This is what i hope to be the first of many.
See the whole build over at http://decibelguitars.com/proto1.
2010.07.14 Update: Complete! At least until i decide to start modifying it and swapping out components to test other ideas. 
Check out those stripes.
My band has a CD release party on July 12th, and i’d love to be playing a brand-spankin’ new Decibel on stage, so i’m doing a big push this week to try and get Proto 1 into playable shape.
I’ve put 3 coats of polymerized tung oil on the body so far. I’m aiming to do at least 2 coats per day for the next few days. I’ve filled a couple of minor holes and all the fret slot ends along the edges of the fretboard. Left to do:
This guitar will eventually be getting a GraphTech piezo system, but i’m going to forego that for now, since i won’t need it for the show, and i still need to do some milling on the bridge base plate to accommodate the piezo wiring.
Check out the Proto 1 page for the whole picstory!
Since first reading about the Parker Fly in the early 1990s, i was captivated by the idea of having access to both electric and acoustic sounds on one guitar, and being able to flip between them (or blend them) at will. In many ways, this was “the sound” i had been hearing in my head for years, and finally there was a guitar that could do it.
Years later, i finally acquired a stunning Parker Fly Classic, and it did not disappoint. Well, except for the fact i found that i wanted to be able to move between the magnetic and piezo sounds while playing, and with two hands already occupied with picking and fretting, that seemed like an ideal task for one of my feet.
Read on… Read more
I’m in the process of moving into my own shop… there’s still a lot to do, but i’m getting a bit of build time here and there. I’ve built up a small inventory of roughed-out parts, so i thought i’d take some pictures as a little teaser of what’s coming up…
Family shot. Left to right: Proto 3 AMX, dB1 Javelin, dB2 AMX.
… to keep everyone apprised as to what’s goin’ on. 
Most of my effort over the last couple of weeks has gone into getting some bodies and necks prepped before the shop move. I’ll likely be on a bit of a hiatus for a few weeks while my own space gets finished. Then i’ll be ready to start acquiring more tools and moving into the space to get back to building.
The body for Proto 3 has been trimmed out, along with a nice figured mahogany Javelin body, and another AMX out of swamp ash. These will likely become dB1 and dB2 respectively!
More to come soon!
| Build | dB2 |
|---|---|
| Model | AMX |
| Body | Swamp ash, 1-piece |
| Neck | 1-piece quartersawn hard rock maple, scarf-jointed swamp ash headstock |
| Fretboard | Ziricote, 16″ radius, 27″ scale, 24 frets |
| Start date | April 8, 2010 |
| Completion date |
dB2 AMX. Swamp ash body, quartersawn maple neck, ziricote fretboard.
The neck has a piece of swamp ash grafted on at the scarf joint for the headstock.
The ziricote fretboard has some beautiful “landscape” figuring in it, including some radiating lines along one edge that make it look like a sun setting behind rolling hills.
This is the second of two parts of an editorial on the price perception gap in the boutique and custom guitar market.
In some of the guitar forums i frequent, i encounter players (or hear stories passed on from other builders) who are looking for the custom-built guitar of their dreams for $800 to $1000, with a laundry list of exotic woods and high-end hardware… and they want it in 8 to 10 weeks.
There’s an old axiom that goes like this…
GOOD — FAST — CHEAP
Pick any two.
Click past the break to read on… Read more
A while back, i posted a couple of brief pieces on sevenstring.org that looked at the high-level economics of running a small guitar business. I still get occasional requests for a link back to the original posts, so i thought i’d extract it, update it and post it here, so there’s a more permanent (and easily-found) record of it. This is the first of two parts.
Why guitars cost what they do.
I’ve noticed in the last few years that there has been increasing demand for “custom shop” instruments. It’s one of those things that ebbs and flows over time, and the current economic situation notwithstanding, we seem to be on one of those upward swings where guitarists reach a certain level in their playing, and they’re no longer satisfied with “off-the-shelf” instruments, and start looking for something unique, something different, or something that just suits them better.
Along with this trend, i’ve also noticed (in general terms) that the average age and pocketbook depth of people seeking boutique or custom-shop instruments seems to be inversely proportional to the demand. I can’t count the number of threads on guitar discussion forums i’ve seen where a young player thinks he or she can get a guitar built to their spec for $1000 or less. A worrying trend is that there have actually been a few luthiers who will take them up on it.
Yet when you stop and look at what the true costs of building guitars as a small independent builder, you get a very different picture. No matter how you frame it, penny-pinching, perpetually broke musicians often don’t seem to understand why their dream custom guitar from a small builder should actually cost much, much more than the $1000 they’re willing to shell out. They can’t comprehend why the price list at a big-name custom shop like Jackson starts at around $3500. Click past the break to read more… Read more
Well, it’s been a busy month trying to get the first two prototypes (or at least one of them) done in time for the Post-NAMM JAMM at my friend Kevan’s house. Unfortunately, time constraints meant they weren’t complete in time, but they’re almost there.
Even in their unfinished state, people were able to pick up and hold both models, to get a sense for the ergonomics, the neck carves and the on-strap balance. Both the Javelin and the Aviator were very warmly received. Thanks, guys!
Proto 1 has been fretted, and all the extra little bits of drilling and routing have been done. I still have to thin down the headstock a little to accommodate the tuners, install side dots and do a little bit of filling and sanding. Then it’s just a matter of applying the tung oil and beeswax finish, installing hardware and electronics, then doing the final setup.
Proto 2 is almost at the same stage, it’s just awaiting fret installation, then it’ll be the same steps, with the exception of the finish, which i’m still thinking about sending out for a solid white paint job. (With a secret twist…)
So i’m likely going to start doing a big push on getting bodies and necks glued up and cut out. Proto 3 is on deck and just about ready to go. And i have some wood for the next couple of instruments after that… a mahogany Javelin and a swamp ash Stealth. These will very likely be officially designated dB1 and dB2… the first serial-numbered Decibels!
But don’t hold your breath… I also want to update you on what’s happening with Decibel’s shop space. Thus far, i’ve been borrowing shop space from our good friend Brian Bowes. For the last couple of months, life events have resulted in Brian needing to close down his workshop, so Decibel will no longer have a dedicated space in which to work as of the end of April.
But fear not… in the few weeks we have left, i’m hoping to get at least a couple more bodies and necks cut and prepped, so i can keep working on my own in a limited capacity until my own shop space is up and running. (If anyone out there has a shop i can borrow time in, that would be awesome!) Hopefully things will be back on track by the end of the summer, but i’ll continue to post updates and get whatever done that i can.
Take a look at the Prototype 1 page for the full progress of this build.
