarwoods.com.au but im not sure if its big enough for the rhoads v. ive looked at other sites but theyre more expensive and i dont really wanna spend more than 100

Floody ... see Andrew's post above ... that's essentially what I did on the Rhoads I completed, and also on the Rhoads that we've put on hold but that we're coming back to soon.

Both our Rhoads are made of the agathis student grade blanks from guitarwoods.com.au ... which is Gilet Guitars at Botany. My first build was plantation mahogany from Gilet ... around $90 for the mahogany and only $45 for the agathis.

Can you get over to Gilet to buy your wood? If so, get them run both sides over their jointer to ensure it's perfectly straight and square ... that's what I did. Then I took 'em home and cut, clamped, and glued as in Andrew's drawing and my earlier picture.

If you can, go to Gilet's with a full size drawing of your Rhoads body. The guys there are very helpful and they would rather see you buy what you need than make a profit selling you something you don't need.