How many more?

[rauchman]

Greetings,

I recently completed my 3rd Warmoth build.  So far it's been....

Tele - T(B) / S(N)
Hybrid Tele - HB (B) / S (N) / HB (N)
Velocity - HB (B) / HB (N)

I find when thinking about making the guitars, I primarily think about them by the differences in the pickups used more than any other criteria, and thoughts of future projects are also based on different pickup types.  The last one took almost a year to complete, but in that process I learned some new skills and acquired new tools for future projects (so of course, these new tools and skills have to be put to more use!!!!).  As I'm sure for anyone who attempts these types of projects, the more you do them, they better you get at it.  I'm very very far in skill compared to a lot of members on this site, but I'm finding what does/doesn't work for me (neck profiles, fret sizes, etc) in this process.

I think I have another 2-3 in me (Soloist with 3 SC's and a Floyd, Jazzmaster with Firebird Pups and a Mooncaster just because, maybe with Filtertrons).  As part of that learning process, all bodies will be ordered with an index hole for the neck heel (no mounting holes), no contoured neck heel (I now do my own and like mine better), no mounting holes on the neck, no necks with side adjust (as that screws up the neck heel that I like).  All the guitars done so far have owner applied TruOil finishes.  Might try a spraygun / compressor (inspired by @swarfrat's thread on this) painted finish on the next go around.  @stratamania and @ragamuffin provide some great info on electronics.  I find this another wormhole to go down in learning about different pot/cap combinations.

I see most members here have built multiple guitars.  When you think of new projects, what guides you?  Do you go for something in the same range as what you've already done, or go for something different from what you already have?  What are you key points of differentiation in your projects (woods, electronics, neck shapes, frets, body shapes, etc.).

 

[swarfrat]

I dunno - maybe 2-3. I wouldn't mind a shredder, a 7 string, and of course the Spaceship V from More Power To Ya. 

 

[TBurst Std]

What determines electrics for me are the major differences between pickups.
IE:
Tele style ( hotter bridge than strat)
Strat style
LP humbucker ( low output) style
P90
Filtertrons
Gold Foils
Shred style (hot humbucker with SCs)
Jazzmaster

Then again my most used for the last year has Burns Trisonics. 

 

[patracles]

I'm about to build my first guitar, I think eventually I will probably build a bass for myself but not for a while. Honestly that will probably be it for instruments I build for myself, I will happily build something for a friend if they wanted. I've always had this romantic notion of just having one guitar that you play forever and that's what this first build is intended as for me. I've only owned three (electric) guitars in the 20 or so years I've been playing and without thinking about it the custom build has something I loved from each of those three. A strat-style bridge like my original mid-90s Samick. Dual humbuckers and single-cutaway like my Les Paul Special, 24 frets reverse headstock and very close neck profile to my Dinky.

So I guess what I'm saying is the inspiration for my ultimate guitar was all of my previous instruments and learning what I liked (and didn't enjoy) out of each of them. The other limiting factor for me is money, I have two kids and other hobbies so this build is a once-in-a-great-while spend for me. And since this is my ultimate build I definitely didn't hold back, I told myself at the beginning no compromises. I guess one nice thing is I could almost buy three of my custom build for the price of my original dream guitar (Les Paul Custom Alpine white with ebony board). The only unknown for me is the wood. I did my research and chose Swamp Ash with a maple top. Hopefully it won't be too bright, but the pickups I went with have a hefty bottom-end so it should balance out fairly well. Originally I had planned on Mahogany but for weight and looks (transparent finish) decided on Ash.

I say this will be my one and only, but I can feel a 7 string yearning to exist somewhere in my soul so we'll see lol

 

[Rick]

Now that I'm older I ask myself, if this was the last guitar I would ever make, what would be pleasing to me.  I imagine the music I play and the context, then work backwards.

In terms of design, it's whatever inspires me to want to pick up the guitar.  And with each build I want to learn something new.

I'd be too bored building the same thing over and over again.

 

[stratamania]

I have two here that need finishing. And another that was complete but needs a new neck. But honestly at the moment for various reasons I am a bit in holding pattern at the moment.

What inspires them, various things but I do not think there is anything in common.

Thanks for the shout out on the wiring - I actually quite like helping folks arrive at solutions but it takes up too much time to provide full diagrams like I did for Aaron's double neck. But that was more of a special one off.

I am running out of space for many more guitars really, and I have been contemplating selling some of them at some point. At some point I quite fancy the idea of building a couple of acoustics with hand tools from scratch. Perhaps in a couple more years or so when I retire.

 

[ChrisMC]

I’ve always “kept my stable small” so to speak. Over the years I’ve probably owned 60+ guitars (not counting basses or acoustics), but never more than a few at a time. I get too “emotionally involved” with my instruments and usually lock onto one and stay there, for a few years or more, and then switch, but when I designed the build I’m putting together now, I already told my wife that I need to buy a few guitar cases, because once the Soloist gets built, the other three aren’t going to get played, for a long, long time (but these three I don’t actually want to part with…my hard tail Strat, my HEAVILY modified 2016 American Standard, and my Ibanez Prestige RG AHM 652).

What guides me is building one guitar that has versatility and can cover what “I” do, and I don’t need but one guitar for that. When people build several (or dozens), that’s cool, no knock on that, I just can’t spread my emotions out past one or two adequately enough.

…I am thinking of building a short scale bass though.  :toothy10:

 

[NedRyerson]

Oooh, great topic!

I go for aesthetics first.  Red Death was a stumble-across on Reverb, and the black V also started as a visual idea in my mind first.  Hardware, tone, style all came afterwards (well, the appearance certainly informed the style, since there ain't no bro-country artist out there playing a black satin King-V downtuned to B-Standard )

I find that I'll get a mental picture of what I'd like to see, or I'll take inspiration from what a piece of wood looks like. Then I try to coax out a design that might live in there. I think this is why I gravitate toward the oddball guitar shapes like the Mockingbird, the Vs, or Explorer-style like the Jackson Kelly.

And then I pull together hardware to match, both aesthetically and functionally.  But I definitely start with what the overall piece would look like.

 

[BeagJon]

The Bubinga Bass is complete, I just haven't posted any pics yet. Already my dreams are filled with Precision Basses I don't need, just want.... this is definitely the Warmoth bug.

 

[jay4321]

Yeah it doesn't work like that, unless you run out of ideas for guitars one day. 10 years later you'll be gassing for things you don't even like right now

For a while you might be in that phase of telling yourself you need this kind of guitar for that purpose, but for some reason it needs to be in this specific color, and really you don't know what pickups to put in it, and you'll change your mind on at least 3 different aspects of it before it's actually completed

 

[SeattleScotty]

I mean, they are works of art as much as they are tools, and there is an endless number of combinations to choose from, so go wild to your heart's (and wallet's) content! It's best to start with a nice variety, but it's just fine to have 4 strats and 3 teles in addition to your Jazzmasters, Mooncasters, Mustangs, etc lol.  :bananaguitar:

Build a showroom like Joe Bonamossa

 

[swarfrat]

At 50, I've come to peace with the fact that I'll never be a rockstar, nor do I really want to be, because I see even big big big names husseling side jobs in their 60's. I've also come to peace with the idea that my real hobby is making stuff, and all the other hobbies are pretenses for collecting tools, skill, and knowledge.

 

[BroccoliRob]

Variety is the spice of life, so load up on different stuff before life comes at u hard

i was just at the sleep number store and asked the salesman to calculate mine and he said "your numbers probably around 800". Thats not funny because I'm only like 190 lbs and I was only in a Rascal scooter becuz I hurt my ankle walking around the mall earlier when a kid riding a Pikachu go kart ran into me. I should've told him "your sleep number is probably 12 cuz that's how old your acting" but I didn't think about it until I got home, probably because of the crying and that the Rascal ran out of battery and I had to get someone from Talbot's to get an extension cord and I had to sit in front of the Talbot's for 45 minutes while the Rascal battery charged.

i could hurt my ankle and be hobbled a million other ways and it only becomes more likely of being a permanent disability with every passing year. So load up on guitars, my dude