[CStanton]

I found this article about building a slide guitar. It looks easy enough, and if it sounds fine with the electronics, I would consider upgrading to something nicer.

Has anyone built a guitar, or bass? I'm not looking for a whole lot of quality, just something to work on for the next few weeks. I can't afford a slide-guitar, but I sure could afford the aformentioned.


Any links? Tips? Pictures?


--Casey

[krissovo]

Slightly off topic but a few months ago I went to see a Violent Femmes gig and for a couple of the songs he played a surprisingly similar piece of wood. It had a unique sound and fitted very nicely with the music, looks like a fun project for when my fingers are too sore to play

[737blues]

I wonder if by the time you purchase all the bits and pieces and get it done, it would really be much cheaper than simply buying a second-hand or el-cheapo guitar and 'hacking it'. Slide guitars generally have the action set fairly high and use heavy guage strings anyway, so you wouldn't need to search for too much craftsmanship in that aspect of the guitar. Unless of course, you enjoy the DIY challenge ......

[chuckswood2001]

http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/ give this site a look, i just built a piezo system for my acoustic, u might think about doing it that way, piezo's are easy to come by, just find an old boom box set of speakers, they usually use a piezo for the tweeter, or u can buy them a radio shack, if u have any electronics skills i would build a preamp for it, works a lot better with preamp, but u can use just the piezo alone, this site has a bass built out of a 4 ft pine board

chuck

[USGold]

Why not just a $99 or so basic Squire or Epiphone SG or Studio II?

[CStanton]

Because I'd like to build something. If I just buy it, I can't really understand the work - or lack of - that goes into it. And furthermore, I'd like to understand piezos more.

And I get to get my hands dirty.

[USGold]

Are you planning on wood turning the guitar body yourself from blank stock?-I ask because the pre made bodies I have seen can be a bit pricey, add the cost of neck/headstock and you begin getting close to the cost of an entry level guitar, and thats before you buy hardware and electronics?

[bluesguy]

Just saw a blues guy at the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival who goes by the name of James "Super Chikan" Johnson. He builds the most amazing guitars. He does generally use a real guitar neck & pickups but the bodies have been made out of cigar boxes, ceiling fan housings, & old army gas cans.