Author |
Topic: Homemade Guitars Showcase |
Mike McBride
From: Indiana
|
Posted 14 May 2008 1:54 am
|
|
I am starting this thread so folks can show their homemade guitars.
I am planning to build a low buck 8 or 10 string.
Please also show converted guitars like 6's turned into 8's etc.
Last edited by Mike McBride on 14 May 2008 5:54 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
|
|
Roman Sonnleitner
From: Vienna, Austria
|
Posted 14 May 2008 4:56 am
|
|
OK, here we go:
My first, a 6-stting made from African mahogany/khaya wood & maple fretboard, Seymour Duncan P90 pickup:
My second build: 8-string, same kind of wood for the body, zebrano wood for the accents on the body, Jason Lollar Chicagos Steel pickup at the bridge, Vintage Vibe Guitars Stringmaster-type Pickup in the neck position:
|
|
|
|
Mike McBride
From: Indiana
|
Posted 14 May 2008 5:36 am
|
|
Nice work! |
|
|
|
Bernard Beck
From: Paris France
|
Posted 14 May 2008 5:37 am
|
|
Not exactly home made, I had the idea of a D8 travel steel (acoustic, with piezo pickups), did some sketch of what I wanted, talked to a Luthier, and after a few conversation, exchanging ideas on what was doable or not doable, he built it for me. The scale lenght is 22.5.
|
|
|
|
Rocky Hill
From: Prairie Village,Kansas, USA
|
Posted 14 May 2008 5:45 am
|
|
This was my first attempt, I am currently working on another.
Rocky |
|
|
|
Mike McBride
From: Indiana
|
Posted 14 May 2008 6:11 am
|
|
Beautiful..
Let's see some crude ones too! |
|
|
|
Tom Pettingill
From: California, USA (deceased)
|
|
|
|
chas smith R.I.P.
From: Encino, CA, USA
|
Posted 14 May 2008 10:42 am
|
|
I really appreciate the guitars made from various woods and I did make a guitar from wood once, but my skills are in metal. This is a titanium (ti 6,4) tube frame with machined aluminum 6061 T-6. It has an 8 string bass neck, 34” and a 12-string neck 24” that has a "birdcage" changer, should I ever think it needs pedals. It weighs 27#.
|
|
|
|
George Piburn
From: The Land of Enchantment New Mexico
|
Posted 14 May 2008 12:55 pm edit
|
|
edit
Last edited by George Piburn on 23 Jun 2012 8:15 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Fred Shannon
From: Rocking "S" Ranch, Comancheria, Texas, R.I.P.
|
Posted 14 May 2008 1:39 pm
|
|
Man, George P. I can't wait until the "tone experts" get through working this one over. Well, maybe the wood, no it's in the pickup, probably in the little white box (they're using an A-B switch and some guy in the closet is playing an Emmons Bolt On P/P) through a Sarno box and an Evans amp. (Guess this little number puts some of the "sperts" ideas in the fridge.)
phred |
|
|
|
Bill Creller
From: Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
|
Posted 14 May 2008 1:41 pm
|
|
Great to see so many builders on here. Lots of pleasure in building something yourself. |
|
|
|
Gary Anderson
From: Fort Mohave, Arizona, USA
|
Posted 14 May 2008 4:21 pm Home Made
|
|
Here is my crude entry, made a couple of years ago.
|
|
|
|
Mike McBride
From: Indiana
|
Posted 14 May 2008 5:54 pm
|
|
I haven't seen a crude one yet. |
|
|
|
Keith Wells
From: South Carolina Sea Islands
|
Posted 14 May 2008 6:13 pm
|
|
Mike McBride wrote: |
Let's see some crude ones too! |
I can do that!
Mahogany body, brass nut and bridge, DeArmand 2000 pickup, stainless cover plate covers almost entire body. 22 1/2 inch scale.
The Headstock is kinda funny looking. My idea was to remove only enough material as necessary to install the tuners and strings. The headstock is a full inch thick.
Overall a pretty rough guitar, but it's working well.
I'm building an electric violin now and want to start another steel soon.
-- Keith _________________ -- Keith |
|
|
|
Bill Hatcher
From: Atlanta Ga. USA
|
Posted 14 May 2008 7:29 pm
|
|
Here is a project that I need to finish one day before Haleys Comet comes back. It is a simple 6 string lap with a very simple hardware store parts changer on it that can raise two strings and lower one. There are two palm pedals and if you look close you will see a bent piece of stainless steel that is a knee lever. I need to make a cover mount for the vol/tone pot. I also need to experiment with some different size return springs. The changer works well and there are some springs inside the body and a concentric cam assembly for the knee lever. The fretboard is old Shobud stock I got from the late Ed Naylor. Someday I will finish it....just too many projects. |
|
|
|
David Venzke
From: SE Michigan, USA
|
Posted 14 May 2008 8:21 pm
|
|
I don't think this is crude, but it is pretty plain jane...
A piece of poplar with a 1" x 3/4 oak stiffener running down the length of the back. Angle aluminum at both ends. An Altoids tin for a resonator with a $3 Radio Shack piezo buzzer inside the tin acting as an acoustic pickup that's wired to the 1/4" jack in the side of the tin. Bridge is a bolt with the head sawed off and square nuts on each end. $8.00 tuners at the head end. The most expensive piece is the real rosewood fretboard and nickel-silver frets. I had less than $20 into this before I added that fretboard.
It is 25" scale and the string spacing is the same as my reso. I carry this in the back seat of my car and play it during breaks and lunch time -- great way to get in at least an hour a day.
-Dave |
|
|
|
Mike McBride
From: Indiana
|
Posted 15 May 2008 12:40 am
|
|
I really enjoy seeing the ingenuity you folks have used. I am taking notes and accumulating parts.
I have 12 new Grover tuners and a board off of a shipping pallet. I have some 8 1/2" x 11" plastic dividers out of a 3 ring binder that are pretty thin and can be easily cut to size to make a pickguard.
I plan to secure a used George L pickup for use on this guitar.
I grew up on a small farm where being frugal was considered mandatory. I anticipate my total costs when complete at under $100. |
|
|
|
Phill Martin
From: Whitewater Kansas, USA
|
Posted 15 May 2008 2:54 am
|
|
Do Fankinslides count? I'm in the process of a putting avalco pickup on a Ohau with a lestrem vibrato bridge.
Phill |
|
|
|
CrowBear Schmitt
From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
|
Posted 15 May 2008 5:24 am
|
|
here are some models that french fo'bro Tony Quedeville made
he's not a pro builder mind you
just a down home cat that loves steels
[/url]
[/url]
[/url]
[/url]
[/url]
[/url]
[/url]
[/url]
[/url]
Ma patience n'a pas de limite
|
|
|
|
Mike McBride
From: Indiana
|
Posted 15 May 2008 5:30 am
|
|
Are those slide guitars or sled guitars? |
|
|
|
Jim Cohen
From: Philadelphia, PA
|
Posted 15 May 2008 8:27 am
|
|
Those are incredible! |
|
|
|
CrowBear Schmitt
From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
|
Posted 15 May 2008 8:40 am
|
|
more like Catamaran steels Mike |
|
|
|
Bill Creller
From: Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
|
Posted 15 May 2008 10:30 am
|
|
I applaud all those who have come up with their own creations. Great imagination and ideas. |
|
|
|
Jim Pitman
From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA
|
Posted 15 May 2008 10:45 am Acoustic lap steel
|
|
Bernard Beck,
I've always been intrigued by acoustic lap steels w/o resonator.
How does it sound unamplified?
Is it loud enough unamplified to compete w/other acoustic instruments? |
|
|
|
Jim Pitman
From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA
|
|
|
|