Prototyping

pro·to·type

–noun

The original or model on which something is based or formed.

-verb

To create the prototype or an experimental model of.

In a rare fit of optimism, I thought you might like to see how I design and build guitars from scratch, so to speak. So over the next few months (or years), I will share with you the process from start to finish.

The first thing you need is a design. One reason 99% of guitars conform to traditional design is ergonomics. These ‘old’ designs have proven to be the most comfortable and/or useful in terms of one’s ability to comfortably play the guitar. There must be balance, and the guitar should be able to be positioned in such a way that the player can play it easily.

Balance is, for me anyway, crucial. ‘Neck Dive’ is a common malady for guitars whose headstock is heavy enough, and far enough away from the strap position. If you let go of the guitar, the neck heads tow ard the floor. This is often because the front strap position is not close enough to the headstock to provide adequate balance. This makes the guitar ‘neck heavy.’

Some of the more… eccentric designs of guitars, while still classics, are nevertheless prone to such things. Some examples (strap positions marked with blue dots/circles):

---

Gibson Flying V

Gibson Firebird

Gibson Non-Reverse Firebird

Ibanez Iceman

Gibson SG

If you let go of the neck, it looks more like this:

Not all guitars have this problem. Some guitars balance reasonably well even though their strap placement is nearly the same. Examples:

Fender Telecaster

Gibson Les Paul

The reason these guitars balance well is weight; they are both heavier than the V, Firebird, and SG, all of which are thinn er guitars. The Les Paul is in fact famous for being heavy.

But I have a problem with these guitars (the Les Paul more so than the Tele); the strap placement moves the neck to the left. It is only a slight difference, but I notice it and I don’t like it.

For the vast majority of the 30 (!) years I have been playing guitar, I have preferred this shape:

The Fender Stratocaster

Notice that the strap is positioned roughly at the 12th fret, whereas the other designs place it further to the rear. I have gotten so used to the Stratocaster that I have a hard time playing other guitars.

I do own two teles and an Iceman, but I don’t play them as much as the Strats. I even have a non-reverse Firebird that I don’t use at all, because it doesn’t balance and I feel like I’m overextending my left arm to play it.

That is why, for me anyway, ergonomics play a big role in my designing.  I need a guitar that is comfortable to play, not just fun to look at.

But that doesn’t mean ergonomic guitars can’t be fun to look at. Years ago, I came up with a design a friend dubbed the Starfish. He still has the original  (I presume), and a few years ago I resurrected the design (from memory) to make another one.

I spent a lot of time and money on it, and tried to change the design to my liking:

It was last seen in pieces lying in the dumpster. Design fail, what can I say? I did so much work on it that it became structurally unsound.

Like my brain.

In the few years I had it, in whatever permutation it was, I found things about it I wanted to change. I liked the design in general, just not that manifestation in particular.

I found some MDF (medium density fiberboard) on the loading dock of the building where my OFFICE is located, and brought it to my workshop. MDF is not easy to find around here, but I like it because you can work with it fairly easily.

MDF is also very good for making guitar templates. You can work with something that is the same size, and therefore gives you a good idea of what he finished guitar will feel like, at least in terms of the body shape.

I still had the original cardboard template I used for the recent build. But cardboard isn’t really… repeatable. With MDF, you can make a tooling template.

Hopefully we’ll see what I mean some time in the not-too-distant future.

I changed the design a little bit. The top ‘horn,’ while placing the strap where I liked it, came up too far (from the centerline of the body); it won’t fit in a standard gig bag or case. Now, this may not be a big problem for truly ‘custom/bespoke’ guitar builders, but I’m trying to be pragmatic about what amounts to a HOBBY.

So the horn got moved. It also got a bit thinner, for aesthetic purposes. I try to design curves that are not only appealing but easy to work with; no sense making extra work for yourself unless.

I also made the two rear ‘wings’ identical in size; on the blue one the top is larger than the bottom and I don’t know why. It made for a very small control cavity, and it annoyed me.

Like that’s hard to do…

I cut the MDF with a jigsaw and used my new belt/disc sander to get it smooth.

You can clearly see here the centerline I marked out and will work from as well as the positions of the two pickup cavities (in this case humbuckers) framed in yellow.

You also see the position of the 22nd fret:

This allows me to place things relative to the neck. I use a 25 1/2″ Fender scale length; the string tension is a bit higher and my hands are big, so its more comfortable to me .

Then I laid out the general size and shape of the control cavity

You can see here the general position of knobs (still hypothetical) as well as the channels I will need to drill for the pickup wires to connect to the control cavity.

I’ve thought about putting the pickup switch on the upper horn, but I will wait and see.

The reason MDF is so useful is that I can take the real wood body blank and draw the outline of the MDF onto it. Then I can cut the wood close to the shape. Then, using double-stick tape, I attach the MDF to the wood and use a router with a bearing bit.

In this way, the MDF is copied exactly. I can re-use it a bunch of times (but it will eventually wear out). I don’t intend to mass produce guitars, but it is always good to have the option to make exact copies.

I am still working out some... tool challenges here in HK before I can get to actually making this (or other) guitars).

Speaking of which…

I always wanted a hollowbody guitar. They are guitars with… hollow bodies.

But no one makes hollowbodies with HUGE necks for people with big hands.

So I guess its up to me.

This is a Gretsch Falcon:

That guitar is built a lot like an acoustic, with a framework of braces to hold the top, back and sides. It also has an arched top and back.

Well, I’m not that good at it, so I’m going to use a different design.

The top and back will be flat. It will have a Bigsby-type tremolo and P-90 pickups. You can see these things, and the bridge position, marked on the template.

The center of the guitar will be solid wood, as w ill the sides.

I will try to cut away as much  of the center as possible. I want the Bigsby to have complete support, as well as the bridge posts, and the pickups need wood beneath them as well.

I will use the template to cut out a 2″ thick body blank and then cut out the sections on either side:

I’ll cut closer to the pencil lines, I just wanted the yellow to show you the area I meant. I may do something different, but that remains to be seen/told.

The red mark is where the screw for the strap button will go. That’s why there’s extra wood in that section. Slightly below that is the place where the neck will join the body. Usually on guitars this is a right angle, inside corner. But I always found them a real pain to sand out. So I will use a curve (probably done with a drill bit) to save myself some hassle. It will have NO effect on tone, so why make myself (more) aggravated?

---

Speaking of aggravated, I recently joined the iPhone4 revolution/cult. But that bit of heartburn is another entry. For now, please click on this little Nokia thingamadoodle on my AnD page. Think of it as a way to irk me, i.e. “That moronic tw@t should have bought one ofthese .” I don’t get paid for your clicking, I promise.

I just got paid for asking you to.

---

Yes, I am, but at least whores get paid, and I am without income at the moment…

---