Guitar Project

[Rofocale]

Hi Folks

I'm putting together my first guitar project and I was just wondering if any of you guys had any advice or experience you wanted to share.

My main concern is the body...what qualities should I look for in a guitar body other than shape, wood etc...

I intend to fit a Floyd Rose Lo pro...obviously the body needs to be cut to fit this but do I need to take anything else into account?

What signs indicate a quality build or a hunk of junk?

Erm...and any other relevant questions!!!

 

[Nostalgiaplatz]

I once had interest in building a guitar myself, but I think it's way to expensive for someone like me who isn't very capable of doing handworks precisely

I think you probably know already, but check these tutorials on body construction: http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/tutorial2.htm

 

[Ironbird666]

If you don't feel confortable shaping the body and neck yourself, you can always order parts from www.warmoth.com or other similar sites. The have a wide variety of "popular" body styles with loads of different options for pickups, bridges, finishes, you name it. You amy not be interested in buying pre-crafted parts, just wanted to throw this option out to you. Good luck with the geetar!

 

[Rofocale]

Hey thanks for the reply guys!

Hmmmm okay I'm considering goign down the 'purchasing a body' route...any advice in what to look for? I've seen some on Ebay that look good...but I'm not too sure that I know what posatives and negatives to look out for.

Help would be appreciated!

 

[Ironbird666]

It all depends on what type of tone you want from your guitar. Different woods yield different tones, so if you describe what sound you are looking for we can probably point you in the right direction. From what I've seen and heard, most of the bodies from warmoth were pretty nice quality. As for buying bodies off of ebay, thats kind of a hit or miss thing. You might find something in wonderful condition or you might find, well, crap. This site might help you decide what type of wood . . . www.jemsite.com/axes/htm_features/wood.htm

 

[Rofocale]

Wow...thanks that is a fantastic site. I'm after a body that will sound good with the prog metal stuff i play (dream theater, symphony x etc) and also my over love....doom!!! (Swallow Sun, Daylight Dies).

Something that can cope with both the high end soloing and low end doomy crunch. Obviously complimented with a nice set of pickups...I like the EMG 81/85 combo but I'm open for suggestions...I was considering an Ibanez RG body I have access to with a HSH setup of 81/SA/85 but I don't know if I'd be able to fit battery packs etc.

For the sake of simplicity I'm opting for a bolt on construction regardless of how I decide to move forward. As I also intended to use a floyd rose I can't see this effecting the sustain or tone all that much...so much to consider but the body is my first focal point.

 

[Nostalgiaplatz]

Then, in my opinion you should pickup one that has good sustain (Walnut, for example) as that will help for the long sleepy powerchords of 2 and more bars Also, if you can afford, buy/build a neck-thru guitar and assuming you're going to use lower tunings (based on the bands you spoke about), make a 7string or make the neck with baritone measures, to be able to switch from tunings without having to make a setup every now and then and not having the neck bending easily and losing pitch on some frets...good luck!

 

[fhare]

Can't recommend Warmoth enough, I have a Swamp Ash bodied strat copy I built from their parts and it plays and sounds fantastic. You'd have to spend a shitload or cash and and a long time finding a nicer axe. I'm using the Steve Lukather EMG set right now. Those guys can give you tips, and also, check out the customer galleries for ideas. You can also buy quality body and neck blanks there for your bandsawing pleasure. Also, Stewart MacDonald or Allparts have all the guitar building tools and goodies you'll ever want, if you've got the cash.