Carving a Guitar (first attempt)

I'm thinking an electric guitar will be cooler looking than an acoustic one. 

This block has some stripes that I can incorporate into the body.

I researched lots of shapes, traditional and esoteric.

(Of course, I initially leaned toward a Doug Irwin or Cripe, but maybe something more generic will have wider appeal.)  

In this case, the stone will decide. Some  types of marble are easier to work than others. 

Especially since I usually just employ hand tools - hammer and chisel, files and lots of sandpaper.

This Danby marble from Vermont usually has pretty good grain consistency -- not too icy, not too sugary. 

I started the guitar project a couple of weeks ago and only work on it a couple hours at a time, since its been too friggin cold around here...my studio has little to no heat.

I usually avoid working with marble in the winter, however, I want to get this piece ready for spring/summer display.

The initial chiseling takes a while since you don't know the temperament of the stone and a single fracture can result in total project failure.

It took several hours just to cut the first corner using hand tools. I was being pretty timid at first.

I'm not a guitar player, so I'm just learning more about real guitars and how they are constructed. I thought of copying the traditional Fender or Gibson exactly, but the width of the soapstone block (for the neck) probably precluded making the "slanted curved shape" of the Fender headstock, and the depth of the soapstone block  probably precluded making the" tilted-back" headstock of the Gibson.

For structural integrity reasons I didn't want to make a Travis Bean slotted headstock, though the color of the body and the color of the neck would sorta match Jerry's white model and I liked the shape (and was the first guitar I saw Jerry play with the Dead - so a sentimental favorite).

I don't have any more of the long rectangular soapstone blocks in stock, so in a way, the neck parameters determined the body characteristics.  (I sawed the original soapstone block legthwise in two, so I actually have a spare neck the same size)

So it's gonna be a "custom" shape for the body and neck - with nods to the classics. (And I guess this way I can avoid getting sued by some corporate entity.)

Here's the front and back of the neck at an early stage. I intent to install real tuning pegs, a nut, a bridge,and strings. The engineering will come later. TBD.

Maybe carve a pickguard. Carve some knobs. Probably install real strapholder "bolts." The pickups will be fake. 

(If I make a second guitar I will carve a hollow for real electronics, knowing it will not be a musical instrument, but it would be a cool musical sculpture.)

The soapstone was so soft it was easy to accidentally take too much off. After the initial chiseling, I mainly stuck to files and rasps. Note- the sucky part about carving symmetrical shapes (like a guitar neck) is that if you fuck up one side, you just doubled your work. And since you are working in 3D, there's one more opportunity to screw something up. 

My last piece, "Done For The Day", included two shapes that were both symmetrical and almost-identical. Anytime I messed up or modified up one side of a shoe I had three more sides to adjust. Pain in the ass.The limestone I used for this piece allowed for more detail than the marble usually does, and provided more stability than soapstone (because it's harder). But I thought a limestone guitar would be boring-looking. It's consistently tan. The Egyptians used to paint it.

To stay in the context of the black screen I will rename them "Wally's Shoes," as we know Bobby wears Birkenstocks and Phil wears those moonshoe sneakers.

But I will stay focused on the guitar.. please check back for regular updates. It's far from done but getting there.

For the net few days I concentrated on carving a basic shape for the body. I started out using hand tools --  a hammer and various carbide-tipped chisels -- ro remove "chunks."   For a piece this size, the chunks are each about the size of an acorn. If you look closely you can see the gouges left by the prongs of a multi-point chisel. In general, one starts with a single point chisel, then moves to multi-pointed toothed chisels, then on to flat ones.

I seldom use power tools, but for this project I utilized an inexpensive angle grinder with a $4 grinding wheel (made for concrete) to smooth out the rough spots left over from chiseling. It saves immense amounts of time, even though it still takes hours and hours and hours to grind away inches of marble. (I get a lot of music listening done and thank god we still have a freestyle college radio station nearby..WTMD). I also broke out the pneumatic chisels, which allowed me to "shave" the marble. which greatly reduces the risk of rock fracture. The picture below looks dim because I am working in the "dust booth" - a portion of the studio I have walled off with plastic sheets. Using power tools raises a lot of dust. so wearing a respirator is required.

One design mystery is what to do with the block of marble "beneath" the guitar body. I don't have access to a saw that will cut a block of this depth -- so chopping it all off was not an option. And I had to figure out which way the guitar will sit when it's finally finished. Is it going to be laying down?, upright? leaning against something? At this point I'm picturing it upright.

Wall of sound is close... Several days later I was doing an initial rough sanding to get the feel of the shape. At this point the any real sanding is useless as there is still lots of reshaping left to do, muchless finishing work. But I found it helps to get one's hands directly on the marble. . And I was thinking... what to do with the back block? (I guess I coulda carved an acoustic guitar and utilized the whole depth of the marble block, but that seemed a little tame.) What's rectangular and related to guitars?

An amplifier...fuckin brilliant!!!  This is the first moment that I knew what the piece would "be" in the end.

The guitar will be "leaning against" a little amp.  I was psyched. Now I had a direction. So I went to work on the reverse side.

 Carved some knobs and a speaker grill. There's a lot more work to do, but this is the foundation. 

Early version (the neck will end up much darker after finishing):

Frets added: I was going to cut slots and insert wire to make frets, but that greatly increased the chance of breakage, so I carved them instead. They will intentionally be a little higher than on a real guitar so they throw shadows (important when working with monotone-colored materials). Also, since it wont be played, the frets aren't measured correctly, as I want to leave plenty of room for inlays.

Thankfully I mainly use hand tools, so an open shed door and a big fan usually suffice. In the summer I can work outside and since I'm in an industrial area near a railroad track near a quarry (all right smack in the heart of the suburbs), I'm not that worried about environmental issues.

Stone dust is a big problem when I use power tools and pneumatic tools indoors, which I'm doing now. Since I'm renting studio space, I haven't bashed a whole in the wall and installed a real fan, yet. Or purchased a dust-reduction system (pricey). So I count on my respirator, new filter cartridges, a wet vac and an area I've isolated with plastic sheeting. Hopefully, when I move into a new space it will have industrial strength ventilation, as I plan to use power equipment more frequently.

It is a health concern and I try to reduce the risk by working wet as much as possible.

Now that the basics are done, a long period of refinement begins: shaping, detailing, sanding, more sanding, assembly, finishing/polishing, hardware, quality control...

Here's a rough draft of what it may look like (but more shapely and "fluid"): I've got nickle-plated tuning pegs and bridge.

I still need some pickups or I might make some. I carved some proto-knobs out of the soapstone. I need to add some strapholders and a hole (for cord).

Once the neck is attached to the bridge I'll add a nut and string it up. 

Note: I used the largest block of marble and the longest piece of soapstone I had in the shop (I usually stock up when spring hits Vermont), but the guitar is not full size. But I think it will look good anyway due to the contrast -- a highly polished, curvy guitar standing upright against a little blocky amp (with a rougher "roadworn" texture).

Thanks but I need the pure strains....

Somehow the good chunks always end up being furthest from the car..

The good shit...

Been busy making the guitar body thinner and making the cutouts better (fairly hard spots to get a file into)...

..and working on the slot the neck will be in.... I'm thinking of attaching it using "pin and epoxy" or a bolting it on  (which would be visible from front but could be disguised)...

and widening the grooves between the guitar and the block behind it to make the image "pop" more...

it's just so friggin cold I'm not getting a lot of work done in the studio the past few days

Some good progress.... got the tuning peg holes drilled and got the pegs inserted.

Working on amplifier details and the shape of the guitar body  (I don't know if you can tell but I improved the shape of the left "arm"). Now I have to get the proportions correct.

That bout of winter set me back a bit. Been sanding when I can.  I'm up to 1500 grit sandpaper on the neck, so that part is almost finished. Note that the neck gets darker as I polish it. It will be waxed and polished more, eventually.

I tried carving a nut (the 6-slotted "comb" that holds the string in place on the top of the neck) out of petrified wood, but switched to a store-bought one instead. I filed out a little slot in the neck and epoxied it in. My frets are raised compared to a real instrument, but I need them a little high so they cast shadows. So the nut and bridge need to  be raised up a tad, too.

Only up to 400 grit on the body..... I'm trying to get a real glassy-looking finish on it.  This picture doesn't really show how glossy it is getting.

Because it's impossible for me to carve a hollow space in the backside of the guitar (there is no backside), the guy at the store also sold me a cool looking bridge that doesn't have to have the strings anchored from underneath the body (like on many electric guitars). Once I attach the neck I will place the bridge on the body so that the strings are lined up "straight". Then string it. Then add volume knobs, strap holders, etc.

closeup

All this is done by eye and rough measurements, so nothing is perfectly symmetrical. Miraculously, the store bought nut just happened to be the exact width of the top of the neck -- so that was auspicious. 

Never built a guitar or any instrument before. I'd like to make one that had some real electronics, just for fun. 

Yes the neck is Brazilian soapstone -- with a relatively high talc content. I got it from a place on the Vermont / NY state border. The way it's polishing up, it reminds me of those old work benches in the high school lab. It actually has some gold flecks of pyrite in it.

Marble costs me roughly 1 dollar per pound (but I have to go to Rutland Vermont to get it) and this Brazilian soapstone about 2 dollars a pound. The marble block I started with for this project weighed 95 pounds. Occasionally, I use soapstone I collect from a long-abandoned quarry (they used soapstone for bathtubs and fireplace inserts because it retains heat). Alabaster can be imported from Utah and Colorado, for a couple dollars a pound, but shipping charges add up. So a high quality piece of stone that you can haul around usually costs between 100 and 200 dollars.

Tool-wise, one good chisel can cost $35 and up, but a starter kit for handcarving stone (hammer, chisels, files) can be purchased for a little over $100. I use steel tools for the softer stone and carbide tipped or diamond grit for the harder materials. But you always need more tools -- right?  When I use power tools, I buy cheap ones because dust invariable ruins them. A basic set of pneumatics and a compressor -- a thousand or two, depending on size.

I spend a lot at Lowes for various incidentals - filters for respirators ($!7), grinding wheels ($5), tile files ($15). Then there is studio rent.

Cortisone shot to shoulder -- hopefully covered by health insurance.

"Time" is probably the biggest expense -- the hancrafted work usually takes months to complete.

Currently my art sells for a couple thousand a piece. However, instrumental tombstones for musicians might fetch a much higher price!

Here's another piece made from the same marble used for the guitar, "Betty in the Bubble Bath". The finished piece is 2 ft long  and weighs about 60 lbs.

It's done! 

Electric guitar body and amplifier carved from Vermont Danby marble.

Guitar neck, knobs, pickup, strapholder, base of bridge,and nut carved from Brazilian soapstone.

Tuning pegs and bridge from local guitar store. Assorted metal parts from junk drawer. 

Cable input. (Surprisingly, I chiseled the hole good enough so that no glue was required to hold the inscribed "washer" in the stone. One tap with the hammer and it fit perfectly. That rarely happens.)

I was told a single pickup guitar only needs two knobs. I carved these two and epoxied them on the body.

Usually I would drill a hole in the knob and in the body and connect them with a pin and glue that in, but at his late stage in production I wanted to avoid cracking the body, so I took the safer,  "less correct" alternative and skipped the pin.

I got an inexpensive bridge from the guitar store and modified it a bit. I had to mount it on a base to provide clearance for the strings, as my frets were higher than on a real guitar.

The pickup I had to carve myself. The hard part was sizing it correctly. I don't measure much -- just eyeball it mostly. I added a dab of silver metallic paint for contrast since the stone was gray.

I consider the project a success since a prime goal was to produce a highly polished guitar (with "realistic" glossy finish) against an unfinished stone amplifier (so it looks dinged and road-worn).

For the strapholder, I got courageous and drilled into the "arm," but I was freakin out that I might crack it, so I didn't drill deep enough to insert a metal piece I had. So I carved a strapholder out of soapstone and glued it in the hole. 

I know that the amp cable input goes on the front of the amp and not the side, but I needed something visual on this side of the piece. Plus I was thinking of running a real piece of cable between the guitar and amp, and if I do, I didn't want it obscuring the the face of the amp. So I invoked "artist perogative." 

I carved a couple knobs and buttons on the amp and added a "little red light" and a handle. I might carve a more realistic-looking handle, but this one just seemed to fit.

As mentioned previously, I drilled holes in the headstock and screwed in real tuning pegs.

The nut (the string guide at the top of the neck) presented a challenge. First, I carved one out of petrified wood. Then I tried a store-bought one. Neither worked due to my "custom" geometries... I didn't copy a Fender or Gibson headstock and there are reasons they are shaped like that.

So I had to be a bit creative and invent something that would position the strings correctly from the tuning pegs down to the bridge. remember, my frets were purposely higher than normal ones (to throw shadows). I drilled six holes in a piece of soapstone instead of carving grooves. This seemed to work well, though I could have done a better job measuring.  I was pretty close.

After watching a couple YouTubes I still couldn't figure out how to sting a guitar professionally. I'm sure it's easy once you learn how to wind and tie them correctly. I did a hack job. But I don't think anyone will notice.

And yes, that is an instantly-recognizable green "Eat Bertha's Mussels" bumpersticker in the background. Once you know it, you will spot them all over the country.

Here it is (one cortisone shot and two PT sessions later):

The guitar body really shines. I took it to 1500 grit.  When I put a second coat of wax on it, it will glow. I'll take some better pictures soon but wanted to give the Zone a preview. Thanks for all the support and encouragement. Much appreciated.

It needs a name though..... So far the working title is" Rock and Roll Tombstone". 

Any ideas?

Betty in the Bathtub is in a new galley in Hudson Valley / Catskills if you are ever up that way. "Art at Leeds" (in Leeds). They have some very psychedelic stuff in there among other artworks.

I'm hoping to get Done for the Day (limestone shoes) accepted into a big exhibition this fall (National Sculpture Society), but I'm an amateur compared to some of these folks. I also submitted Betty and a small marble piece called First Kiss.

I currently have a piece at Columbia Art Center (near Merriweather Post Pavilion) in Columbia MD and two pieces in a online show (which doesn't do much for sculptors, but looks good on the resume).

I just gave it a final coat. I have fancy wax I use if I know something is going outdoors, but prefer the regular Johnson's. 

I gotta say it looks more shiny in person (it feels great, too --  for polished marble). My cell phone camera doesn't do it justice..

"..And It Stoned Me" (Van Morrison) is currently the number 1 title for the guitar sculpture. 

The working name is "Rock and Roll Tombstone" . (I purposely left room for an inscription, just in case).

keep those cards and letters coming

Ok, so I made some minor improvements: I replaced the metal handle on the amplifier with a stone one that I carved (same stone as the neck).

And I polished out more of the rough spots on the amp to let the stone's natural patterns seep thru. I still want the amp to appear beat-up to provide contrast to the shiny guitar body, but I this stone has some nice markings I want to show. And it makes the piece look more expensive.

I got the guitar in a show in a new gallery in the Catskills.  It's located in a historic firehouse in the town of Leeds. The Hudson Valley is supposedly a hotbed of art nowadays, so maybe a rich musician will drive by and stop in.

Thank you. Since I just got back from DelFest, I am thinking of making a mandolin --  if I have the time to drive up to the Vermont / NY border to source the necks (soapstone already cut into "planks").

I already have some nice Brazilian soapstone for the body with blue streaks in it.

It may be too soft, though -- it has a very high talc content. I previously used it for this:

But I'm temporarily slowing down a bit as I'm dealing with a frozen shoulder. (That's a topic for another thread. Nothing like advice from the Zone doctors.)

Until I get fully back in shape I'm teaching kids (rock carving) at local schools and camp.

Thanks. I'm about to exhibit a really cool one.

Last year I made some (real) holograms of one of my sculptures as part of an Artist in Residency award. 

The idea I pitched to get into this coming exhibit is to present two exact versions of the same image -- one made from rock using old technology (hammer, chisel) and the other made from pure light using new technology (lasers, high end optics). Hopefully it will look something like this:

The gallery is the middle of PA in a town called Williamsport -- home of little league or something. I've not been there yet.

Getting the 3D images to show correctly is a challenge because certain lighting conditions have to be met. I'm hoping they can pull it off.

If anyone is passing thru Williamsport next month...check it out.

Stu baby, that's marble, not granite.

From the  Danby Quarry: The Vermont Danby quarry is the largest underground marble quarry in the world. The quarry is entered through the same opening that has been in use for over 100 years. From there the quarry twists and turns 1 ½ miles deep where Danby Marble is quarried.

Note to self: in the event of impending nuclear war, book a tour of the Danby quarry.

I would have expected an outdoorsman like yourself to know the difference. Next time - try this test - take a bite of granite, swallow, then a mouthful of marble and crunch it around..... see? The granite tastes like a tombstone and the marble tastes like a Roman statue. Easy Peezy.

(and thanks!)

>>>>>I have no doctorly advice. It goes away over time. I little cortisone shot may help.

crap, that's exactly what my doctor said!

(and thanks)

The red light is a cool little gold washer from something around here, with a little red iridescent button in it (from my mom's button box that we inherited).

And I just remembered an instance where i did actually create stone...if shitting a brick counts. The incident involved a smoke-filled station wagon on a dead end street and a New Haven cop. We didn't go to jail somehow. 

< Alan, did you live in New Haven? If so, what years?>

Not New Haven. What made you think that? Too cold for me up there. 

I have had a steamed cheeseburger in Meridan. And almost got arrested in Hamden, back when weed ws evil.  And I can get you in to The Pantry (in New Haven) without waiting in line.

But many years ago -- back in the Keith and Donna days -- I did spend time in the heart of another jewel of New England - Worcester -- [pronounced Woooooster ]-- The only good thing about that town was it's proximity to concert venues in other cities. After a show, we could usually make it home for morning (looking back, probably afternoon) classes.

<He's very talented & a real artist.>

Good morning Blue... sounds like a rough night with many interruptions. What are you doing posting after midnight AND at 5 am? At your age, a man needs his sleep. Otherwise you'll start posting gibberish and the online crowd will ridicule your nonsensical manic depressive, threatening rants, further working you into a frenzy, leading to another sleepless night...and the cycle continues until you have to be physically pried away from your cumstained office chair in front of the multiple video screens.

And your sarcasm is blinding but you should learn something from this thread --- all  the art is presented in a single thread!  

(I find so many mini-movie threads annoying as hell. It's like flotsam after a storm, clogging up the black screen everyday...Zone pollution.)

You don't need an entire folder, just post your links in a single thread. Call it "Visions of Insomnia."

You should try doing  it. Not for me; for the children.