Guitar (2007)
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My latest project, an electric guitar, started as drawings in a notebook in September of 2006. Going to school fulltime concurrently with working on other projects prevented construction from beginning until May of 2007. Hundreds of hours of research and design using a full suite of CAD/CAM programs aided in the planning and eventual fabrication of all the components. In October of 2007, the guitar was completed with a final trip to the MIT hobby shop for some finishing touches.
While only my second significant woodworking project, the complexity of this project over my last, Inclination II, is significant. The clock had only 4 major wooden parts (not including gears) and little joinery was involved. Quite differently, this guitar required exact joints between the neck, head, and body in order to maintain proper mechanics of the instrument. Each of these pieces plays an important role in the playability of the guitar. A curved neck, out of alignment head or improperly angled fret board can all spell disaster for a hand-built guitar. Not only is the guitar a showpiece, but it is also meant to be handled, and played like any other instrument.
On top of the woodwork, other elements such as wood and metal inlays, added to the difficulty of the project. On the rear of the body, a floral scroll made of brass is inlayed into the surface of the wood. Surrounding the head is a brass binding added to bring balance between the body and end of the guitar.
Abandoning traditional methods of installing the electronics sections increased complexity as well. Typically, traditional guitars use one of two different wiring strategies: top routed electronics cavities that are covered with a pick guard or bottom routed cavities that are covered with plates. Abandoning both of these methods, this guitar used well planned internal holes allowing the overall look of the guitar to be free of any superfluous plates but forced all of the routed cavities to be considered thoroughly in advance.
The tone/volume control section was the most complicated area of the guitar with many hours devoted specifically to designing this mechanism. The main electronics pocket where the controls reside consists of 23 precision machined parts, 4 potentiometers, 2 o-rings, 1 switch, and 12 screws. One brass and four copper interlocking pieces each form two plates that are the supporting structure for the switches and pots. The top plate is skeletonized so that the bottom plate’s perlaged surface can be seen through it. Each of the pickups has its own set of volume and tone controls. The two controls are concentric: the top cone controlling tone and the bottom handle adjusting volume. In order to use the concentric controls, a system of pulleys was designed to transfer the turning motion of the volume controls to the central potentiometer. Finally, a five position switch with custom copper knob gives the ability to chose which pickups’ signal is routed to the output. Fitting all of the controls and potentiometers into a top mounted cavity was tricky to say the least. Accurately modeling each of the parts in CAD aided the design of this section immensely.
My projects tend to be a combination of design and the pursuit to explore new techniques or materials that I have not used before. This guitar follows that line on a number of different levels. An exploration in woodworking and metalworking, this guitar formed a platform for me to try woodcarving, inlaying, perlaging, and just making a musical instrument. Many people can’t believe that I build as many parts as I do, from the knobs to the cover plates. Each piece starts as a blank, billet, or sheet that needs to be formed into the final shape. To me, as long as the construction of the part has some value, I will try and undertake building it.
The final design of the guitar was inspired by a combination of sources that I ran into when doing research and during my everyday life. The steampunk movement has certainly influenced me but my own style has been developed more in parallel with the rebirth of the genre than in unison. Indeed, I have always liked the look that is now considered steampunk but I try to maintain some sense of simplicity (although you may disagree) and do not add elements that add no overall functionality to the piece. For example, while most guitars use a simple plate as a truss rod cover, I designed in a pick holder that serves both purposes.
The finished product turned out as well as I could have hoped not only in looks but in playability. A slight filing to a couple of frets was the only adjustment needed before the guitar could make music (much to my surprise). I have learned an incredible amount from the construction and design of this guitar, far too much to put in a single webpage, and I can’t wait to use this knowledge on my next project.
