Instrument builder ROLL CALL!!!

[rjgoos]

I am trying to recall who among us has built, is buiding, or is hoping to build their own touchstyle instrument. Please help me update the list.

Traktor, Kevin (Krappy), Siggi (BearGuitars), and Radomil, of course, make touchstyle instruments, and offer them for sale.

Brenda (BrendaEM), of course, winner of the Drakely Foundation's 2005 Thread of the Year award, has painstakingly documented the manufacture of her 8-stringer.

Ola (Rockola), who has been at it for some time, an 8-stringer?

JamesH has just joined us, building a Stick-like instrument.

Gary Openhill, have you started on your 10-stringer yet?

Charles (cbowen4) is working on a 12-stringer.

Dan (BigDaddyPoo) is working on an 8-stringer.

Myself (rjgoos), mostly just making a mess in the basement. Currently working on an uncrossed 10-stringer.

Who am I forgetting? I suspect that I have forgotten somebody.

[GaryOpenhill]

Originally posted by rjgoos


Gary Openhill, have you started on your 10-stringer yet?



Yes, sir. I've had some problems finding the right frets, but i think i've come up with a solution..... sort of. I'm building it from a nice piece of oak btw, but with a black hollow metal fretboard, believe it or not. It actually resonates too.

(btw, i did a horrible mistake when i shaped the headpiece today. I hope i can still use it, but it's asymetric now. Only because i had a few beers before! Never drink and build, kids.)

[billbowen]

i hope to make my own instrument soon, as well. i am starting from scratch, with very little in the way of prior experience. so i expect to take a while at it. possibly a long while :)

[Nailhead]

My 10-stringer project is running. (slowly, but still going on)

Neckthru, shape little bit like BrendaEM's. And, belive or not, i achieved to this without deliberate copying.

-- Jukka

[gvella]

I built my stick clone back in 93.I've been thinking of doing some improvements though,such as pickups.I made it with oak laminated together.I believe this gives it more strength against twisting.The fretboard is made of maple.

[BigDaddyPoo]

gvella-

How well did oak work? I've wondered about this since oak is so cheap/readily available. What kind of truss rod system did you use?

How bout some pictures?

[gvella]

Oak works great.It's a hard wood thats not too heavy.But as I said I lamenated the body so it wouldn't twist or warp as wider pieces of wood can do. I did it with 4 pieces and alternated the grain like a breadboard.I also used old seasoned wood I got from a skid.I was actually 2 2x4's on the bottom of the skid that I ripped and planed and put together.Oak has an acid in it that will eventually eat away metal and on the back you can actually see a black spot that was created from this. I've got 2 truss rods,they are adjustable but I don't remember what kind.I got them through Stewart McDonald I believe.I drew up the specs for the bridge and hired a machinest to make them.At the time it cost less than a hundred bucks for him to do it.I don't think I had more than $350 in the whole thing, before I added midi. But your talkin 13 years ago.I'll try and get some pics posted this week.

[JamesH]

I am in the research phase of the development of my instrument. I have not built anything like a guitar before but I do have some machine tool skills, equipment and experience with precision optical assemblies for lasers.

I think I will do OK. But we'll see in the end!

So far, I have the billet of cocobolo, I am generating the design in CAD, continuing research on frets, intonation, and nut theory ala Feiten...

[K Rex]

Hi all,

Yes, I suppose I'll be throwing my hat in the ring at some point soon as well. I'll be going for a 10 string, but with a wide string spacing similar to a Phalanx. Possibly with an inverted 5ths tuning. Maybe not.

I had a Stick (traded it for my Phalanx) that was made of oak, white oak if I'm not mistaken. It was hard, rigid, and of medium weight. Thought I'd let you know.

I loved the sound, but the goofy chicken-stance with which I was forced to play the thing was so ANTI-ROCK.... It had to go.

K

[rjgoos]

Originally posted by K Rex


I loved the sound, but the goofy chicken-stance with which I was forced to play the thing was so ANTI-ROCK.... It had to go.




:)



Jay

[gvella]

I tried to post some pics but I kept getting file too big.Any tricks to posting pics would be appreciated.

[BigDaddyPoo]

Originally posted by K Rex
I loved the sound, but the goofy chicken-stance with which I was forced to play the thing was so ANTI-ROCK.... It had to go.
:)
I know what you mean K. I don't want to name names here, but I've seen photos of some of the big name players without their instruments, guys who have been playing sticks for several years. In alot of these pictures they'll be standing with their necks crained out and hooked to the left! It's the scarlet letter of stick players, they wear this tell tale stance around all the time.

[rjgoos]

In defense of Stick players (I am one, after all), some have poor posture and ergonomics (hunched shoulders, bent wrists, showing the bald spot to the crowd), and others have excellent posture and ergonomics. What constitutes an "anti-rock" stance...I will have to leave to younger players to decide. I strummed my last chord in a rock band in 1967 or so, and would have no idea what constitutes a good rock posture these days.

Jay

[BigDaddyPoo]

Wow that looks really nice gvella! That does it I'm going to look in to using oak. A guy my wife works with keeps saying that he's going to let me raid his maple stock, but he's been saying that for a few months and it hasn't happened yet.

Being a student I have to do this as cheaply as possible. Some people sell wood on ebay for really good prices, but you have to wonder what you're getting unless you see it in person.

[gvella]

Big Daddy what your seeing on the fret board is maple.If you can make out the head stock and tail,you'll see the oak