MIMF

Since starting my office, I haven't built anything (aside from a tool rack of pallet wood).

I'm thinking of building a guitar for my personal office (inside my dental office) for when patients don't show up, I'm stuck late with way too much paperwork, or I'm going stir crazy.

Do you guys have any recommendations?

I'm hoping for a fairly quick build (thinking of getting a serviced kit, even) since I don't have a ton of shop time.
I'd like something that'll be easy to play (since I don't play enough to have calluses), fingerstyle, and sorta sweet.
I'm not sure if I'll go with steel strings, silk and steel, or nylon strings.

Since I'm not going to try to entertain the audience next door (kids getting sedated and blood draw place), it doesn't need to be loud.

-Matt

I have a semihollow electric in my (Electrolysis) office for the very same reasons as You, a Sammick Royale III. Acoustically it is loud enough for playing unamplified, maybe even a bit loud, and i have the option to use it with a Boss Micro Br or something alike if i want to have the electric tone. And it is ok to play fingerstyle on that one, too.

So i might go for some ES335/339 kit or even go for something like an unexpensive Epiphone Dot or Casino or that little Sammick. Maybe a used one.

I started building a dozen years ago to build a guitar for exactly this reason. I ended up with a small bodied guitar similar to a Gibson L-00. Perfect for me!

You could build a baritone ukulele. Small body, no binding, simple construction, nylon strung and tuned like the 4 high strings of the guitar.

What started as a tenor guitar/baritone uke from made odds & ends, ended up as a 5 string 'something else'. It's a little bizarre but sounds OK, with 13.5"L x 10.5"W x 2.5"D body, martinesque bracing and a 23-24 fret fingerboard joined at the 17th fret. It can be stashed away easily. I always meant to carve down the massive chunky bridge but haven't, because I think the sound will thin out too much and sound like a banjo. My only real complaint is my own doing- I put on uke tuners which are quite stiff and fast for even extra light steel strings.

Clay Schaeffer wrote:You could build a baritone ukulele. Small body, no binding, simple construction, nylon strung and tuned like the 4 high strings of the guitar.

Oh, yes, it's an interesting idea!

Bob,

That is super cool! I just need to make some time to organize my workshop and get to building.

It's pretty amazing how true my dad's adage: when you have time, you have no money. When you have money, you have no time. Or you have neither.