Andy Eagle
Fractal Fanatic
Warmoth are top class but they don't do the last little bit. That is up to you but it makes all the difference.
Excellent, excellent advice!
If you get the long-bushing Switchcraft jack, it should work ok with the right-angle pluggy, as long as you ensure it is screwed into the socket with enough threads sticking out the outside of the socket. Don't use a bunch of washers to make the end of the bushing flush with the socket, or you're defeating the porpoise....
It does but not all right angle jacks are the same. As a safety thing you could get the jack that Joe mentioned and that would help. The Electrosocket is more forgiving than the regular tele cup. Neutrik plugs fit a regular Tele.
And that's what kits are for. For those first time builders to whom getting the experience first is more important then sourcing the best of stuff. Which you can always upgrade later. That's how I started out with building pedals. With buildyourownclone and generalguitargadgets kits first, and then moving out into sourcing stuff.
Wouldn't know if his guitars are good or crazy awful. I'd have to play them to be sure. I do love to watch his vids though to learn about woodworking in the context of guitar building. And be inspired. Same with Sean of scar my guitar. I like out of the box thinking when it comes to guitars. The world doesn't need more Les Pauls, Tele's or Strats. Thanks to good and cheap CNC you can get a decent one for less then the price and time it will cost you to make one yourself. So if you're gonna make something, make it interesting. Maybe not as extreme as Ben does by completely hollowing out and slicing apart a Les Paul kit body. But sometimes you have to float out there to find some 'interesting shit'. And that's where you may find magic. And even innovation.
Inovation needs to be tested and evaluated . Ergonomics and tone never play a part in Bens work. He is a great woodworker but I suspect a mediocre guitar player . The reason people still make Strats and Teles is because they work and sound incredible (if you get it all right.) Standard Guitars from most manufacturers have thick tone sucking paint jobs because it is easy to get a great look . I do relic refinishes for a reason . You can't paint a guitar as thin as I want and get a perfect flat surface no matter how you do it . A super thin brittle nitro finish is very easy to damage so starting with a relic is a lot less painful when you get the inevitable dings. People also (mostly) love them if they look real.
If you don’t mind not using the “right” jack/socket for a tele, you could also use a jack plate - square or football.
And you test and evaluate by trying and building stuff. And I reckon most guitar builders are mediocre guitar players, because time spent building is not time spent playing. Which is usually the same argument people use against modelers. I don't wanna tweak, I wanna play!
One, the best builders are great players because they wanted more.
I think I can set the action lower with a compound radius neck, but it's subtle.
It's geometry, the strings represent as a section of a cone and a straight radius fingerboard is a section of a cylinder now try put those two together and track the path of a string . In this case the further you go away from the centre line the more the string sees a curve. Now add neck relief and you end up with a mess. Only CAD models can easily show you this.( This is why Plek is awesome as ONLY it can use this data and the vibration pattern of a string combined with how that sits on a real neck with tension and cut the whole thing accordingly. Anyone who claims a good luthier and a jig can do this is frankly an idiot with no understanding of the PLEK . But in the wrong hands none of this will happen and that's another story.) With a compound both strings and fingerboard are a cone, how well it works will depend on how matched they are. Remember the neck relief should only ever be half the thickness of your high E. Another topic of conversation would be that only a perfectly flat fingerboard works properly in all situations EVERYTHING else contains compromises. A simple rule of thumb is compound if you like a radius or the flatter the better with a straight.
