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I've built lots of acoustics, but now I'm thinking about building an electric. I'm thinking of an Es335 sort of design (see picture)

It will be a hollow body with a solid strip down the centre for the pickups and bridge to sit on. Flat top and back. About 2 1/4" thickness. With humbuckers.

I have absolutely no experience with electonics, so would love some input...?

Also, I'm thinking of using a wooden bridge with a bone saddle like on my acoustics. Is this advisable do you think?

Thanks
Neil

Lookin good! Your idea with an acoustic bridge will work just fin as far I know. To wire your guitar, you will need some soldering equipment (just a soldering iron and some "60/40 rosin core solder"). You can get a cheap soldering iron at a hardware store or anywhere online, but try to get something 25w or above. If you've never done electrical work before, then get ready for a little trial-and-error. After you get the hang of soldering and reading wiring diagrams its pretty easy. -Alex

Also, dont forget a pickup selector switch (I dont see one in you picture). There is ONE problem with the acoustic bridge though. You string need to be electrically connected to ground (aka you necative signal/wire). People with archtop guitars with wooden tailpieces will put this stuff http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics ... =3&xsr=274 on the belly of the tailpiece so that the ball end of the strings touch the coppor tape and attach them to ground. Your situation is a little more finicky because if the copper tape rips, unsticks, or wears out when attached to the belly of the tailpiece, the user can just take it off and stick some more on there. With this gutiar it wouldnt be so easy do do that. Instead of copper tape, maybe put a solid piece of metal under the strings that the ball ends will touch? -Alex

Looks good neil, I did an acoustic bridge on a les paul junior type of build and it worked very well. Instead of bridge pins, I did a through body type of thing like a telecaster.

I was thinking of a through body thing with metal ferules on top and bottom.

Does that answer the thing about grounding the strings?

N

Neil,

The idea is that you need to find a way to connect the strings to the ground circuit that will connect to the output jack. In an electric guitar, all the ground wires must be connected to each other, and each string must connect to the ground as well. If you use metal ferrules, you have to make sure to connect each of the six ferrules to the ground. It's not a big deal. Just a few extra wires. The problem will be figuring out how to get those wires to the ferrules. I suppose you could drill six holes through the center strip. Put your head to it. You can figure it out.

As far as the electronics, there's plenty of help to be had there. Most of the major pickup manufacturers have wiring diagrams you can download from their websites. I'm sure there are people here that could help you with issues you run into as well. I'll try to keep an eye on this thread for a while too. In your design (which looks awesome, by the way), you have four knobs. Was your intention to use those like on a Les Paul, with two tones and two volumes? If you'd rather not change your design, there are several possible solutions. You could have one master tone (or master volume) and use a rotary switch in place of one of those knobs as a pickup selector. It would look exactly the same - just function differently. Alternatively, you could get into push-pull knobs for switches, but that's probably not the best solution.

Anxious to see how this one develops.

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David Morris

Cool idea, Neil.
You might want to think about a saddle pickup.
i thought about doing something similar to yours,
with a saddle pickup for another tone possibility.
More wiring problems, though.
I like the shape!

EMG or similar active pickups solves the ground wire problem.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Definitely ground the strings. You could string through the back using a string block or ferrules and ground to those. Or use a brass bridge and ground to that.

The design is quite appealing to me. The wooden bridge seems to be aiming at jazz tones. To follow that all the way through it is best to select a vintage output humbucker. I'd go to the Dimarzio web site and look at humbuckers that have a 200-250 mv output. I love the way they market their p/u's btw....qualifying the tone and output. That really helps you pick the right p/u once you have a couple of applications to compare to.

If I had to pick a set...I wouldn't hestitate to get a set of Air Classics for that guitar. That's a musical p/u. They come with various covers.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Nice shape on the body,but your design has a problem with upper fret access.
You might consider moving the whole neck ,pickup, bridge assembly so the neck has more than 12 frets free of the body.
I think you will enjoy playing upper range a lot more if it is easy to get to.
The placement of the neck pickup with a 20 fret neck will give a very round sound.
Be sure to choose a very articulate pickup that is not too bassy otherwise thngs could get very muddy sounding.
Consider the use of a brass ferrule block on the back . You can ground all strings at once,it will help even out the response of the strings so they ring more equally as well as sustain better.
Have fun, wait it looks like you already are.
Good luck with your build.

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How long is that in luthyears?

I came across this thread while poking around on the forum and I thought that it might interest you. viewtopic.php?f=10123&t=31328 Its all about grounding strings!

Hey thanks for all the great responses. This being my first electric build, I really appreciate any and all input.

I got started on the build over the weekend and thought you might like to see some pictures.

Neil


Here's the back all joined up. It's going to be Sycamore with a centre strip of burled/gnarly wood that I found somewhere along the way. I think it's maple but I'm not sure. I wiped with mineral spirits to show the figuring.



And here is the top. It's going to have a centre strip of the same burled wood. Top wood is Lutz.



And a close up of the wood strip with some mineral spirits.



And here's the back with the mold I made for the build.



And the top with the mold overlaid.

This is gonna be a gorgeous electric guitar. Can't wait to see more progress.

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David Morris

Hi Neil!
Love the design! What about a brass plate on the back side of the guitar the exact shape as the bridge with holes in it to string the strings through - this way you will have the grounding issue taken care of as well as a cool design feature?

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"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Looks great, Neil.
Sycamore is on my "to try" list for an acoustic.
I'm planning to do the same thing with a wood bridge, LR Baggs saddle pickup,
and some passive pickup at the fretboard, but solid body.
3 way switch, stereo output jack,
no tone or vol.
It's a lap steel solid body, and I use a vol pedal,
stereo, and an outboard pre amp.
Oval, how did that pickup sound?
Sort of acoustic, I'm guessing?

Well, I got quite a bit done on this over the weekend. I didn't take many pictures though.

I bent the sides. Sycamore bends very nicely by the way. And I got the body together and ready for the top and back.

I also did some work on the neck. It is going to be made out of Sycamore as well with a Rosewood centre strip. And I also put in carbon fibre rods to give the Sycamore some extra strength and stability.

Here's the only picture I managed to take.

Neil

Well, this has been awhile for an update.

I finally got this one all together and mostly playable.

I'm not sure about the green. It looks better in real life than these pictures. Sometimes I look at it and think it's cool and then sometimes not sure.

So, as a first I think it came out pretty well. The pickups are JS Moore handwounds. And they sound pretty great. Much less dark than Humbuckers I've been used to. Compared it to some very high end guitars last night with a friend and we both were pleasantly surprised with the sound.

A firm 'Meh' from me on the green, but overall I give it an 8. It has a good beat and you can dance to it.

I like the green. Very "Gretsch"-ish.
Cool guitar!

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Green good!

Very nice work - you should post a soundclip - oh, I almost forgot, 1961 called and want their can of green paint back.

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Certainly a unique guitar. If the top looks like the back at all without paint I think I would've kept it that way, but the green does make it stand out. The pickguard is a nice touch too. And your fret markers. Makes me think "modern".

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http://www.tinyhouseandland.com

I personally, think the green is hot. I'm really liking the hybrid elements with the bridge. It has acoustic, solid body and even some archtop styling, but they all work together nicely. How does the acoustic bridge sound, compared to a typical electric bridge? I'd imagine it's a good deal warmer sounding.

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Mike Hoenerhoff
Elderly Instruments