Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Steve Kinsen on August 25, 2007, 07:21:15 PM
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For a long time I've wanted two things: a truly high level Strat-style guitar, and a unique guitar that I can really call my own. Last summer I spent a few hours (days, weeks, whatever) on mocking up the instrument that'd fulfill all my desires at once: the Splorocaster!
The only problem is that I have no idea where to start. To keep costs down I'm considering putting a Warmoth neck on it, but that's about as far as my plans towards actually putting this thing together go. What's the best place to get the body made? How do I make sure that all the routings and holes are drilled to the right size and shape? How the heck do I go about turning this thing into a guitar?
Here're the mockups (one of the body and routings, one of the finished guitar):
(http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a41/dougskullery/s1.jpg)
(http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a41/dougskullery/s2.jpg)
Will the shape of the body have a big impact on whether it can get the Strat tone? Is there any reason this particular design would cause me any problems? Cheers, guys!
P.S. In the time since I last looked at it, I've noticed that a few things are a little off in the design (the curve on the outside of the jack socket/scratchplate is a little flat, little things like that). Assume I'll sort them out!
P.P.S. The pickups, of course, will be BKs. :wink: )
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It depends what you consider the "strat tone".
If you mean traditional traditional strat tone - I'd want a one piece neck with matching or no fretboard wood - Look at Wez's thread for the kind of thing I mean.
Presumeably you're going to get a different sound from the body - Simply because it will be a different sized and shaped piece of wood.
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arent "real" strats hollowed out? if so, shape will have an effect on tone.
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arent "real" strats hollowed out? if so, shape will have an effect on tone.
'Hollowed out'? Traditional Strats only have the same routing (with some minor changes) that my design has: if you're referring to a hollow body or sound chambers then no, "real" Strats have neither.
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it wont sound exactly like a strat because of the wood missing from behind the bridge - i would think it will be close enough especially with all the strat electronics
i suggest having a go at making a body yourself. have a look at this book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Your-Own-Electric-Guitar/dp/0953104907/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/202-9936786-5509408?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188123507&sr=8-1
your design is quite easy to do - i would invest in some strat templates and use them to make a new template for your design
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no idea about the construction issues, but that actually looks really nice! :twisted:
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Warmoth may be able to do that body for you. Drop em a line. They're real nice...
8)
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that's a great looking axe!
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Thank goodness you resisted the temptation to make it pointy like a BCRich Warlock. (http://cewatson.com/bcrich%20warlock%20w%20widow%20head.gif) Only criticism is that you didn't change the neck block.
If you are buying from warmoth get a maple fretboard (they look, sound and feel better) and get an angled headstock (better tuning stability when playing with whammy - you'll probably play with it a bit). Also consider a knife edge bridge like a wilkinson (same footprint and routings, I think, and far better if you plan on any whammy play).
What Pickups did you have planned for it?
A guitar like that looks like it's begging for higher output stuff like Uber Sinners.
Consider playing with finishes as Tim could do you a Camo pickguard and Pickups. It could look quite cool. Just play around with the mock-up until you find the colour you like most.
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If you are buying from warmoth get a maple fretboard (they look, sound and feel better)
well thats a pretty subjective thing to say aint it - i think lots of people would disagree with you
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I meant in the realm of fender style guitars.
I really cringe at the sight of rosewood on fenders. To be authentic to the original sound and look you need a single piece of maple for the neck IMO.
Oh and I say they are more comfortable as they are softer and so form perfectly to the shape of your hands in a matter of months rather than years.
Plus my maverick is the best guitar I have ever played for tone and quality and it smokes any of the more regular, rosewood, guitars I have come across bar my friends EBMM Petrucci sig, which it just edges past.
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yeah i agree some fenders definately look better with maple. personally though its the softness of maple that i think makes it unsuitable when compared to other fretboard woods. wear is an issue with any fretboard eventually but more so with maple, partly because its softer but also because its lighter in colour. Thats reportedly the reason fender switched to more traditional rosewood, leo didnt like the look of the worn maple boards.
Tonally i have to say i prefer stuff like ziracote which is a good alternative to brazilian rosewood - it seems to have the right balance of warmth and attack. Indian rosewood is a good second though - its just more dull to look at and sometimes needs a bit more care to keep it feeling nice
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I suppose you have the upper hand in this debate as you have more experience playing with alternative fretboard materials but I will say that a thrashed maple fretboard is akin to a really old pair of trainers: they smell a bit weird, are faded and greyish but are just so comfortable you just can't bear to get rid of them. :twisted:
Oh and BTW my shoes have only just worn in after a few weeks wear so don't try to throw doubt upon my personal hygiene or foot odour :shock:
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my point is really that it all comes down to personal preference rather than any being better or worse than the other.
i do like old worn maple necks, but its not really the look or sound i have aimed for on any of the guitars i have built so far.
From my experience lots of people really dont like maple boards because they either dont like playing on a lacquered surface or they dont want a guitar that wears so easily - but then there are also the lots of people like you that do like them
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I do like the look of darker fretboard woods, but I like the hardness and brightness of maple. In the end I'll probably get ebony: maple tone and feel, with (better than) rosewood looks.
I'll certainly be doing a lot of trem/vib arm stuff (I'm a complete Jeff Beck freak), but I can't stand Floyds for the life of me. What's the best 'conventional' vibrato arm system? That Wilkinson bridge sounds interesting, but I'd need to know a bit more about it.
I know the guitar looks a little metal, but it's going to mainly be a funk and blues instrument: I'm a bit of a metalhead at heart, and the design's my way of getting that across even when I'm playing cleaner stuff! In terms of pickups, I was actually thinking fairly low output: certainly not original '54 reissues (I find the tone too brittle to be flexible), but a little hotter and warmer than that. Probably a set of Mother's Milks, but I'll have to see. Are Bare Knuckles as dominant in single-coil manufacture as they are in humbucker manufacture?
Oh, and Maverick: why would I want to change the neck block? I honestly don't know enough to make a judgment at this point.
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The neck block on a standard strat is just a large mass of wood with slightly rounded corners. This is good for sustain (if you have a decent neck in the first place) but limits how well you can play at the top frets.
Brands like Ibanez and Charvel, when first offering superstrats, came up with the idea of shaping the block to better suit the more virtuosic styles that were coming to the fore at that time.
Carved blocks are far more comfortable to play with but are not necessary if you never really play past the 15th fret.
Through necks are completely different beasts. They have no neck block as the neck goes through the body. They can be a bit dark and the necks can be hard to play with unless they are of premium quality.
Overall you might want to ask Warmoth about a carved neck block to improve the playability of the instrument.
The Wilkinson bridge is like a conventional strat bridge but has a knife-edge like a FR. It can be set to float but can just as easily be set like a standard strat. The knife-edge gives the advantage of increased tuning stability when in use and a smoother action. Like a FR though it can drain sustain when set to float, as it has less contact with the body, and combined with the lack of wood behind the bridge it may cause it to lose sustain and be a bit brighter than you might like.
Combined with an angled headstock and locking tuners it shouldn't go out of tune, dependant on your choice of nut of course.
Oh and ebony should be very nice for the fretboard.
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I do like the look of darker fretboard woods, but I like the hardness and brightness of maple. In the end I'll probably get ebony: maple tone and feel, with (better than) rosewood looks.
ebony is quite a bright sounding fretboard wood - works well on mahogany but not so well on a maple neck, some seem to find it a little harsh. You might like the extra clarity and brightness though.
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I do like the look of darker fretboard woods, but I like the hardness and brightness of maple. In the end I'll probably get ebony: maple tone and feel, with (better than) rosewood looks.
ebony is quite a bright sounding fretboard wood - works well on mahogany but not so well on a maple neck, some seem to find it a little harsh. You might like the extra clarity and brightness though.
shite, I meant mahogany! Sorry, had a bit of a brain fart there.
Also, Maverick: I'm a Les Paul player. I'm used to struggling against all odds to access the top frets; I think I'd take the sustain over the ease of access at this point.
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you definately dont want mahogany for a fretboard wood its far too soft. ebony board on mahogany neck is a good choice but for a funk guitar you might get away with the brightness of ebony on maple - it will have a nice punchy attack that would suit the style, possibly a bit bright for blues though.
Obviously this all depends on the body wood as well. I tend to think of the body wood as providing the base of your tone whereas fretboard has more affect on the attack of the note and the neck wood/construction deals with sustain. Thats a vast oversimplification and obviosuly its all a lot more connected to each other than that, but it does help people visualise the interplay between woods.
tbh you cant go wrong by using the wood combo from one of your favorite guitars.
This is the my latest heel idea for better access (in the rough):
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/55.jpg)
this will not have less sustain than a fender style bolt-on and i feel people make too much of sustain anyway. A well built guitar will have more sustain than you ever need -in fact so will most factory made guitars. If you really are one of these people that craves infinite sustain then the only answer is to buy a sustainer.
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Or stand very close to your amp and boost it as much as you dare.
I only have to fret a note softly and the feedback from the amp does the exact same job as a sustainer at bedroom volume. Admittedly it is a little harder to control.
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Is there a dark wood with an attack and brightness that falls somewhere between rosewood and maple? I think maple might be a little too bright for me, but rosewood too soft. Hmm.
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Looking a warmoth's site Bubinga or Wenge would fall into that category.
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Or stand very close to your amp and boost it as much as you dare.
I only have to fret a note softly and the feedback from the amp does the exact same job as a sustainer at bedroom volume. Admittedly it is a little harder to control.
yeah but its so much fun!!!
rosewood isnt really soft at all really and the brightness of maple is more of an issue when its used as a body/neck wood rather than as a fretboard
but dark woods that fall between maples brightness and rosewoods warth would be Ziracote, wenge, purpleheart (probably too purple), kingwood, cocobolo or bubinga. all more than hard enough to use as a fretboard. Ziracote and wenge are the darkest - bubinga is more of a dark bricky mahogany colour but i think rickenbacker use it under lacquer like a maple board has to be. If done that way it would have the percieved hardness of maple. Ziracote is one of my favorites because it is so versatile with other woods - heres a pic of some of my ziracote stash:
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/1-7.jpg)
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Maple doesn't NEED to be lacquered. The lacquer just stops it going grey.
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I have to say, I have a personal lust for lacquered maple fretboards.
Then again, I can only shred on guitars with impossibly high action and find acoustics easier to play than electrics, so I appreciate I might be in the minority with a few of my opinions.
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Maple doesn't NEED to be lacquered. The lacquer just stops it going grey.
well aware of that but since maple keeps being described as harder than rosewood i can only assume thats because of the percieved hardness that lacquer gives maple fretbaords - because, as a fretboard wood, its one of the softest!
maple does need a finish, even if its just oil and a bloody thorough fine sanding because it will go grey as soon as you touch it if it has nothing on it but more importantly it will also become rough and be unpleasant to play on - oiled necks need more maintenance like rubbing with wire wool and an occasional re-oil to stop this!! if looked after a oiled maple neck can be fantastic, if not cared for properly it can become quite unpleasant
This is the difference with other fretboard woods we have mentioned, they might need an occasional rub down and re-oil but generally they are hard enough to resist finger wear in a way anything less than lacquered maple can simply never be.
we seem to be getting wood uses mixed up. Compared to most body/neck woods maple is one of the hardest and brightest but compared to fretboards woods it really isnt. so in some situations maple does add a lot of brightness - but not necisarily when its used as a fretboard wood.
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Yngwie Malmsteen would agree with you.
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well as soon as we start talking about heavily scalloped fretboards the tone of the fretboard becomes even less important so lets not get into yngwie territory.
i must point out i am quite a fan of oiled necks - but i would usually have oiled maple getting dirty but feeling great on the back of the neck with a harder/darker fretboard wood
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I was referring to Steve's post.
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One of my saddest discoveries in the realm of guitar is that I'll never be able to try the guitar I really want before buying it, because the combination of features I want doesn't exist in any stock Strat. All I want is a lacquered maple fretboard and a very high quality trem/vib bridge, but Fender make no such instrument: they only lacquer maple fretboards in '50s reissue instruments, and that was a period far before the invention of trem/vib assemblies suitable for heavy use.
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the closest thing from fender might be the iron maiden signiture strats. i know they did them in the 90's not sure if they still do but they were maple fretboard with floyd rose bridges
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what you could do is get a warmoth neck and then send it to a luthier with the blueprints for your body and get them to make it?