How about we make us a guitar?

TTony

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

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

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

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

I can do the fretting & setup.

ftumch

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

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

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

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

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

TTony

Sporky said:

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

WezV

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

Sporky

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

Handsome_Chris

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

TTony

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

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

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

Bucket

stonevibe said:

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

NO!

guitargeek62

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

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

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 ...