crackle guitars gear

Finally gathered the gear for the crackle guitars project - the problem being that the strings are also contacters for the crackle circuit, so they have to be isolated from each other and have separated contacts on the body to connect to the electronics one by one.

We decided to use Sung Il Tune-o-matic bridges with Graph Tech teflon saddles and string-thru-body system - the ferrules will be the contact points. Otherwise we have Wilkinson tuners. We recycle the pick-ups of the base guitars.

Probably what I'm saying doesn't make sense to most people - that will be more clear in a few days, since we will have a crackle guitar working session on the week-end.

Epiphone frenzy

Yesterday was a special day, I received two new guitars the very same day, an Epiphone Dot Studio I bought six months ago in the US (thanks to the low dollar and the wrecked car I sold for hardly more than what I paid for the guitar) and that was waiting since a way to cross the Atlantic ocean, and an Epiphone Thunderbird pro IV bass I just acquired for the project I'm currently working on.

Two classic beauties! The Thunderbird pro IV is Epiphone's new neck-through model with transparent black finish and black hardware and pickguards, it has an incredibly rich sound, I'm sorry for my faithful old Musima, but she cannot compete!

The Dot Studio is a simplified version of the Dot with just one volume and one tone controls - but I never use the knobs on guitars anyway. I will replace the pick-ups with some Epiphone SGs chrome cover humbuckers I have around, until I find better - and I consider a ES335 style metal pickguard...

GAS is a good drug and the healthiest of all!

more neckless guitar sketches

If the concept behind the neckless guitar project proves successful, there are plenty of possible variations (OK, some are over the edge, but there are 2 or 3 that would be quite cool). Unfortunately I'm very busy on another project right now, and soon I will have a working session with Daniel Schorno on the crackle guitar project, so the neckless one has to wait a little bit...

more double-neck and neckless guitar sketches

I don't always upload these sketches in chronological order - hence the slight incoherent progression... But much probably my brain is also responsible for this.

more double-neck and neckless guitar sketches

I realized that since double-neck guitars are mostly stage guitars - in the studio you can just change your guitar - they follow other ergonomic rules - and they don't need the lower curve to rest on the leg (I assume that most player stand on stage).

And there are many little details for the neckless guitar project that require that I explore it again and again - hence the new sketches...

neckless guitar studies

Slowly but steadily, the neckless guitar project progresses... I have now the wood - it's beech wood, rarely used for solid bodies but - like birch wood - much appreciated usually for drums and speakers...

I decided finally to go for a Wilkinson bridge humbucker... Since the scale of the fretboard is different than the one I used for my calculations, I have to readjust everything a little bit... I realise that the connection between the pickups, the knobs and the jack socket will be problematic... And I'm considering adding a removable leg rest, probably home-made - a Steingerger leg rest is as expensive as a Seymour Duncan pickup!

more sketches

It's been a long time since I didn't draw double-neck guitars. Seems to me that the Flying V is the best design when you have two necks of the same length - I'm surprised that it's not widely used. But a double-neck is better with a regular neck and a baritone neck - the more different the better! And necks should not be parallel of course...

more sketches

considerations about a cheap SG

A few days ago I bought on eBay a ridiculously cheap defect guitar that I intend to recycle for a next project. I expected a beaten second hand wreck, but I find myself with a brand new SG type guitar made in China, of a surprisingly good quality for its price. It's far from the Japanese cheapos of the 70s like the ones I bought for the crackle guitars project - of course the wood is super light and the gear feels fragile, and the strings buzz on a quarter of the neck, but it's very playable, confortable, with a fast neck, and well finished. I have no problem practicing on it, independently of its sound (actually I didn't plug it yet so I can't tell about the amplified sound).

That makes me think that not only these Chinese cheap guitars unsettling the western guitar industry might result in a general upgrade of quality for cheaper prices, but also that like stereos and toasters, nobody seems to bother fixing a broken guitar when it's cheaper to dump it and get a new one! This one has something unsoldered in a tone pot (I don't care, I never use tone on guitars), that even I can fix, but no, here it is, never played and ready to be dismembered for a crazy project of mine. I feel like Doktor Frankenstein having asked Igor to bring the corpse of a criminal sentenced to death to built his creature, and being handed an innocent sleeping teenager that he knows he will sacrifice to satisfy his twisted passion...

I also realize that though I didn't like SGs so far, without having ever played any, it has a very nice feel, and I'm reconsidering my preconception...

And my new project? Well, contrarily to the very object of this blog, I will wait until I actually made it to show it here. It's too specific to be given away like I usually do, without any protection... So more later!

more sketches

neckless guitar

Neckless guitar

Here we go! I acquired all the gear for my neckless guitar project. Next week I will get the wood - that is going to be the biggest problem for this very experimental prototype. Fortunately I've got quite good advices from a cabinet maker - just about wood, without the preconceptions of a guitar maker... I'm sure at least that it cannot be massive wood, the guitar is one block and would be too prone to twist... I'm quite happy with the glued birch I used for the 7-string but until it's assembled I won't be sure about the sound.

Anyway, this is a little description of the gear: the neck pickup is a second hand Kent Amstrong lipstick pickup from an Ibanez Talman, the bridge pickup is a dual blade humbucker I bought from Eastwood Guitars, the bridge is a Wilkinson wraparound, the tuners are also Wilkinsons, I also have an ebony fretboard and Fender frets, a telecaster knob plate, and a metal nut. That is going to be a strange guitar...

Strat blueprint

A last blueprint, the Strat one - hope it could have interested someone...

more sketches

Televangelist in situation

There is a tradition in the guitar world, that is to pair up guitars and young female characters...

I know, I know, this is awfully sexist and gender specific, but it's like posters of Lenin and English pastries, it's part of my cultural background, wether I like it or not.

And since this photo wasn't made for this purpose, but is part of the genuine artistic process for which the guitar was made - and is beautiful -, I won't refuse myself the pleasure to post it here!

tele blueprint

Another blue print, for a tele this time... Strat will follow soon!

more sketches

Some days I fell completely dry, with no new ideas to design guitars, and I have to force myself to keep drawing. But I keep researching and extrapolating and lately I have a a lot of new ideas, combining classic and radical design - though always with an ergonomic concern. I'm quite happy with the latest ones that you can see here.

SG blueprint

Like promised, another blueprint, for a SG this time... You can still get a bigger one by clicking on the small pic - I still have to figure out how to make the real size blueprints downloadable!

edit: people who ask me to send the real size blueprint, be sure that you can receive a 3,5M file.

Les Paul blueprint

Something that might interest amateur guitar builders, blueprint for a Les Paul model (if you click on the smaller pic, you can access bigger size). There will be more later.

Edit: I do send the real size blueprints on request but please send me your e-mail address when asking, it saves time! Also I've been sending about a hundred blueprints but never had any feedback afterward - if you ever build a guitar out of them, please let me know and credit the blog! thank you.