Every self respecting musician needs to know how to make an electric guitar. You need to at least know what all the parts do before learning how to make an electric guitar. The first thing you need to do is make sure you have all the parts (electrical and other) you need. Please remember that this article is here to make sure you know how to make an electric guitar, not an acoustic guitar which is constructed different.
Your best bet will be to choose a heavy hard wood. You have to remember that with a solid body guitar the material used does influence the sound you get, which to a professional ear is noticeable. A softer wood will absorb the high frequencies, heavier hard wood on the other hand dictates how long a string keeps vibrating, which is what you want. That’s the start of knowing how to make an electric guitar. However, beware of weaker parts in solid pieces of wood. It is a good idea to rather buy laminated wood.
The neck, as opposed to the body, is more intricate. You need to have the right neck made of a perfect wood like Maple wood where you will need a better quality maple, strong enough to withhold the pressure of the strings. One of the most important parts of how to make an electric guitar is proper neck alignment. You have to ensure that all your strings are correctly placed parallel to the fret board. Please keep in mind that if your neck is not perfectly aligned your outer strings might just end up way off the board.
Once you get your hands on the perfect wood for you body and neck you can start on you design. It is easier to use drawing software like Corel Draw as you can quickly make changes to the design without needing to erase and redraw on paper. It will also be wise to align your neck in your drawing software to determine where the neck will be placed. This is the fun part of the whole exercise – your guitar, your design … so go mad. Design all aspects of the guitar in your software: the body, neck, pick-ups, strings, bridge, potmeters, switches and cable connector. This way you will know exactly where everything will go. Remember all components have to line up or your stings will end up all over the show. Once you are happy with your design, you will now be ready to make an electric guitar.
All you need to do after you have carved out you design is find the centre of the body and line up the neck in accordance to that. How to make an electric guitar’s body and neck align is best done using a tape measure. Once you’ve determined the correct alignment and cut out a pocket, fix the neck in place with screws. The bridge used will determine the depth of the pocket. There is no general rule for positioning of all your components – this part of knowing how to make an electric guitar is strictly learn-as-you-go. One tip though is to place all of your components on the body before making any cuts and carvings.
In order for you to say that you know how to make an electric guitar you have to know all aspects of the technique. Once you have a broader understanding of the process of how to make an electric guitar, and have actually made on yourself, you will have a great appreciation of this authoritative instrument.
Gen Mason is a guitar player from Florida. Discover free how to improve your guitar skills at Jamorama
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gen_Mason
Showing posts with label Fret. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fret. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
How To Fix A Guitar
The following four adjustments can be made to all kinds of guitars to fix them.
These adjustments will fix all guitars and make them playable. The adjustments are the amount of relief in the neck using an adjustable truss rod, the string height at the saddle, the string height at the nut and the intonation.
These adjustments should be made at least once on every guitar. Most manufacturers do not take time to properly do these adjustments. A manufacturer only does these adjustments for the average player, but not for the individual player.
How do you adjust the amount of the neck bow? It is supposed to be simple. Every adjustable truss rod shares the same principles of operation. Every truss rod has a threaded nut tightened on a threaded metal rod. The tension in the rod changes the curvature of the neck in which the the rod is embedded. To adjust the rod, you need to tighten or loosen the nut on the rod. When tighten the nut, the tension increases the tension in the rod as well the amount which the rod counteracts the pull of the strings. This should reduce the bow in the neck.
As far as adjusting the saddle height, you can do this either before or after adjusting the string height at the nut. You should start by measuring the distance from the top of the twelfth fret to the bottom of the sixth string. You should do this when the guitar's strings are at full strength. You should measure laying a 6-inch ruler, on edge, adjacent to and parallel to the string.
The ruler is supported at one end of the twelfth fret and along its length by adjacent frets, eleven, ten, nine, etc. You can use other methods to measure from the top of the twelfth to the bottom of the string.
Another thing that you might have to fix is the string height.
You can start by using elementary geometry. You will find that the change
in the string height at the twelfth fret needs to be about twice the of change at the saddle. If a string height at the twelfth fret is 4/32" and the desired measurement is 3/32", the change in height will have to be lowered by 1/32" at the twelfth fret is about 2/32".
After taking measurements, you should calculate the amount that each string needs to be lowered at the saddle. You should make adjustments the saddle must project at least 1/16" from the top of the bridge. This should make sure that the strings exert a sufficient downward force on the saddle to stop the strings from vibrating side-to-side on the top surface of the saddle. If you cannot maintain this 1/16" projection, it will be necessary to reset or shave the bridge. This should be done by a professional repairer or a skilled amateur.
The last adjustment that you should make is to the string height at the nut.
The required tools are a short straight edge (ruler), a standard set of feeler gages, a set of calibrated nut files, an X-acto saw and a tear-drop needle file. You should start by measuring the height of the first fret. You measure the first fret by placing a straight edge on the top of the first two frets so it straddles on the first and second frets. The slide feeler gages should be place between the fingerboard and the straight edge until the gages fill in the space between the fingerboard and the straight edge. When it doesn't fit the required measurement for a string height at the nut, you should adjust it.
Gen Mason is a guitar player from Florida. Discover free how to improve your guitar skills at Jamorama
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gen_Mason
These adjustments will fix all guitars and make them playable. The adjustments are the amount of relief in the neck using an adjustable truss rod, the string height at the saddle, the string height at the nut and the intonation.
These adjustments should be made at least once on every guitar. Most manufacturers do not take time to properly do these adjustments. A manufacturer only does these adjustments for the average player, but not for the individual player.
How do you adjust the amount of the neck bow? It is supposed to be simple. Every adjustable truss rod shares the same principles of operation. Every truss rod has a threaded nut tightened on a threaded metal rod. The tension in the rod changes the curvature of the neck in which the the rod is embedded. To adjust the rod, you need to tighten or loosen the nut on the rod. When tighten the nut, the tension increases the tension in the rod as well the amount which the rod counteracts the pull of the strings. This should reduce the bow in the neck.
As far as adjusting the saddle height, you can do this either before or after adjusting the string height at the nut. You should start by measuring the distance from the top of the twelfth fret to the bottom of the sixth string. You should do this when the guitar's strings are at full strength. You should measure laying a 6-inch ruler, on edge, adjacent to and parallel to the string.
The ruler is supported at one end of the twelfth fret and along its length by adjacent frets, eleven, ten, nine, etc. You can use other methods to measure from the top of the twelfth to the bottom of the string.
Another thing that you might have to fix is the string height.
You can start by using elementary geometry. You will find that the change
in the string height at the twelfth fret needs to be about twice the of change at the saddle. If a string height at the twelfth fret is 4/32" and the desired measurement is 3/32", the change in height will have to be lowered by 1/32" at the twelfth fret is about 2/32".
After taking measurements, you should calculate the amount that each string needs to be lowered at the saddle. You should make adjustments the saddle must project at least 1/16" from the top of the bridge. This should make sure that the strings exert a sufficient downward force on the saddle to stop the strings from vibrating side-to-side on the top surface of the saddle. If you cannot maintain this 1/16" projection, it will be necessary to reset or shave the bridge. This should be done by a professional repairer or a skilled amateur.
The last adjustment that you should make is to the string height at the nut.
The required tools are a short straight edge (ruler), a standard set of feeler gages, a set of calibrated nut files, an X-acto saw and a tear-drop needle file. You should start by measuring the height of the first fret. You measure the first fret by placing a straight edge on the top of the first two frets so it straddles on the first and second frets. The slide feeler gages should be place between the fingerboard and the straight edge until the gages fill in the space between the fingerboard and the straight edge. When it doesn't fit the required measurement for a string height at the nut, you should adjust it.
Gen Mason is a guitar player from Florida. Discover free how to improve your guitar skills at Jamorama
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gen_Mason
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Fix Yer Guitar Tutorials - Adjusting the Electric Guitar Pickups
What you'll need for this session:
Screwdriver for height adjustment
Does your guitar make tones that you really didn’t ask for? Dual “out of tune” tones? Mushy tones? Weak outputs? Hmmm… sounds like your pickups need to be at the right height. Not to worry, in most cases, we can fix that.
First off a quick “how duz it work” explanation. Most Electric guitar pickups are nothing more than a magnet with very thin lacquer coated copper wire wrapped thousands of times around it. The two ends of the coil go to a potentiometer with lets more or less voltage pass through. The magnet which has a field of electrons “floating around it in a field, they get “excited” when the steel string is plucked, going back and forth, and the electrons move through the coil of wire at a certain speed (frequency!). After they go past the potentiometer, and to the amplifier, the frequency of the electrons, the voltage, creates the sound. Your high school science teacher helped you to become a rock and roller! Depending on the location of the string to the pickup, is your sound.
Weak output or mushy sound. Most of the time this means the pickup is just plain too low. Using your screwdriver, tighten the screws located next to outside edge of your pickup. If you have two screws on one side, adjust each one accordingly so that the pickup is parallel to the strings. Rule of thumb is about ¼ “ from the strings.
Dual “out of tune” tones. Jimi Hendrix used this quite a bit. This was the sound on his strat with stock single coil pickups because the pickup was too high and created a false harmonic so to speak. Almost like having the string pressed down at the pickup. Again it has to do with the physics of how a pickup works. The magnetic field creates this false note. Instead it adds the extra tone… usually not in tune with the plucked note. Don’t get me wrong, Jimi did great no bones about it. However, that may not be the sound you are looking for. So, lower the pickup or pickups on your instrument until it doesn’t have that sound. One note to strat players, in order to get the right pickup height, you may need to adjust the neck angle using a thin shim under the end of the neck in the cavity. If you aren’t well versed in how this is done, talk to your repairman. We do talk about this in our classes that we teach.
Anyway, this should help on the tone of your guitar.
THINK IT!
BUILD IT!
PLAY IT!
To learn about the ROCK n' ROLL GUITAR BUILDING SCHOOL and what you'll learn, click on this link:
http://www.leefairstudio.com/Guitar_Building_Classes_Build_Custom_Guitar_Guitar_Making_Course.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=RobertMaxwell_Lee
Screwdriver for height adjustment
Does your guitar make tones that you really didn’t ask for? Dual “out of tune” tones? Mushy tones? Weak outputs? Hmmm… sounds like your pickups need to be at the right height. Not to worry, in most cases, we can fix that.
First off a quick “how duz it work” explanation. Most Electric guitar pickups are nothing more than a magnet with very thin lacquer coated copper wire wrapped thousands of times around it. The two ends of the coil go to a potentiometer with lets more or less voltage pass through. The magnet which has a field of electrons “floating around it in a field, they get “excited” when the steel string is plucked, going back and forth, and the electrons move through the coil of wire at a certain speed (frequency!). After they go past the potentiometer, and to the amplifier, the frequency of the electrons, the voltage, creates the sound. Your high school science teacher helped you to become a rock and roller! Depending on the location of the string to the pickup, is your sound.
Weak output or mushy sound. Most of the time this means the pickup is just plain too low. Using your screwdriver, tighten the screws located next to outside edge of your pickup. If you have two screws on one side, adjust each one accordingly so that the pickup is parallel to the strings. Rule of thumb is about ¼ “ from the strings.
Dual “out of tune” tones. Jimi Hendrix used this quite a bit. This was the sound on his strat with stock single coil pickups because the pickup was too high and created a false harmonic so to speak. Almost like having the string pressed down at the pickup. Again it has to do with the physics of how a pickup works. The magnetic field creates this false note. Instead it adds the extra tone… usually not in tune with the plucked note. Don’t get me wrong, Jimi did great no bones about it. However, that may not be the sound you are looking for. So, lower the pickup or pickups on your instrument until it doesn’t have that sound. One note to strat players, in order to get the right pickup height, you may need to adjust the neck angle using a thin shim under the end of the neck in the cavity. If you aren’t well versed in how this is done, talk to your repairman. We do talk about this in our classes that we teach.
Anyway, this should help on the tone of your guitar.
THINK IT!
BUILD IT!
PLAY IT!
To learn about the ROCK n' ROLL GUITAR BUILDING SCHOOL and what you'll learn, click on this link:
http://www.leefairstudio.com/Guitar_Building_Classes_Build_Custom_Guitar_Guitar_Making_Course.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=RobertMaxwell_Lee
Monday, 2 November 2009
How To Repair Your Guitar
There is no doubt about it - the best way to have repairs made to your guitar is to take it to a professional guitar repairer. This is because most repairs necessary are way beyond the know-how of an amateur and if you try to fiddle around with it yourself you are likely to do even more damage. Of course, if you take good care of your guitar it should not really need any repairs carrying out. One frequent mistake that people make with their guitars is to leave them in the car. When it's boiling outside, the temperature within the vehicle is far too hot to leave the guitar there as the adhesive on it will break down and it will literally fall to pieces.
If it is really necessary for you to have your guitar with you when you travel, you should pack it in a hard case surrounded by lots of padding in particular around the neck of the guitar. If you are traveling on an airplane, you should secure it further in a well padded box.
There are, however, some minor adjustments which are easy for the amateur to make, for example, the adjustment of the intonation of your electric guitar. This will be necessary if you have recently altered the thickness of your strings or the action, which is the distance between the strings and the fret board. Many guitarists do this twice a year as a matter of course.
It is quite simple maneuver to do by moving the bridge saddle (that's the bit of metal on the bridge of the guitar which the strings rest on) either backwards or forwards. To move the bridge saddle, the screw which holds it in place needs adjusting and it is useful to have an Allen key to use for this operation. Other than that, the only tool you will need is a small screwdriver. The bridge saddle only needs to be moved very slightly so take care when you are turning the screw.
When you carry out the adjustment you need to make sure each string sounds the same when played in the open position as it does on the 12th fret. If you are not confident in your own sense of hearing to get this just right, you should use an electric guitar tuner. Every time you make an adjustment, you will need to turn the string back to E again before you can check the intonation.
From time to time on an electric guitar the truss rod will also need adjusting. Don't attempt to do this yourself unless you are absolutely certain you are capable - it really is best to take it to a professional. The truss rod is a piece of steel running down the neck of your guitar and making an adjustment to it will relieve a convex or concave bow in the neck of the guitar. Be warned - if this is not done properly your guitar may suffer permanent and irreparable damage.
Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Sinclair
If it is really necessary for you to have your guitar with you when you travel, you should pack it in a hard case surrounded by lots of padding in particular around the neck of the guitar. If you are traveling on an airplane, you should secure it further in a well padded box.
There are, however, some minor adjustments which are easy for the amateur to make, for example, the adjustment of the intonation of your electric guitar. This will be necessary if you have recently altered the thickness of your strings or the action, which is the distance between the strings and the fret board. Many guitarists do this twice a year as a matter of course.
It is quite simple maneuver to do by moving the bridge saddle (that's the bit of metal on the bridge of the guitar which the strings rest on) either backwards or forwards. To move the bridge saddle, the screw which holds it in place needs adjusting and it is useful to have an Allen key to use for this operation. Other than that, the only tool you will need is a small screwdriver. The bridge saddle only needs to be moved very slightly so take care when you are turning the screw.
When you carry out the adjustment you need to make sure each string sounds the same when played in the open position as it does on the 12th fret. If you are not confident in your own sense of hearing to get this just right, you should use an electric guitar tuner. Every time you make an adjustment, you will need to turn the string back to E again before you can check the intonation.
From time to time on an electric guitar the truss rod will also need adjusting. Don't attempt to do this yourself unless you are absolutely certain you are capable - it really is best to take it to a professional. The truss rod is a piece of steel running down the neck of your guitar and making an adjustment to it will relieve a convex or concave bow in the neck of the guitar. Be warned - if this is not done properly your guitar may suffer permanent and irreparable damage.
Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Sinclair
Friday, 23 October 2009
Make Your Own Electric Guitar
The idea of this article on making your own electric guitar is to give you a real, practical idea of the magnitude of the job and the skills, tools and raw materials needed to make your own electric guitar. The original electric guitar was a railway sleeper with strings. The designer, Les Paul, finally marketed his invention with a guitar shape because he felt that was what people expected of an electric guitar, not because any particular shape was really necessary to make music. One thing you need to get straight on now is you will not save money by making your own guitar. If you want a cheap electric guitar, there's one with your name on it at your nearest music store.
So if you fancy yourself as a designer, you could try making an electric guitar to your own specifications but you will need certain materials to work with. The first thing you will need is a love of working with wood. The second is an arsenal of power tools like drills, routers, saws, and fiddly bits of hardware. Your environment is also crucial. You will need a workspace which is not too hot or cold or wet or dry!
When you design your home made electric guitar, you will need to know how long your neck is going to be and how far apart your frets will be. You will also have a choice of the basic shape of the head of your guitar - the part that holds the tuning pegs.
You probably already know that a pickup near the neck gives a deeper sound than a pickup close to the bridge. The placement and configuration of the pickups on an electric guitar is a science in itself.
Solid body electric guitars are usually made from maple, ash, mahogany, alder, basswood or nut because they possess proven sound qualities for guitar manufacturing. You will need to buy your wood from a sawmill in lengths rather larger than needed for guitar making, and you will need to cut the wood down to size before making your guitar. You will also need hardware like machine heads, pick guards, fret wire, bridge and whammy bar mechanism. You will also need hardware if you use a bolt-on neck.
For the electronic parts of your electric guitar, you will need pickups - single coil or humbucker, shielding to cut down hum and associated knobs, nuts and grommets.
The first job in making your own electric guitar is making a template of your instrument from plywood. The template is your exact pattern for your finished guitar, and needs to be crafted with care. If you find yourself cutting corners at this stage you may as well stop this project and continue with the home brewing you started two winters ago.
To finish off this short essay, I should mention that there exists another solution for people wanting to make their own electric guitar - the electric guitar kit. As an example, the Yamaha EG-112PF Electric Guitar Kit contains: EGP112 Electric Guitar 2 Single coil pickups 1 Humbucking pickup Vintage vibrato system 5 position pickup switch Tremolo bar Master Volume and Master Tone controls Maple neck Chrome closed tuning hardware Bolt-on neck construction Rosewood fingerboard Basswood body No coil split Scale length: 25-1/2" (648 mm) Nut width: 1-5/8" (41mm) Radius: 13-3/4 (350 mm) Frets: 22 Color: Black with white pick guard Guitar cable included GA10 Amplifier 7 watts of power 5" speaker Volume, Tone Bass, Distortion / Clean controls Headphone jack Dimensions: 10.4" (w) x 10.0" (h) x 6.4" (d) Complete Starter Kit Electronic tuner - YT120 Special Yamaha gig bag Extra set of strings Picks Strap with Yamaha logo String winder Capo Guitar method book. I found it on Amazon while looking through 1,320,000 results for a Google search on "electric guitar kits"! Best of luck!
So if you fancy yourself as a designer, you could try making an electric guitar to your own specifications but you will need certain materials to work with. The first thing you will need is a love of working with wood. The second is an arsenal of power tools like drills, routers, saws, and fiddly bits of hardware. Your environment is also crucial. You will need a workspace which is not too hot or cold or wet or dry!
When you design your home made electric guitar, you will need to know how long your neck is going to be and how far apart your frets will be. You will also have a choice of the basic shape of the head of your guitar - the part that holds the tuning pegs.
You probably already know that a pickup near the neck gives a deeper sound than a pickup close to the bridge. The placement and configuration of the pickups on an electric guitar is a science in itself.
Solid body electric guitars are usually made from maple, ash, mahogany, alder, basswood or nut because they possess proven sound qualities for guitar manufacturing. You will need to buy your wood from a sawmill in lengths rather larger than needed for guitar making, and you will need to cut the wood down to size before making your guitar. You will also need hardware like machine heads, pick guards, fret wire, bridge and whammy bar mechanism. You will also need hardware if you use a bolt-on neck.
For the electronic parts of your electric guitar, you will need pickups - single coil or humbucker, shielding to cut down hum and associated knobs, nuts and grommets.
The first job in making your own electric guitar is making a template of your instrument from plywood. The template is your exact pattern for your finished guitar, and needs to be crafted with care. If you find yourself cutting corners at this stage you may as well stop this project and continue with the home brewing you started two winters ago.
To finish off this short essay, I should mention that there exists another solution for people wanting to make their own electric guitar - the electric guitar kit. As an example, the Yamaha EG-112PF Electric Guitar Kit contains: EGP112 Electric Guitar 2 Single coil pickups 1 Humbucking pickup Vintage vibrato system 5 position pickup switch Tremolo bar Master Volume and Master Tone controls Maple neck Chrome closed tuning hardware Bolt-on neck construction Rosewood fingerboard Basswood body No coil split Scale length: 25-1/2" (648 mm) Nut width: 1-5/8" (41mm) Radius: 13-3/4 (350 mm) Frets: 22 Color: Black with white pick guard Guitar cable included GA10 Amplifier 7 watts of power 5" speaker Volume, Tone Bass, Distortion / Clean controls Headphone jack Dimensions: 10.4" (w) x 10.0" (h) x 6.4" (d) Complete Starter Kit Electronic tuner - YT120 Special Yamaha gig bag Extra set of strings Picks Strap with Yamaha logo String winder Capo Guitar method book. I found it on Amazon while looking through 1,320,000 results for a Google search on "electric guitar kits"! Best of luck!
Ricky Sharples has been playing guitar his whole life, and is presently engaged in building a blog called Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free.
Ricky's blog features free tools, lessons and resources for guitarists of all ages and stages. Ricky updates the blog regularly so if you are interested in learning to play guitar there will be an enormous variety of tip, tools and tutorials for you.
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