Official Luthiers Forum!

So I've been thinking about building a Tele and a Strat for myself, and after hunting for wood and plans, and then looking online and seeing the offerings by Warmoth and others, even though I have a CNC, is it cheating to simply buy the pre-cut bodies and necks?

(LOL)


Anyone have any good 3D models or plans for the above guitars they're willing to share? Looking for an early 50's Tele plan, and a late '50's Strat plan / models.

Thanks!

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Made a lot of money in the 80's and 90's by "cheating"....
The client gets what the client wants....

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

At the fairly low price they sell these for, you can hardly go wrong. Have you seen this site?

http://www.guitarfetish.com/XGP-Tele-Style-Bodies_c_548.html

I have used parts from Warmoth and they fit perfectly onto fenders. Very well produced. I have also seen a few guitarfetish complete guitars, and they are high quality.

I was told that using my CNC to cut a Tele body was cheating as late as last night. Haters gonna hate! The same guy later asked me to cut him a neck....You need to do what is right to optimize your time.

_________________
Mitch

Mitch, the point is that I have a CNC and I could cut the parts myself, but I'm highly tempted to just buy them. It feels like cheating... which is what non-CNC guys often think about CNC's. lol

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Back in the 80's many snobs in the guitar building community didn't even consider CNC made guitar parts to be luthiery.

They forgot that luthiers still have to finish the parts, level the frets, make the nuts, string and set up the instrument into a nice playing and good sounding whole per the wishes of a client - all necessary luthiery skills.

Hand made or machine made - we build or assemble guitars in order to turn a profit, and machinery just helps us do that with more consistency and accuracy. The efficiency of machinery makes us more money. Time is money, right?

So the term cheating is just BS in this instance. It you wanna make it - make it. If you don't - don't.

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

If it feels like cheating, it is

_________________
http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

How many of us have wanted to cheat at one time or another....

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Wow, I looked at the guitarfetish site, and I don't see how we could get the materials for what they are charging for completed pieces,
Mike

It's a Tele, right? I mean, its not like the originals were hand crafted by Italian 7th generation luthiers in Cremona. You could order a whole guitar online and swap out the electronics. Thats not cheating either. That's called getting a Telecaster.

The only reason to build a Tele by hand, as far as I can see, is to get something that is not available pre-made. If you like what is already out there, buy it. It is almost guaranteed to be cheaper (and certainly easier). But, then again, to me hand crafting a copy of a Telecaster is a little like hand crafting a custom Hyundai Elantra.

This is a slippery slope. Pretty soon you'll be walking into GC and wondering , is this cheating?

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Let me ask if using CNC can you still call your product hand carved, hand crafted, hand made?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

_________________
"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

I would say that's a separate thread!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

_________________
http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com