Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi everyone,
Thought you might be interested in this latest one. It was a challenge to make, and I wasn't sure if it would work. I had never seen a multiscale guitar with a tremolo before. It turned out my worries were unfounded- it works very well indeed.
The difference in length between the hight e to the low B is only 1", with the perpendicular fret at the 12th, so it isn't too extreme. That was about the limit of the hardware anyway. The bridge, and the individual locking nut units are made by a small italian company called "technology for musicians", or T4M[http://www.technologyformusicians.com/?lingua=2]. It's nicely machined and plated, and has a great range of adjustment. I'm pleased with the way it works, with one exception: the tremolo pivots on an axle made of a set screw- no knife-edge, no ball bearings... even with careful alignment and judicious greasing it doesn't return to pitch as well as I'd like. Not bad, but should be better. I'll be using their fixed-bridge stuff again for sure though.
I don't pretend to understand all the physics of string stretching, but somehow the trem works even better than a regular one- the string drop in pitch together almost in unison. Not as good as a trans-trem, but sort of. And because the bass strings are further back from the pivot point, when you drop the pitch, it raises them up higher so they don't rattle against the fretboard, even when they're quite slack. Pretty cool.
The rest of the guitar was pretty involved too: the neck is laminated from three pieces of padouk and two of walnut; the body has a core of really light clear spruce (found in the 2x10 rack of the local home improvement warehosue store!) laminate with two thin layers of padouk, and bookmatched, quartersawn african ebony on the outside.
The pickups are Lace Alumitone Deathbars, running through two push-pull pots so the pickups can be switched out of phase, or split. Despite the name, the pickups have a really versatile tone; it can do a pretty good Peter Green impersonation with the right amp model.
Enough chit-chat- now I will attempt to attach some photos:

Lot of Wow factor going on there, Mike! Neat concept and execution, and that neck is stunning!
Thanks for sharing.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Too cool for school.
Very well done - I like it!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Likey! Nicely put together and well cool.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Sweet!

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Wow!! the nice tonewood colors, and impressive looking high tech hardware are really eye catchers.

I like the clear spruce body. Also the lace alumitone deathbars or whatever/ Great name.

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

Amazing job. I really like the lines and the overall design of this thing.

I like it too .. very clean looking, lovely lines .. question though .. is it because of the up-pull for the trem that you couldn't leave the top and laminate come around the back of the bridge (or just you wanted that particular look) .. It would be interesting to see the lines uninterrupted around the back, but maybe its not possible with that bridge, especially the way the low string micro adjust sticks out .. either way, its still very cool.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Thanks guys. Tony, you're right about the bit behind the bridge. It would have been nice to let the lines of the ebony flow. The up-pull doesn't go too far (only a few degrees, or you'll snap the e string) but to adjust the tuning you need to be able to get your fingers all the way around the knurled part. Most headless guitars have a full-depth cutaway in that spot, but really all you need is a pocket like I used.

Very nice, well done indeed. Hope it plays and sounds well too.

Steve

Very cool, I really like the color scheme! I've been tempted to build a headless guitar for a bit now, something in the style of Strandberg or DeLap with a fixed bridge. Is there anything I should be aware of that's any different from a 'normal' electric guitar (besides the lack of head and special bridge with tuners on it, obviously) ?

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Not much but at least it exists : http://jbluthier.com/

If you're designing a headless guitar you have to to keep in mind the change in balance point. That mostly means that the strap buttons have to be positioned differently. Plus, since your guitar is going to look pretty unusual to begin with, you might as well go all in and create a really original shape.

Elegant without the bling.
I like everything thing on this guitar.
Great design and skill!

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Thanks for the tip, I hadn't thought about the balance and the strap at all.
I don't know about making a crazy shape, but I have my eyes on a redwood burl that would make a pretty original top!

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Not much but at least it exists : http://jbluthier.com/