My first From-Scratch build. Need some pointers.

[Volitions Advocate]

Hey guys.

Hot on the heels of my GFS build, which churned out a half decent guitar I can be proud of for a mere $140, I have the building fever.

Next in line is a fEARful cabinet for my new amp that should be arriving sometime in November.  But once that is done I'm starting a new guitar completely from scratch. (because Warmoth doesn't make these kinds of guitars)

It will be an 8-string Multiscale archtop.

I'm thinking 25.5" to 28" for the scale lengths.
The neck will be a 5 piece Laminate (Wenge & Purpleheart) and it will either be a neck-through, or a bolt on (with inserts) depending on how I manage the construction.

If its a bolt on I'll probably do the body in Mahogany with an ash top.  Otherwise I'll do the body "wings" in mahogany and an ash top.

I havent' decided on fingerboard wood yet, but the local shop has some nice zebrawood.  I would be happy with Wenge since I'd already have some though.  There are other options as well.

The finish will be a ceruse on the body, but with the grain filled and a satin finish like the new Warmoth options.  The neck I will try raw, and if I don't like it (I hear wenge grain can irritate some people depending on their taste) I'll probably wax it.

The part I'm most worried about it making it an archtop,  I'm not entirely sure how to do it.  I get that you can just route a flat neck pocket and shim it, Stew Mac even sells the shims, but that seems less than Ideal for me.  How would you go about making a true archtop with a neck through?  It strikes me as ill advised, maybe do it as a deep tenon instead of a neck through? But then you would still have to shim or slope the mortise anyway, then cut down the tenon into a wedge.

Perhaps a bolt on is the best option?

Inspiration:

[youtube]toLyXi2v2Fk?t=2m5s[/youtube]

 

[Logrinn]

When you say archtop, do you mean the traditional hollow-body style guitar? Or the simpler solid body with a carved top?

Because if you are thinking hollow-body, I'm guessing you have quite  a lot of work ahead ... ccasion14:

Bracing, bending the sides, getting templates for fixing the sides to the top and bottom, and so on, and so on ...

 

[stratamania]

One piece of advise I would say is that until you can draw it and picture it in your minds eye you are not ready to cut.

If it is a true hollow arch  top here is a link to a playlist of well over 40 videos of a 335 replica being made. Lots of trials and tribulations were met along the way.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxxT7WzgKct7B5Nala-itEaGnWq5BTfWa

 

[Volitions Advocate]

When you say archtop, do you mean the traditional hollow-body style guitar? Or the simpler solid body with a carved top?

No not hollow body, but not simply a carved top either.  I think most arch tops are carved as well, but what I mean is a solid body with an angled neck....  Like a traditional Les Paul:

Rather than a Tele

 

[Volitions Advocate]

until you can draw it and picture it in your minds eye you are not ready to cut.

Still working on that part.  Just gathering information before I start.  I've sourced the wood, now I need to get the design nailed down.

 

[stratamania]

That is then simply an angled neck joint rather than an arch top.

A Les Paul neck angle is somewhere around 4 odd degrees. The tenon is straight but the pocket is angled which requires a jig of some sort to rout the pocket so its lower nearest the neck and higher nearer the pickups.

The shoulder of the neck where it meets the body also needs to reflect the angle and wont be at 90 degrees. 

For a side elevation plan you need a datum, such as the strings between the bridge and nut. Figure out the bridge height and the height where the fingerboard extends over the body. Then you should be able to draw lines parallel with the string line, and between the body join to bridge to figure out the angles.

You might find some useful ideas in these videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5ORLk1K3Ic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbU4rW7TAJU

 

[Volitions Advocate]

Thanks for the help.  I'm unsure at this point about a few things so I'm still waffling.
It looks like there aren't many options for 8 string bridges (who would've guessed?).  Most of the single saddle type options would not work well with an angled neck, not without some kind of wedge built into the body.  The options become even less flexible if you contemplate making a headless guitar.  I think they look weird, but less so on a wide neck like an 8 string.  I haven't decided yet.

Headless guitar = less design work on the neck (no headstock, no scarf joint etc.) However I can't believe how expensive the bridge systems are, Hipshot has one that is $450 just for the bridge.  Ridiculous.

Anyway.  I'll start posting pictures when I actually get to it, but my fEARless cab is first.

 

[bagman67]

You may already have seen this, but there's an 8-string Tune-o-matic out there.  That would work with a tilted neck.


http://www.abm-guitarpartsshop.com/Tuneomatic-Stoptail/7-8-String-Bridges/ABM-2508/ABM-2508c-Chrome::400.html


It ain't cheap, but it ain't a $450 Hipshot part for a headless,either.


EDIT:


Rondo has one for $25.


http://www.rondomusic.com/product6600.html

 

[Volitions Advocate]

You can get some pretty rad stuff from Rondo on the cheap.

Thanks for the links, but neither of these will work because of the multi-scale.  I think that's where things get pretty difficult.

 

[Timmsie95]

I'm just going to pitch in a couple things I've noticed. The neck is only angler because of the tune o matic bridge to keep the strings down to a playable level. With a strat style hardtail or similar, there's no need for a neck angle like that, because the bridge sits lower. And with multicale guitars, you need the single saddle style bridges to accommodate for the different scale lengths.

 

[rapfohl09]

I don't want to be a negative nancy, and I won't say anything is impossible, but I WILL say that everything you listed about this guitar is very difficult. Like, I have built a dozen guitars and I wouldn't say I'm even close to being able to attempt something like this.

That being said, ANYTHING is possible if you take your time to learn everything you need to. There are a lot of guitar building resources on the net. I would also say that you should plan on making practice pieces of everything you are making. I will say that there is no way I could attempt something like this and not completely botch something up at least once. Every template, every rig, every cut, needs to be tested first to make sure it is actually what you want, otherwise you are going to be out some very expensive woods, frustrated, and will probably just give up.

Again, I don't want to be negative, but you have to be realistic about things like this or you are going to spend a boat load of money.

 

[stratamania]

@rapfohl09 I don't think you are being negative, rather bringing up some realistic points.

Advoc's current plan does have indeed a lot of challenges. And, yes they can be overcome but will require a lot of work and testing.

 

[Volitions Advocate]

You are not wrong rapfohl.  This is why I've been planning for over a month and have done nothing but read, take pictures, and write things down.  We (my friend and I doing this together, he's building a 7 string) have already been discussing exactly what you mentioned. Practicing a lot.