Doing Things Wrong

Full-Sized Plans

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It really helps to make full-sized drawings before you start a guitar project. But finding guitar-size paper can be a problem. My Home Depot has big rolls of brown wrapping paper outside that are a good size, I tore off a few yards. Below, I've drawn a plan on a nice big piece of cardboard I saved that was the backing for something. But how do you transfer these plans to wood? I don't want to cut up my master, I need some extra-large tracing paper. So I went to Staples, but the closest thing they had was still too small, and $20. So I went to the supermarket next door, and found this baking paper.

This baking paper is 15 inches wide and as long as you need and nearly transparent. You can see I have traced only the outline, with the rest of the plan showing through. This paper takes pencil very well, and even has a grid on it that might be useful. It is a little slippery and doesn't like tape, but for FOUR BUCKS a roll, I can put up with that. Now I can cut out the tracing and copy it to the wood, and still have my master completely intact. Sweet.

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BigPrint

I haven't tried this yet, but it looks really promising. All you need is a decent picture of what you want to build and a single known dimension. I do this by hand using math, but this would be a lot easier. For a guitar or bass, the dimension can be picked off the neck, remembering that compensation for the G-string is usually zero.


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If you've read this whole site, you've probably picked up on my love of Danelectro guitars. Inexpensively produced for the masses, Danelectros are much better guitars than they have any right to be. Lipstick pickups, masonite bodies, innovative construction, great styling, tone, and playability, at bargain-basement prices. I just love Danelectros, both the old and the new.

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