Custom in Progress

[pooo]

I already have the guitar with me. I'm wiring the electronics myself as I didn't want to wait. I was expecting to take a while to get orientated to the 8 strings and fanned frets myself, but it's surprisingly easy to get used to.

When you're done with the wiring, please do record something with it so we can all hear what that thing sounds like

 

[fretless6]

i think i know the builder..does he read lat comics?

He's Malaysian and he's in his 40's. Not sure, but I dont' think he's into comics :mrgreen:

 

[stars_jy]

wow.. fretless.. tts real cool...
how do u decide on the specs?? on experience?? any peeps here can recommend any website that shows us the advantages and disadvantages of like diff specs.. like the diff between a 7 piece neck and a 1 piece neck.. set in or bolt on better and all??

thks

 

[fretless6]

Done fixing up the guitar Took some better shots as well. Here goes...

Better view of the body contours, and the guitar has electronics now!

Clearer shot of the laminated nut & 5 ply maple/ebony binding on the fingerboard

Some seriously figuring on the Monkeypod top

Looks "straighter" in this pic :mrgreen:

 

[seekz]

looks freaking awesome man...

 

[fretless6]

how do u decide on the specs?? on experience??

I pretty much designed the entire guitar and selected all the wood choices, scale length, etc. Did alot of research along with prior experience of ordering custom instruments.

The muiti piece laminated neck is typically less prone to warpage then a single piece neck. This is becos of the wood's cell structure they tend to warp in a particular direction, so when u take several pieces sawn differently, they offset each pieces' tendancy to warp.

There are some companies that even boast that their guitars have single piece necks. Why I do not understand. Other than that finding single pieces large enough to build entire necks is harder than finding narrower pieces used in laminated. But this is probably only an issue if you're using rare/expensive wood as most neck woods are readily availabe in large planks.

Single piece necks are cheaper to build as it's less labour intensive. But you dun need the strength of a laminated neck on a standard guitar. They're more common in basses, 5 strings and up.

Honestly, I dun see much difference both tonally and in terms of sustain between set neck, neck thrus and bolt ons. Unless, of cos, u have the "golden ears" of an audiophile/bat and can tell the difference whether someone is using .009 or 0.010 strings. Everything in ur signal chain makes a difference. You're more likely to lose sustain through a cheap cable than through a bolt on neck.

Personally, I opted for set neck construction on this guitar as it allows for better upper fret access as there is no heel at all.

 

[stars_jy]

wow.. icic.. thks .. tt info was gd.. guess many of us readin it will learn..

 

[thor666]

and now... all that's needed to top it up... a recording of the 8 string monster. :twisted:

 

[sepultura]

What kind of strings are you using for this?

 

[fretless6]

I'll try to record something once I do a proper setup. I dun even have an electronic tuner at home, all my gear is at my studio. Pity I dun have absolute pitch :mrgreen: I'm using 8s to 56s on these. Sorta like a regular seven string set, plus a 8 for the high A.

 

[sanXp]

...and can tell the difference whether someone is using .009 or 0.010 strings.

I can tell the diff between 9s and 10s leh.. But I can't tell the diff for the rest la. :lol:

 

[fretless6]

orh, so u did a real world blind test and A/B-ed one guitar using the exact same equipment/settings with strings of the same material and type under the same physical conditions and could tell the difference between 9s and 10s? Good on you Personally I feel that a slight turn on an eq control makes more difference than 0.001 inch difference in string thickness. :mrgreen:

Dun get me wrong here. I'm not saying that there isn't any difference watsoever. My point is that, there are countless factors that influence your sound. Pinpointing to a specific reason for tonal difference on, e.g. 2 completely difference setups just doesn't make sense. Not to mention, even if u have 2 complete identical setups, ur tone changes depending on ur attack as well.

 

[stars]

sound sample pls Bro ... sweet guitar u got there ... just curious .. how does fanned frets affect sound / playability ? and why when u have fanned frets why do u need tilted / slanted pickups parallel to ur frets ?

 

[fretless6]

sound samples soon soon. the scale length affects the sound more than the fanned frets itself. The low strings are slightly tighter and the high strings looser.

the pickups are slanted to maintain a "similar" tone across the strings. if it's not slanted, the high strings would sound brighter while the bass strings less so, as the pickup would be further from the bridge on the bass strings.

 

[penta-tonic]

wah james. when u record must include video ya? just like rusty cooley.

 

[fretless6]

Lemme have plenty of practice on this monster first :mrgreen: hehehe

 

[ChanMin]

its a jaw dropping guitar. - you dun even need to play it..

the very sight of it scared the shit outta me.

 

[sanXp]

Real world test, yes. Blind, no. I need to look at my guitar when I play. I used both 9s and 10s on my own guitar, gear, etc before, that's why I dare to say there is a difference. And it's not just the .001 inch difference, there's a huge .004 inch difference on the bass E string. I changed to 9s after my 10 broke and I was so annoyed with the tone I only used it for 1 day. I'm back to 10s now. :wink:

And as for physical conditions, would the different shirts I was wearing while playing 9s and 10s make a diff? :roll: Maybe it's because my underwear colour was different

 

[fretless6]

Cheeky ey. Perhaps u should have tried wearing heavier underwear when using the 9s. Prolly would have offset the thickness difference :mrgreen:

Having gone through literally thousands of strings There are more important factors that alter your tone than a slight difference in string gauge. Even the construction method and wrap wire material makes a larger difference.

P.S, physical conditions as in the environment you are in. Background noises, etc. Not what shirt or the color of panties u have on :mrgreen:

 

[ChanMin]

well , ive tried , .9s , .95s ....10s....

all sounded basically similiar to me... perhaps the thicker strings have slightly meatier cleans and are harder to play on. thats about it.

Its quite impossible to have a completely fair and accurate way of comparing the two. As i feel no two setups are the same. how can you play the EXACT same way - to record clips for comparison of the two.

Sanxp , your comparison of the two string guages are flawed.

a real test would be to record a played lick or sumthing ( preferably by a programmed robot to ensure consistency ) on .9s , then restring and record the same lick with .10s.

then you sit and listen without knowing which is which (blind) - listen as many times as you want.
And point which one is better.
That is the only way to properly A/B guitar tone.

adjusting the BASS or TREBLE on your amp by even a little bit will yield greater changes in tone.

sanxp : dont bring your sacarsm in here. We are all here to learn