Guitar Body Material - Georg - Richard ??

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Eldon
Posts: 286
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 6:39 pm
Location: LeeSiding, Ontario

Guitar Body Material - Georg - Richard ??

Post by Eldon »

Has anyone tried using aluminum extrusions for their body. It's not traditional but I saw some at the salvage yard the other day and it seems it might work.

Georg, I think you've posted about it. Could you refer me or give me a few comments.
Music is what feelings sound like!

Eldon
richard37066
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Location: Gallatin, Tennessee, USA

Re: Guitar Body Material - Georg - Richard ??

Post by richard37066 »

Eldon -

Folks will debate until the cows come home about the virtues (or lack thereof) of wood versus mica and, now, aluminum extrusions in the building of guitar cabinets.

My GFI D-10 is built with aluminum extrusions and powder coated. There is NO "cabinet drop" that I can measure. That's because the extrusions sit vertically and are extremely strong in that position. Elsewhere, I posted (to Bent?) a couple of numbers which indicated how strong a piece of aluminum was as opposed to wood. Can't beat it for strength and light weight. HOWEVER - there will be the problem of attaching it to the end plates - neatly. See below for a solution. The top on my instrument is made of "die board" and covered in formica.

If you've read some of the posts by Georg and myself then you know that we both intend to build an aluminum sub-structure to which all of the hardware is attached and which absorbs all of the stresses. The wooden "cabinet" would then be slipped over all of the mechanicals and held in place with a few screws.

There's an alternative that I've thought of and which has not been mentioned (?) here on the forum and that is to build the entire "cabinet" with aluminum and then laminate your choice of pretty wood to the outside. The new space-age epoxies will hold everything together long after you and I are gone and forgotten.

As a reference - I just measured the front and rear aprons on my guitar and came up with 0.213". If you subtract a few thou for powder coating then the material, itself, is about 5mm thick. As part of the extrusion, there is a "bumpout" which is approximately 1/4-5/16" deep by about 5/8" high into which the crossrod bearings are seated. Above that there is another member which supports the top in recessed fashion. As to the corners: It appears that the aprons are held to the end plates with screws and the aprons, themselves, covered in formica along the full length of the guitar. Sound sorta familiar? It's the same suggestion that I had in the previous paragraph except that I would have used the pretty wood. Then again, if you're a real glutton for punishment, you could always build the whole thing out of aluminum and then spend the next couple of months in front of the buffing machine and creating your very own art-deco chrome looking PSG!

Now - after all of the above - the short answer is that Gene Fields does it with the GFI. A couple of others do, too. If you're not going to polish the bejabbers out of it then it should be obvious that - without using a bonafide extrusion - you can screw some pieces together and then be creative about hiding the screwheads. Just looked up the weight on my D10, 8X5 guitar and the GFI site says that it's 40 pounds.

I'm certain that you can sort out the pros and cons of the extrusions that you spoke of and make a good decision. If they won't work then there's always a couple of slabs of 1/4" type 6061 aluminum covered in fancy woodwork. Who'll know the difference?

Respectfully,

Richard
azureskys
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Re: Guitar Body Material - Georg - Richard ??

Post by azureskys »

i believe sieara made or makes a steel that is all aluminum body with a layer of vinal or plastic in wood grains over the aluminum and i think jackson makes its extreme model with an aluminum body . Russ
Allan
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Re: Guitar Body Material - Georg - Richard ??

Post by Allan »

Slightly away from the basic point of the thread possibly but here is an almost completely aluminum lap steel from an extrusion. I found it a while back while deciding if I would try a PU like this guy used in a lap steel I was building. Just for interest, I know it doesn't really answer any of your questions.

Allan.....
Only nuts eat squirrels.
Keep yer tools sharp! That way you can use more of your strength guiding them AWAY from your body rather than forcing the cut!!!
Eldon
Posts: 286
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Location: LeeSiding, Ontario

Re: Guitar Body Material - Georg - Richard ??

Post by Eldon »

Richard, thank you for your comments. They confirm most of my suspicions ("most" - we need to leave some wiggle room for oter ideas). My intent is to use a body made out of extrusions and screws be darned, they become part of the external ambiance of the unit. What I want is a working guitar not necessarily eye candy although I do have gret admiration for the folks that mirror polish their treasures.
Music is what feelings sound like!

Eldon
richard37066
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Location: Gallatin, Tennessee, USA

Re: Guitar Body Material - Georg - Richard ??

Post by richard37066 »

Eldon -

Have you made an attempt to see if that particular extrusion is readily available? I ask that since, if you really become enamored with the finished product it would be nice to have a supplier for the same and not be limited with a "one-off" or do you have access to enough material for more than one instrument? I ask that, also, since I've been looking for pedal bar material and my vision has become blurry what with the umpteen thousand varieties available by way of extrusions. None, by the way, suited my fancy. Gotta get some help from you folks that have already done it a few times.

Respectfully,

Richard
Eldon
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Location: LeeSiding, Ontario

Re: Guitar Body Material - Georg - Richard ??

Post by Eldon »

Richard, I'm what you might say a scrounger or oportunist that's why I go and check out my local recycler for 95% of my needs. I go with a concept in mind and look around for something that will work. Anyway - long story short - the guitar will be a one-off I don't plan on making any more.

You mentioned pedal bar mine is scrounged it is 1" by 2 1/4 inches. The square inside has 3/16" walls and the other portions are just under 1/8". See PDF sketch.
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Pedal Bar Cross Section.pdf
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Music is what feelings sound like!

Eldon
pro3tlb
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Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2013 3:11 pm

Re: Guitar Body Material - Georg - Richard ??

Post by pro3tlb »

Sierra did in fact make an all aluminum cabinet, as dose GFI. But remember the old original Rickenbacker Fry Pan, and the tone they had. Bobby Ingano in Hawaii plays one from the 1940's; give him a listen on YouTube; that should answer any questions. With today's milling machines, it may be easier than wood.
na4it
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Re: Guitar Body Material - Georg - Richard ??

Post by na4it »

I believe ETS pedal steels are all aluminum...
Scott Duckworth
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