Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello!

I´m planing my second build.

http://fotoalbum.ee/photos/Smegu/sets/1124881
Here are some design ideas!

I want to make a set neck or neck-thru guitar, depending on what bridge I use(if FR tremolo, then set neck and if hard-tail, unusual tremolo system or TOM bridge, then neck-thru).

I´m not sure what woods to use. I really like imbuia top wood at madinter.com, but I don´t know what wood to use with this top. Guitar will start to play hard-rock, some metal and something like this, sometimes clean songs too. Maybe wallnut body and some maple ebony bindings around the top wood. Or maple body and some bindings around it.

Plan:

24 or even 25-26 fret fingerboard, 26+" scale(if more than 24 frets)
Ebony fretboard
2-way truss rod
2 passive humbuckers(seymour Duncan SH-3 neck and SH-7 bridge),
or 1 single coil neck and 1 humbucker at the bridge(havent decided wich ones to use)
gold or black hardware
Body: imbuia top, maple body or imbuia top, wenge body or imbuia top, sapele body(help me choose?)
Maple-ebony bindings, or something else, depending on body woods, suggsestions are useful.
7-string Bridge maybe Floyd Rose or other tremolo system is prefered.
Set neck
routed cavities in the body under the top and maybe violine like modernized soundholes 1 or 2 of them.

Tell me what you think of this project and suggest me which parts, woods and specs to use.

I want to build this for myself, so it´s for hard rock, sometimes some clean sound and metal too. I want a bit unique, warm and juicy sound from it, with visual effect and variability. Thinking of humbucker spliting and so on for maximum variations from one instrument.

And for my first order, I need ebony top wood from somewhere, I haven´t found a place where I could get this, I live in estonia.

Thank you for your help.

If I get this going, I will make pictures and keep you in touch with my progress in this topic.

Bye for now!

Hi Maiko, and welcome!
As far as the woods go,
I like maple, but whatever you like, use.
I also like EMG pickups,
but Seymour D's are probably as good.
I would make it a chambered body for lightness.
I would use 2 humbuckers in the 13k ohm range,
and put coil splitters on both,
that way you can have hummers for metal,
split to single coil,
and get a sweet sound.
Alan

What makes of vibrato systems do you deem unusual?
(tremolo is a variation in volume, not pitch)

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Well sorry about wrong language use, but I mean different type of tremolo than Floyd Rose or Fender guitar tremolos are. And this type of equipment on guitars is actually called tremolo, by the way, I don´t know it´s real meaning, I know/hear what tremolo bar does on guitar and that´s it.

Unusual: I mean new type of stuff in this category, like Ibanez has created and some inventions don´t need these through body cavities and so on.

Check this out. The Stetsbar Trem, no routing needed.
BTW, everybody calls it a tremolo, or trem for short, so that's what it is.
http://stetsbar.com/

Funny thing is,
and don't try to make sense of this, Maiko,
is Fender made amps called Vibro-Champ, etc.,
but they were really tremelo.
Now we are calling whammy bars "tremelo",
where as they are really vibratos.....
Pitch difference=vibrato
volume difference=tremelo.

yeah all fender amps with tremelo are labeled as vibrato guess someone got it wrong and stuck with it! haha as far as I am concerned ill always say my amp has tremelo even thought the foot switch tells me I am kicking on vibrato... they might as well label the re verb as delay although they would be more accurate with that mistake.

Point is that, most of the people name for example Floyd Rose tremolo not Floyd Rose vibrato and other systems are usually called so too. I think this is pointless arguing here, because there are more than two words in use for this type of guitar bridges.

I would like to hear opinions about my second build idea not about my word usage, I think people with at least some knowledge will still know what I am talking about and that´s important. At least for me, it looks like this forum should have people who know a hell lot more about guitars than me or every other ordinary guy, so stay with the topic please.

Sorry Maiko.
I wasn't talking about your word usage.
I think it's funny about the trem/vib thing.
Anyway, I've told you what I would do with your build,
and don't have much experience with trem systems for guitars.
I like a hard tail for my guitars.

It´s ok!

I want to make this my first experience with trem systems . But decisions, decisions, it´s killing me, there are so many parts to choose from. Want to make this one awsome, but you need to compromise on these things. Maybe I can find a solution within few weeks. I have my first customer and I think I will take time with my build until he pays me half in front, then I will order parts together with his order, this makes deliver costs a bit lower.

I wouldn't stress too much over it.
The Schaller Floyd Rose is probably the best.
Schaller makes good stuff,
and I think the fine tuners at the bridge would be nice,
especially with a locking nut.
I did install a Hipshot for a friend that couldn't stop raving about how good it worked.
Then again, you could go with a Steinberger trans trem bridge,
but, it would then be a headless guitar,
which a lot of people don't like.