Krrayzie guitar idea... headless 7 string based on Teuffel Tesla

[thinkpad20]

OK, so for a little while now I've been somewhat struck with the idea of a 7 string guitar in the form of a Teuffel Tesla. Now, I could theoretically get a 7 string Tesla; he does make them. But his prices are kind of prohibitive for me, and I'd want to have different pickups and body woods... it's mostly the shape, the concept and the uniqueness that I'm attracted to, not so much the bells and whistles... it's just a really nifty design in my opinion (and I'm sure not everyone else's ). I asked him about it and he doesn't want to modify the aesthetics of his design, so he recommended I find another luthier to make "my dream guitar" as he put it. And so, why not?

I figured I'd think about designing a guitar similar in concept, but a little different, different enough to make it its own instrument and not a ripoff, but also to "improve" it a bit, in my mind. I.e. reducing the body size, changing the upper fret access, adding frets, knob configs, etc. I started with the Tesla body shape:

I traced the outlines in photoshop and printed them out. Then I went to work adjusting the curves and playing with the lower cutaway, eventually going with a somewhat RG-ish thing. Granted I'm no artist and certainly not a draftsman, so my lines look a bit amateur

Here's an overlay with the original "cut" to my mods, showing what it could theoretically look like, albeit with the extra 2 frets, and undoubtedly in a different color (as I note at the top, most likely a deep trans black with creme binding). Also of course there's the issues of type of neck, woods, frets, etc, all of which I have ideas for.

Pretty nifty I think. Definitely something that would grab the eye...

Here's an overlay of the original with my mods so you can see what I changed...

Anyway I'm not currently in the financial state to actually set the ball rolling on this one, but I'd like to at some point, maybe in a couple of months if I can save up enough. It's always fun planning out guitars, even if the plans never see the light of day but perhaps with this one they will. I'm just posting it for comments, suggestions, flames... whatever!


EDIT: Here's the latest revision... took the concept of the curve from the upper to lower cutaway, but extended the cutaway down, matched the lower leg cut to that of an Ibanez RG to give more room beneath the neck as well as have it sit on the leg as an RG would...

Revision 5 (see below for details on knobs):

 

[hufschmid]

I always found those designs to be interesting, just like Steve Klein guitars

However you must build it with the neck true technique because it will be very difficult for you to route such a big neck pocket....

Good luck with the prodject and post pics when you can

 

[thinkpad20]

I always found those designs to be interesting, just like Steve Klein guitars

However you must build it with the neck true technique because it will be very difficult for you to route such a big neck pocket....

Good luck with the prodject and post pics when you can

Thanks! Actually I'm not sure you have to do neck-thru... check out this Forshage guitar which is somewhat similar to a Klein. At about one minute in, he flips the thing over and you can see it's a set-neck (or appears to be anyway), with the neck separated from the upper bout, which is something I'd definitely be game for.



Of course doing neck-thru wouldn't be the worst thing in the world

 

[hufschmid]

yeah but the left portion of your design hits the neck already at the 10th fret which is not the case of the guitar on that video....

 

[thinkpad20]

yeah but the left portion of your design hits the neck already at the 10th fret which is not the case of the guitar on that video....

True... all of this would have to be worked out of course it would be challenging and unique for sure...

Two more concepts... variations from my original design.

I like the second one the best so far... it allows for a bolt-on design (or neck-thru, or set... without having to worry about the neck joint or the curvature of the back of the neck) and there's a curve that's continuous from the upper cutaway to the lower (I actually drew this curve but you can't see it...). Plus, beveled top

Thoughts? Total fail? Promising? Suggestions? Tweaks?

 

[S-O]

I dig all of them, I lick the first couple ideas though, with the upper horn along the neck. Maybe draw up some more steinberger style bodies?

 

[thinkpad20]

I dig all of them, I lick the first couple ideas though, with the upper horn along the neck. Maybe draw up some more steinberger style bodies?

Well I don't really want to copy steinberger because it's sorta "been done"... and yeah I know that sounds silly because I'm modifying another design already... but yeah.

I also like the design with the extended upper bout but I think it could cause problems with the neck construction, getting the bout to join with the neck in such a way that it doesn't mess with how the neck feels. Fortunately I play almost exclusively with my thumb behind the neck anyway... I don't know. Plus, I'd somewhat rather do bolt-on than neck-thru, since the guitar is more easily fixed and modified that way.

Anyway I'm going to keep hacking away at this for a little while and then hopefully when I've got everything finalized I can find a luthier to take on the challenge (and the necessary funds )

 

[S-O]

Cool no matter what. I see now how if you took the horn more off/away from the neck it would just look like a gimpy steinberger.

Bolt on I'd say is better, like you said, if shit ever fucked up on it, you'd be out a neck, rather than whole a guitar.

 

[Justin Bailey]

forshage has done 7's, let him do this one. he does great ergo work.

 

[thinkpad20]

forshage has done 7's, let him do this one. he does great ergo work.

For sure, he's the #1 guy I've got on my list... I actually talked to him a while back about a headless guitar idea about 5 or 6 months ago, before my finances took a nose dive

Although I'm sure that Illustrated could do quite well with something like this too

 

[Justin Bailey]

rick canton is another one. This would be right up his alley.

 

[budda]

how big is the teuffel one in reality though, since you've made the body smaller?

looks very ergonomic

 

[thinkpad20]

how big is the teuffel one in reality though, since you've made the body smaller?

looks very ergonomic

Not incredibly large, but still large. I'll try making some actual-size cardboard mockups before I make a decision, but as it is I'm fairly sure that the Tesla is wider than your average superstrat, just judging from the width of the body compared to the width of the bridge. I'd want to make it about the same size as a regular electric.

(8 string )

(7 string )

 

[thinkpad20]

latest revision... still need to do more tweaks tho, I might have midjudged the scale :\

 

[Æxitosus]

I've always liked headless guitars

and this looks like one of the few you can play sitting down without a strap...unlike some (steinberger)

 

[thinkpad20]

I've always liked headless guitars

and this looks like one of the few you can play sitting down without a strap...unlike some (steinberger)

Awesome thanks! Yeah I want it to be as functional as a normal guitar - play sitting down, standing up, fret access, comfort, etc...

5th revision I fixed the scale issue and re-formatted it to the RG countours, using a RG7321. Scanned it in, then added mockups of actual hardware. Tentative knob/switch placement too.

Switches beneath the tailpiece are coil taps. Knob on bottom left is master tone (for piezo + magnetic), knob beneath the bridge is magnetic pickup volume; knob on horn is piezo volume. The upper three-way toggle would be a standard magnetic pickup selector; the lower would be magnetic (lowest position), piezo + magnetic (middle) and piezo (upper).

Tentative carving: the body would be tapered somewhat like an Ibanez S on the top, getting thinner towards the edges. On the bottom it would be somewhat like an ESP Horizon, with a carved top that tapered down about an inch or so from the edges and farther inside the lower horn for easier fret access. The neck joint would bolt-on and with a jackson dinky-style carving around the heel. The neck would be a compound 11"-15" radius, flattening out completely about an inch before the neck joint like a Hamer Californian.

Tentative woods/design: Mahogany body, dark trans black swamp ash top, 5 piece mahogany/walnut neck, ebony fretboard with medium jumbo stainless steel frets (no inlays except perhaps a design at the 12th fret), white binding around body and board.

 

[littlemurph7976]

You should do a mockup with the swamp ash top man, that would look shit hot. Liking some of the ideas in here.

 

[Panterica]

do's it!

 

[thinkpad20]

Update: rough mockup to scale! (a.k.a. toan is in teh cardboard)


So, I spent a long time measuring things, drawing stuff on cardboard and eventually cutting this out. Took a couple of hours, ugh... but the results are pretty good.

It's so friggin small! Here's a comparison with my WG-587 (the neck outline on the mockup is actually a direct trace of the Washburn). Keep in mind this is a 26" scale fretboard, so actually slightly longer scale than the guitar it's next to. From tip to end it's 31", and 29" without the "headstock."

I wanted to test it in the three main guitar playing conditions, right leg sitting, left leg sitting, and standing.

It worked quite well for all of them, felt very nifty and ergonomic. There's just enough wood there behind the bridge to rest my arm on - of course this is just a cardboard mockup but I did my best.... Fret access to the 24th fret is a little sketchy, so I might do some work on that, but it might not be a big deal in the end. Doesn't quite live up to AANJ standards...

 

[thinkpad20]

come on, the least you can do is make fun of me for posing with a cardboard guitar

feedback people!!

Regarding the mini-stock, what do people think of it? I think it provides a bit of a counterpoint to the rest of the body aesthetically, and gives the (slight) feel of a headstock so my hand doesn't just kinda drop off the end when playing on the low frets. Also I have the luthier build it with some string ferrules in it so I could mount the ball-ends of the strings in there which would, among other things, to allow the use of a regular nut (or a locking nut)...