MIMF

Hi all, Our gourd vine is producing like crazy this year (one of the few things that'll tolerate our summers here), and I'm thinking of making some gourd-backed instruments. Anybody here make these? I've seen banjos with goatskin heads, and I've got some spruce that might make a good soundboard if g...

Hi folks, Longtime member, been gone a long time, back with a new project. I've come into possession of a solid-body guitar that someone abandoned partway through a refinish, and I'm thinking of doing an acrylic paint pour on the main body. Anybody done one of these? I've come across people doing th...

Thanks. The GAL plan looks pretty much exactly like what I was thinking of. Charlie, that's a great looking instrument.

I'm looking into the idea of building a German-style zither. Anybody out there ever built one of these? 1) I'm curious as to the way the top is supported. Is it braced (and how)? 2) does the fretboard sit on top of the soundboard like a mountain dulcimer, or is it more like a neck-through constructi...

Yikes, that's almost exactly what I was picturing. I was kind of thinking less solid-color blast, though, and more swirling-pattern.

I've got some of the Stew-mac store brand on one of mine, for about 3 1/2 years now, and I've yet to have a problem with them.

Raising 'em right, Ty. This is just fantastic.

Neat table. I like how the cat in the older video totally ignores the high-tech lighting system and still just goes for the string. I definitely don't have the tech skills, but this is the picture I got in mind: Clear-epoxy cast guitar body, embedded with fiber optics, that all go to a few central L...

I'm in.

Sure looks good so far. That's a good trick with the laser level. I've had one of those for years, and I never thought to use it for neck alignment.

Have you been down to Keim Lumber, down in Charm? Looks like it's about 2 hours away from you, but I hear it's a pretty magical place. http://www.keimlumber.com/solidbodyblanks

You had me at the first sentence! This sounds like a fun project. I'm thinking solenoid approach + magnetic pickups on bars = frankenstein Rhodes, but I like the fuzzy disc idea, too. Felt seems like it'd be too soft to me, and it'd be hard to generate enough sound. I think I'd try some of that rope...

I'm in the angle grinder camp as well. I have one of those King Arther chainsaw-wheel things, but it scares the bejesus out of me, so I usually just use a 36-grit flap sander. It takes off the material at a pretty good pace, leaves a surface that's not hard to flatten out, and it's not as prone to c...

I'm in.

Anybody near the Cincinnati area going to this? http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/editors-blog/woodworkers-plan-your-wood-buying-pilgrimage I don't have the budget to be hoarding wood right now, but this would be the place to get it. Could be a fun trip just to ogle the giant woodw...

Finally, I have something to post in this section. I built this in two days, mostly out of scrap from my shop. The top, bottom, and sides are 3/4" baltic birch left over from a dresser project a few years back, and the back is some 1/4" lauan left over from some bookcase backing. The main ...

I could see drilling out a dowel and putting a pen mandrel through it, to beef up the working diameter of the mandrel. I got one of these things:

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKMST ... 8972039783

and I haven't had any trouble with my pen mandrel bending since then.

1) A lot of people start off with a book, something like Melvyn Hiscock's "Make your own electric guitar". The archives here have a lot of good information, but it's nice to have the whole process laid out step by step. 2) The most common advice I hear around here is "draw a full-scal...

Fair enough, we need readable words. I present for your inspiration / entertainment / derision the Woodstock, the Atlanta Braves, and the BC rich. It occurs to me that we may just need something on the order of a simple script, like most folks use for their own instruments. Who's got good handwritin...

Dave, I like that one. It has all the curvy guitariness I was aiming for in mine, but it's a good deal better execution. Plus, you could inlay it.