Members ajcoholic Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 ok, made the call today to the wood supply place I have here in Canada. I have a set of AAA back and side material in curly maple, and a sitka spruce top set coming! Armed with Bob Benedetto's book ( and the DVD set shortly) I hope to tackle my first carved top and back, truely hollow jazz guitar. I will of course be putting in a pickup, probably one of Bob's humbuckers. Wont be rushing this build, but I hope to start maybe during the christmas break (I take between Xmas and new years off generally) and I will run a build thread. Its going to be fun, I am sure there will be some rough spots along the way, but I am so friggin' excited!!! I said no more electric solidbodies for a while... so I had to think of something! AJC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ArKay Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 Oooh yeah, can't wait for the pics Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ajcoholic Posted December 15, 2006 Author Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 thanks, I am blaming jrkirkish for this since he's the one that sent me the damn book! Its a wealth of info... I have been reading it for months - its very interesting! AJC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryan Trevisol Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 Sweet! What do you do for a living, AJ? I really look forward to seeing you do a carved top and back, hoping to do something similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ajcoholic Posted December 15, 2006 Author Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 Originally posted by Ryan Trevisol Sweet! What do you do for a living, AJ? I am a self employed custom wood worker. Mainly build made to order furniture, cabinets, custom staircases & other millwork, etc. Been at it full time since graduating college in 95' but I grew up in the shop all my life. My dad was a huge influence in the way I think and approach life in general. It was my father that encouraged me to try and build my first guitar back in the mid 80's when I was in high school. He is 76 and just got over (hopefully) battling cancer for the last 14 months. This one is going to be for my dad! AJC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ArKay Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 In case you're looking for some different design ideas... http://jazzgitarren.k-server.org/introduction.html They're not all bad I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mighty Coogna! Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 Sounds like a good project. I haven't tackled an acoustic yet. Bob's books definitely gets the interest up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryan Trevisol Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 Originally posted by ajcoholic I am a self employed custom wood worker. Mainly build made to order furniture, cabinets, custom staircases & other millwork, etc. Been at it full time since graduating college in 95' but I grew up in the shop all my life. My dad was a huge influence in the way I think and approach life in general. It was my father that encouraged me to try and build my first guitar back in the mid 80's when I was in high school. He is 76 and just got over (hopefully) battling cancer for the last 14 months. This one is going to be for my dad! AJC Wow, that's nice. Funny, I had a similar experience. My dad began taking up woodworking when I was a little kid, and so I grew up around woodworking. We also have a friend with a radius millwork shop, and when I was in High School, I worked in the shop to help provide trim for our church. Then, later, my dad and I made my first custom guitar, my maple strat. From there, I did a little woodwork here and there, mostly just building guitars. My dad's hobby is still woodturning and he does custom furniture and stuff for himself. He and I have been talking about doing a semihollow for a while now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 Seems like it's always limited what you can do with a big acoustic jazz box with a pickup in it because of feedback. I have a few but I find chambered guitars a little more practical. I think if they are thin bodied that helps a lot too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OrvilleGibson Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 It's immensely satisfying if you like carving things, which I do. Roughing out the plates with a chisel and mallet is just primal. My suggestion is to start with the back first, then do the top. I'm sure your workspace is less accident prone than mine, but a carved back is more durable than a carved top. Besides, you'll find it much easier to do after you've carved a chunk of maple. A couple other suggestions: 1) If you don't have a round bottom plane, you can easily make one using a Hock iron and cap assembly. I made mine with a shortened body and a rounded wedge/cap for easy pushing, and it works great. I also have a few violin planes and the St. James Bay shaves, but I end up doing a lot of the work with the handmade plane. 2) If you do a shape other than what Bob's got in the book, you may want to consider doing your own "topographic" map for the contour lines. There's a great article in a back issue of "American Lutherie" that discusses how to do it. It's damn near foolproof. 3) Consider adding a trap door, especially if you want to electrify it. 4) It is possible to do the neck attachment as a bolt on ala Cumpiano's knockdown fasteners. Easier to finish that way. Trap door would make it easier, otherwise you'd have to use the hex key welded to a rod. I like doing the dovetail by hand, just because. 5) A heavy cradle helps. Consider using toggle clamps with a low profile. Mine have three layers of 3/4" particle board, plus the supporting outline layer and cork. Another good source of spruce is Alaska Specialty Woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mighty Coogna! Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 Originally posted by OrvilleGibson Another good source of spruce is Alaska Specialty Woods. is that a good source in the USA for wood, I find that unless you have something local you get gouged on wood pretty badly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wats Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 Sweet, AJ! I'd love to be able to build a Benedetto one day, but I have to complete my first solid body build before I can get there. Great build threads, btw. Always a joy to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrkirkish Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 Finally! So you think you're prepared for it? I'd imagine it would be pretty tedious carving the plates. And you can't use your patented angle-grinder method of making a carved top. Take *lots* of pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mikeSF Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 AJ, cool man. looking forward to it.i bought the set of Benedetto DVDs and it is amazing how fast and deliberate Bob tears through those plates. he's done enough that he can do 'em in his sleep but it is great to watch on video.good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members coyote-1 Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 Yeah they are limited and limiting. But once you get it, they are also liberating. In their context, they can get enough volume.... play with an upright bassist and a pianist & drummer, and you'll find it works just fine. If you need massive volume a solidbody is the way to go (unless you're Nugent of course). Originally posted by guitarcapo Seems like it's always limited what you can do with a big acoustic jazz box with a pickup in it because of feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Splendor Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 I can't wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AshboneWish Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 Great! Another brilliant thread to look forward to!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ajcoholic Posted December 15, 2006 Author Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 Wow, this one seems to get more than just my juices flowing... I amnot going to build this thinking it going to be a versatile guitar... I know there are some limitations with a large hollow body. However thats why I have 13 other guitars... I really want to try this, and stay true to the design. I bet will be played more as an acoustic than anything. I am thinking of one of those pickups that mount under the pickguard with a tab and the volume on the guard as well, nothing going to be cut into the body. As for carvng, I have done a lot of decoy (wildfowl) carving and relief carvings in my life (one of my other hobbies) so I dont think carving the plates will be too bad. I have also built an acoustic before and bent the sides for my ply top$ back archtop inmy avatar so some of the stuff is not totally new. However I also know its not going to be a three evening guitar build like my average solid bodies. No rush on this one, but I dont plan to take months either. Will take lots of pics and so on dont you worry! AJC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted December 15, 2006 Members Share Posted December 15, 2006 16" wide is your friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ryant Posted December 16, 2006 Members Share Posted December 16, 2006 slightly off topic question for you AJ. Do you know of any good places to pickup wood around Toronto? all i know of is the big-name home hardware, and i'm not impressed when i walk through their selection. thanks,Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted December 16, 2006 Members Share Posted December 16, 2006 AJ, if you're interested Kent Armstrong custom winds floating pickups to order. He gets the Kent Armstrong's you buy retail made in Korea, but if you want the real deal he'll make them to order from his shop in Vermont. And he's a great guy. PM me if you're interested and I'll pass along contact info. This is only for the floating type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ajcoholic Posted December 16, 2006 Author Members Share Posted December 16, 2006 Originally posted by ryant slightly off topic question for you AJ. Do you know of any good places to pickup wood around Toronto? all i know of is the big-name home hardware, and i'm not impressed when i walk through their selection.thanks,Ryan Ryan,I am not sure about right in toronto, but I deal with (for years) A&M Wood Specialty in Cambridge. Not too far (an hour?) down the 401 and their wood selection is amazing. They have a website.. just search on a&m wood specialty and youll pull it up... AJC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ajcoholic Posted December 16, 2006 Author Members Share Posted December 16, 2006 Originally posted by Verne Andru AJ, if you're interested Kent Armstrong custom winds floating pickups to order. He gets the Kent Armstrong's you buy retail made in Korea, but if you want the real deal he'll make them to order from his shop in Vermont. And he's a great guy. PM me if you're interested and I'll pass along contact info. This is only for the floating type. Thanks but thats probably the last thing I will need to worry about... the pickup. I'll keep that in mind though - there are a few others on the marlet I was thinking about too. But I thought since its a Benedetto design it would be fitting to buy andinstall one of his pickups. AJC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Quarter Posted December 16, 2006 Members Share Posted December 16, 2006 Looking forward to this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted December 16, 2006 Members Share Posted December 16, 2006 Originally posted by ajcoholic Thanks but thats probably the last thing I will need to worry about... the pickup. I'll keep that in mind though - there are a few others on the marlet I was thinking about too. But I thought since its a Benedetto design it would be fitting to buy andinstall one of his pickups.AJC I was looking into the Benedetto floaters when I did my first archtop. They're made by Seymour Duncan and everyone I spoke to said they are a very "odd" sounding pickup. Extremely expensive as well - they run close to $180 CDN and nobody stocks them in Canada. It's really hard even finding someone who will order them. I suppose you could get them from StewMac but they are pricey and be warned they are not considered the best sounding pups going. I used a retail Kent Armstrong the first time out and it has a really nice, warm tone to it. I'm doing a 7 string this time around and, aside from Benedetto's with their issues, the only other source for a 7 string floater is from Kent himself. He claims they're miles better than the Korean made ones - which are great - so I'm looking forward to hearing his customs with great anticipation. I look forward to watching your latest build thread. They are always extremely educational and fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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