# Build :: 3 :: modular guitar



## helferlain (Oct 7, 2012)

After 2 unsatisfying builds I want something new. Something usefull for the process of prototyping my personal perfect guitar design.

The idea of this project is a modular constructed guitar. That should allow me to adjust the design of individual parts without rebuild a complete new guitar. The common concept of a bolt-on neck follows that idea.


For this project I'm going to construct the wings of the guitar body the same way. The pic should explain it:









As you can see, the design experiments are based on th strandberg EGS, with permission of Ola himself.

I've started a new blog related my guitar building experiences ( -> sig ), this will be the most up-to-date place about the project. But this thread will be updated as well.


to be continued ...
​


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## Omzig (Oct 7, 2012)

Sub'ed 

Very interesting im looking forward to progress updates.


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## celticelk (Oct 7, 2012)

Good to see you posting again! How are you planning to route the pickup signal? It looks as though you'll need a way to pass the raw signal from the central module to the vol/tone/output jack in the lower bout module, in such a way as to facilitate swapping out that lower bout. Or do you have something inventive in mind that I can't intuit from your diagram?


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## helferlain (Oct 7, 2012)

celticelk said:


> ... Or do you have something inventive in mind that I can't intuit from your diagram?



This diagramm is only a rough sketch. Don't take it to serious. Wait and see...


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## celticelk (Oct 8, 2012)

helferlain said:


> This diagramm is only a rough sketch. Don't take it to serious. Wait and see...



I have to *wait*? Dammit....


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## JamesM (Oct 8, 2012)

I don't know what it is but I do know that I want it.


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## helferlain (Oct 8, 2012)

Started woodworking today with the middle block and the neck:






It's only a start, but the neck / pocket fit closely.


wood list:

neck: maple, one piece
fretboard: rosewood
middle block: ash 
body wings: maple

parts list:

pickups: cheap set of strat pickups, mounted on a cheaper pickguard (at least for the beginning)
bridge: Gotoh 510-UB
tuner: Schaller locking tuners
fret wire: extr jumbo (fret 1-12) slim jumbo (fret 13-22)


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## JamesM (Oct 8, 2012)

MOAR


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## ThePhilosopher (Oct 8, 2012)

I agree this has piqued my interest.


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## trickae (Oct 8, 2012)

was that diagram done in google sketchup?


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## helferlain (Oct 9, 2012)

trickae said:


> was that diagram done in google sketchup?



Yes. Very usefull for exact printouts for templates.

To find my own headstock shape I have defined the position of the tuners in sketchup and used a 1:1 printout to sketch & draw in the original size:


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## explosivo (Oct 9, 2012)

Very cool concept!


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## Swyse (Oct 9, 2012)

Allow me to make a suggestion, if you are using a hard tail bridge, why not mount the pickups from behind and possibly use a plug design and brackets with magnets so you could swap out pickups very quickly, allowing for an even more modular design. This idea isn't mine, but is from Gibson's Pushtone guitar. Would also be cool to have inserts on the top that would be interchangable to allow for a wider variety of options in each spot. 

Another idea would be to mount a single pickup on rails that allow it to slide up and down so you could really play around and nail the positioning.


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## helferlain (Oct 9, 2012)

Swyse said:


> Allow me to make a suggestion, if you are using a hard tail bridge, why not mount the pickups from behind and possibly use a plug design and brackets with magnets so you could swap out pickups very quickly ...
> ... Would also be cool to have inserts on the top that would be interchangable to allow for a wider variety of options in each spot.



You're welcome! 

Easy pickup change is one of the targets. At least with a full stringed guitar, to make PU tests more comparable because of the identical, untouched setup.

However, I'm avoiding full holes in the middle block for stability reasons. For this Strat-like PU setting I'm thinking about PU access from the side of the lower wing (after removing the wing). The routing would be hidden under the pickguard. Do you need a sketch to get the idea?



Swyse said:


> ... mount a single pickup on rails that allow it to slide up and down so you could really play around and nail the positioning.



If this project is the desired success, I have something in my mind, regarding my Agile Intrepid, a replacement body and one single Aluma X-Bar ...


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## Nautilus (Oct 9, 2012)

I like your design process. It's a good idea to work around the constrains (i.e. where you've got your machine heads placed up) and fiddle.

Too many times I myself have thought up a "design" only realize that damn... it doesn't actually sit within the constraints of my actual hardware.


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## helferlain (Oct 9, 2012)

Today: preparing the fretboard.

I bought a 25.5" scale / 12" radius rosewood fretbord. 
Preparing for contour routing without glueing the fretboard on the neck:


























After the routing:






And a request for all the sso members: If you find some mistakes in my english here on sevenstring.org or in my blog please feel free to correct me.


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## helferlain (Oct 13, 2012)

another sketch:
[left: idea, right: original strandberg design)






quest: find the influences besides strandberg


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## Thrashmanzac (Oct 13, 2012)

very nice, i'd say the left design has some Vik influence


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## helferlain (Oct 16, 2012)

Progress:

overlapping parts are routed to the final level, body shape is rough cut:





first impression of the modular guitar, ready for the shaping process:





The wings will be chambered later in the build, closed with a layer of local plum tree wood:





And finally the fretboard was glued to the neck:


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## Pikka Bird (Oct 16, 2012)

Thrashmanzac said:


> very nice, i'd say the left design has some Vik influence



Yeah, I was going to guess that too. It's extremely nice, and doesn't look like a ripoff.


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## helferlain (Oct 21, 2012)

Progress and setback of the last few days...


Using inserts for the machine screws, the wings and the neck can now be removed and mounted without loosing stability:







Accident :: 1 - I teared out the top of the headstock with the router. The part was replaced with a piece of maple. For stability reasons the piece is glued with a rotated grain.






Accident :: 2 - The bridge that I had in mind does not fit for this project - and I didn't notice until I drilled the holes. That part of the middle block was routed and filled with a piece of the top wood from the wing. I've drilled the holes for a new bridge on the fillowing pic, this time after checking twice ...


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## helferlain (Oct 21, 2012)

Today's progress: the neck, part 1

First the aluminium side dots were drilled, glued and sanded:






Then I made the nut of a ebony. The nut is slotted only to guide the string spacing. I'm planning to make individual single string zero frets, considering the compensation of each string:






I finally started the shaping of the neck. After reading a lot about trapezoid neck profiles, I'm going to give that idea a try.

The machine screws for mounting the neck come in handy at this point. Again and again I have mounted the neck an checked the playing position and the comfort of my left hand. I only started with the higher side today:


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## helferlain (Oct 26, 2012)

progress of the last week:


routing the edge: finished
routing the top for the wings: finished
routing the pickup cavities: finished
shaping the neck: finished 
shaping the body: started
routing the electronics / body cavities: queue








total wood weight (at the moment): 2289g


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## MF_Kitten (Oct 26, 2012)

helferlain said:


> progress of the last week:
> 
> 
> routing the edge: finished
> ...



Prepare for shock when the hardware and pickups etc. increase the weight of the damn thing


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## helferlain (Oct 27, 2012)

All routing and glueing is done. ready for sanding.








MF_Kitten said:


> Prepare for shock when the hardware and pickups etc. increase the weight of the damn thing



total wood weight after final routing: 1940 g


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## Bigfan (Oct 27, 2012)

helferlain said:


> total wood weight after final routing: 1940 g



10g less than what my Boden will be with hardware 


Seriously though, this is starting to look pretty damn sexy.


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## OfArtAndArsenal (Oct 27, 2012)

That neck profile is wild, man. Let me know how it works out!


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## HighPotency (Oct 27, 2012)

Bigfan said:


> 10g less than what my Boden will be with hardware
> 
> 
> Seriously though, this is starting to look pretty damn sexy.


I get the feeling that if weight was the #1 priority, he wouldn't have used maple for the wings lol.


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## helferlain (Oct 28, 2012)

HighPotency said:


> I get the feeling that if weight was the #1 priority, he wouldn't have used maple for the wings lol.



The weight reducing has only second priority. And the the wings are made of alder, not maple (my mistake in post #7).

Main goal is testing the complete design of the guitar, mainly the shaping and ergonomics. If it works (and looks like it will) I will make at least 2 guitars of the design ( 1x Telecaster PU, 1x Strat PU settting)



OfArtAndArsenal said:


> That neck profile is wild, man. Let me know how it works out!



The neck profile is a very interesting experience. I will write some details about it as soon I get this thing stringed. For the building / shaping part of the neck profile, I can tell you that it's very depending on playing positions.


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## helferlain (Oct 29, 2012)

Since this build is only for prototyping of, I do not intend to make any extense for the finish of the surface.


I've used some leftovers from past projects and applied a layer of dark grey stain, then a layer of filler and finally a polish with beeswax.


I could not resist to assemble the guitar:








Frets are still missing and the electronics must be soldered.


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## Housty00 (Oct 29, 2012)

Looks like some weird Decibel. I love it! With a better matching pickguard, it would be CHOICE. Good work, my man.


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## helferlain (Nov 6, 2012)

Now with frets and strings. Testing is in progress. Did some additional shaping of the neck and the body already. Pics will follow...


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## helferlain (Nov 20, 2012)

After some testing, I've started to rework and adjust the design.

Opinions for the the controls position, please:


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## Pikka Bird (Nov 20, 2012)

I like the control layout on the first one. But I also _vastly_ prefer the more pokey, "open" upper horn on the very first body design you made. The new one looks squashed and doesn't balance with the lower horn, IMO.


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## Winspear (Nov 20, 2012)

Pikka Bird said:


> I like the control layout on the first one. But I also _vastly_ prefer the more pokey, "open" upper horn on the very first body design you made. The new one looks squashed and doesn't balance with the lower horn, IMO.



Absolutely. 

I never liked controls going along towards the bottom horn though. Much prefer a square cluster of controls starting around the bridge pickup and going towards the bridge.


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## helferlain (Nov 20, 2012)

Pikka Bird said:


> I like the control layout on the first one. But I also _vastly_ prefer the more pokey, "open" upper horn on the very first body design you made. The new one looks squashed and doesn't balance with the lower horn, IMO.



The upper horn in the first design was to long, open and pokey, resulting in an uncomfortable playability and disbalance. In the new design the horn ends around the 12th fret.

But I understand your thought and modified the horn in that way. What do you think?






btw: Any ideas for a matching 3+3 headstock for that body shape?


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## Winspear (Nov 20, 2012)

Better, but I think it needs a little deeper of a belly carve as it looks unbalanced as it is. 

HS idea





I do think an inline reverse copying the upper horn could look sick.


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## helferlain (Nov 23, 2012)

I've played around with the idea of a carved headstock:





The belly carve is already deeper than the other carve.


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## Trespass (Nov 23, 2012)

Looks great. Very cool.

Would love to play it. Total weight?


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## helferlain (Dec 1, 2012)

Trespass said:


> Total weight?



about 2.8 Kg

I've finsished the reworking of the design a few days ago:






It's based on the experiences and modifications of the modular guitar:










Today I made some pics to show the payabiliy in comparsion to a more or less common guitar design:
































Conclusion:

If you mostly play in standing positions, the body shape is not so much important. You may be more concerned about balance and weight

In my case, playing mostly in sitting positions, I highly appreciate that guitars body shape.


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## helferlain (Dec 2, 2012)

I'm still not happy with the headstock design. Some further attempts:


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## BlackMastodon (Dec 2, 2012)

#1 or 2 from those mockups, leaning more towards 1.


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## helferlain (Dec 3, 2012)

Today's progress in design:


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## helferlain (Dec 11, 2012)

I'm back to the linear string headstock design, and after another week of thinking, I have 3 designs to choose:






Don't worry. There won't be any more designs. Build starts on December, 26th. And at the moment, it looks like there will be a similar 7-string build of that design...


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## Rojne (Dec 12, 2012)

Middle!


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## theo (Dec 12, 2012)

this looks awesome. I'm really impressed with this project.


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