How about we make us a guitar?

TTony · August 2013

Just an idea ...

Howsabouts we try a forum guitar build?

Howsabouts, once we've built it, we raffle it off for forum funds (or some other worthy cause if forum funds aren't needed by then). Or maybe keep it as a forum guitar that travels from home to home (much as TPO did, but perhaps spending a bit more time at each stop). Or some other great idea for what we should do with it.

I'm thinking that someone could make a neck, someone could make a body, different people could provide different bits of hardware, someone could do some finishing work on it, someone could do some nailing together, someone could do some set-upping, etc.

And of course we take & post loads of pics all the way through the process.

We'd have to avoid creating too much of a FrankenGuitar ... so some up-front discussion & design work would be required ...

But how about it for a project to celebrate the opening of our new home?

VimFuego · August 2013

dunno if this would be of interest, but I may be able to supply the timber. I can certainly supply some seasoned ash, I would just need to split it out from a big lump. I could also supply some sycamore for the neck, only problem is that it's still growing so would be green. I guess this would be an issue. Also, I can only split the timber out, I can't provide a finished size someone would need to plane it. Just throwing it out there, won't be offended if anyone thinks it's a bad idea.

Sporky · August 2013

The seasoned ash is certainly worth a look, and a few of us have the machinery to turn it into guitar building timber. I think you're right about the sycamore though, I'd guess it'd need a few months/years (?) of seasoning before it'd be stable enough to make a neck.

TTony · August 2013

Depends on how its dried (ie kiln or open-air), but from green to wood-workable in open-air, I'd guess at a good couple of years.

That said, I dried out some 2" thick Ash in the summerhouse over the winter/spring, just without background heating on.

octatonic · August 2013

I can do the fretting & setup.

ftumch · August 2013

What a great idea! I've only ever done 1 refinish on my Gordon smith, the wudtone one from over at (forum name deleted) but I'm happy to donate some hardware.

VimFuego · August 2013

Sporky said:

The seasoned ash is certainly worth a look, and a few of us have the machinery to turn it into guitar building timber. I think you're right about the sycamore though, I'd guess it'd need a few months/years (?) of seasoning before it'd be stable enough to make a neck.

righto. I'll get out the wedges and see what I can get from it. It's been down about a year now, it's currently underneath a thick hawthorn so is pretty dry. The earliest I would be able to fell the syc would be the autumn (no point doing it while the sap is still rising really) so probably best t scrub that.
I'll have a play with the ash and see what I can come up with.

redrighthand · August 2013

Excellent idea. I'd be No good at making stuff, but I've got a nice (AVRI 52 reissue) tele bridge pickup that I was about to stick in the classifieds... It would be much more fun to donate it to this.

TTony · August 2013

Being practical, I think we should keep it fairly simple - use an existing body shape rather than trying to design something unique.

But maybe we then do something clever with the inlays (there's got to be a "theFB" logo on the headstock, and something at the 12th), and use a nice top to put a stonking finish on it.

Tele anyone?

Sporky · August 2013

I'd happily machine a fretboard and/or neck for it.

TTony · August 2013

Sporky said:

I'd happily machine a fretboard and/or neck for it.

WezV · August 2013

happy to help even if its just contributing some parts/wood

Sporky · August 2013

In the interests of not hogging too much of the build, let's make that just the fretboard.

Handsome_Chris · August 2013

Is this going to give Gibson a run for their inventive money, or is it going to be based in safe Fender territory?

TTony · August 2013

To me, Fender says "easier". So it might actually get done. And Teles seem to be universally popular.

It really only says that because of the bolt-on / no-angle construction though, so it's not a deeply reasoned conclusion.

rpr · August 2013

If it ever comes together, how about sending round the country ala Pink Ribbon challenge?. Could auction it for charity at the end, if we could get enough publicity it would a good way of promoting the new forum

stonevibe · August 2013

Just make sure we stick a Bigsby on it for a certain forumite.....

Bucket · August 2013

stonevibe said:

Just make sure we stick a Bigsby on it for a certain forumite.....

NO!

guitargeek62 · August 2013

I'm in, my contribution may only be able to stretch as far as parts this year though, will have to see.

That said, I have a ready to go Swamp Ash tele body back in Plym that I'd planned on hogging out and turning into a thinline Cab when I get chance? Happy to donate it instead. I also have a pretty cool 1/4" flame maple cap that's (prematurely) cut to fit...

WezV · August 2013

i will do a list of things I am willing to do towards it, if we all do the same we should get to a point where we can start dishing out jobs). it will probably only be one of these:

*supply some materials/parts

*carve a top (assuming someone else has made the body/neck)

*oil finish

*assembly/set-up

I do seem to have quite a knack for consolidating others crazy ideas and I know I am good at making non standard parts work well together. it may a way i can be useful towards the end of this project

I don't think we should we should just do a solid tele, it would be too easy. it needs to be a cohesive design so someone needs a veto

We may need a series of votes on style and construction. the other decision is whether to do it for charity or to raise funds for the forum.

TTony · August 2013

WezV said:

the other decision is whether to do it for charity or to raise funds for the forum.

I quite like the idea of it staying within the forum. Sort of like the forum itself - a guitar made by us, enjoyed by us.

We'd need to work out a way of moving it between us, but (without the time pressure that made TPO's travels so challenging) that should be possible.

Maybe each member "rents" it from the forum (thus raising some revenue for the forum) for the time that they have it. And everyone does some sort of review of it. Naturally, giving it 4.5 stars overall.

We do a proper "travels and adventures of theFB" blog on FB, Twitter and here of course - all with the objective of raising the profile of the forum. As well as doing a detailed story of the build process itself.

That's really just me thinking out loud.

Good points about us aiming to do something worthwhile too - but we need to keep a balance so that it does actually get done. And in a few months rather than a couple of years (I read the PG sad-story!).

A Tele would be at the easy end of the spectrum. We've got a good few clever people here, so we could aim to do something more complex/impressive.

Given all the offers, it might be a good idea to have a back-up option for each step of the process, so if the original volunteer gets distracted for whatever reason, the build doesn't get delayed.

We'll have a few design decisons to make, but can think about, discuss and make those as more people get involved and more thoughts get raised.

Howsabout we aim for;

Make the design decisions by late August (end of BH weekend?) and then work out the necessary stages of the process as required by the design.

By the end of August (ie a week later), have confirmed volunteers in place for each of the processes.

I'll volunteer now to plan, co-ordinate and chase. We'll set timescales for each stage of the process when we know what those stages are.

Aim to get the guitar done by the end of the year? If we set that as a target, then it might influence who volunteers for which stages as they may - or may not - have the time available.

Again, thoughts please ...

JookyChap · August 2013

I think it is a great idea.. Not sure how much help I'll be but I can certainly supply some parts once we know what is needed..

On the design - a Tele is fine, but it would be nice to have something unique as our flag-ship, even if it is just varying the outline shape and curves.

For example a Telemaster instead of a Tele.

WezV's own designs are great, and TTony and Sporky have come up with cool stuff too, so using one of those would be cool (if they don't mind), for example.

Thinking wider though, if we're looking for some publicity for the forum, why not run a competition to have a guitar designed and then built by TheFB?

People could register here and submit a design, and I'm sure we could find somebody 'famous' for the winner to have their foto taken with and get more exposure from that angle.

With the TPO we didn't really have the time to do all the local PR, but it is easy enough to do if we run a comp - it is national and a lot of press releases - and then if it did move around a la TPO as long as we have it planned where it will be and when, it is no big deal to spread the word.

Either way though, should be good fun

juansolo · August 2013

WezV said:

I do seem to have quite a knack for consolidating others crazy ideas

*shuffles feet*

TTony · August 2013

Wow ... time passes quickly round here.

Quite a few new people have joined theFretBoard in the last few days, so I'll bump this back up to the top to see if there's any recent joiners who'd like to play.

And it's time to kick-off the DESIGN PHASE. What shall we build?

Given the number of possible options (ie just about infinite), I suggest we limit it to a rather narrower choice, otherwise this will never get off the ground. So ...

A Tele, cabronita style. Easy to do (increasing the chance of getting it done), popular, but hardly ground-breaking.
A versa-Strat-style. Something with interchangeable scratchplates allowing for SSS / HH / SSH combinations.
A full-fat LP alike. Don't see so many of those "home built", but still reasonably straightforward.
A self-design. If this is the chosen option, I'll be looking for a volunteer for the chief designer role, and we have to agree to go with their decision.

If we had voting functionality, I'd add a "vote now" button. But we don't, so please reply with choice & comments please ....

Roland · August 2013

We need a target date to make sure it gets finished. Best bet is an event where can show it off, and all get to play it. Is there any chance we can persuade Ian to arrange a Beaglefest, or would someone else like to volunteer?

Jalapeno · August 2013

Tele with a Monkey Grip !!!!!!
:O)

Sporky · August 2013

Of those options, 4.

But I'm happy to contribute a fretboard whatever the design is. Templates too if you want.

Lixarto · August 2013

Why cabronita? Why not A Proper Tele?

Sporky · August 2013

Because there are already a bazillion proper Teles?

Roland · August 2013

and ...?

TTony · August 2013

Because if we started with a completely blank piece of paper in terms of what we're going to build, we'll end up with more suggestions than there are participants, and we'll still be discussing it when musicradar returns to life.

For me, the suggestion was more about the process of building something co-operatively, rather than the specifics of what we'd build.

So I made some editorial decisions and came up with a shortlist.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

How about we make us a guitar?

Comments