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!

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...

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...

more cardboard

more cardboard guitars, on the left and down, the two models I've decided to build (with bridges and pickups), and on the right, two new models I intend to develop later: a 14 string (2 x 7) baritone with effects included (fuzz, trem, chorus) - my very own ultra deluxe model - and an experimental neckless guitar.

This one should be both cheap and easy to build as I just avoid to make a neck and can cut it out of a 100 x 30 planck. No idea if this is a complete dead-end (well it's upseting that it doesn't exist already and I can't imagine that nobody had the idea before) but the concept is to make it thin enough to keep it light, but that there is enough wood for good acoustic, to keep the work on the neck minimal (it will still be round - and it fits to my playing style since I studied first classical guitar and kept the thumb-behind technic since).
the only real difficullty is to fret the fingerboard (why don't they sell pre-fretted boards? - anyway I at least found some precut), then tuners, string-through-body bridge, one splitable humbercker, a push-pull knob, a jack-socket and that's it! I'll work on it when I'm finished with the first projects...

more sketches