[OT] Building a guitar!

[RogerRamjet]

For all you muso types out there, im sure there are some!

OK, since im going to Uni soon, this may be the last chance ive got to spend some money making a new guitar. At the moment i use a blue Fender Tele, like this one :-

http://www.musik-service.de/images/ProduX/395741702j00.jpg

I love the feel of the fret board (maple i think?) and the tone is great, however a few years back i smacked the cunt off a wall by accident (actually, it was the same day i got it) and knocked some big chunks of paint off. I tried to get it repaired but you can tell, so i wanna replace it really.

So what im looking for are preferably cheap but good quality wood, the body and neck (the neck being the same as i have now). I wouldnt mind doing the paint job myself, but any tips on what paint/seal things to use would be much appreciated.

For the pick ups, i really want to go for something with the same tone as the tele (i love the trebley tones) but perhaps for for an electronic pick up, to reduce
hum at high distortion levels (although i know this can be done with digital pedals, im not into them). However if the electronic pickups wont give me the same tone as the pickups that fender use i wont bother.

Also, id need to buy wires obviously, and all the little bits, tuning pegs, volume/tone knobs/scratch plate etc, so a place where i can get interesting ones would be a great help.

Thank you very much.

[cRazy-]

I'll try and dig up some links but building your own guitar can sometimes end up costing 2-5 times more then just buying the guitar already made (dont have a clue why), so watch your budget.

[Spermy]

Superb choice of guitar!

For new woods, try www.axesrus.co.uk I used them when I did mine, excellent choice of woods, and great service. For pickups, try www.gak.co.uk, best prices around and a good selection of pickups. Food for thought though, ever thought of Lace Sensor instead of the alnico neck pickup?

As for paint jobs, never ever attempt to do it yourself, far too many people do a grwat job on it aesthetically but end up "flooding" the wood, ruining the tone. Others use the wrong kinda laquer, which again leads to tone death.

http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/

This guy did my Strat up in a lovely candy apple red.

[RogerRamjet]

I use GAK for most of my things (i actually bought my guitar from there, and a strat).

As for pick ups, i know very little. Can you please explain the difference in tone or whatever?

(i might even go for a humbucker on the neck, but i do like the warm tone the one i use now gives).

[Spermy]

I use GAK for most of my things (i actually bought my guitar from there, and a strat).

As for pick ups, i know very little. Can you please explain the difference in tone or whatever?

(i might even go for a humbucker on the neck, but i do like the warm tone the one i use now gives).

Lace sensor are a lot like hot rails. Single coil tone, with the two rails cancelling the hum, and boosting the sound. They sing on clean leads.

I'd avoid using a hummer on the neck if you're a fan of the tone you get there, instead, go for P90's. They'll still change the tone though. Best bet is to go play a few guitars with the pickups you've got in mind already installed, that'll give you a good idea of the kind of sound you'll get. They don't necesarilly have to be on a tele, as the only thing different there is the kind of wood, and the amount of resonance, which will mostly just affect the sustain and tone dynamic, which can be compensated for with FX.

Pickup wise however, anything larger than the stock pickup at the neck is gonna need a luthier to touch up the body, in order to seat the pickup properly.

[RogerRamjet]

Ah yes, now i know what you mean.

Like i said, id want something that gave the telecaster tone, but took the hum away.

[Spermy]

Ah yes, now i know what you mean.

Like i said, id want something that gave the telecaster tone, but took the hum away.

Have a looksie at these, they're a tad on teh expensive side, and they are active, so they'll run hot, and I mean HOT!

http://www.emginc.com/displayproducts.asp?section=Guitar&categoryid=13

You'd probably want a compressor before your amp for fine tuning the output

[RogerRamjet]

Those would certainly fit the bill.

Whats a compressor by the way, anything above a simple noise gate and a distortion pedal is out of my league.

I have been playing guitar for years you know...

The TC set looks good too by the way, high end = treble right?

[Burninghead]

A compressor is like a noise gate but backward :lol:

A noise gate won't let the sound pass through until it reaches a certain treshold (thus avoiding humming and buzzing while you're not playing) a compressor on the other hand won't let the sound pass through above a certain treshold (you won't be able to play louder than this treshold).

As for building your own guitar, good luck, done a bass-guitar a few years ago it was a painfull and expensive experience.

[RogerRamjet]

So a compressor would mean id be able to cut out hum whilst playing?

[Spermy]

So a compressor would mean id be able to cut out hum whilst playing?

Well, to an extent yes, but a high threshold on a compressor gives it's own hum, especially with single coils.

Here's an article to help. The concept is easy to grasp, but hard to explain :p

http://www.kvraudio.com/wiki/?id=Compressor