Idiot tries to build guitar!

[Martin Walker]

Wow - that looks lovely with the hardware installed Jumpey - and of course those attending the SOS Virtual Meet last night got a 'live preview'

Looking forward to hearing it in action once you've got the electronics soldered up.

Bravo!

Martin

[Folderol]

Guitar pickups have changed a lot since I last got involved with them. Do you need a Uni course and a certificate of competence before you can use those ones?

[BillB]

Not at all. Apparently even idiots can use them

[Sam Spoons]

It looks fantastic Jumpy, very well done.

[S2]

Yes looking very good!

[twotoedsloth]

I really would like to get a guitar with zero frets... But I already can't bend to pitch

Does anyone play a fretless guitar, much like a fretless bass?

[ef37a]

I really would like to get a guitar with zero frets... But I already can't bend to pitch

Does anyone play a fretless guitar, much like a fretless bass?

Look for old Antiques Roadshows on iPlayer. There was a guy who had a fretless guitar which was given to George Harrison (by a Stone?) He played a lick, did not impress. I wouldn't bother! ...OR! Raise the action and do country slide!

Dave.

[zenguitar]

I had a recollection that Vigier offered fretless guitars. A quick search revealed that they still have a couple of models in their catalogue...

https://www.vigierguitars.com/catalog/i ... &id_lang=1

Andy

[Sam Spoons]

Yes, I've seen them but I suspect they are a bit of a niche market. There is the Oud of course and a couple of other traditional instruments (Japanese maybe?) but fretless usually means bowed rather than plucked.

[BillB]

...And therefore not trying to hold down or 'fret' more than two, max 3 strings. The idea of trying to accurately fret 6 strings on a fretless guitar would be the stuff of nightmares for me. It's enough of a struggle with frets! I really like fretless bass, but attempting that on a guitar - no!

[Sam Spoons]

Fiddle players regularly fret two strings simultaneously but it is pretty much impossible to bow more than two at once so the issue of chords never arises though I guess they will fret three strings and play fast arpeggios. Three on a fretless guitar should be doable with practice but I see it as more a solo/special effects instrument.

[BillB]

but I see it as more a solo/special effects instrument.

When you put it that way, I can imagine it could be quite something, in skilled hands.
Jeff Beck, we miss you!

[Sam Spoons]

Given how skilled JB was with bends and whammy bar one wonders if the fretless guitar is a solution looking for a problem to solve...

[BillB]

Well, yes, the master. Maybe not a good theoretical match for the instrument. It would be interesting to know what a great player would do with a fretless guitar - it has to open up some interesting possibilities, albeit with perhaps a similar niche use-case to, say, an electric sitar.

[Jumpeyspyder]

Thanks for all the comments!

Some people might have spotted the position of the saddles on the FR...
Yep, looks like I was about 2mm out on scale length (I probably shouldn't have used a genuine FR template for a 'licenced' Floyd rose )
Made dowels from a chunk of maple (cut to square, planed to octagon, sanded to round ) and redrilled! not a lot of body meat- but wouldn't have got intonation without it - risky but drilled (Yes) 'close to the edge'


Wiring took much longer than I expected, originally wired the volume pot back to front so turning up actually went down - quick swap of signal and ground fixed it!
(noticed while posting the image - I've forgotten to ground the volume pot)


Now I have sound!
played for about an hour and really happy with the tone - cheapo neck pickup sounds great!
I have some buzzing on b string and some choking high on the neck - hope this will resolve with some setup work.

[Kwackman]

Congratulations Eddie, it must have been a big moment when you “heard” it for the first time. Did you have the volume turned up full (ie off!) when you first tried it? That would have caused a bit of panic, before the easy solution was found.
This is a very entertaining thread, and your guitar looks great

[Wonks]

Would it not have been better to use the existing holes and bought a proper Floyd Rose? Cheap copies really are not worth it. They rarely use materials of the same quality as the originals, and the knife-edge bearings often wear out very quickly due to being made of softer metal.

[Jumpeyspyder]

..Did you have the volume turned up full (ie off!) when you first tried it? That would have caused a bit of panic..

Not panic - but definitely a 'what the hell have I got wrong now' moment!

[Jumpeyspyder]

Would it not have been better to use the existing holes and bought a proper Floyd Rose? Cheap copies really are not worth it. They rarely use materials of the same quality as the originals, and the knife-edge bearings often wear out very quickly due to being made of softer metal.

Absolutely correct, but a real Floyd is more expensive, than any guitar I own!
I'll see how the cheapie works out - not sure the rest of the guitar is worthy of the additional expense!

[Wonks]

Have faith in yourself.

[S2]

but I see it as more a solo/special effects instrument.

When you put it that way, I can imagine it could be quite something, in skilled hands.
Jeff Beck, we miss you!

Indeed. And with that in mind I can't think of anyone better to demonstrate it than Guthrie.

https://youtu.be/ZjEGtUXGWa0?si=XZsu1iKUexFiauwZ

I can't actually see the point of playing chords on it, you may as well play a regular guitar. Fretless guitars have their USP and so that's how they should be played IMO.

[BillB]

Wow! Great video and what a lovely bloke. Lots of admiration in the comments so I won’t repeat. Thanks, S2.

[Jumpeyspyder]

Cover plates done!

Took a lot longer than expected, possibly cheap plastic may have been a mistake?
It seems to want to melt, rather than file, or cut.
Took 3 goes to get truss rod cover (Will probably remake this again as I'm not 100% happy with it)


Rear covers not that pretty either, but no one will see, so not really a problem!


Making progress with setup, somehow nut was too low on B & E strings so shimmed with a slither of metal.
High E slipping out of the saddle has been a nightmare, now solved by bending into a V shape. (Never needed to do this before on other FR style bridges)

Action still a little high but it's playing better up the neck than a few days ago.

Small changes, bit by bit, and I think this will be playing OK!

[Kwackman]

Your truss rod cover is a nice design

[garrettendi]

For an "idiot's" build, I'd say this is top notch! I'd be happy buying one of these if I could. I also like the truss rod cover!