Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Kid Size Electric Guitars

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Cedar Park, TX - Boulder Creek, CA
    Posts
    830

    Kid Size Electric Guitars

    Several years ago, my Mom told me what my nephew Aidan wanted for Christmas ... "an electric kittar ... a V". He was pretty young ...

    This was about Halloween. V's suck, you can't play them sitting down. It's gotta be a Strat or Les Paul ... I looked around a bit and found some cheap kid sized Strat style instruments. I thought I could do better. I figured realistically I had about 6 weeks. So started the 'design trade'. Carved top ... out. Set neck ... out. Slab body, bolted neck, ala Fender, was the only reasonable choice. Scale? Somewhere around 80%. Scale length? Ummmmm, I guess I could do anything I want, either slot them myself or get LMII to do me a custom. No time for that, what's close? Tenor Banjo. Done, and ordered. Pick a tailpiece and pickups ...

    I had a slab of Cherry that looked promising for the bodies. Bodies? Yeah, he's got a younger brother, better make 2. It had a knot in one end that looked like it would clean up with the neck pocket. Typical flat sawn piece, I decided to split and reverse it to oppose the growth rings to stabilize it, and pocket it out to save some weight. I ran the rings out to the corners, figuring it was less likely to split off that way if dropped. Splitting it also gave me the opportunity to mill half round grooves for the wiring and jack plug.

    body_3-4_electric_top.JPGbody_3-4_electric_bot.JPG

    The necks were carved out of Sapele. Some of the contour was done by CNC, but there was a fair bit of hand work getting it right at the heel and headstock. Overlays were bandsawed from a chunk of scrap cherry. Finish is shellac. Quick and easy. They were basically done a week before Christmas.

    assy_body_3-4_electric.JPGassy_3-4_electric.JPG

    My nephew was pretty well wide eyed when he saw this. I went out to my car to get a mini-amp and cable for him to try it, tears of joy running down my face.

    Size comparison with a Martin OO-18:

    lp_80per.JPG

    Need to make another ...

  2. #2
    Wow, you make it look and sound so easy. I know how much effort goes into each step - especially when doing a custom size and scale.

    You’ve made these before right? Did you make the fretboard too?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Michiana
    Posts
    3,040
    Well played sir.

    Sharp solves all manner of problems.

  4. #4
    Very nicely done!! And a 00 is the perfect size reference, as well.

    David
    David
    CurlyWoodShop on Etsy, David Falkner on YouTube, difalkner on Instagram

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,638
    Nice job! I'm glad you did your own, too. While scaled down kits are available, they are really full of compromises and don't bring the joy of actual woodworking very much. WHhle I use CNC, it's just doing the heavy lifting and there is necessarily a lot of hand work to bring things to fruition as you state!

    LP Jr, Tele and Strat types scale down nicely when you need to for a kid-size instrument...it's mostly a math problem. You can go single pickup, too, if need be to conserve space if necessary.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Cedar Park, TX - Boulder Creek, CA
    Posts
    830
    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    Wow, you make it look and sound so easy. I know how much effort goes into each step - especially when doing a custom size and scale.

    You’ve made these before right? Did you make the fretboard too?
    ** Bottom line, I moved here: Just do it. It's not hard, and hearing the thing make sound for the first time is so rewarding. The only fussy thing is the fretboard, and you can buy that ready to go for not much money. **

    The only instrument I had made was a Mandolin at one of Rick Turner's classes. But that gave me the basics of setup for these. The rest is just basic mechanical design, which I made a living at for quite a few years.

    I bought the fretboards slotted and radiused from LMII. Madagascar Ebony I think. 22.875 scale. The width at the nut is about 1-9/16. Playable for an adult, but not my fat fingers. I used the index slot for a zero fret, which made fitting the nuts easier. Some of the parts came from Stew-Mac, I think the electronics and tailpieces. I'd pick something, order one, model it up quick to see how it would work. Luckily those few pieces worked out fine so I could just order the rest while I kept going. I skipped the selector switch, just use the volume knobs. I think the standard LP type switch was too deep for the body. The pot cover and neck plates were made from #8 finish stainless steel to match the chrome (or nickel?) finish on the tuners.

    I had some of the materials and tools already, planning to build an acoustic. I think bought a fret wire bender in the process.

    The body halves were pocketed and doweled for alignment. I don't remember now if I added some locating features to go off of for the outer profiling, neck pocket, and pickup cavities. All that done on my Fadal. Edges done with a router. One of them had a chip break out on the upper front side. Nothing but a massive pile of shavings on the floor, no way I was gonna find it. I figured since I had the rest of the block it was milled from I could cut out a piece from the same area and get a decent match to fill it. In the process of sweeping up the shavings a couple days later, I looked down ... no way, can't be, not possible ... a drop of glue, shave it down close and hit it with the router again. I'd probably have to show you where it is :-)

    The only hole I drilled for wiring was a ground to the tailpiece. And I cut a pocket in the top for a ring terminal, drilled and tapped the tailpiece for it. I've seen a number of stories about problems there, and they typically have a bare bit of wire hanging out with the tailpiece clamped down on it. Not a great connection.

    I took them to work and a friend brought a cable so we could try them down in the parking garage where there was an outlet in a far dark corner. We were both amazed at how good they sounded, and he said I had the action and intonation perfect. Some guy came walking over and said 'yeah, I didn't think that sounded like a car stereo...'

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Cedar Park, TX - Boulder Creek, CA
    Posts
    830
    Quote Originally Posted by David Falkner View Post
    Very nicely done!! And a 00 is the perfect size reference, as well.

    David

    That was my 50th BD present to myself*. I was looking for something made the year I was born, '59. Missed it by 1 year, it's a '60. But it sounded so good I was willing to compromise.

    * Same friend who played them found me a bottle of Scotch to buy, but it was $3500 or something like that. This was a bit cheaper.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •