Let's go shopping!

The source of much debate

There are many things you can fabricate yourself when building a guitar but there are some bits that (to me) just make more sense to buy.  I've seen builders who do build everything from scratch (knobs, pickups, even bridges).  I am not one of them.  

My opinions may change if I ever find myself with copious amounts of extra cash and oodles of spare time.  For now - I'm good with adding to the GNP.  

To that end - I use a variety of suppliers when sourcing parts:

StewMac is a high-end guitar builder's website that has all the parts you could ever need (and all the luthier tools you could ever want).   Luthier's Mercantile (LMI) is a phenomenal site for luthiers that build acoustic guitars but obviously many tools and supplies are transferable to electric guitars. They always have interesting decorative bits that no one else has.  I use Guitar Fetish for mostly necks these days - although I used to get all of my pickups/humbuckers there.  I have also used Greasy Groove, All Parts, and Warmoth for everything from knobs to potentiometers to guitar necks.

Since I'm on the topic - these days I'm getting my lumber from a few places: Woodcraft, Boulter Plywood (in Somerville), and Downes and Reader Hardwood (in Stoughton). 

As you can see - there's no shortage of places to shop.

Every purchase then is a choice when building a guitar and there are usually more than a few options. Go Google, "humbucker" if you want to see what I mean.

And with every choice comes plenty of opinions.  There are people who have strong feelings about the first image on this page.  Strong enough to then turn those feeling to an intense like or dislike for yours truly.  

...although if all emotions in the 'morass of personality' that is the internet are this intense - is anything really intense anymore?

Sorry, I digress...

The first image on this page is what is known as a Tune-o-matic bridge or TOM.  TOM's come in two major flavors: ABR-1 and Nashville.  The one up above is an ABR-1.  The original Les Pauls from the 50's to the 70's used them - so they are the more traditional Les Paul bridge.  The more modern 'Nashville' style TOM is used on most production Les Paul guitars today.  

Other than the above information - I don't have an opinion about which is better/worse.  If I ever build another Les Paul - I'll use a Nashville TOM and let you know which one makes me sound more like a rock god.  Until then - let's just run with the idea that it's a bridge and it'll work.

Abbondanza!

This pile of tightly coiled linguini is binding.  I've messed around with binding twice before.  I used very thin plastic binding (and incredibly thin purfling) on an acoustic guitar build.  I've also used wood binding on a twelve-string electric build that is still unfinished.  The above binding is unlike either.

Kinda looks like a 'Messenger' icon got drunk and fell down..

The thin plastic binding I used on the acoustic build was like handling spaghetti - it took a lot of concentration to keep all the pieces together and in the right place because they were so flexible.  The wood binding was very stiff and would break if you tried to bend it right out of the box.  As it was cocobolo wood - it bent with the application of heat.  The above binding is not thin but it is also not brittle either.  I will likely have to heat it to bend it around corners but no where near as much as I had to heat the cocobolo binding.  Also, it's unlikely that this will break - it is plastic after all.  So, I'm hoping for good things...

The funny thing is that this guitar doesn't strictly need any binding.  Binding us usually used to hide or protect the point where two woods are joined together.  This guitar doesn't have a top or cap - so it is strictly aesthetic on this build.

Really pretty but also really tiny

These beauties are fret marker inlays that may or may not find their way onto the PRS build. They are made of wood (boxwood I believe) and glued to a flexible backing.  When you add them to a fretboard and fill in the cracks and crevices with black epoxy they look like this.

I was going to use them for the Les Paul build but then I saw the below knockouts and thought,"You know, I haven't made this build difficult enough yet."

Shiny

Those are mother of pearl fret markers.  They are the same style used on Les Paul Standard necks and because they are made of shell - they are quite iridescent.  They are purdy and they will make this look more like an actual Les Paul.

Everything's shiny, Cap'n. Not to fret

But they are also a major pain to install.  The above wood fret markers are circular and small.  All you need to do is drill a shallow hole with a forstner bit (preferably on a drill press), drop a dollop of glue in the hole, put the marker in the hole, and you're done.  

Not so much with these guys..

I see a lot of inlay work in my future.  Well, I guess this is better than watching re-runs of The West Wing (...okay, but just barely...). 

Not so shiny

There are other challenges  - like how do I cover up this unfortunate situation at the 12th fret?  I'm thinking maybe something like this but we'll see..

And last but not least - I had to buy some money...

Thankfully I didn't pay face value

I bought these two Irish 20 pence coins on eBay a few years ago (along with another 30 - 40 coins of different denominations).  Since the Irish moved from their own currency to the Euro these things can be had for pennies.  Which is kind of funny - seeing as they are worthless.  

But "a fool and his money..."

I haven't come up with a brand or logo yet for what I'm doing - so in the meantime I've decided to use these as a temporary logo.  It has worked out so far (here, here, and here) so I'm sticking with it for now.

While this particular shopping excursion was fiscally painful it was also successful:

Bridge - StewMac

Binding - StewMac

Celtic dot fret marker inlays - Purflex

Mother of Pearl fret marker inlays - StewMac

Irish 20p coins - eBay

(not pictured) Fretwire - StewMac

Now I just have to save up for those Humbuckers...