Did you know you can subscribe to email or RSS alerts of new articles?

While waiting to start my Klein based electric guitar build, I started to think about the possibility of an “original design” down the road. While far from exhaustive, my study of the Klein guitar template and my reading about ergonomics has led me to consider the following as critical elements in an ergonomic design:

1. A proper neck angle in the sitting position - One of the first things that you come across in classical guitar position is that the neck is angled up which helps to free the left hand and reduces the degree of wrist flexion necessary for fretting. The Klein, due to its design, comfortably sits with its neck at an appropriate upward angle with little effort by the guitarist. Two key factors are the design of its lower bout and the offset bottom of the guitar which tucks itself against the right thigh.

2. Adequate right arm support - In order to reduce stress in the shoulder area, which in turn propagates throughout the arm, the right arm needs support. The Klein, with its extended bout, does an excellent job of this.

3. Lightweight design - Weight is always a factor. It contributes to stress throughout the body and is of even greater issue when standing. The Klein guitar while not especially heavy is not especially light either although this can be improved in a few ways. One way is to make a thinner body. In my case, I’ll be working with a body blank that is .5″ thinner than the standard body blank. The other way is to use light weight woods. I decided on alder for a few reasons. Besides being appropriate for the single coil sound I like, it is reasonably light, easy to work with, and consistent in weight. Swamp ash, my other choice, is inconsistent in weight - body blanks may vary significantly. I wanted a result that would be easy to recreate.

4. Balanced design - A balanced design requires less effort on the part of the guitarist and less effort means less stress. The Klein guitar achieves this through its design not least of which is the use of a headless design. Rather than use a conventional headstock with its associated weight, the Klein opts for the headless design which moves the weight of the tuners to a more central position down by the body.

By Robert Irizarry on March 13th, 2006 | Stumble it! | 13 Comments →

Topics: Ergonomic Guitar Design

Due to my lack of woodworking experience and my desire to build an electric guitar sooner rather than later, some of my decisions will be dictated by ease of construction. I was fortunate with the MDF guitar template. It was my first attempt at using hand tools for shaping and it came out quite well as seen here.

I don’t want to count on this level of success going forward (beginner’s luck?) so I’m now considering the use of a pickguard or scratch plate.

A pickguard simplifies things quite a bit. First, it simplifies routing. Rather than use a rear routed layout, which requires both front and rear routing, a pickguard only requires front routing. A good choice would be a universal route also referred to as a “bathtub route”. This would make it easy to switch to different pickups at a later point. Second, it simplifies fit and finish because the route is hidden by the pickguard. I don’t have to worry about the routing being terribly precise. Third, a pickguard typically screws onto the face of the guitar which eliminates the concern of recessing a control cover for a rear cavity.

The Klein uses a pickguard but its not the solution I’m looking for. The original pickguard only deals with the neck and middle pickups. As a result, its still a combination of both rear and front routing. That defeats my purpose so I have to explore a new pickguard design.

I’ve been looking at different designs and so far these two hold promise:

I really like the flowing lines of the pickguard on this Andreas Shark and the fact that it does not wrap around either the bridge or the neck.

Meanwhile, the Musicman Silhouette Electric Guitar simply and elegantly covers my requirement of incorporating pickups, switch and knobs into the pickguard. The likelihood is that I will combine elements from each to arrive at my pickguard.

A pickguard also contributes to the aesthetics of the guitar but that is another matter…

By Robert Irizarry on March 7th, 2006 | Stumble it! | 2 Comments →

Topics: Guitar Build #1

Saturday, I received this picture of the alder body blank Mammoth Guitars is supplying (looks great):

I also ordered several guitar parts from them as well. They are an ALLPARTS dealer and Douglas Jordan has been great to work with.

Among the bits and pieces ordered are the following:

1. Chrome neck ferrules
2. Schaller nickel strap pins (I already own a Schaller strap lock)
3. Black pickguard blank
4. Black Gibson style speed knobs
5. Kahler chrome locking clamp
6. .001 capacitors
7. .02 capacitors
8. 3-way Gibson style toggle switch with black knob
9. Switchcraft 1/4″ output jack

UPDATE 03.16.2006 - Everything arrived yesterday - many thanks to Douglas at Mammoth Guitars!
UPDATE 03.10.2006 - Mammoth Guitars shipped today.
UPDATE 03.07.2006 - They will ship Thursday.

By Robert Irizarry on March 5th, 2006 | Stumble it! | 2 Comments →

Topics: Guitar Build #1

Here is the Project Guitar topic thread from earlier today announcing my guitar project idea:

In terms of designs, I have an interest in both ergonomic guitars and headless guitars. I’ve done a lot of research and the Klein Electric is one of the more ergonomic designs out there. Here is an example of Colin Kaminski playing the Klein he built while working for Steve Klein (the image is from Colin Kaminski’s site) who was the original owner and designer of the Klein Electric. The body balances well both standing and sitting. It is particularly suited for playing in a sitting position because the neck naturally falls at an angle. It also provides substantial support for the right arm. Unfortunately, an original is largely out of my reach for two reasons. First, its builder has been incapable of keeping up with orders. There are people now waiting two or more years according to a number of posters to the Klein Electric Guitars Group over at Yahoo.com. Second, even used ones are fetching $5000. That’s about $4999 more than I currently have. Therefore, this brings me to my first project attempt. I’ve decided to attempt to recreate one. The primary inspiration for this goes to Jason Fink who showed it was possible. More recently, Francis Lannie began a similar project and has shown good progress.

The following are my major considerations in terms of the direction of the project:

1. Simplicity – I’m a big believer in “form follows function”. Some would say I’d have to be since the Klein shape is one of those love it or hate it designs. I also have little in the way of woodworking skills so the KISS (keep it simple stupid) principle is in effect.
2. Low cost – I have Fender Lace pickups already lying around from a long defunct Fender Strat Plus. I will also “borrow” the Steinberger licensed bridge from my Hohner headless.
3. Ergonomics – Apart from the shape itself, I’m also looking to keep weight down. To help meet this goal, I decided on a 1.5” thick alder body blank. I would have gone thinner - I love the Black Machine super thin guitars - but I’m limited by the depth of the Steinberger licensed bridge.

As far as specifics, I’ve decided to go with the following:

1. Alder body 1.5” thick
2. Bolt on neck – I’m not building the neck.
3. Fender Lace pickups in neck and bridge position
4. Control layout - Single volume, single tone and 3-position switch with a guitar face mounted output jack.
5. Wipe on finish – I’m considering tinted Danish oil or just black shellac like Myka’s beautiful work as seen here: http://www.mykaguitars.com/instruments/031/default.htm. I’m leaning toward black. I love black. Not only does it go with my minimalist approach, it also goes with my wardrobe.
6. Headless design – I’ll use a Kahler behind-the-nut locking clamp (rather than the standard headpiece seen on Steinberger designs) on a regular neck converted to headless duty.

For Mickguard’s sake, I haven’t ruled out a pickguard BUT I haven’t come up with a shape I like. The standard Klein pickguard doesn’t work for me. If I’m going to commit to a pickguard, then the knobs, pickups and output jack (conventional type not a strat type) should all mount to the pickguard. The standard Klein layout is a combination (I would say mish mash) of both pickguard and rear routed forms. It has to be one or the other. I welcome all comments and suggestions. I’m particularly curious about your thoughts on control layout and appropriate pickguard designs/layouts. Wish me luck…

By Robert Irizarry on March 1st, 2006 | Stumble it! | 6 Comments →

Topics: Guitar Build #1