Need input for possible Infinity Guitar Works line.

[Neil]

Model spec'd: ∞7

Body wood: mahogany

Neck wood: maple laminated with wenge/ebony/bubinga/walnut etc

Body top: flame maple, quilt maple, may be a neck thru option with no top to show lams

Fingerboard wood: ebony

Pickups: no preference, piezos would be cool

Configuration: H-S-H if a decent middle could be provided, if not, H H

Bridge type: Edge pro or TOM and string thru ferrules

I'de like to see arch tops like on Brodericks 7, and 27" scale as well.

[Stengah_2012]

Okay, I spec'd out what I'd like to see in an Eight String.

Model spec'd: ∞8

Body wood: ash or alder

Neck wood: maple

Body top: flame maple or quilt maple

Fingerboard wood: ebony

Pickups: Whoever makes passive eights

Configuration: H-/-H

Bridge type: fixed - flat mount, preferably not a TOM

Finishes: Just about any trans or trans burst

By the way, I really like the inlays in the older mockups you made. Is there any chance we'll get to see a few current mockups featuring the new headstock shape and refined body?

[MerlinTKD]

Here's my thoughts - this is all going to be about having manageable variety, letting the customer choose the whole configuration from a small, specific set of variables. So, a customer could order a 6, 7, and 8 string with all the same specs (other than n umber of strings, of course )


Model spec'd: ∞6, ∞7, and ∞8

Body wood: alder, mahogany, basswood

Neck wood: maple

Body top: flame maple, quilt maple, none

Fingerboard wood: rosewood, ebony, maple

Scale: offer options if not cost prohibitive; otherwise offer one scale per string model (e.g. 6=25.5, 7=27, 8=28)

Pickups:
Passive: 6/7 = Duncan JB, Custom Bridge; Jazz, '59 Neck; Dimarzio (basic choices, dunno them as well); 8 = whatever is on the Agile Intrepids
Active: not sure... not an active fan. say No Actives, to save time and $

Configuration: H-/-H, H-S-H, H-S-S, S-S-S, to customer spec

Bridge type: Double locking (Floyd/Edge), fixed (hardtail)

Finishes: Basic solid primary colors (black, white, red, blue); natural; transparent burst (2 color center-edge, 3 color center-mid-black)



Keeping in mind I have NO experience doing this I'd say, the more options you can give the customer, without unduly jacking up your costs, the better off you'll be. Each customer will get a potentially unique instrument while still keeping it manageable for you.

[Sepultorture]

this could definitely take a Carvin route and be an option picking custom dealy, that would be sick

a tad hard to pull off but sick

[theshred201]

Originally Posted by Variant

Well, seven stringers (and six stringers, and eight stringers, etc.), it's been a while since I posted anything on the topic, and well… over the last month or so I decided that I was going to give the idea of manufacturing guitars a go. A lot of you lads seemed to like the Infinity design when I first introduced it as a fantasy Ibanez sig. model of mine (see: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/sev...tml#post582015, and Allrighty, my signature Ibanez eight, the RM8!), and I’ve taken to massaging the concept into being something of its own. Right now I hope to have five to six prototypes built under the moniker Infinity Guitar Works, (fingers crossed) before the winter NAMM show 2010, representing a cross section of what options the line covers.

Some details, such as the shape, construction, scale length, price range, etc. have been decided for the different models in the line, however to give potential buyers the options that best suit them, I’d like to poll you strapping young lads on such debatable items like woods, electronics, hardware, and finish options. Keep in mind that there will be 6, 7, and 8 string models, so if you want to spec. differently for your ideal 6’er than your ideal 7’er, than cut-n-paste away. The more input the betta.


Poll

Model spec'd: ∞6, ∞7, or ∞8

Body wood: ash, alder, mahogany, maple, basswood, other (specify)

Neck wood: maple, mahogany, other (specify)

Body top: flame maple, quilt maple, spalted maple, burled maple, figured maple, other (specify), none

Fingerboard wood: rosewood, ebony, maple, other (specify)

Pickups: passive (specify model), active (specify model), piezo?, MIDI/hex?

Configuration: H-/-H, H-S-H, H-S-S, S-S-S, etc.

Bridge type: Double locking (Floyd/Edge), Roller (Kahler/Steinberger), two-point (Fender/Wilkenson), fixed (specify type), fixed (blocked trem)

Finishes: Currently, I’m leaning away from solid colors and thinking of going strictly with transparent colors (think PRS) and special, unique finishes (think Ibanez RG-ART, etc.) to keep things distinct… however I’d still like to know what color options you’d like to see. Also wood combinations, etc. If you want black, say you want black (don’t worry… there’ll be black )


…and anything else you’d like to add, any advice would be kindly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


Ryan R. Miller
Infinity Guitar Works

OMGOMGMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGMGOMGOMGO MGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG


They is going to be real!!!!!!


Alright, now to be a bit more serious:
∞8
Ash Wings
Maple/Walnut Neck
Quilted Maple top
Quilted Maple Fingerboard
Quilted Maple Headstock Veneer
Trans. Crimson, including on the FB (that mockup was amazing...I assume you see the similarities thus far)
HH Layout
Passive Pickups (I vote BKPs, but some type of passive--easier to route more to add EMG's for the people that want it than add wood back to fit passives if it's EMG'ed from the start)
28-ish inch scale
Hipshot/similar bridge
Relatively flat fretboard radius and thin neck
3 way pickup selector
One vol, one tone (push pull for coil tap)
Piezo (Meh, while I dream about this, midi set with a 3 way switch so you can run the 6 high, 6 low, or 6 middle strings via midi, since current guitar synth's can't do more than 6 strings)
Medium Jumbo to Jumbo frets...I'm gonna say stainless steel over nickel-silver
Minimum of 24 frets, but not so many that it sacrifices the tone of the neck pup due to having to put it too close to the bridge.

Erm....I can't think of any more specs to give you. TBH, it was damn near perfect imo in the design you had in the original thread. The only realistic changes I'd make are Passive Pup's, Hipshot Bridge, and maybe coil tap and piezo's. Oh, and LED side dots

[Sepultorture]

if i had to spec one out

i'd take the black infinity 7 with the infinity metal paint and matching headstock veneer

maple top
mahogany body wings
5 piece maple/walnut neck thru body
TOM bridge
string thru body
ebony board
i'm not a fan of inlays so i'd say NONE, but the little bullet ones u have are pretty mint
passive neck n bridge pups, no preference, unless your offering BKP's
toggle three way switch instead of the switch blade ones
locking tuners would be nice, but thats not a good option for cost reasons
27" neck, cus i love the feel of a low B on em

i seriously get excited about these body shapes, the infinity is bang on what i would love to play


i'd .... it JJ style fo sho

[JPMDan]

Just don't follow ibanez and you'll be fine

[buffa d]

Make a standard line and a Baritone line with 27" scale!

[Variant]

Originally Posted by Stengah_2012

By the way, I really like the inlays in the older mockups you made. Is there any chance we'll get to see a few current mockups featuring the new headstock shape and refined body?

Um... I haven't changed the inlays, they're the same half-ellipse shape. As for previews of the new guitars... in due time. I'm still putting finishing touches on things. Additionally, my main computer is dead in the water right now, in need of a new motherboard. So not having access to all my full spectrum of software (I'm using my wonderful lady's laptop, which only has Pshop on it) and the fact that I'm outta work and focusing primarily on the job hunt is hasting the process a bit. Be patient, young Jedi.

Keeping in mind I have NO experience doing this I'd say, the more options you can give the customer, without unduly jacking up your costs, the better off you'll be. Each customer will get a potentially unique instrument while still keeping it manageable for you.

this could definitely take a Carvin route and be an option picking custom dealy, that would be sick a tad hard to pull off but sick

I realize that this sort of approach would make a lot of people happy, but honestly I don't think is necessarily the right way to go. Main reason being, is that sort arrangement leaves a lot of room for error and I've witnessed it with both Carvin and ESP, and having worked in process management for custom parts myself (in an inundated workplace nonetheless), I can tell you that error rate and the cost of that, in terms of both dollars and reputation lost, is very hard to maintain, especially in an expanding company. Secondarily, you also run the risk of your product line being misrepresented by the customer's whim... something I'd like to avoid out the gate. That said, I'm hardly eliminating the idea of a custom shop in the future.

Oh and one more thing.. Avoid black finishes

Heh... I don't believe I'll be doing that. I know the idea of black guitars has worn on a lot of people, but there's a lot of people (myself, included) who like our black guitars. What I am planning however, is to 1. Make black more interesting than just 'black', having each line have a black with some sort of unique character, like the 'nebulous black' finish on the last ∞7 mockup... and 2. offer a wide range of other colors as well. In fact, the standard series will have unique motifs (top woods, hardware finishes, inlay choices) to cover all the primary colors in the spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet) as well as silver, natural, white and black.

Erm....I can't think of any more specs to give you. TBH, it was damn near perfect imo in the design you had in the original thread. The only realistic changes I'd make are Passive Pup's, Hipshot Bridge, and maybe coil tap and piezo's. Oh, and LED side dots

Thanks! FYI, all the guitars will have passive pups as a standard, actives will possibly be optional, and where possible the likely H-/-H configuration will have pull-pot coil splitting for each, in combo with a three-way selector for maximum flexibility.




:chris:

[Pablo]

I really hope this project gets off the ground - your designs are simply too cool for for it not to!

In my book, the body woods that work the best for 7-strings are alder and swamp ash and my prefered neck and fretboard wood is maple.

For me to get old ye olde wallet, the 7-string would need to have a 25,5" scale... But that really is just about all the input can give you.

Good luck on the project!

Cheers

Eske

[Paul Malmsteen]

Model spec'd: ∞6

Body wood: ash/alder (edit: Walnut would be awesome if possible)

Neck wood: maple

Body top: Anything is good, as long as it is good quality wood

Fingerboard wood: rosewood/maple

Pickups: passive (bareknuckles probably)

Configuration: H-S-H

Bridge type: Double locking Edge or Lo-Pro

Finishes: Transparent Purple/Black


I would prefer if it had satin neck/fretboard, I hate painted ones

At least 25.5" scale

A 27 fret with H-X-S pickups would be sex also

[buffa d]

At least make it SATIN black

But a black guitar with a white binding and white pickups would be sweet!

Edit: just had the greatest idea. If you want black finishes, just put an ebony top on that thing!

[Daggorath]

Model spec'd: ∞7

Scale: 27"+

Body wood: ash/alder

Neck wood: maple

Body top: SPALTED MAPLEZ!

Fingerboard wood: maple/ebony

Pickups: passive; whatevers best value.. most people will want to swap out for their favourite p/u anyway.

Configuration: H-S or H-H

Bridge type: Low profile floating trem.

Finishes: Natural and WHITE.

[Sepultorture]

Originally Posted by buffa d

At least make it SATIN black

But a black guitar with a white binding and white pickups would be sweet!

Edit: just had the greatest idea. If you want black finishes, just put an ebony top on that thing!

i dunno bout satin anymore these days, i have had two satin black guitars, and it's wearing thin on me, not the easiest bastard to clean either.

a cool idea would be to satin the necks, kinda like some guys have done, where they have sanded their necks with fine grit, or even ordered unpainted necks.

now on some guitars an unpainted looks damn fine showing off all that lovely would grain and natural look. but a satanized painted neck would be pretty damn cool.

[buffa d]

Oh yeah I totally forgot that.
I prefer unfinished necks. Painted necks are nowhere near as smooth as unfinished ones.

[Stengah_2012]

Originally Posted by Variant

Um... I haven't changed the inlays, they're the same half-ellipse shape. As for previews of the new guitars... in due time. I'm still putting finishing touches on things. Additionally, my main computer is dead in the water right now, in need of a new motherboard. So not having access to all my full spectrum of software (I'm using my wonderful lady's laptop, which only has Pshop on it) and the fact that I'm outta work and focusing primarily on the job hunt is hasting the process a bit. Be patient, young Jedi.

If one has posted not current mockups, how is one to know if same are inlays?

[MikeH]

Model spec'd: 7

Body wood: mahogany

Neck wood: 5 Pc. Maple/ Walnut

Body top: quilt maple

Fingerboard wood: maple

Pickups: SD Blackouts, piezo

Configuration: H-/-H

Bridge type: Edge Lo-Pro 7

Finishes: Transparent Purple burst, Trans Black, Oil finish

[ibznorange]

Id be into the RM8, with a somewhat unusual wood combo.

Ash body, Mahogany neck, and a maple board. the ash mahogany setup is not something you see often.

[eegor]

Alright, my turn:

Poll

Model spec'd: ∞8

Body wood: Alder

Neck wood: 7-piece maple/mahogany

Body top: Quilted maple

Fingerboard wood: Ebony

Pickups: A couple of M8s

Configuration: H-/-H

Bridge type: Kahler 7228

Finishes: Whitewash with matching headstock

[theshred201]

TBH, I think an unfinished neck would look kinda odd with the stained body and stained FB if he goes with those like on the early mockups.

Cool stuff about the pickups.

Finally. MAKE SURE MAKE SURE MAKE SURE MAKE SURE MAKE SURE MAKE SURE MAKE SURE you get a talented luthier to do these for you. Try some stuff of theirs before hiring them if you can, and have a couple other people try it too if you can to get some differing opinions. It would be a huge disappointment if these came out and turned out to be poor guitars. Though TBH, I'm sure you've already thought about that though...

[Variant]

Originally Posted by Sepultorture

i dunno bout satin anymore these days, i have had two satin black guitars, and it's wearing thin on me, not the easiest bastard to clean either.

a cool idea would be to satin the necks, kinda like some guys have done, where they have sanded their necks with fine grit, or even ordered unpainted necks.

now on some guitars an unpainted looks damn fine showing off all that lovely would grain and natural look. but a satanized painted neck would be pretty damn cool.

Oh yeah I totally forgot that.
I prefer unfinished necks. Painted necks are nowhere near as smooth as unfinished ones.

TBH, I think an unfinished neck would look kinda odd with the stained body and stained FB if he goes with those like on the early mockups.

What Sepultorture is saying about the satin/flat finishes is true. My Synapse is flat black and sweat stains just don't like to come off easily. I agree with point about the unfinished necks, though. The gloss coat, in particular, makes for a sticky feel. I'll probably go the route that my Conklin bass went, where the neck back is stained (no paint or gloss) so there is no break in wood pattern/color, but the gloss coat ends at an appropriate break point at the neck-body interface.

If one has posted not current mockups, how is one to know if same are inlays?

I see what you're saying now. There were earlier Infinity mockups before the ones you see here... I thought you were referring to between those and the ones linked at the head of the thread.

Finally. MAKE SURE MAKE SURE MAKE SURE MAKE SURE MAKE SURE MAKE SURE MAKE SURE you get a talented luthier to do these for you. Try some stuff of theirs before hiring them if you can, and have a couple other people try it too if you can to get some differing opinions. It would be a huge disappointment if these came out and turned out to be poor guitars. Though TBH, I'm sure you've already thought about that though...

Absolutely! For one, I'll need someone who can duplicate the level of quality that CNC production can provide, and two (hopefully I'm not disappointing too many people saying this here), I have no intention of making cheap guitars... and that price point will need to be represented accurately. I just hope that I can find someone here in the Pacific Northwest that I can interface easily with to smooth the prototyping process. If not, I will go wherever is necessary.

[Hcash]

How impossible would a multi-scale be???

[theshred201]

Imo, multi-scale should wait until he's got solid single scale work.

Hmm....who could build guitars for you.

I'll need someone who can duplicate the level of quality that CNC production can provide

I actually saw pickup routs Elysian on this forum did being compared to CNC work today. Though I don't know if he'd want to join with you right now as he just officially launched his own custom guitar company, just saying...

I'm surprised that people aren't jumping on the opportunity to join up and build guitars with you tbh.

[Variant]

How impossible would a multi-scale be???

About as likely as that Hayden Panatiere + me + Avril Lavigne threesome I've been pondering. Actually, if you can make that happen I'll get on making that one for you. Like I said before, though, the bulk of my focus here is for 25.5" scale, six string guitars... because, well, that's easily the largest chunk of the market.

Originally Posted by theshred201

Imo, multi-scale should wait until he's got solid single scale work.

Hmm....who could build guitars for you.

I actually saw pickup routs Elysian on this forum did being compared to CNC work today. Though I don't know if he'd want to join with you right now as he just officially launched his own custom guitar company, just saying...

I'm surprised that people aren't jumping on the opportunity to join up and build guitars with you tbh.

Yeah, I don't know at this point. This thread is really any real public "announcement" of serious intent with regards to this endeavor so it's pretty fresh... maybe some artisans will step up soon. From what I've seen out there, I like both Sherman and Rob's (KxK) work... dunno where either would stand with subcontracting for Infinity Guitar Works. One important factor here will be the willingness to coordinate with me (and possibly others) to implement the unique features with regard to neck design and the unique neck-to-body joint. Those issues will need to be resolved into solutions before they're applied across a number of prototypes for the public to put their hands on.

[theshred201]

Originally Posted by Variant

From what I've seen out there, I like both Sherman and Rob's (KxK) work... dunno where either would stand with subcontracting for Infinity Guitar Works.

To be honest, I'd be pretty surprised if they did. They are already relatively established names, so TBH I'd think it'd be pretty unlikely for them to do something else. You never know though.

One important factor here will be the willingness to coordinate with me (and possibly others) to implement the unique features with regard to neck design and the unique neck-to-body joint. Those issues will need to be resolved into solutions before they're applied across a number of prototypes for the public to put their hands on.

Oh yeah, well I have a secret and I'm not going to tell you what it is
Just Kidding. That's pretty much how that section makes me feel though. I'll find out eventually...