more sketches

I've always like the idea of making a guitar from recycled wood, and particularly Zachary's cutting board tele - that also fit with my idea that solid bloc wood for guitar making is more a tradition than a real sound issue... Anyway a few days ago I saw a cool cutting board in a shop and the idea came back, so I sketched some compact designs that would fit in a 50 x 35 x 4 cm piece of wood.

Also lately I drew several guitars looking like the blending of a Les Paul and an Eko 700 (inspired by some vintage Russian guitar) - there's something to dig there...

more sketches

more sketches

If I ever had to do a custom paint on a guitar, I would probably choose a Japanese war flag (in Europe it is mostly a punk icon, like the swastika in Japan). Otherwise a few more sketches of the hollow-log project, and a few more about lucite + wood + aluminium composite guitars.

more sketches

wiring

Had my electronics wired at Nick Page Guitars (I really have to learn to do that myself - I'm a little bit shy about it... And I want to add the killswitch) who by the way just released a new version of their Baron... I must stop working on this guitar for a couple of weeks now, it will stay almost finished until then...

more sketches

Lately I've been busy with semi-hollow guitars - that felt quite way out my league until I drew this kind of sophisticated cigar box with reminiscence of the log/LaBaye guitar... Another project to add on my to-do list.
But I realize now that if I seriously want to produce guitars, cool designs won't be enough for someone so remote from the pro circuit such as I am, so I need to create innovative and alternative guitars, such as the crackle guitar, the neckless guitar or this 'hollow log'...

more sketches

The 7-string is almost finished, I have to have the wiring done and put all the pieces together - that's scary... I think more and more of not doing the baritone right away since I have to rethink its design, so I'll probably do the neckless guitar first - also it's more challenging...

acoustic guitar retrofit

This is my retrofitted nylon string Spanish guitar - my very first guitar, on which I learned classical guitar at 14 - not very assiduously I have to admit, but it still had an influence on my playing even when I switched to 3 power chords punk at 16, then later to noise impro.

It's a crafted flamenco guitar made in Spain - roughly similar to a classical guitar with lower action - that my parents had for a cheaper price since it had a varnish problem (like wrapped too early and some varnish got stuck on the wrap). Over the years the varnish started to peel seriously, then I tried to remove it myself, then I gave up and kept it unused for decades (see pics).

So since I'm into guitar mod mood now, I decided to rejuvenate it in my own way, with a slightly transparent mate black finish. It makes it quite bizarre, for probably good reasons, acoustic guitars varnish is always shiny (if anybody can tell why, I'm curious).

The sound is a little bit dull but it was already so, and it's a nice practice guitar. I find always good to practice on different instruments to work different aspects of guitar playing.

more sketches for a baritone

Now that I almost finished my 7-string project, I have to admit that the long lower horn is a problem if I don't want to make it with a big open curve Mosrite style. I made a cardboard model of my baritone project without this horn and it doesn't work at all so I will drop the whole thing and make a completely different model - with no horn. Fortunatly I have many designs to choose from!

Kawai Aquarius blog

There is a particularly interesting new post on the Kawai Aquarius blog, with German rock band Abraxas guitarist Sven Hirschfeld telling the story of his Aquarius and its several modifications over the last 30 years - until it reaches what he considers the best guitar ever!

Something you won't read anywhere else, about a completely obscure an underrated little jewel.

expanding crackle box

For those who wonder about the crackle guitar project, this an inspiring expansion of the crackle box, created by visual artist Oscar Ramos during a residence at STEIM - you can see more about this work and others on his project blog.
I keep this work in the back of my head while conceiving the c-guitar...

work in progress

important information about guitar killswitch

The day before yesterday, I tried to buy a killswitch on eBay for my new guitar project - it was proposed as the very same killswitch used by Buckethead on the song Jordan - you know, a revolutionary device that can introduce silence in music... You press the button, the circuit is cut, you release, it works again (anybody remembers the riff of Spirit in the Sky? - an easier way to do it).

The price rocketed at 16 £ so of course I didn't buy it, but then I made a little inquiries on the web, and today I went to my local electric shop and bought one for 0,88 € (1,28 US$ / 0,77 £).

I'm sorry for the guy who bought it so expansive, and for the other one who thought he found a good business, but I saw similar offers on eBay so I want to tell guitar makers and modifiers to keep their extra bucks for better pickups, and buy killswitches for their actual price - that is super cheap.

another customable brand-less guitar

We decided to actually make 2 crackle guitars, one of each of us, so I managed to get exactly the same cheap guitar as a starting point. This project is getting more and more exciting!

more sketches

more sketches

crackle guitar sketches

Starting the crackle guitar process, Daniel S. and I exchange the first ideas...