New (sloowww) build project, ideas welcome.

[deeaa]

So...

I have this big log of maple in the basement, been drying there for at least 7-8 years now. It's about 3-4 inches thick and 1,5 foot wide, long as an electric guitar (over a yard). It's curved and twisted a little over the years as it's dried, and I'm hoping it won't 'live' no more.

I'm going to build me an electric guitar of _some_ sort, perhaps out of that block. It does 'ring' really well when hit wit an object, very resonant at least now that it's still uncut.

I also have a maple slab for fretboard, which I'm having my friend the luthier cut me the fret slots and the radius ready...but other than that, I'm dreaming of making the instrument out of either just one slab of maple, OR maybe sort of neck-thru design anyway.

I'm going for something very simple I think...but I haven't decided yet how exactly. I'm thinking I could make the entire thing like a big needle with a hole where the pickups come, and devise a system like rails on which I could quickly put different pickups in from the back, so I could test various ones with ease.

As you've probably gathered by now, it probably won't be built to be a daily player or such...more like an experiment and a basis for tests. I'm wondering for instance should I omit the truss rod for instance...but maybe it must be used. I could also use fiberglass/carbon fibre reinforcements under the fretboard to make it as stiff as possible.

BUt the first order of business is probably cut the maple more closely to size, and then heat it up well and see if it warps any more.

Then again, I have this idea of scoring a big rod of plastic, that black real hard stuff that they CNC machine parts out of, and then making the same project with that...

What would be the most interesting approach for yoy guys?

Also, considering I have almost half a maple log to use for this - which way would YOU cut the neck? Would it work well to cut from near the centre, so that the very centre of the wood would be under the fretboard actually, and the neck almost like a half of a young tree really. But which is the most resistant direction to cut?

[Katastrophe]

I don't have any suggestions, Dee, but I can't wait to see what you do with the maple.

It's gonna be a heavy guitar when you're done, but probably not as heavy as the stone guitar.

[deeaa]

Mm, I dunno...depends on how much wood there will be left when I'm done...might turn out not much heavier than a neck if I go for the needle-hole idea :-) the major issue right now for me is some nasty looking cracks at the surface from the drying...will have to start planing and sawing it to size soon to see how deep do those go. It could ruin the entire idea if there isn't enough crack-free wood to salvage...

[Ch0jin]

You mention earlier that you have a mate who is a luthier, perhaps take him the whole slab of wood and ask his opinion also? If I had a potentially nice slab of tone wood and a friend who knew about these things I'd be really tempted to get their point of view. Me personally, I'd think about a neck through set-up with a classic PRS body shape.

Also, on truss rods, I think they are a necessity aren't they? Without them the neck would bow wouldn't it?

[kiteman]

Also, on truss rods, I think they are a necessity aren't they? Without them the neck would bow wouldn't it?

I think it's a must have (or a reinforcement rod). Without them the neck would be springy and the tone will suffer from it.

[deeaa]

In the long run I guess a rod is quite a must, just to fine tune the curve of the neck. I made one neck out of dry birch once, with no truss rod, and it was fine for over ten years...birch is suprisingly hard and resilient. Now it's bowed slightly and would need a rod really. Might be due to having been stored next to a fireplace for over a decade :-)

[deeaa]

I've now raw-cut the maple, and I'm going to make the neck with two pieces, the main part will be a neck-thru single maple slab, quartersawn, near the very center of the tree, so the growth circles will nearly match the shape of the neck. I will make the headstock from the same wood but I've cut a slab that I'll set to the neck at roughly 10-15% angle so that the join will take place under the 2nd fret approximately - from there on the grain of wood will then be lateral to the headstock.

Maybe I should start a photo blog of it...it would be slow progress but anyhow.

The way I'm approaching this thing is I don't want to read any info on making guitars, I want to solve all issues and plan all the joins and stuff all by myself without instructions, so it'll be interesting and so on. I spent an hour last night simply eyeballing how do I make the join for the headstock and where to cut the wood and whatnot.

I will also make it a neck-thru so that the body portion will be much wider than the neck, so as to house the pickups completely, and instead of routing from the top, I'm thinking I'd screw the pickups straight to the wood from below - never seen that done but seems like a good idea to me.

I'll most likely add some body 'flanges' too once I get the main instrument done...use some real light wood there to keep the weight down, or maybe even not wood but something different.

But, right now it seems to me I might easily still screw things up real bad as I have no clue for instance how to route a channel for the rod, or simply how do I saw and plane the headstock joint so it'll be straight and not jutting at some direction...maybe I have to make a jig of some kind...but I wanna come up with solutions myself, not check out how it's done usually.

[kiteman]

It sure sound like a fun project dee. I almost want to come over and help you. :dance

[Eric]

What shape are you using? Any pictures to give us an idea of your intentions?

[deeaa]

I just started a blog on subject Eric...I'm not sure if I understand how to post new parts to it though, it's pretty confusing. But check it out for pictures as well. So far I have no definite idea for a shape, I'll just make a 'log' first and worry about adding flanges later.

[Duffy]

Dee,

This sounds like a very interesting original build concept and design development.

Neck
An idea on the neck since it is going to be a neck thru would be to, if you think it's a good idea, design your neck out of only "one" piece of wood, all the way from the tip of the headstock to the tail of the guitar. This would require that you "step" cut the neck so the fretboard is above the body and pickups. Also you would have to step the neck down for the headstock, like "Fender does on the strats and teles: the neck is one piece but the headstock is stepped slightly down from the fretboard. Just as important would be the significant "step" of the neck down to the body and extending to the tail of the guitar. This method of using a single un spliced piece of wood theoretically would lead to the greatest sustain because there would be no joints in the neck.

An idea on cutting the neck thru main longitudinal center mass of wood would be to cut it at an angle to the center of the stem, by cutting it off center from the center of the concentric growth rings, so that the center growth ring from the very young tree is not directly under the fretboard, especially if you are going to have the frets machined into the single solid piece instead of applying a separate fretboard.
The reason I suggest cutting the main mass piece of longitudinal wood off center from the growth rings is to give it added strength and reduce the chance that the wood will exfoliate along the growth ring lines: like sometimes a deck plank will exfoliate along the center line where the growth ring is very small in diameter and if not nailed facing downward onto the floor joists, but rather facing up toward the sun, the center growth rings will dry out and separate from the next closest growth ring and eventually fall or break out from the board, leaving a channel running longitudinally the length of the board, or partially so. This is just an idea. Sawing it at an angle offset from the center line of the growth rings, but parallel, may also improve its longitudinal stability and reduce the chance that the central mass of the guitar will warp longitudinally. Of course you don't want twisting either. And you are going to seal off the central piece of wood composed of the neck, etc., from moisture anyway. Any resitual moisture will, however, remain in the wood. Stabilizing the effects of that residual moisture should be fairly easy once the wood is sealed.

From examining many guitar necks I have observed many different striation orientations of the grain, which suggests that the manufacturers are not much concerned about warpage due to marginal variations in the woodgrain orientation. I, however, always try to select a guitar with a straight grained neck, or a neck that has beautiful transverse flamming of the maple or other awesome grain patterns such as being heavily birds eyed or curly or some other interesting and rare grain pattern. The straight grain is probably going to avoid warping the least.

I won't go on about this becuase you and others probably know more about these things than me, but I thought I'd bring some of them up. This sounds like a very complicated and serious project, with many details to be thought thru thoroughally.

Good luck with this guitar. It sounds like a very interesting project.

Truss rod
You could carefully rout out a channel in the neck for it, as is done on maple fretboard strats and teles. Then you could cover the channel with a piece of carefully cut wood to enclose the truss rod "channel" that you would rout out. They traditionally use rosewood, but since you are trying to be original you could use the wood of your choice.
You could then use your idea of mounting the pickups by running the screws up from the bottom, or any other method.

[deeaa]

Dee,

This sounds like a very interesting original build concept and design development.

Neck
An idea on the neck since it is going to be a neck thru would be to, if you think it's a good idea, design your neck out of only "one" piece of wood, all the way from the tip of the headstock to the tail of the guitar. This would require that you "step" cut the neck so the fretboard is above the body and pickups. Also you would have to step the neck down for the headstock, like "Fender does on the strats and teles: the neck is one piece but the headstock is stepped slightly down from the fretboard. Just as important would be the significant "step" of the neck down to the body and extending to the tail of the guitar. This method of using a single un spliced piece of wood theoretically would lead to the greatest sustain because there would be no joints in the neck.

This was my original intention, but I've now decided not to go for entirely one piece deal for a few reasons: the wood I have proved too small, once I had eliminated the areas with cracks and branch marks, it's not long enough for an entire neck thru, it's a few inches too short. But the second reason it's OK because I decided I want a tilted headstock, which means I have to glue it on anyhow. (can't cut diagonally to the grain for it, have to glue on a piece with grains going straight in the head part.) Third reason is I have access to a rig for getting the fretboard done precisely, but it can't fit a full neck in, so I'll make the fretboard out of a separate piece (which also in turn makes it a lot easier to build, since making the steps up and down for the headstock and body would be super difficult to cut as well. This way, with separate headstock and fretboard, all I need is a plain straight plank to glue them on and that's almost all woodwork for the main part save for neck and headstock shaping.

But indeed what you describe is exactly what I started my thinking with in the first place, just turns out too difficult to realize.



An idea on cutting the neck thru main longitudinal center mass of wood would be to cut it at an angle to the center of the stem, by cutting it off center from the center of the concentric growth rings, so that the center growth ring from the very young tree is not directly under the fretboard, especially if you are going to have the frets machined into the single solid piece instead of applying a separate fretboard.
The reason I suggest cutting the main mass piece of longitudinal wood off center from the growth rings is to give it added strength and reduce the chance that the wood will exfoliate along the growth ring lines: like sometimes a deck plank will exfoliate along the center line where the growth ring is very small in diameter and if not nailed facing downward onto the floor joists, but rather facing up toward the sun, the center growth rings will dry out and separate from the next closest growth ring and eventually fall or break out from the board, leaving a channel running longitudinally the length of the board, or partially so. This is just an idea. Sawing it at an angle offset from the center line of the growth rings, but parallel, may also improve its longitudinal stability and reduce the chance that the central mass of the guitar will warp longitudinally. Of course you don't want twisting either. And you are going to seal off the central piece of wood composed of the neck, etc., from moisture anyway. Any resitual moisture will, however, remain in the wood. Stabilizing the effects of that residual moisture should be fairly easy once the wood is sealed.

From examining many guitar necks I have observed many different striation orientations of the grain, which suggests that the manufacturers are not much concerned about warpage due to marginal variations in the woodgrain orientation. I, however, always try to select a guitar with a straight grained neck, or a neck that has beautiful transverse flamming of the maple or other awesome grain patterns such as being heavily birds eyed or curly or some other interesting and rare grain pattern. The straight grain is probably going to avoid warping the least.


Yes, that's an excellent point and one I pondered for a really good while yesterday. The situation is now thus different that the fretboard will be a separate slab. It seems that if I use the wood so that the growth lines are perpendicular to the fretboard it would be the most stable, yet most manufacturers go for as flat lines as possible because it seems it's accepted that this way the neck would sound better, because of a more natural flex and vibration than when the grain is 'locked' at 90 degree angle to fretboard. I however understand that the differences in tensile strengths aren't that great either way and most anything would work. I also checked out all my guitars how does the grain go, and they all seems to have the grain quite straight but in any given direction really.

What I'm currently thinking right now is maybe I should cut against the center, i.e. so that the curves of the growth rings would be exactly the other way as the neck shape curves, and the smallest rings would come to the back of the neck. But not quite from the very center of the log, because I fear just what you suggested that the smallest midsection might break free either when making it or later.

But if the rings are exactly the other way round I figured it'd give me the best of both - that way I get a lot of grain going straight out of the direction of fretboard for stability, yet all the grain is also in line of the fretboard for a natural flex.



I won't go on about this becuase you and others probably know more about these things than me, but I thought I'd bring some of them up. This sounds like a very complicated and serious project, with many details to be thought thru thoroughally.

Good luck with this guitar. It sounds like a very interesting project.

Truss rod
You could carefully rout out a channel in the neck for it, as is done on maple fretboard strats and teles. Then you could cover the channel with a piece of carefully cut wood to enclose the truss rod "channel" that you would rout out. They traditionally use rosewood, but since you are trying to be original you could use the wood of your choice.
You could then use your idea of mounting the pickups by running the screws up from the bottom, or any other method.

Oh I don't know much about the actual making, I'm very worried about routing the rod channel for instance...never used a router like that, I have no idea how to make a straight cut yet....but yeah, that's the way I intended it in the first place, but now I'll just use the under the fretboard method since it'll have a separate maple board anyhow.