Building a guitar

[MrJack]

For a while now my father has been asking me now and then if I wanted to build my own guitar.

At first I didn't think about it seriously but recently I started thinking about it more and more. So I started working out some specs just in case I decide to jump on this chance since it would be a great project for the summer. But I want to have it all clear a long time before we actually start so that I have it all worked out and ready.

Specs:

- 25,5" neck-thru (most probably a Carvin NT7 string neck)

- 7-string FR tremolo (Getting this from Carvin too since I'm having trouble finding them anywhere else.)

- D-Sonic 7 in the bridge and Air Norton 7 in the neck

- Body wood:
I honestly don't know what to go for really as it depends on what I can get my dirty hands on. Any recommendations? I can probably ask where to get the wood from a local luthier who does amazing work (it just costs amazing amounts of money too )

- Top wood:
I got an idea about using so called "masurbjörk" . Though I'm not sure if it's a good choice, but I guess it wouldn't affect the tone much if I just put a thin layer of it. It just looks fucking awesome, like the piece on one of the knives I made in like 5th grade. If I get lucky I could perhaps find a piece with combination of the characteristic looks of flamed, quilted and spalted maple all in one which tend to look very good.

- RG kind of body with the arm "recess" like on the JP EB/MM models.

- I was thinking about a natural finish, depending on the top wood. If it looks good, then I'm going for a tung oil finish. If not, then it's gonna be a solid color finish.

The questions

Question 1: Can I easily replace the graphite nut the NT7 has with a locking FR nut?

Question 2: Does anybody know if the NT7's come with side dots in case I decide to go with the no inlays option?

Question 3: How prone is ebony to cracking? Would it be wiser to choose a maple fretboard or rosewood instead?

Question 4: When is Graphtech coming out with the FR piezo saddles?

Question 5: Are there any special pieces of machinery that would be necessary? Though I'm pretty confident that either we, my friend or my father's carpenter friend has pretty much every tool we could ever need.

 

[CoachZ]

For a while now my father has been asking me now and then if I wanted to build my own guitar.

At first I didn't think about it seriously but recently I started thinking about it more and more. So I started working out some specs just in case I decide to jump on this chance since it would be a great project for the summer. But I want to have it all clear a long time before we actually start so that I have it all worked out and ready.

Specs:

- 25,5" neck-thru (most probably a Carvin NT7 string neck)

- 7-string FR tremolo (Getting this from Carvin too since I'm having trouble finding them anywhere else.)

- D-Sonic 7 in the bridge and Air Norton 7 in the neck

- Body wood:
I honestly don't know what to go for really as it depends on what I can get my dirty hands on. Any recommendations? I can probably ask where to get the wood from a local luthier who does amazing work (it just costs amazing amounts of money too )

- Top wood:
I got an idea about using so called "masurbjörk" . Though I'm not sure if it's a good choice, but I guess it wouldn't affect the tone much if I just put a thin layer of it. It just looks fucking awesome, like the piece on one of the knives I made in like 5th grade. If I get lucky I could perhaps find a piece with combination of the characteristic looks of flamed, quilted and spalted maple all in one which tend to look very good.

- RG kind of body with the arm "recess" like on the JP EB/MM models.

- I was thinking about a natural finish, depending on the top wood. If it looks good, then I'm going for a tung oil finish. If not, then it's gonna be a solid color finish.

The questions

Question 1: Can I easily replace the graphite nut the NT7 has with a locking FR nut?

Question 2: Does anybody know if the NT7's come with side dots in case I decide to go with the no inlays option?

Question 3: How prone is ebony to cracking? Would it be wiser to choose a maple fretboard or rosewood instead?

Question 4: When is Graphtech coming out with the FR piezo saddles?

Question 5: Are there any special pieces of machinery that would be necessary? Though I'm pretty confident that either we, my friend or my father's carpenter friend has pretty much every tool we could ever need.

To 1: Yes, with a bit of routing and drilling
To 2: Call up Carvin, doesn't specify on their site
To 3: Ebony cracks if you don't take care of it. It needs a little more love than Rosewood or Maple.
To 4: Nobody knows
To 5: Router.

 

[supertruper1988]

1. Just ask them to install it for you its only $20-$25 so its worth it.

2. Yes

3. Ebony wont crack if you keep it oiled

4.

5. Router and a bandsaw is helpful too.

For the body wings i would recommend mahogany.

 

[ibznorange]

looking good
1) have them set the neck up for it, its worth it
2) id call carvin
3) ebony is just fine if you keep it oiled
4) They claimed namm, but who knows
5) router and a bandsaw

Floyd Rose Bridge and Parts for Sale at Guitar Asylum

Get the "Floyd Rose 7 string" Model there, its an OFR, absolutely the best quality

I like mahogany wings, especially in a maple neckthrough guitar.
keep it from being too bright.
I'll recommend turning the dsonic with the bar towards the neck, for sure. If youre comfortable doing magnet swaps, alnico 8 is highly recommended for both pickups, and i might recommend alnico 8 for the dsonic. The dsonic is a bit harsh in a brighter guitar. With an ebony fretboard too, youre going to want to warm it up a bit.

But looking good man , take pics while its happening for sure

 

[scott from _actual time_]

you should definitely check out the forums at projectguitar.com--tons of advice there on building guitars, suppliers, tools, etc. building is tougher than it looks--it takes trial and error to get good clean results. but if you like building things, it's a lot of fun and you can end up with an instrument that's unique.

 

[MrJack]

Small update, I've decided to go for mahogany wings and a (most probably bookmatched) curly birch top.

According to Aaron Younce at Carvin they can prepare the neck for a locking nut and it comes with side dots. However to my disappointment they won't do offset dots, but how much do you think a luthier would charge for doing the inlays? 100-200$?

 

[bostjan]

Ooooo, curly birch? Nice choice!

Do you really need the offset face dots? If you really want them, I think there are some luthiers who would do it for that price, but you'd better get to know them first. If I were you, I'd be very apprehensive about sending out a brand new custom guitar for rework like that. Personally, I don't think the face dots do anything aside from empowering lazy musicians who want to follow along with you.

 

[Svartmetall]

For body wood, I'd go for alder or walnut. Alder is a great all-round tonewood for guitars, I think walnut may be a bit bassier but then again it's a 7 so more bass response isn't necessarily a bad thing, and if you like to have natural wood finishes walnut is way nicer-looking than alder.

 

[TemjinStrife]

Tip: If you're looking at Carvin for necks, look here too:

SoulMate Guitars Home

He does incredible work for a similar price, with a much wider range of profiles, options, neck woods, and the like.

Your offset dot inlays would be a free option with him.

 

[MrJack]

bostian, you do have a point about the inlays. I thought it would be easier to find the right fret on the fretboard but I've now noticed that I only look at the side dots since my SC-207 has no inlays except for at the 24th fret. And my MH-250 has offset block inlays and I rarely even glance at them while playing.

Edit:
Also the local luthier I'm referring to is Tom Stenback and I know for a fact that he does great work, I've seen quite a few of them up close. Haven't played 'em though. I've also noticed that he's used the Bareknuckle Stormy Monday on a T1 guitar. I should find out who's guitar it is since I suspect it's my previous guitar teacher's guitar, I might get to try it out.

 

[courtney2018]

Tip: If you're looking at Carvin for necks, look here too:

SoulMate Guitars Home

He does incredible work for a similar price, with a much wider range of profiles, options, neck woods, and the like.

Your offset dot inlays would be a free option with him.

For custom built necks his prices are awesome!

 

[WarriorOfMetal]

agreed on SoulMate....awesome work

 

[JesseTheMachine]

Does anyone here know how much a 7-string neck from him would run? Or an 8 for that matter?

I think I'll shoot him an e-mail.

 

[TemjinStrife]

$350 for a wenge/maple 7 string set neck

$300 for non-wenge, at least as quoted to me.

 

[Apophis]

not bad

 

[JesseTheMachine]

So those prices mean $350 for a maple neck with wenge lams?

And $300 for a maple neck with any other kind of laminate?