Members Bigfun Posted December 29, 2005 Members Share Posted December 29, 2005 Originally posted by dogtownmax i like the mobius one alot. personally, i would sort of wonder if there might be some way to give a little more access to the higher frets on the treble side of the neck where it meets the body. just a thought... also, for those who are looking for an alternative to "astrocaster" how about "aristocraster" (or "aristocaster" if the "r" grates on the suffix). what do you think? The 'Mobius' isn't a 'written in stone' design, and practical changes in it will occur if it is ever actually built, as will happen with any of the designs. A certain amount of 'flexibility' is an absolute neccessity in these things.In the course of taking the 'Astrocaster' from paper to wood and metal, Bruce has, no doubt, had to change my original concept enough to 'make it work' in the real world of three-dimensional objects. I dreamed up and drew the original concept, but I didn't have to deal with inletting wood, etc. and all the little things that have to be done to make a drawn concept an actual music-making instrument. I know enough about guitars to get it fairly 'close' on the drafting table, but tweaking is inevitable with these kinds of things.I'm not really all that commited to the 'astrocaster' name for this model, it's ok, but it may be wise at some point to distance the designs from any perceived connection to Fender. Other than my original 'Spacecaster', which is a derivative design based on the traditional telecaster 'template', most of my other designs should be unique enough to have their own 'identity' without having to hang onto the shirt-tails of other makers products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bruce Bennett Posted December 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Ok her is a few shots of todays work some of them are "edge" shots so you can see the "sculpting" work as it currently looks. The bevels came out rather nice and they should pose no "clothing snag" problems. I had several customers test it out and no snags I'm running out of room to store photos so these will have to be downloads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bruce Bennett Posted December 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 edge shot... players view Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bruce Bennett Posted December 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 edge shot bottom where strap button will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bruce Bennett Posted December 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 edge shot; the side that sits on your leg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GuitarNoobie Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 SWEET, LOOKIN HOT !!! you gotta get that SPACE/PIC thing fixed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bruce Bennett Posted December 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 and the last one for today, with most of the routing work done. next will be the neck pocket, wiring holes and jack hole, some more small detail stuff and then I'll start working on the neck. Oh, that red spot on the upper left of the control rout is my blood. Cut the crap out of thumb. Bleed like a stuck pig for about an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BowerR64 Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Originally posted by Bigfun I design these things to look the way they do because I'm personally infatuated ( obsessed may be a better word) with what may be generally referred to as 'retro-futuristic' or 'atomic age' styling. None of my designs are really a 'novelty' item, at least to me....they are solidly where my mind is 'at', at least for now. In all humbleness(?), I could easily make a Spiderman 'theme' guitar, or any of the others that you mention, but I'd rather not just be a direct extension of someone elses imagination or creativity, as I would become doing specific product or copyrighted characters like Spiderman etc. I basically 'work' in a vaccuum, and other than a vague, instinctive notion of what 'atomic age' stuff should look like, I really just make lines that 'go together' in what I feel are a 'right' way and in a certain proportion to make things look...good..to me. Others may have a different impression of my work than I do and in fact may see them as merely novelties, but as fun as they are for me to create, they're also a serious effort to bring into 'existence' things that I cannot find outside of my own imagination, things that I would love to find already here...but can't, and neither can anyone else who may be attracted to this sort of thing, at least to the degree that I want to take it. Some of my guitar designs will eventually be built, one way or another (Bruce Bennett is building an 'Astrocaster' right now...duh! it's his thread), maybe not in large numbers, but If I want to physically possess and actually play one of my goofy stringed concoctions I'll have to find a way (helpful, interested and skilled people) to convert my paper dreams to wood, plastic and metal. By the way, the 'Buick' guitar art is just a tight pencil that I drew yesterday so that I can transfer the image to illustration board and airbrush a full-color rendition of it, which I'll start on Thursday (29th) and finish it on Friday or Sat. I'll post a scanned shot of the finished color art on the weekend. This is a bit long-winded, but I like to talk about this stuff almost as much as drawing it. Not even drawings? come on just a few quick sketches you can quickly think up. Ya neva neva know man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdog114 Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Originally posted by Bruce Bennett and the last one for today, with most of the routing work done. next will be the neck pocket, wiring holes and jack hole, some more small detail stuff and then I'll start working on the neck. Oh, that red spot on the upper left of the control rout is my blood. Cut the crap out of thumb. Bleed like a stuck pig for about an hour. What are you using for this project, do you have access to a cnc machine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bruce Bennett Posted December 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Originally posted by mdog114 What are you using for this project, do you have access to a cnc machine? no, wish I did, ... this one is all hand made. I even used handplanes to join the two blocks of mahogany to create the blank. Now IF I had accress to a CNC. then this would STILL be the handmade "one".. that the CNC would use to generate the DXF files neccessary for duplication. the only power tools used on this so far are a band saw, dremel tool,an electric hand drill and a DeWalt 2hp plunge router. later. there will be some finishing sanders involved. but thats about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bruce Bennett Posted December 31, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Well, Today I blanked out a few neck pieces to choose from.. But I forgot my camera this morning, so I'll have to take a photo tomorrow. I'm thinking that I'm gonna do a mahogany neck with an ebony 25" scale board and a tilt back headstock and set it into the body. haven't thought too much about the headstock shape yet but I believe I'll have a shape soon that will work with the design. Seeyabye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nateguitar Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bigfun Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Bruce Bennett wrote:haven't thought too much about the headstock shape yet but I believe I'll have a shape soon that will work with the design. SeeyabyeI get so involved in designing bodies that I often neglect the headstocks. Not a good thing. I really must pay more attention to the east side of my guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members axegrinder Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Originally posted by Bigfun Bruce Bennett wrote: I get so involved in designing bodies that I often neglect the headstocks. Not a good thing. I really must pay more attention to the east side of my guitars. Shame on you!! I suppose you are the same way with women too!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bruce Bennett Posted December 31, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Originally posted by nateguitar interesting.. futuristic in a 70s plastic furniture sort of way. looks like it came from the movie 2001: a space odessy rather plain to me. though... Clean... but boring.. does anyone else see the pickup rout corners as being a mistake.. too small a radius for the pickups.. I think they take away from the clean look. JMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdog114 Posted January 1, 2006 Members Share Posted January 1, 2006 Originally posted by Bruce Bennett I even used handplanes to join the two blocks of mahogany to create the blank. Hand joiner planes, nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bruce Bennett Posted January 1, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 1, 2006 Originally posted by mdog114 Hand joiner planes, nice! yeah, I live by my Bedrock #607C 22" joiner plane. upgraded with a 1.5" "hock" blade.. there is nothing better than a fine hand done join. it totally destress's the wood. makes for a much more stable blank. I used to have a REALLY nice collection of hand planes but i suddenly realized that if i wasn't "useing them" that they were just taking up space. and doing no one any good. So I kept only what was needed for guitar work and sold off the rest. But I had a 150 year old coach makers rabbit plane that was all hand cast bronze.... Wish I had kept that one just for sentimental purposes... you never see these... even in books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HypnoToad Posted January 1, 2006 Members Share Posted January 1, 2006 Can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members loner22 Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 how 'bout update, Bruce? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BowerR64 Posted January 10, 2006 Members Share Posted January 10, 2006 Yeah yeah and update. They had one of those yamaha guitars at the MF clearance center last week and man that thing is LIGHT! i dont know what they are made of but it feels like an acustic. I should of plugged it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spikezone Posted January 12, 2006 Members Share Posted January 12, 2006 NICE! -Mikey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bruce Bennett Posted January 22, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 22, 2006 to br honest, I had to put this propject on the back burner so I could gather funds up for it. The stainles steel is just not gonna be cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mazi Bee Posted January 22, 2006 Members Share Posted January 22, 2006 Originally posted by Bigfun Sorry about the 'Gregg' thing...Bruce, I must have had Greg Bennett of Samick design fame in mind. He had just been in Rapid City doing a little show for Samick guitars and I had him sign my black Samick 12 string. Aside from the general brain-fart, I just got my 'Bennetts' confused for a moment. I'm sure it happens to you all the time. Here's a couple of new, 'over th' top' designs to peruse if ya'll get tired of looking at the 'same ol' new ones. This visual monster hasn't been named yet....'Bizzy' might be appropriate though. (The 'wrinkly' look is from the vellum paper I use when drawing these types of sketches, the scanner picks them up a bit too well): This one is called the 'Mobius' ('Mobius Dik' would be a fun twist on the name......ok! maybe not), It's not entirely thought-out as far pickup type or even proper placement for them on the body. I just slapped a few on it 'wherever' for now. Notice the clever(?) 'Saturn' tone and volume knobs, I'm quite proud of them: If you sold these as full size prints, in black&white sketch, and in full color, I would be the first one to buy them! Seriously, these are fantastic works of art!Can't wait to see the finished guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BowerR64 Posted January 23, 2006 Members Share Posted January 23, 2006 Is the paint drying on these yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bigfun Posted January 23, 2006 Members Share Posted January 23, 2006 Originally posted by Mazi Bee If you sold these as full size prints, in black&white sketch, and in full color, I would be the first one to buy them! Seriously, these are fantastic works of art!Can't wait to see the finished guitar! Thanks for the compliment on the artwork. It has never occurred to me to sell (or attempt to sell) prints of my designs, maybe I'm just a cynic, but I can't imagine them being of any value to someone, but I suppose you may be proof to the contrary. I would think that some nice artwork of a few existing vintage, classic electric guitars might be a worthwhile project, too. I might be interested in doing some 'artsy' pencil tele art, or perhaps something with a strat, SG, or Les Paul subject. I'm particularily fond of electric archtops too. I'm about to get my web site started (finally!!!!), a virtual gallery of all the weird things I paint, draw, and build, that would be a good place to show that kind of stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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