So, it's been a project of mine since long time ago, and I finally got to do it, but it's harder to choose the right stuff than it seems. Here is what I got so far:
*7 strings, 24 frets
*Body Wood: Mahogany (I want as much sustain as I can get, heard this one gets that, plus a nice open bass)
*Fretboard wood: ? (didn't get a reliable source for that one) I usually play Heavy Metal, but also some softer stuff as well in the acoustic guitar.
*Pickups: 2 Humbuckers and a Single Coil, with a 5 way switch The humbuckers are for a nice heavy bass (gotta show that 7th ) The single coil is for the highs. My current guitar, an Epiphone Special Model is good, but it's too fat. The bass screams while the mid-high frequencies are very timid. I like such bass, but the high frequencies gotta appear somewhere ;D.
As for the switch, I'll go for standard. I've played an Ibanez RG at the store(with such pickups) and really liked it. Just wondering if there may be something better than that for my style.
*Fretboard inclination: not much, of course, I know this got to do with harmonics, but dunno much about it
Any comment, opinion or judgement is very welcome .
Are you still at the conceptualization stage or have you started building it yet? Have you already purchased the pickups, and, if so, are the HBs the 4-wire variety?
I mention this because you said:
As for the switch, I'll go for standard. I've played an Ibanez RG at the store(with such pickups) and really liked it. Just wondering if there may be something better than that for my style.
When you say "standard switch", the assumption is that you mean a standard Fender Strat-style switch. While I haven't played an RG, my Ibanez HSH, and most others that I've seen/played, use a different type of switch to give what I call "progressive coil switching". This involves splitting the HB coils, something not possible with a regular 5-way Fender switch (or, at least, not possible in the way that Ibby does it).
There is a thread around here somewhere about the Ibanez switching, I'll have to dig it up for you.
The single coil is for the highs.
Does this mean it will be at the bridge position, i.e., HHS?
With 5 separate coils to play around with, your wiring options are pretty wide open. You may want to search around here for some similar wiring schemes.
As far as the fretboard wood, I'll let the luthier guys around here weigh in on that one. Frankly, I think it's more a matter of personal preference for playability, as well as the workability of the wood you choose (since you're the one who has to work with it.)
While the body wood and neck wood choices you make may make a difference in the end result, tonally speaking, the contribution of the fretboard wood is probably minimal. Particularly so if the fretboard in question is attached to a guitar used for Metal, with all the gain, distortion etc that that entails.
The pickups you choose, as well as the amp and other items in the signal chain, will have a much greater influence on the tone you get in the end than the wood you choose. And once you're down to the fretboard wood specifically, any difference tonally will be minimal.
So, give us some more info, and please post some pix of your project! We love guitar porn! ;D
Are you still at the conceptualization stage or have you started building it yet? Have you already purchased the pickups, and, if so, are the HBs the 4-wire variety?
That's right, I haven't talked to the Luthier yet, but he has don 7 string before. I'm thinking the 4-wire humbs because the series or parallel setting. To quote an article at Guitar Nutz:
"It's difficult to reliably quantify this difference but I'll go out on a limb and describe pickups wired in series as having a bit more midrange punch than the same pickups wired in parallel. Usually. No guarantees."
I mention this because you said:
As for the switch, I'll go for standard. I've played an Ibanez RG at the store(with such pickups) and really liked it. Just wondering if there may be something better than that for my style.
When you say standard switch, the assumption is that you mean a standard Fender Strat-style switch. While I haven't played an RG, my Ibanez HSH, and most others that I've seen/played, use a different type of switch to give what I call "progressive coil switching". This involves splitting the HB coils, something not possible with a regular 5-way Fender switch (or, at least, not possible in the way that Ibby does it).
There is a thread around here somewhere about the Ibanez switching, I'll have to dig it up for you.
That's misinformation on my part, thinking all 5-ways are the same, I havent searched extensively for these settings
The single coil is for the highs.
Does this mean it will be at the bridge position, i.e., HHS?
With 5 separate coils to play around with, your wiring options are pretty wide open. You may want to search around here for some similar wiring schemes.
That's about it, I'm thinking about the most versatility without recurring to equalizers and such imbedded in the guitar.
As far as the fretboard wood, I'll let the luthier guys around here weigh in on that one. Frankly, I think it's more a matter of personal preference for playability, as well as the workability of the wood you choose (since you're the one who has to work with it.)
While the body wood and neck wood choices you make may make a difference in the end result, tonally speaking, the contribution of the fretboard wood is probably minimal. Particularly so if the fretboard in question is attached to a guitar used for Metal, with all the gain, distortion etc that that entails.
The pickups you choose, as well as the amp and other items in the signal chain, will have a much greater influence on the tone you get in the end than the wood you choose. And once you're down to the fretboard wood specifically, any difference tonally will be minimal.
I plan to use acoustics as well, in that I think wood would be important, but I can be wrong. As for the Metal, it's like you said: Pickups and Distortion speak louder than Wood.
OK, I missed where you mentioned acoustic, wood certainly can matter there. Do you mean that you would be playing this guitar unplugged? Or are we talking 2 separate guitars, an acoustic and an electric?
And I didn't understand that you were contracting this out to a luthier. If so, you presumably think he knows his stuff- so why not ask him for his thoughts on the fingerboard?
Many Ibanezzes*, particularly the "shredder style" gits, use the OTAX switch. In a HSH guitar, it gives a sort of "progressive humbucker":
My S470 has this wiring. The OTAX is a 2P5T switch, and other wiring are possible with it.
A Fender "Superswitch" (4P5T) offers even more possibilities. There is also a (rarer) "Half-Superswitch (2P5T) which is equivalent to the Ibby switch. There are yet other variants available from Schaller.
Lever switches are a whole subject unto themselves. Here's a bit of info on the Strat, Tele, and other lever switches, including the Ibanez OTAX switch.
OK, I missed where you mentioned acoustic, wood certainly can matter there. Do you mean that you would be playing this guitar unplugged? Or are we talking 2 separate guitars, an acoustic and an electric?
And I didn't understand that you were contracting this out to a luthier. If so, you presumably think he knows his stuff- so why not ask him for his thoughts on the fingerboard?
I wasn't entirely clear on that one: By playing acoustic, I meant to say playing without distortion(preferably without an equalizer pedal as well.)
The luthier part is true, but I gotta know something about the project and guitar making so that I get something that will satisfy me (it takes some cash do do such stuff)
So, I'm doing my homework, since he moved to another city. He'll set his shop up by mid february, and by then I'll surely know more.
Speaking about Ibanezi*, I got to play an RG. Very nice sound, very smooth playing and HSH pickups, what I'm after. I'll probably get DiMarzios or Seymour Duncan pickups, but not so sure yet. I'll see that sound sample thread you said.
On another topic, umidity and sweat are a (insert dirty word here) for me. A set of strings usually last a month, tops. and if I leave the guitar alone in my bedroom, it rusts in 6 weeks.This week, I'll have to take it for someone to see what's wrong with its jack (for the 4th or 5th time since I have it).
*Ibanezzes? Ibanezi? Ibani? What is the plural of "Ibanez", anyway? Or, if you have 2, is it still just "Ibanez", like "deer"? ;D
I'll leave this to you, I don't speak Spanish and English isn't my mother language either ;D
*Ibanezzes? Ibanezi? Ibani? What is the plural of "Ibanez", anyway? Or, if you have 2, is it still just "Ibanez", like "deer"? ;D
Depends how you pronounce it really. If you pronounce it the Spanish way (Ibáñez being a Spanish surname) as "ee-BAN-yes", then the plural would be the same as the singular. If you mangle it to "EYE-ban-ez" you might as well go the whole hog and say Ibanezzes.
Hmmm...a bit of a project there...don't get sucked into to much mojo on woods and such, get a really stable wood that wont bend and make sure your builder knows how to select it well and seal it to protect it from moisture.
If you like the Ibanez kinds of options with a HsH guitar, go that route...unless you want to go nutz with all those coils...if playing loud and distorted anyway a lot of your tone is coming from the pickups and you will want as much noise canceling as you can get.
...
On the sweat thing...when I played in bands I was going through a string set a week!!!
Some people corrode strings through the acid on their hands more than others, some play so much and bend strings that will decrease the life in them even without rust.
I now live by the sea and tend not to play as much as I used to or sweat all over them. However, I have a few guitars out.
One solution is to keep an oiled rag about, spray some machine oil or similar on them, and wipe them down. These tend to give them a protective coating and wipes off the hand acid...plus, makes them feel fast and slippery.
Good luck with the project...
Mr D.I.Y. Sustainer ;-) [/IMG]New Project...'jazz strat' ... Seagull project and mini PA amplification
Thanks for the support, guys ^^ I'll continue my research and will post them here. I think I've solved the switching problem. Here's an independent parallel/series switch that will be use in conjunction to the 5-way:
One solution is to keep an oiled rag about, spray some machine oil or similar on them, and wipe them down. These tend to give them a protective coating and wipes off the hand acid...plus, makes them feel fast and slippery.
That's nice, never thought about oil. I even drank that bad leather hat tea(not a hat made of leather, it's a plant ) for my sweat become less acidic. Kinda worked but not so well
I've been holding off tossing in my two cents until I had some time...but since I never seem to find the time, let me try to be brief.
First off, you mentioned you liked the Ibanez RG. Was it the Ash model, the mahogany/walnut model, or was it a painted guitar? The reason I mention it is that all the painted RG's are all made from basswood. Nothing wrong with that, except it's 180 degrees away from mahogany. More details to follow depending on your reply.
As far as fingerboard wood...rosewood is common and very effective. There are a multitude of other exotics out there that will effect your tone mostly in that you won't be able to afford strings later... Ebony is the mystical holy grail to some folks, but if you're going to drop that much coin on it you might want to consider snakewood, as it's less expensive and adds a certain uniqueness to the look of the guitar. Granadillo is a very pretty fingerboard wood and quite affordable.
For a 7 string guitar I would suggest you inquire about a 2 or 3 piece neck with a dual truss rod. I mention this as a lot of metal players tend to go with a bottom heavy string set and the torsional force can twist a one piece neck.
More important to you is probably the radius of the fretboard. Most metal and shredder guys tend to prefer a flatter radius, or a compound radius. Scale length and fret size will also be a major consideration based your style. These are the questions you need to cover with your builder.
I would suggest pursuing the Tone Woods posting and follow the link to The Heretic's Guide to Alternative Lutherie Woods, by John Calkin. There are alternatives to mahogany which can greatly enhance the appearance of the guitar.
The precision and tightness of the build, along with the quality of the components used will have a greater impact on the sound of the guitar then the tonewood.
Happy Trails
Cynical One
"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power." - Benito Mussolini "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis (1935) "Democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine" - Thomas Jefferson “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” - Oscar Wilde слава україні - Slava Ukrayini
I had already read that article, but I haven't thought about sharing it with the builder. That kind of stuff is to be read more than once, anyway. Again, thanks for the help.
I was thinking that as far as wood, a lot of those ibanez are bass wood and favoured for high gain players...it tends to make a lighter guitar...not the greatest 'clean' guitar as it can sound a bit thin to me...a mahogany guitar can sound a lot 'darker'
Fretboard material does make a difference too...I have a gibson with mahogany and eboney board that's amazingly stiff and the notes quite 'precise'...a maple neck that is very 'spanky' and a couple of rosewood boards that are a nice balanced warmth...one is on a maple neck, the other on a mahogany...I think I prefer the maple with rosewood for myself.
But the construction and scale length, pickups and such make the most difference to sound and how it plays. With a 7 string, especially if you have humidity problems...that torsion is going to really matter and you'd want to be sure that the neck is stable in all directions. In addition to a dual action truss rod I'd be recommending carbon fibre stiffening rods to keep everything stable.
My strat is mahogany body, maple bolt on neck and rosewood board. It has a classic strat sound though even with an HSS format and top routing and such...this is mostly down to the design and scale length over the pickups (I've had a few different ones in it), the maple neck, trem and bridge type, neck joint and other 'strat' type features...the body wood not such a big deal.
You can of course mix woods in various ways...but there is so much in the design of a guitar and making something stable and playable, especially when you start making wider necks and extra strings...exactly what you are going to end up with is really a bit up in the air and takes a good builder to know what works for this kind of design and conditions it's going to be in.
If you are going to be into high gain sounds...well, I don't think you are going to hear the 'wood' at all and should put all your energies into choosing a construction to withstand the environmental conditions that it is subjected to...which sound perhaps harsh where you are.
Mr D.I.Y. Sustainer ;-) [/IMG]New Project...'jazz strat' ... Seagull project and mini PA amplification
Well, as threatened, here's the long post I alluded to earlier...
Basswood now a days is similar to ash and alder in the US back in the 50's. Cheap and readily available, easy on the tooling and quick to finish. Mahogany has been relatively steady in price and supply as well.
Basswood and alder are not that far apart in physical characteristics, and alder is held up as a desired "tonewood"
Example:
Common Name(s): Basswood, American Basswood, Lime, Linden
Compare these two choices to mahogany and the differences are obvious. Keep in mind there are roughly 5 different varieties of mahogany, but this is the most commonly used species for furniture and musical instruments.
Common Name(s): Honduran Mahogany, Honduras Mahogany, American Mahogany, Genuine Mahogany, Big-Leaf Mahogany, Brazilian Mahogany
I have a bass with a poplar body. It's light weight, has a very clean singing tone and sustains for days. One of our other members, Double Yoi, has topped a Tele body with cypress. We're still waiting for the final results, but the concept is very intriguing to me.
As far a fingerboard wood...this is where the whole "tonewood" debate can get very vicious. My preference is a maple neck, but again, that's just a preference. They're very stable, especially in a 2 or 3 piece construction.
Rosewood, commonly Indian rosewood these days, is a very common and accepted material very close to ebony in physical characteristics. Ebony is generally held up as the prime choice, but availability and cost are making it prohibitive for the benefits, IMHO. If you want to win the fingerboard hardness wars go for lignum vitae. Here's some comparisons:
Common Name(s): Hard Maple, Sugar Maple, Rock Maple
Rosewood and maple are affordable and more then capable of doing the job. Both ebony and lignum vitae are very expensive. Ebony, because it is getting scarce, and lignum vitae because it is the heaviest wood in the world, many times only sold by the pound. They will also cost you more from the builder as they are both tough to work and murder on tooling. So are bloodwood and purpleheart...but I digress...
Of all the guitar necks I've ever seen, hands down, the prettiest one I ever saw was birdseye maple and snakewood.
As you can see, snakewood is harder then ebony and has more then enough character and flash to go around. One thing to consider, it will cost more then rosewood, and your builder will charge more to work it for the same reasons mentioned earlier...but it's the shiznitz, IMHO.
Keep in mind that if you're a high gain super distortion player all the tonal characteristics in the world go out the window and you might as well use plywood for all the difference you'll notice... Hell, Dean got away with that one for years...I know of one lawsuit that came out of that one, too...but again, I digress...
So, if you got this far...and your eyes haven't glazed over... you're probably asking what does all this mean? What it means is that what you should be doing is hitting every music store in town and playing as many different guitars as you can. See what the ones you like are made of, what type of electronics, pickups, hardware and specs they use and then incorporate those characteristics into your build.
Your luthier/builder can also be a very good resource for insights and direction. If he's not, then keep looking for a builder...
Happy Trails
Cynical One
"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power." - Benito Mussolini "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis (1935) "Democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine" - Thomas Jefferson “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” - Oscar Wilde слава україні - Slava Ukrayini
By these numbers, I'll probably go for Mahogany or Poplar body(since I guess elasticity means sustain and hardness means the fundamental frequency of vibration(which would be nice having a midlle one, don't want the sound to be too squeaky nor fat)
as for the fretwood, since I'm aiming at a low angled fretboard, snakewood really seems nice, doing very well against the glorified ebony.
I had to put them in excel to figure out what's what, but I guess I got it, except for the specific gravity, I've just googled it. Does it have to do with how much that wood can absorb water? That'd be a nice thing, since it's pretty humid here (southern Brazil). And now I have an excuse to play every guitar at the shops, hohoho
Post by Double Yoi on Jan 15, 2011 10:52:28 GMT -5
If they hang on the wall we need no excuses! Good luck with this project sound very interesting.
I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that.
Actually, as you're in Brazil you are living where a good deal of the desirable wood in the world grows. Something to consider is an indigenous guitar. By this I mean select only woods native to Brazil.
If you managed to read any of the Heretic's Guide to Alternative Tonewoods, you should understand that the choice of wood is secondary to the craftsmanship and the components. This is even more true in an electric instrument.
Rosewood is a given in your neck of the woods. (no pun intended..well, ok...it was...) The two main South American Mahogany species, Swietenia marcophylla and Swietenia mahogani, are becoming endangered due to excessive logging for export.
Trying to obtain mahogany from other parts of the world, or maple, swamp ash or ebony will cost you additional as they have to be imported into Brazil.
Having said that, here's a few suggestions that you may not have considered:
Name: ANGELIM PEDRA (HYMENOLOBÍUM EXCELSUM (Leguminosae)) Hardness: 3040 Possible uses: A bit coarse for the fretboard, but possibly the center section of a 3 piece neck, or the center section of a neck-thought design.
Name: CEREJEIRA (Amburana cearensis or Amburana acreana) Hardness: 1150 Possible uses: A dimensionally stable wood similar to mahogany. Could be used for neck or body wood.
Name:Curupixa (Micropholis venulosa) Hardness: 1490 Possible uses: Similar in hardness to maple, could be fingerboard, neck wood or body cap wood.
Name: Freijo (Cordia goeldiana) Hardness: 1000 Possible uses: Similar to mahogany, could be neck, body or bottom half of two piece body with a harder wood cap.
Name: Goiabao (Pouteria Pachycarpa Pires) [also known as Brazilian Maple] Hardness: 1500 Possible uses: This could be a body cap, neck wood or fingerboard wood. It would require a hard finish, versus oil if used as a fingerboard.
Name: Imbuia (Phoebe porosa) [also known as Brazilian Walnut] Hardness: 950 Possible uses: Body wood or bottom half of two piece body with a harder wood cap.
Name: Itaúba (Mezilaurus itauba) Hardness: 1170 Possible uses: Body wood or bottom half of two piece body with a harder wood cap.
Name: Ipe (Tabebula serratifolia) Hardness: 3680 Possible uses: This is a very desirable wood for fingerboards. It's harder then rosewood and most ebony species.
Name: Jatoba (Hymenaea courbaril) Hardness: 2820 Possible uses: This could be an excellent fingerboard. It can also be used in the center of a 3 piece neck.
Name: MUIRACATIARA or Koa Brazilian (Astronium graveolens) Hardness: 2160 Possible uses: This would make a very nice fingerboard. It can also be used in the center of a 3 piece neck.
Name: Marupa (Simarouba amara) Hardness: 440 Possible uses: This is about as close as you're going to get to a basswood body with an indigenous species.
Name: PARICA or Curupay - Mahogany Andean (Piptadenia macrocarpa) Hardness: 3840 Possible uses: This is some pretty hard stuff. This would definitely make a hard fingerboard.
Name: Sucupira Amerela (Bowdichia spp.) Hardness: 946 Possible uses: This would make a very interesting looking body wood. Very durable and resistant to moisture and critters.
Name: SUCUPIRA Preta (Bowdichia nitida) Hardness: 1301 Possible uses: This is of the same species as the one above, but a darker color and different grain pattern. This could be used as a body, body cap, neck wood, but might be stretching it as a fingerboard wood.
Name: TIMBAIBA or Guanacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) Hardness: 520 Possible uses: This is another wood close to basswood. It finishes nice, but your builder may not like it as the sawdust from it is a known irritant.
Name: TATAJUBA or Bagasse {Bagassa guianensis} Hardness: 1730 Possible uses: This could be used for a body cap, neck wood and potentially fingerboard wood.
Name: Uxirana (Vantanea parviflora) Hardness: 3740 Possible uses: This would make for a very interesting and very hard fingerboard.
Well, that sure made it clear as mud, huh... There are many other varieties and species, but these seemed to be to most commercially available. I would ask your builder for his recommendations if you decide to go with indigenous woods.
...I guess I got it, except for the specific gravity...
According to Hoyle:
Basic Specific Gravity:
Technically, specific gravity is a measure of density, so it might seem a bit redundant to list this field right after the dried weight density reading. But because of the diverging measurements found in the dried weight values of wood samples at widely varying moisture levels, specific gravity is intended to provide a standardized base measurement for the density of wood.
But when measuring a wood’s specific gravity, that is, its ratio of weight as compared to water, typically it is based upon a wood’s oven-dry weight, (meaning a moisture content of 0%, which is the lightest the wood can ever get), and its green volume, that is, when it is freshly cut: having the largest possible volume. This may seem like a double-standard—to calculate this density from the wood’s dry weight, and its green volume—but this standardization, commonly called the “basic specific gravity,” prevents any irregularities or inconsistencies from occurring, mainly because it uses predictable extremes (i.e., lightest weight and largest volume) to calculate the SG value.
Using a wood’s basic specific gravity, along with its volumetric shrinkage data, the average dried weight can be calculated at a number of moisture contents, ranging from 0% up to 30%.
Hope that helps.
Happy Trails
Cynical One
Last Edit: Jan 15, 2011 23:18:05 GMT -5 by cynical1
"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power." - Benito Mussolini "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis (1935) "Democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine" - Thomas Jefferson “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” - Oscar Wilde слава україні - Slava Ukrayini
Loads of great info on wood here, but you know what, I'd go for the cheapest and easiest to work if i were you, and don't even think about tone qualities for your first build. I've put together quite a few project guitars from scratch now and no matter how well guided you are, you'll make mistakes and discover better ways to do things so use a cheap soft bit first to make your mistakes on and save a good quality piece for when you are more practiced at the art. You will save yourself money and a lot of frustration by doing this.
"The best way to do it...is to do it." - Amelia Ehrhard
Loads of great info on wood here, but you know what, I'd go for the cheapest and easiest to work if i were you, and don't even think about tone qualities for your first build. I've put together quite a few project guitars from scratch now and no matter how well guided you are, you'll make mistakes and discover better ways to do things so use a cheap soft bit first to make your mistakes on and save a good quality piece for when you are more practiced at the art. You will save yourself money and a lot of frustration by doing this.
All absolutely true, but it's not my first project. Well, it is, but I don't think there will be a second one, since I'm not a luthier. I'm doing this because of the money involved and I want to me sure it will be good. I'm just your ordinary guitar player without any crafting skills ;D.
A good point, though. Tensile strength IS more important than the sound(as in the tonewood sound), since a C will always be a C, and it's easier to maintain that low fretboard full of harmonics. I'll priorize this, but the tone is still important ;D.
--------------
Edit: This week, I went to the music shops to get to play on guitars that I want to assimilate into the project (playing the $>2000 ones didn't hurt a bit :
But even after playing all of them, I still liked Ibby RG best, but I played only one Seymour Duncan'ed guitar, so still have my doubts about pickups, but it's the only thing remaining(Yeah, I know... the most important in terms of sound ).
Well, that's it. I started the project last week with the Luthier. We'll use cedar for the body, ivory and and ebony for the fretboard. A couple of Duncan humbuckers, plus perhaps a single one in the middle. Thanks for the support, guys. When it's over, I'll post the pics
Very interesting guitar you've got going there. I put the concept image at the bottom of your work in process images. The carving is very close to your composite image.
Question. Is that a zero fret on the neck, or is there going to be a locking nut installed? I ask because I haven't seen a zero fret used in a while and was just wondering.
Are you going to stick with the two tone color scheme?
And that fingerboard must have been fun to shape...
All in all this is looking like one very cool guitar.
When you get it finished please let us know and fire up some images.
...and you know we're gonna be looking for some sound clips, too...
And I went back and read this post from the beginning again. I noticed you gravitate towards the Ibanez. You probably already know this, but Ibanez made a series of prototype 7 strings for Steve Vai based on his Jem line. If you catch any of his live videos you can see Tony MacAlpine playing one of them.
Keep us posted.
Happy Trails
Cynical One
"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power." - Benito Mussolini "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis (1935) "Democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine" - Thomas Jefferson “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” - Oscar Wilde слава україні - Slava Ukrayini
My guess is your luthier carved so close to your concept because he's good at what he does. I took a closer look at the concept and the actual body, and he nailed it pretty damn close. I think you made a very good choice in selecting this fellow.
The red and black split like that is an interesting scheme.
Where you going to use a fixed bridge, or put a whammy on there?
And the fingerboards can be machined, but ebony generally needs to be hand sanded and the tooling can tear or chip it. Ebony is some tough wood and not a joy to work with. No matter how he did it the job is very clean.
Please keep us in the loop as this guitar progresses. If your luthier is up for it, see if he'll let you take a few shots of him actually working on it. A little shameless self promotion is always welcome here...and down the road you'll appreciate those shot of the guitar in it's infancy.
Happy Trails
Cynical One
"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power." - Benito Mussolini "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis (1935) "Democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine" - Thomas Jefferson “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” - Oscar Wilde слава україні - Slava Ukrayini
I don't know how to post sound(apparently image either...), but I've recorded two clips. In the big one I use my guitar, a Marshall Jackhammer for distortion and my Gianinni Tremendão 3 (Valved amplifier).
In the other one it's the same guitar, with a zoom 505II and a small Staner amp.
And thanks for coming back with some finished pictures. Very sweet guitar. And even though you didn't build it yourself, I'm still gonna +1 you for the guitar.
And posting sound clips is a simple matter to resolve. Just got to SoundClick or SoundCloud and sign up for a free account. Upload your clips and post the URL back here.
Back to the guitar. I love the detail on the tuning pegs. And the back of the guitar at the neck joint almost looks like a Nuno Bettencourt style joint. And the paint job looks first class.
Your builder does fine work. He really nailed your concept sketch. First class workmanship. You lucked out finding him.
Again, thanks for coming back with the finished pictures. I'm anxious to hear how she sounds.
Happy Trails
Cynical One
"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power." - Benito Mussolini "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis (1935) "Democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine" - Thomas Jefferson “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” - Oscar Wilde слава україні - Slava Ukrayini
Yeah, cell phone recorders just don't do the guitar justice.
I'm guessing there's a tremendous range in this guitar that you have to be there to experience. Vai, MacAlpine and Petrucci make great use of a 7 string guitar...and MacAlpine is now off on an 8 string guitar...
If you ever happen to run up on a more robust scenario to record the guitar please come back and post it up.
Thanks again for putting a track up. You've got a great guitar there...and the only one like it in the world. That's pretty cool IMHO.
Happy Trails
Cynical One
PS: And what happened at around 5:12...sounded like it bit back...
"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power." - Benito Mussolini "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis (1935) "Democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine" - Thomas Jefferson “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” - Oscar Wilde слава україні - Slava Ukrayini
I'm guessing there's a tremendous range in this guitar that you have to be there to experience.
PS: And what happened at around 5:12...sounded like it bit back...
Yeah, that's the first time I played her. Fresh out of the case, all-out improvise. As to the 5:12 FAIL ... I'm not very used to play in that region. I rarely go beyond the 17th fret, and when I do, it's the 22nd, or 19th (acoustic with cut) bends are kinda heavy. There's a lot to explore
Hey, remember the wise words...it ain't a mistake if you play it twice...
I imagine that extra string will keep you occupied for a while. I'm still working out the two extra strings on a standard guitar after decades on a 4 string bass...no explanations required...
I was curious on your choice of cedar, but it appears to have been a good choice based on your style. What was the top cap made from?
I would still love to hear that guitar live. And tell your luthier I really appreciate the style of his work. He put in a lot of subtle touches and hit your concept sketch dead on. If you don't mind sharing the details, what did he charge you for that guitar?
Happy Trails
Cynical One
"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power." - Benito Mussolini "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis (1935) "Democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine" - Thomas Jefferson “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” - Oscar Wilde слава україні - Slava Ukrayini