Welcome @matt-beels - great to have some background to the name on the livestream chat!

I re-checked him out and I’m very glad that I did 

Mark (and Carol of course) have put a huge amount of effort into the livestreams during this year.  That's been one blessing out of the various lockdowns (another being that I've had time to watch them too!).

This forum seems to have really kicked on too, as people congregate here and continue the discussions and themes from the livestreams.

Good to have you along too.

🙂

@tv101 thanks dude, glad to be here!

Yeah the lockdowns suck for sure but the livestreams are the silver lining, aren’t they?

I’ve noticed the conversations that stem from the streams and it’s very cool.

Cheers!

I started playing guitar in 1984 when I was captivated by the riff in Rock You Like a Hurricane and haven’t stopped playing since.

@matt-heels Welcome Matt, it’s good to have you here as a new member and fellow guitar maker. I like your choice of music, I too was bitten by the 80s rock bug. 🤘😁🤘

This is a fantastic resource for us like-minded guitar buffs. The live streams really took off this year because of covid (it’s one good thing to come out of it all) and memberships have increased too. Whether you have a question, want some advice, a problem solving, a mistake to report (we all do them) or just want a chat, just escape to this forum and someone will help you out. 

Can’t wait to see what you make, upload some pictures of anything you have done before and whatever plans you have for future builds. 

Welcome. 

Hello Matt, good to meet you on this journey of guitarmakingness....... is that a word?

Sounds like you're experience will provide another great resource for us to tap 😀 

I think the 'finishing course' might well be the start of something big for the Mark and Carol show 😉

@matt-beels

I’ve been wanting to build electrics pretty badly for a few years 

Hi Matt, welcome to the group. If you need any advice on how to build a guitar badly, then I'm your man.

Robin

@boo

Thanks boo!

Yeah, rock was everywhere back then! I like a lot of different music and even some current stuff 😆 but man, those were the days! I was really into KISS before I was 10 but I suspect their image had a lot to do with that although I still really like their first five or so albums. 
 
I didn’t enjoy much of 80’s pop at the time (maybe a bit secretly, and now I love it of course) cuz I wanted to rock! My friends and I were into Sabbath-Priest-AC/DC-Van Halen-Ozzy w/St Rhoads... but for me when thrash came out, it blew my head off! Learning how to play Metallica and Slayer while still learning how to play the guitar? Looking back I‘d have to say that was pretty weird and although it’s not the only style I play, everything I do play always goes back to metal! 😂

So as far as what I want to make it will probably come as no surprise that mainly I want to build Flying V‘s. My version though and not a direct copy of anyone else’s but a mix of the original Gibson '58 and a bit of more modern styles coupled with my ideas. I also really like Stars, pretty 80‘s!

I‘ve always liked the Les Paul Jr double cut so I‘m quite looking forward to building a Bandsman! I even like the shape better, the horns are more out of the way and it looks great. I wasn’t sure about the headstock at first but it’s really grown on me so I ordered the template set once it became available. 

It‘ll be a while yet before it all comes together but I‘ll be happy to post progress pics when the time comes.

Later!

@james-chacewatergmail-com-2

Thanks James!

Yes actually, guitarmakingness is indeed a word. Er, at least it is now...

Yeah that finishing course should be awesome, can’t wait to see the gun cam 😆

Cheers!

@robin

Thanks Robin!

Haha, good one! I guess I‘ll have to choose my words more carefully from now on (yeah, that‘ll happen).

Cheers!

Yeah, rock was everywhere back then! I like a lot of different music and even some current stuff 😆 but man, those were the days! I was really into KISS before I was 10 but I suspect their image had a lot to do with that although I still really like their first five or so albums. 
 
I didn’t enjoy much of 80’s pop at the time (maybe a bit secretly, and now I love it of course) cuz I wanted to rock! My friends and I were into Sabbath-Priest-AC/DC-Van Halen-Ozzy w/St Rhoads... but for me when thrash came out, it blew my head off! Learning how to play Metallica and Slayer while still learning how to play the guitar? Looking back I‘d have to say that was pretty weird and although it’s not the only style I play, everything I do play always goes back to metal! 😂

@matt-beels Matt, it’s like we have been made from the same template. 🤣 

There is plenty of modern music that I listen to these day, across a number of genres but that risk stuff from the 80s etc was just killer. It will never leave me, it’s ingrained now. 

I remembered a Kramer guitar from the 80s that I always wanted but never managed it. It was the Floyd Rose Signature model. I found some pictures online and measured up the best I could so I could plan to build one. I think I did ok, check out my prototype, I made it out of pine (body). I made this one hard tail but I plan on making another with a Floyd. (See pictures) 

If you go through Mark’s “Design your own guitar” course (sequentially) and do every step, you can then apply that knowledge to any design you want in the future. I built the Bandsman first and then moved onto other projects and again if you go through the “Build your own electric guitar” course (sequentially), you can apply all of that knowledge to future builds. You are going to love it. 🤘😁🤘🎸And, the new finishing course is coming up soon so you will be able to paint your guitar like this too. 

I‘ve always liked the Les Paul Jr double cut so I‘m quite looking forward to building a Bandsman! I even like the shape better, the horns are more out of the way and it looks great. I wasn’t sure about the headstock at first but it’s really grown on me so I ordered the template set once it became available. 

@matt-beels I really enjoyed building the Bandsman and I learned so much from the online course. I modified the shape of my headstock, I love reverse headstocks, so that’s what I did. 

That’s a good, different shape @boo - like it!

@boo

Looks like you did a great job on that!

IIRC there were at least 3 FR guitars from Kramer. I worked at the Guitar Center in San Francisco before moving to Germany and we had one, I can’t remember which but it was red and it never sold! 

It may have been that one...

But probably was this one:

That paint job is different and came out great. Good luck with the next one, it definitely needs a Floyd!

@boo

I also love reverse headstocks, thanks to George Lynch 😆

I like what you did to your Bandsman stock, I was also thinking of doing something similar as using someone else’s headstock is a bit cheeky... But it does have that nub at the top pointing up which has a bit of the same feel, your mod came out great!

The body also looks stunning, nice and clean piece of wood. Which finish did you use, straight up oil?

The body also looks stunning, nice and clean piece of wood. Which finish did you use, straight up oil?

@matt-beels Thanks Matt, I did the whole guitar in oil. This one I did everything from Mark’s course exactly how he said and it turned out great. I used Liberon Finishing Oil for this one. 

IIRC there were at least 3 FR guitars from Kramer. I worked at the Guitar Center in San Francisco before moving to Germany and we had one, I can’t remember which but it was red and it never sold! 

@matt-beels My word those guitars sure are ugly! 🤣 I’m not surprised you didn’t sell any. They are part of history never the less. The 80s sure was a strange decade (looking back) but I have a lot of good memories of it. Like you said, the pop music was rubbish at the time but now we are older, we actually like it. I’ll always come back to rock/metal but I listen to almost anything with a decent melody these days. I can’t imagine anyone getting up on stage with one of those Kramers though, they would be laughed off. They are more like a concept design really, I think. It’s always good to experiment though, nothing would change otherwise. I’m always up for designing/building different things and using different materials too. 

You I think George Lynch, Adrian Vandenberg, Adrian Campbell et al definitely influenced my liking of the reverse headstock. I’ve made a neck recently with a simple but quite aggressive headstock shape, I’m going to make a reversed version too. I made this neck because Mark did a live stream on how to do a scarf neck construction and this is my first attempt. Now I know I can do it, I’ll be making more. I’m really glad I started at the beginning though and did the “Build your own electric guitar” course, I really set me up for all my future endeavours. 

I have a Paul Gilbert Ibanez PGM 301 with reverse headstock, so cool. 

@boo

that headstock looks cool and will probably look even better reversed, go for it! It looks like you also did a great job shaping the volute.

I still really like what you did with the Bandsman headstock. 

The Ibanez headstock is one of my favorites and looks amazing reversed.

Speaking of amazing, Paul Gilbert is definitely one of my biggest heroes. I was lucky to have taken part in a group lesson with him back on the Fuzz Universe tour.

The biggest lesson I learned is that there are few who would ever be able to play as well as someone like that.

It’s one thing to listen to him, see videos or whatever but to sit there and jam with him? Then you really get to see how amazing a player he is. It was truly incredible. 

Speaking of amazing, Paul Gilbert is definitely one of my biggest heroes. I was lucky to have taken part in a group lesson with him back on the Fuzz Universe tour.

@mattbeels Thanks man, I like the headstock too and will definitely do a reversed version. I also love the Ibanez headstock, it’s such a good shape and completely unique. 

I’m a big fan of Paul Gilbert too, he is my online guitar teacher. I met him a couple of years back when he came to the UK to do a guitar clinic in Birmingham. A friend of mine is a local music promoter and had organised PG’s Birmingham venue. My mate phoned me the morning of the gig and asked if I could meet him at Birmingham Airport to help pick up PG with all his gear, talk about putting me on the spot. So we picked him up, got him all organised for the gig and took him back to the airport the morning after. We were there during sound check, back stage before and after the session, it was good to meet him, he is such a nice guy. It will all happen again, that’s if this covid thing ever gets fixed. 

Until then, I will continue to make guitars in self-isolation. It’s good we have this platform to communicate with each other, otherwise I may go slightly mad. 

@boo

That’s a great story! Experience’s like that are really special, especially since meeting your heroes can go horribly wrong.

In your case that must have been great to meet him in a relatively normal setting, away from the fans and all the other distractions. Driving in the car and just having a good chat, sounds ace!

Paul is a really nice guy, very gracious and down to earth. I met him once before that lesson, after a show. I caught him right before he got on the bus (and accidentally scared him😆) but he took a few minutes to chat and answer my questions.  

And the lesson was great! While all the other students asked him boring stuff like how to solo all over the neck or how to find the choice notes 🤣, I got him to show me how to correctly play my favorite Racer X riffs! 

Keep making those guitars boo!

Hello all. I finally got the go ahead from my wife to make the purchase of the subscription to become a member and start in on my guitar making journey. I've been an amature furniture builder for a few years, with mostly hand tools because I think that is a lost art and I love making high quality items, and I've played guitar for nearly 25 years (not near as much quality there) :). I only had to make one promise to my wife in order to get the subscription..... I need to make her a guitar. I think that's a fair trade since I was the one to teach her to play. I've been wanting to build a guitar for a long time now and it has always seemed so daunting. I've already started watching some of the videos. Can't wait to see where this take me. Thanks for this opportunity to learn a new skill that I will get direct benifit from. I can't wait for the next "music circle" jam that I will be able to say.... this is my guitar... that I built. 🙂