Electric hollowbody - the fat kitten.

stoneaxe · #1 05-13-2016, 10:23 AM

If ya'all can't stand to see this electric thing here just run me off, OK?

Years ago (20+) I started this and it has sat for a long time. Building the neck replacement for my acoustic sparked an interest in finishing it. It is shaped like a small 335. Scale is 25.5" , 24 frets. Three piece curly koa neck. The neck runs through the body and there is a 1/2" thick top and back of curly koa that will get carved to an arch. Sides are a three layer koa bent lamination.

When I first pulled this out and looked at it I had some concerns about the neck angle, the scale length and bridge placement (the neck is a bit long, I think). Also the body is thick-3". I may bandsaw off the back and make the body thinner. if the neck angle is wrong I can saw off the top as well and recut the body to correct.

So some questions-
Right now, the fingerboard top, extended to where the bridge will sit, is about 1/4" off the body. So the final string height at the bridge will be about 1/2" off the body. Does this sound about right for a tunomatic type bridge?

Does the proportion of the pickup spacing, bridge and tailstop look ok?
(The ruler is zeroed on the 12th fret.)

Would you folks thin that body down to around 2" instead of leaving it a fat kitten? (I don't know what a standard 335 or LP is for thickness.)

LouieAtienza · #2 05-13-2016, 12:32 PM

Thickness is up to you... I think Buckethead's Les Paul is a lot thicker than normal, and hollow as well (at least semi-hollow).

Normally for a tune-o-matic bridge I have the neck at an angle as it does require some body clearance... Though I had made one electric with the tune-o-matic recessed into the top (required me to drill holes in the height adjusters to be able to turn them in the recess. Just threw the body away. Used Jeffrey Elliott-inspired pins behind the bridge to anchor the ball ends. If I remember correctly the ID of the ball end is .081" or something, and I used cut-off pieces of 5/64" HSS drill bits, which I cut and polished the ends with a drill, at a 20 deg. angle.

Cool shape, reminds me of a Hamer Sunburst.

stoneaxe · #3 05-13-2016, 02:12 PM

There is a few degrees of angle on the neck, not much though.

My main concern with this guitar is balance- I have made a couple with poor balance by having too long a neck and not enough projection on the upper "horn" where the strap button goes. A strat has the button right at the 12th fret, and I think this is a part of why folks like them. The LP has the strap button farther back, but is a lot heavier in the body to make up for it.

On one of the neck heavy guitars I replaced the metal tuner knobs with pearloid, that helped a bunch- it is not much weight but there is a big moment arm with them being all the way out there at the end of the neck. There is also a brass nut that will be changed for bone, that will also help.

The neck could be shortened by slicing off the headstock and re-scarfing it on, also. Guess I need to think about it somemore.

redir · #4 05-13-2016, 02:30 PM

That's pretty cool that you are brining this back to life after so many years. It does look like a Hammer indeed. If it's hollowed out I would leave it thick. As for pickup spacing you only have so much room to work with so just drop them in where it makes sense. The closer you are to the bridge though the tinnier the tone will be. So generally speaking the bridge pup is usually a few mm's away from the bridge while the neck pup is as close to the end of the fretboard you can get.

mirwa · #5 05-13-2016, 06:25 PM

Visually it looks good with the upper and lower caps.

If weight is too heavy, pull the bottom cap after your pickup and saddle/bridge fitment and chamber it. If you dont have the tools to chamber, then after heating and pulling the back cap you can do it old school style with just a spade bit and make holes and then refit the cap

Steve

LouieAtienza · #6 05-13-2016, 07:29 PM

Maybe even a tailpiece? Or Bigsby?

stoneaxe · #7 05-13-2016, 08:47 PM

The body is completely hollow except for where the neck block goes through.

I never liked the look of a Bigsby much, but some kind of cool string bender would be fun- maybe a B string bender or something?

LouieAtienza · #8 05-13-2016, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stoneaxe

There is a few degrees of angle on the neck, not much though.

My main concern with this guitar is balance- I have made a couple with poor balance by having too long a neck and not enough projection on the upper "horn" where the strap button goes. A strat has the button right at the 12th fret, and I think this is a part of why folks like them. The LP has the strap button farther back, but is a lot heavier in the body to make up for it.

On one of the neck heavy guitars I replaced the metal tuner knobs with pearloid, that helped a bunch- it is not much weight but there is a big moment arm with them being all the way out there at the end of the neck. There is also a brass nut that will be changed for bone, that will also help.

The neck could be shortened by slicing off the headstock and re-scarfing it on, also. Guess I need to think about it somemore.

I think with the pickups, hardware, electronics, there should be enough to give some counterbalance. You can also use open-back tuners to save weight at the headstock. Or put the strap button more under the upper horn to help pull the neck up.