The current design is remarkably similar to something that I drew up about 18 months ago….minus the aluminum of course. I think its a great design which frees you up from having to be tied to specialized equipment.

I never tried a scalloped fretboard. I am one of those people who keep pressing until I feel wood under my fingers, so I won’t do anything like that on this guitar. But it could be interesting, especially if I had the frets sitting in the aluminium.

The home kit potential also appeals to me. I think it’ll be quite an easy guitar to build once you know how to do it (which is what I am trying to find out these days). The T-beam takes care of structural strength, so the design is quite forgiving in many aspects. At least, so I expect. When I’ve built it, we’ll know more.

I’ve never though of it as something you could disassemble for easy transport. The removability of neck and body wings is more suited for experimentation with different shapes and materials, I think.

…but yes, it would look cool to be able to assemble the guitar from five or six separate pieces with a couple of *click*s

…of course it would be way less cool, if it came apart with one large *clack* in the middle of a solo.

I’ve tried to address your individual points below.

“I would be interested to hear someone’s opinion about the fact that sound will travel through metal much more quickly than through wood. How will the difference between wood and aluminum interact with respect to the velocity of sound?”

I would like to know a more about that as well. I have no clear expectation. If the result turns out bad, I might mount the wooden parts (body “wings” and neck halves) on a few contact points instead of having large surfaces touching one another. That should help keeping the wood somewhat more out of the equation. …a bit like the principle of the metal cones you use for reducing the transmission of vibrations from speaker cabinets to the floor.

Alternatively, the fibreglass approach suggested in an earlier comment would be interesting.

…but regarding the question: I have no scientific knowledge on the subject. But other people have created great sounding guitars with combinations of wood and aluminium.

“I’m imagining that you may end up with a more or less conventional sound due to the absorption of frequencies by the choice of fingerboard wood.”

I partially agree. But if it turns out just “less conventional” (as opposed to more conventional or perhaps completely ordinary), I’m satisfied. I hope for a well-defined crisp sound, not a very sharp one.

I did consider cutting fret slots directly in the top aluminium flange, which would have resulted in the string vibrating in a “closed circuit” of metal (the fret, the aluminium top flange and the bridge). It would have bled some vibration to the wood of the neck and the body, but apart from that, I assume it would give very good sustain. I decided against it, as it would have been way too daunting a task considering my very limited experience in metal working and guitar building.

“Or, perhaps the guitar will sound very bright if the aluminum “top” reflects virtually all of the strings’ frequencies.”

It might. And that’s not what I’m aiming for. If I’m lucky, the rosewood fretboard will give a good combination of warmth and clarity. If not, I might experiment with other wood species – or altogether different materials such as plastic or metal.

“Is sustain the principle design goal here?”

Not exclusively. I also hope for a sound that is articulated over the whole spectrum – a “big” sound that is crisp as well as warm. Plus a very beautiful guitar.

“If so, there will have to be something in the choice of material for the “T” that not just transmits sound efficiently. It would have to also feed some of the vibrating strings’ energy back to the strings to keep them vibrating longer.”

The weak point will be where the fret rests in the rosewood fingerboard. Apart from that, the strings’ vibration is carried by a closed system of aluminium and nickel alloy (the fret). I don’t know how much that weak point will sap the string’s energy. But I hope that the strings will be able to vibrate without loosing energy too fast. Of course, having the frets directly in the aluminium would be optimal sustain-wise, but I expect the small piece of rosewood in the equation not to matter too much. If the rosewood fretboard – contrary to my expectation – is a case of “the weakest link in the chain”, sapping all the energy that is conserved in the metal parts, then I’ve got a problem

Again, thanks for the very relevant and thought-provoking questions. Obviously, I don’t have all the answers myself, and the above can in no way be considered a final reply to the questions. I would welcome anyone with opinions of these issues to contribute their points.

I’m imagining that you may end up with a more or less conventional sound due to the absorption of frequencies by the choice of fingerboard wood. Or, perhaps the guitar will sound very bright if the aluminum “top” reflects virtually all of the strings’ frequencies.

Is sustain the principle design goal here? If so, there will have to be something in the choice of material for the “T” that not just transmits sound efficiently. It would have to also feed some of the vibrating strings’ energy back to the strings to keep them vibrating longer.

Regarding its strength, I believe the neck is strong enough to resist the pull of the strings without curving too much (and detuning strings). If not, I’ll have to install a truss rod (actually two; one on each side of the bottom flange).

/Alex

But why not? It could be beautiful in a very different way. And the sound would probably be a very pure bell-like aluminium sound without the wood.

Unfortunately, I have no experience in working with fibreglass, so I’ll stick to wood for now.

/Alex

this is an interesting concept, it looks like it would be really stiff. It may have a completly different feel with an aluminum reinfoeced neck through design.

He may want to dump the wood and with the an aluminum neck and fiberglass cast body. He could do come really cool shapes, and color combos,and it would weigh next to nothing.