Wrnchbndr
Wholenote
Posts: 353
Formerly Known As: WRNCHBNDR
|
Post by Wrnchbndr on Apr 26, 2020 15:43:55 GMT -5
I enjoyed this fella's build. The simplicity is wonderful. With the experience, skill and twisted ideas of the folks here on this forum there are a lot of opportunities to go off in different directions. My thoughts are bracing, and thickness graduations to yield a better instrument along with a decent piezo preamp. Its rare that I ever find a cheap neck that isn't redeemable. A Squire Tele on sale would be awesome.
|
|
|
Post by LTB on Apr 26, 2020 21:12:54 GMT -5
Very cool guitar but a bit over my capabilities though.
|
|
|
Post by funkykikuchiyo on Apr 27, 2020 10:50:56 GMT -5
I think with that form factor, the best you could do is a vaguely acoustic-y sounding electric, which is what he did. The small volume of the internal air cavity is a problem; it isn't just it's own effects in isolation, but that the resonant tone of the air cavity is going to be very, very high and there just would be no cooperation with the top or back, especially if you tried mimicking modern acoustic guitar bracing on the top.
Still, it is a fun thought experiment. If I was tasked with something like this, I'd do one of three things:
1: Rout the top for the spruce top, but also do the back. The body hull frame becomes your sides and kerfing. This lets you install something more reflective in the back than whatever is left over from the plank. I don't think something like rosewood would be a good idea (at least, when I've seen it tried, it has just made a honk fest). Maybe soft maple? Works well on Rics.
2: Same as #1, but have an arched top and back. A big arch will make it pretty stiff, weird and farty, but a slight arch and thicker top (as archtops have) would raise the resonant tones and stiffen the top and back, hopefully to be in line better with the very small air cavity. Adjust the neck pocket as necessary to get a low, floating bridge on there. Don't go too high on the neck angle, though. Keep the tap tone of the top below that of the back.
3: Forget trying to make it acoustic, and just lean into the electric parts with acoustic elements. Forget the soundhole, it'll just give you hot spots. Use lots of spruce - much of the tone we associate with vaguely acoustic sounding stuff (the extra detail in the high end) is really just the tonal properties of spruce. It would be some weird hybrid of a Telecoustic, 335, mini-archtop, and Les Paul. Use either very heavy bracing or a center block. Some mix of low power humbuckers and a piezo system.
Of course, I'm pulling all of this out of my fanny. Fun to think about, though.
A good example of what is in my head for what spruce can do with an electric:
|
|
|
Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Apr 27, 2020 14:38:50 GMT -5
"The small volume of the internal air cavity is a problem." Yeah, all attempts as this form thus far (Kramer Ferrington, Stratacoustic/Telecoustic, Taylor T5, etc.) sound toy glike when played unplugged. There's no way to keep them from sounding 'plinky'. I have a 1960 Guild M65 that is made in a similar manner (hollowed-out mahogany body with carved maple top glued on). It has no center block; it's a true hollowbody with two lengthwise braces glued to the top that run parallel from the neck block to the tail block, but no internal trestle like the Gretsches at the time. The body is not much larger than a Les Paul, and is super light in weight. Unplugged, it has that plinky tone, but plugged in it has a big, round, woolly jazz sound because the single pickup is attached to the top which vibrates and that contributes to the woody tone. I've done a few similar builds like this, mostly following the example of the original Danelectro, with the sculpted wooden sides and flat panels for the top and back. It does produce a stiff, lightweight guitar. If I were going to do something like this today, I'd get two sheets of 3/32" carbon fiber to use as the top and back. I'd probably also use a different bridge.
|
|
|
Post by funkykikuchiyo on Apr 27, 2020 16:58:18 GMT -5
I forgot all about those Guilds! I KNEW there was a (good) precedent I was forgetting... didn't they make one like that as a spruce top, though? Aristocrat or something?
|
|
|
Post by funkykikuchiyo on May 11, 2020 10:17:04 GMT -5
On the topic, I saw a little video on YouTube this morning that, I think, really highlights what spruce can do for a smaller body instrument. There are very obvious differences between a Tele-retrofit, but stuff like this makes good sense-data to try to plan out how something will sound.
The player is good, but he's (IMO) playing too soft for a demo, probably because 1) the instrument is brighter than he is expecting (spruce will do that, and there is a triple whammy with the spruce, ebony board and lighter strings with an unwound G, the cap value is wrong and contributing to this imo, but that is another matter), and 2) he's trying to force it into a jazz/jazz-fusion niche, when it probably should be explored a little bit more.
|
|
|
Post by Peegoo 🏁 on May 11, 2020 10:31:23 GMT -5
Holy COW that neck pickup sounds amazing. It is unusually clear and has wonderful definition.
"I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar. I do not need another guitar..."
|
|
|
Post by funkykikuchiyo on May 11, 2020 10:51:31 GMT -5
Why not build one? It seems well within your skill set and available tools, except perhaps side bending depending on your patience/ambition, but you could do a routed version just as easily.
If I was building, this is very, very close to what I'd be making. It is a realm of guitar building where there are still dragons left to be chased, IMO.
|
|