7 Web Sites for the Electric Guitar Builder

1. Warmoth.com
OK, I have put together a couple of electric guitars, but I'll confess that my skills are wanting. I started with parts, from Warmoth. If you have never built an electric guitar from scratch, you ought to just get yourself a neck and a body from Warmoth, and you can do the rest yourself. There's a variety of body styles, and wonderful options for neck woods, back contours, frets, and headstock styles.

2. The Musical Instrument Makers Forum
Very nice content, and several different forums for different types of instruments. You can join in the conversations after registration, and there is a very nice library of discussions. One thing I don't like about the forum however is their photo policy(completed projects only), and the restrictions on posting prices found at Allparts, Ebay and others. The forum is sponsored by...

3. Stewart-McDonald (Stew-Mac) , the single biggest supplier of luthier supplies on the Internet. I've purchased a number of items there, and for the most part I've been happy with my purchases. Sometimes they're the only supplier of certain jigs and tools, but sometimes you're better off making your own jigs and templates, as their stuff can be a little pricey. My advice - by their neck pocket, pickup and trem templates and make copies - never use the originals.

4. Ronny Trigo's Guitar Building Templates. If you feel safe working with a router, here is heaven for the beginner to accomplished guitar builder. He offers a package where you can get 4 templates kits for the price of 3. Laser cut on masonite, once again, work from copies of the originals, and keep these masters tucked away. A nice variety of standard axe templates (Gibsons, Fenders) to some more exotic designs (Ibanez Iceman, BC Rich Warlocks and Mockingbirds).

5. Jamie Unden's Guitar Plans Unlimited .If you're comfortable making your own templates from a plan, this is the option for you. Jamie has a real nice collection of plans, and I've used these as well. If you have a crazy idea for a guitar, Jamie can adapt the neck pocket and pickup locations to match your idea - all you have to is go and pickup a good neck and bolt 'er on.

6. Project Guitar . A feel good site for the starter, and a source of support and inspiration for the seasoned crafters. Nice photos, decent tips, and a pretty good library of practical tips and tricks for the guitar builder at any level.

7. Ebay.com . Numerous ebay sellers have everything from tuners, pickups, controls, trems, woods, etc. I have a couple of favorites on here for book matched maples out of Canada, as well as decent sources for inexpensive tremolos and tools. Also, check out the Guitar Fetish pickups!

Hope this helps somebody out there...but the main thing to remember is that you can't play it until you finish!

Elton John: The Madness of the Queen

Earlier today I'm out checking the sites and discover a link to a Sun Online story where Elton John wants to shut down the Internet.

Sir Elton, you are completely and totally insane, and out of touch with today's music community.

Today I can go to any number of social sites and come across entries by any number of local, regional , and headline acts and communicate with them (or a credible agent) and listen to new music, chat, collaborate, interact on a number of levels.

Before I became a regular Internet user, I didn't collaborate with anyone. I'm a family guy, but I do have a passion for the guitar. Thanks to the 'Net, I've met and collaborated on a number of projects.

I've talked with other users of my favorite studio toy, Reason 3.0 from Propellerheads . Right now, I'm downloading the latest beta for Reason 4.0, and I couldn't do that without the Internet.

Sir Elton admits in his article that he is a complete technophobe, I humbly submit that if he were to take the time and work with someone who could get him a little more comfortable, he'd understand a little better the advantages that the Internet affords most of us.

My best Exchange class ever...

This week for the first time in a while, I'm teaching Exchange 2003, Microsoft's course number 2400C. The beautiful thing I love about the way this class is going is that I have a chance to inform these guys about some best practices to implement in preparation for their upgrade to Exchange 2007. Now that I've spent the better part of the last 7 months teaching Exchange 2007 (Wonderful tool with great value, btw), I really get a chance to let my students know about forthcoming changes they'll see after they upgrade, whenever that is.

It also helps when you have a great group of students to work with as well. I've known a lot of people that get up and go to work, slogging through the day, but I can say in all honesty that I do love my job. My manager is cool, my peer instructors a rock solid, and the sales staff actually asks whether or not a class is right for a particular customer.

Strange Metallica Cover Groups

For some reason or another, I thought it would be funny to have a Mariachi band that played Metallica covers, going by the name "Los Metalistos". Just an idea.

Officially PreDiabetic

OK, so I don't suffer from that dreaded condition quite yet, and I have a chance to make some changes to the lifestyle and beat this thing while I can. I know there are some diabetics out there, and I'd love to hear what you would've done differently to fend off the situation if you could do it all over again.

Journal of the Guitar Hobbyist/Junkie

I, like many before me, love my guitars. I love acoustics, classicals, but my niche is in the world of electrics and guitar synthesizers.

I began studying the guitar when I was 19 years old, between my sophomore and junior years of college at Wichita State. I found out that I had teratoma and embryonal carcinoma, two forms of testicular cancer. I returned to my hometown of Salina, Kansas and had two operations to remove the cancer (after 24 years, I can say that the treatment was successful, thankfully).

I was laying about most of the time during my recovery, and I noticed my brother's Peavey T-60, so I picked it up and started figuring things out. When it came time for me to return to school in the spring (January, really), I snagged my dad's acoustic that he wasn't playing much, and signed up to take guitar lessons at WSU. Little did I know...

WSU offers a jazz guitar program, with outstanding instruction. Today, that program was headed up by Craig Owens, and fine guitarist and instructor in his own right. When I started taking lessons as a beginner, my instructor was none other than Jazz legend and Kansas Music Hall of Famer Jerry Hahn . Jerry accepted me, a lowly beginner as a student, but he instilled in me a passion for the guitar. I still try to play everyday.

Since then, I've found that many a guitar player can become the victim of a strange neurological and economic disorder called G.A.S. - Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. Over the years I've owned probably half a dozen Inez guitars, still owning 3 today, a couple of Epiphones, an ESP, a Fernandes Nomad (great for travelling), an Ovation, a couple of Yamaha acoustics, one custom Warmoth LP copy, and now my new favorite guitar is a Godin xtSA with Synth-Access.

As someone who wants to get the most versatility out of my instrument of choice, I'll take the Godin. It has a humbucker - single coil - humbucker configuration for nice tonal aspects (I prefer the PRS dual humbucker configuration, but the Godin is a nice alternative). It has a piezo pickup in the bridge for a nice raw acoustic sound, great for fiddling around with a fingerstyle sound. Lastly, there's the RMC 13-pin synth pickup, tied to the piezo pickup in the bridge, with access to all the weirdness a synth has to offer. I don't play piano, organ or flute, let alone a classical orchestra instruments, but if I think a song I'm working on calls for it, I know I can get there, either through the use of my Roland GR-33 or through one of my other favorite toys, Propellerhead's Reason 3.0 (buy this product!). I can set my GR-33 to do midi-output to an M-Audio Uno Midi-to-USB cable, then compose directly into Reason's instruments and manipulate from there.

All for now...

New & Exciting

Well, maybe not so exciting. My name is Bob, and a number of years ago when I was new to the world of technical training, a co-worker (lovely lass named Carole) slapped the nickname "The Bobster" on me, and in my professional community, it's kind of stuck. Ask an MCT that's been around a few years if they know The Bobster, and odd's are they're talking about me.

I have alot of interests, from college football and basketball, to music and guitar, back to being a good parent, and a few other things in between (not to mention a few interests outside the norm - where'd I leave my 20-sided dice?).

I hope that the reader's of this find it humorous, perhaps insightful, but whatever it is, it's going to be real. I've often dreamt about writing professionally, and have done a few things (technical), and as a fan of the fantasy and science fiction genre, have wondered if I have the skill to craft a good yarn.

Perhaps... but for now, I'm just going to work on my writing chops and just keep a weblog, a journal that reflects whatever it is I'm thinking at the moment.

I bid all of you good day.