Boggs Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 As some of you may know, I intend to build a guitar or two sometime in this lifetime. I think I would like to build a guitar for practice before attempting the real thing with expensive koa. We have these discount lumber yards for factory seconds and such. They have some really well made butcher-block like stuff that is of a good thickness and I have used it to make like my computer desk and stuff. Very inexpensive for what it is and quite heavy, but I would possibly be able to use it to practice making body shapes and routing and such and maybe use it to build a chambered body and get some 1/4 inch tonewood for the top. I could find an old beat-to-hell flea market guitar to get the neck and learn my techniques that way. Sound brilliantly wacked or what? I have 3 single coils I am not using, so I could just throw those in there and make it work for that matter... Boggs Check out my Rock Beach Guitars page showing guitars I have built and repaired... http://www.rockbeachguitars.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funk Jazz Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 go for it, man! just keep us posted on how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar Geezer Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Boggs...Sounds good in theory, but I would be a bit leary of the "Butcher Block". It may have TOO MANY strips and too much Glue, especially if you're gonna do some routing. Would hate to get almost there and have it start splitting apart. But Heck, it's for practice right? Also, what kind of neck are you thinking? Bolt on or thru body? (I Know you already have one picked out at Carvin ) Oh Yeah, Carvin also has Alder Blanks for $49. Bet they might even make a deal for one of their Ambassadors Keep us in the loop! LynnG Carvin Parts Lynn G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boggs Posted January 20, 2004 Author Share Posted January 20, 2004 Excellent thought about the Alder, but I think I can get enough material to make a couple of mistakes with the butchers' block-ish stuff even cheaper. Besides, I would feel sick if I ruined a nice alder blank but it wouldn't bother me too much if I did a whoops on the block. Besides, a bit of the bend in me thinks it would be kind of fun to hear how Boggs' Butcher Block would sound! Check out my Rock Beach Guitars page showing guitars I have built and repaired... http://www.rockbeachguitars.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimK Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 A "prototype" is a good idea. How about using poplar? It's less $$ them maple (though I'm not sure about butcher block), is softer (in other words, easier to work with), and has worked well for Mexican Strats. In an effort to improve the responsiveness of e-mail for everyone, the e-mail servers will be out of service. We are hopeful that this change will improve the performance of e-mail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Strat Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Boggs, I like the idea, and have another one for you. Get some masonite hardboard for the top and rout away most of the interior of the body, leaving enough for the bridge to connect to. Then mount your pickups through the top and rout an access hatch in the rear for wiring your pickups. It would be a take off of the Danelectros. Or not, but I'd still use the cheaper butcher-block to experiment on. Spend as little as you can. BlueStrat a.k.a. "El Guapo" ...Better fuzz through science... http://geocities.com/teleman28056/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boggs Posted January 20, 2004 Author Share Posted January 20, 2004 Poplar is pretty soft, but I was never anyone to take the easy route... Like the Taylor Plank guitar, I'm kind of intrigued by what the Boggs Butcher Block chambered design could sound like. I love doing stuff that (I think) nobody has done before or at least do stuff in a unique way. I've always been a bit different. Why, when I was born, the doctor looked down and said, "Hmmm... That's different." Boggs Check out my Rock Beach Guitars page showing guitars I have built and repaired... http://www.rockbeachguitars.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Gug Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 I played briefly with a bass player who made his own bass guitar. EVERY aspect of it, except for the metal and electronics. He got his body from an antique table or a desk. Maple, I believe. Nice sound. He made the neck and and placed the frets and ALL that stuff. Intonation was OK, as I recall. I was too new to guitar to take notice of that. Any good antique desks or table tops around your area? It'd have that "aged" sound, if there really is a difference in wood. I guess there might be, but I'm not up on that stuff. Mikegug www.facebook.com/theresistancemusic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave da Dude Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 guitar geezer, Boggs...Sounds good in theory, but I would be a bit leary of the "Butcher Block". It may have TOO MANY strips and too much Glue, especially if you're gonna do some routing. Would hate to get almost there and have it start splitting apart. But Heck, it's for practice right? I can offer some first hand, in depth, engineering slanted information on this. When I was at Remington Arms I worked in a Products Diversification Group and one major project we worked on was (wooden) archery bows. The limbs were composite wood (core) and fiberglass skin, the "handle" was all wood made by laminating 1" thick pieces together. To make a long story short (thank GOD!), if the wood is properly prepared (NO dust allowed, NO finer oils allowed, etc.) and the proper glue is properly applied and the pieces properly cured, the (glue) joint will be stronger than the parent (wood) material. When we advanced past the "onsey" prototype stage, we started cutting the blanks on a (rifle stock) "Copy Lathe" which cut three blanks off one "Master". The feed rates (and resultant noise) were tremendous. We had absolutely no problems with joints de-laminating. BTW, the rifle stock wood was also laminated and they make a BUNCH of those. Dave the Engineer Gotta' geetar... got the amp. There must be SOMEthing else I... "need". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMcGuitar Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Boggs- Trying some "practice" or "prototype" guitars is a good idea. Here is an important thing to remember: Different woods will be different to work with. Cutting, sanding, routing a piece of pine will be totally different than doing the same with a piece of maple. Or alder. Or oak. Or Koa. Etc. I'd suggest getting some scraps of whatever wood you ultimately want to use, and just practice doing some basic woodworking on that as well. That way, you'll be prepared for the specifics of the wood as well as the tools/process of creating the guitar body. May all your thoughts be random! - Neil www.McFaddenArts.com www.MikesGarageRocks.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boggs Posted January 20, 2004 Author Share Posted January 20, 2004 Thanks again, guys. I am aware that a good glue joint is stronger than the wood (good being the key word). I can see that working with different hardness and grain woods will be different particularly with respect to tool response. I am mainly looking for picking an overall shape and then figuring how I want to rout it as well as see what depths to rout. I will be doing most of it literally by hand... the old fashioned (hard) way. I guess I need a project to work with my hands just to create something. That's how I get during the long winters here... I will say that "toying with" the real woods will be a good idea to get a feel for them. I need to find a nice thick plate of glass (real flat) to work with as a sanding base and I need to make a drum sander to adapt and attach to my radial arm saw, too. The more of the stuff I can make from scrap... Just trying to prep myself in case I am ever asked to team up on "Junkyard Wars!" The lower the sophistication level of the tools, the greater the satisfaction of making it for me anyway... I don't really care how long it takes. It'll be theraputic for me. I'm going to Hawaii in February so I will be looking for some first-rate koa while I'm there for the real deal. With the practice one, I want to experiment with design and construction techniques. Boggs Check out my Rock Beach Guitars page showing guitars I have built and repaired... http://www.rockbeachguitars.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar Geezer Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Oh Man....hand picked Hawaiian Koa...hope it's cheaper by the ounce than Kona Lynn G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boggs Posted January 21, 2004 Author Share Posted January 21, 2004 I think they are pretty close... Both are worth it though, don't you think?! Check out my Rock Beach Guitars page showing guitars I have built and repaired... http://www.rockbeachguitars.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Strat Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 Having worked with pine, poplar, oak, walnut, MDF, and Plywood, I think poplar is the easiest to work with. It's a lot easier to cut than oak, doesn't split or crack as easy as pine or walnut, drills much better than plywood, and finishes much better and is not as heavy MDF. Maple is great as far as finishing because it doesn't soak up a lot of varnish or urethane, but it's hard to cut without very sharp tools. BlueStrat a.k.a. "El Guapo" ...Better fuzz through science... http://geocities.com/teleman28056/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave da Dude Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 Boggs, ... I will say that "toying with" the real woods will be a good idea to get a feel for them. Perhaps "seconds" in the woods you want to work with will be cheaper, and you can get a feel for the workability of the wood before you risk the "good stuff". BTW, at Remington Arms (1970-72), the archery bows we made (never went to market) had handles made out of Bubinga, real tough wood. I understand its used occassionally for guitar bodies too. I was the "master" shaper for the final handle and "fadeout" area shape. Done with bandsaw, wood rasps, sanding drums, lots of sandpaper and lots and lots of elbow grease over lots of time. By the way, I didn't mean to sound (or be) condescending about the glue joint. I wasn't sure of your level of expertise in that area. After we had a recurve bow limb delaminate at full draw we paid much more attention to preparation. It's kinda' like real estate property; only its preparation, preparation, preparation. Dave Gotta' geetar... got the amp. There must be SOMEthing else I... "need". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boggs Posted January 21, 2004 Author Share Posted January 21, 2004 Thanks again, guys. I may have to find some alternative that you have mentioned because I stopped by the place and they don't have that stuff I was talking about anymore... I'll just have to stop out to Pittsford Lumber and look for something interesting. By the way, Dave, I didn't take your comments as condescending at all. I appreciate all feedback and that you took the time to mention it. Again, thanks everyone! You have "enthused" me into action! I'll try and find something unusual. You can bet on it! Boggs Check out my Rock Beach Guitars page showing guitars I have built and repaired... http://www.rockbeachguitars.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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