Electric guitar makers

Talk about musical instrument construction, setup and repair.

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rick_
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Electric guitar makers

Post by rick_ » Sat Feb 02, 2008 3:38 am

Hi, Im new here, Ive noticed you are all primarily acoustic guitar makers.

wondering if there are any electric builders here?

Im currently working on an electric guitar project. and would love to hear from some people who make electrics.

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Bob Connor
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Post by Bob Connor » Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:04 am

G'day Rick

Dave and I do electrics as well as acoustics and I know some of the other blokes and women here do as well. As long as it's got strings on it you're more than welcome. (don't see too many harpsichord builders here though :lol:)

One of the members here, Rick Turner, has built more Electric Basses than I've had hot dinners.

There's a couple of Tele Thinlines in our workshop that have been put on the backburner because we're busy with acoustics at present. They're going to get some Fralin Blues Special pickups in them when I get around to finishing them.

Bob

Rick Turner
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Post by Rick Turner » Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:54 pm

I'm here. What do you want to hear?

From me...lots of electric basses, especially in my Alembic days, lots of my Model 1 Lindsey Buckingham electric guitar models...that's in the mid hundreds now, lots of acoustic-electrics...maybe 1,500, a fair number of acoustic guitars now...and more on the way, lots of ukuleles. I work with a team of seven employees; I'm very, very hands-on; we make about 300 instruments a year; we make our own pickups; I'm a partner in an acoustic amplification company called D-TAR with my old pal Seymour Duncan and three long time SD associates.
Rick Turner
Guitar Maker, Experimenter, Diviner
www.renaissanceguitars.com
www.d-tar.com

Hesh1956
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Post by Hesh1956 » Sat Feb 02, 2008 11:50 pm

Welcome to the forum Rick!!!!

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Kim
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Post by Kim » Sun Feb 03, 2008 1:51 am

Welcome to our great little forum Rick.

Best advice I can give you is to let go with a few questions and see what comes back. There are some very good builders here too modest to just jump up and shout it at you, but if they thought for a second that they could help you out, they are such good people they just could not help but offer up what they know. :wink:

Cheers

Kim

rick_
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Post by rick_ » Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:22 am

well for starters i have a few very amateur sounding questions

1) how do you ground the electronics on a tune-o-matic bridge

2) what distances should the neck/bridge humbuckers and the bridge saddles be from the nut (in an 24 3/4 scale 22 fret)

3) I want to do perspex inlays for the fretboard markers, so I will route cavities for them, and glue them in, but Im told to set them slightly higher and sand them off to be level? how do i do that so it doesnt scratch the perspex to buggery?

I guess I'll probably have more questions as i start building etc.

Im just a first timer, and want to know as much as possible before i start lol.

rick_
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Post by rick_ » Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:23 am

oh, and are there any common mistakes that you guys can warn me about? :P

thanks in advance

Rick Turner
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Post by Rick Turner » Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:22 am

1) how do you ground the electronics on a tune-o-matic bridge

Run a 22 ga. green (electronics industry standard) piece of hook up wire from one of the bridge stud holes to the electronics cavity and then to a central ground lug connected to the ground lug of the jack.

2) what distances should the neck/bridge humbuckers and the bridge saddles be from the nut (in an 24 3/4 scale 22 fret)

There is no "should"; there is no magic spot; anyone suggesting that putting the pickups "on the harmonic" is misguided. Not too close to the bridge if you want tone out of that pickup. That's the only guideline.

3) I want to do perspex inlays for the fretboard markers, so I will route cavities for them, and glue them in, but Im told to set them slightly higher and sand them off to be level? how do i do that so it doesnt scratch the perspex to buggery?

You will scratch them. 99% of the time inlays are leveled after putting them in, and then they're sanded along with the fingerboard to as high a degree of gloss as you're willing to go with sandpaper. The only problem is that fingerboards start looking kind of weird after about 600 grit. You're not going to get high gloss perspex inlays in a nice satin fingerboard without a ridiculous amount of effort.
Rick Turner
Guitar Maker, Experimenter, Diviner
www.renaissanceguitars.com
www.d-tar.com

rick_
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Post by rick_ » Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:05 pm

more questions

With the tone pots, do i drill the hole so the tone pot screws in, or drill it wider so it just slides in (theres a nut that can secure it).

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Post by Rick Turner » Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:07 am

Drill about 1 mm or 1/32" oversize and attach with the nut.
Rick Turner
Guitar Maker, Experimenter, Diviner
www.renaissanceguitars.com
www.d-tar.com

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Kim
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Post by Kim » Tue Feb 05, 2008 7:09 am

Rick,

For the basics and more you should get yourself a copy of Martin Koch's: Building Electric Guitars, you can download a sample of his ebook from here http://buildyourguitar.com/books/ebeg/index.asp in pdf. format. The entire book is only a 5.8 meg download but contains lots of info with drawings and photos.

The book covers most of the detail involved with building an electric guitar quite well and will work as a good guide from which to structure your build. Knowing what you need to do next and when will not only save you money, but it will also save you a lot of time, a truckload of frustration and a good deal of material.

Cheers

Kim

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Bob Connor
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Post by Bob Connor » Tue Feb 05, 2008 7:27 am

G'day Rick

As far as you pickup placement is concerned, get yourself down to the local music shop with a notepad and a ruler and have a close look at some of the instruments they have in stock.

In particular Fender Strats, Teles, Gibson Les Pauls, 335's and the like.

There's a good reason that most of these instruments remain essentially the same 40 years after they were designed.

Won't cost you anything and I've found that most music shops will let you do this if you approach them in the right way.

If you are designing your own body shapes take note of those models that are similar to your own design and adapt to suit.

Once you have built a few you'll inevitably start thinking "what'll happen if I move this or change that" but it's good to have a reference on your first few guitars of what does work.

Cheers

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