Help me pick a new project

Elias Graves

Common misfit
Trying to decide what's next.
Foo has been talking about building him a bass. I let him know I'd give him the family deal...he pays for all parts and supplies, I'll donate the labor. Haven't seen any concrete moves in that direction, though. May never happen.

I have a few minor projects of my own that I want to tackle.

For starters, I'm going to do some more work to the white guitar. I want to shave the neck and set it up for a matched pair of pickups. Either two firebirds or two P90s.
Once that's done, I want to build another guitar to house whichever pickup comes out if the white guitar.
But....When I finished the tele, Mrs. G made it pretty clear she doesn't want me spending a bunch of money on another guitar right now so that project may wait a while.

My leading idea right now is to actually build a guitar for sale and I've been toying with ideas.
First choice is a boutique-ish Dano style. Since Jerry Jones retired, there's not really a maker in that market any more. I think I could build a Dano inspired original design and sell it for $800-1000 or so using good quality materials.
My second idea is to build a tele that doesn't look like a tele but that market is pretty saturated.
In either case, I'll have to build some prototype designs first. I need to develop a headstock and body design that look good and won't get me sued by anyone. So, either of these projects involving a guitar for sale will involve preliminary design projects.

What say the Weiners?
 
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I like the proportions of this body.
 
The Jerry Jones thing. I had a Dano longhorn bass years ago and I loved it except it felt like a toy and the hardware wasn't so great.
 
Well, no reason you can't do a basic model then stretch it a bit down the line.

That's what I'm thinking.
Basic model first and, if it works, add a baritone.
I'll be buying Gibson from Henry's estate in a few years. :grin:

The Jerry Jones thing. I had a Dano longhorn bass years ago and I loved it except it felt like a toy and the hardware wasn't so great.

That's exactly what I find. I love the idea of a Dano but those things are pretty junky. A well made version ought to bring $800. You can spend more on a Chinese Epiphone these days...
 
Because they are cool!!!

Can't argue with that. :lol:
But I think set necks come later.


I guess the heart of the question is whether I'm good enough to build something and put it up for sale. There's a certain cockiness to that act and I'm by nature pretty reserved.
 
Can't argue with that. :lol:
But I think set necks come later.


I guess the heart of the question is whether I'm good enough to build something and put it up for sale. There's a certain cockiness to that act and I'm by nature pretty reserved.

From what I have seen so far, it is pretty damned good. The obvious would to play it but FWIW, you have done a Ba-a-a-a-a-n-g up job!!!!
 
From what I have seen so far, it is pretty damned good. The obvious would to play it but FWIW, you have done a Ba-a-a-a-a-n-g up job!!!!
Thanks.

The playability factor is the critical bit.
My approach on this tele was simply to perform each individual step with 100% accuracy and trust the plan and it worked. I didn't have to so much as file a fret after I got it set up. It's 100% buzz-free with the lowest action on both ends that I've ever managed.
So, I have enough confidence in my setup now that I'm not embarrassed to hand it to good players. Several pickers tried it out this weekend and they all gave it high marks. I think I've figured out how to do the final setup well now.
 
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