Guitar Outlines

rienk
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Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:56 pm

Re: Guitar Outlines

Post by rienk »

Well, here it goes again.

My friend and I are intending to do our own guitar designs, using shapes similar to - but not the same as - the standard Martin, Gibson and Taylor shapes. However, it makes sens to have accurate drawings of their standard shapes for comparison, and to start from - preferably in DXF or other computer formats.

Does anyone know where I can obtain such? We only need the outlines, we'll lay out our own bracing patterns based upon the new shapes we develop. Granted, they won't be that much different than what everyone else has done for the last two hundred years - but we want to be able to say we built everything on the guitar - including the shape.

Yes, I can do rubbings or outlines of guitars at the local shop, but I'm lazy and am hoping to avoid having to draw, scan, and then redraw the outlines on the computer. If I have to, I will, but if any one feels a hankering to help us save some time, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Rienk
B. Howard
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Re: Guitar Outlines

Post by B. Howard »

Stew mac and others have paper plans you can buy and have your local copy shop scan them.
You never know what you are capable of until you actually try....

Brian Howard
www.brianhowardguitars.com
Taylor authorized service
Custom finishing services

Brian howard's guitar building & repair blog
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rienk
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Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:56 pm

Re: Guitar Outlines

Post by rienk »

Thanks. I should check again, but I thought that their measurements didn't actually match those listed in the Martin book (or the website). So much of what is advertised states that it a particular "style", but not necessarily a clone of the top. Maybe I'm being too anal about it, but 'close' doesn't seem good enough.
tippie53
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Re: Guitar Outlines

Post by tippie53 »

Martin sites has some mistakes on the sizes , in all honesty there was a good bit a variance through the years. The 000 14 fret is a prime example , it is actually 15 3/16 across the lower bout.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
rienk
Posts: 94
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:56 pm

Re: Guitar Outlines

Post by rienk »

tippie53 wrote:Martin sites has some mistakes on the sizes , in all honesty there was a good bit a variance through the years. The 000 14 fret is a prime example , it is actually 15 3/16 across the lower bout.
Which begs the question, how do I get ahold of accurate outlines?
I'm getting the impression that this is somehow some closely held secret no one is willing to share - which doesn't make sense to me. There seems to be no commercial advantage to withholding such information, as anyone can trace an outline of a guitar - which I guess I'll have to do. I was hoping that forums such as these might be able to help save some time and effort, and not have to "duplicate the wheel" so to speak.

Recently I saw a set of side bender plans being circulated between the members of this forum. If copying them multiple times doesn't infringe on a copyright, then making a PDF of them shouldn't either - which would be a great resource to post on this site for easy download.
Again, I was hoping the same might be made available for outlines and such.
 

Re: Guitar Outlines

Post by   »

rienk wrote:
tippie53 wrote:Martin sites has some mistakes on the sizes , in all honesty there was a good bit a variance through the years. The 000 14 fret is a prime example , it is actually 15 3/16 across the lower bout.
Which begs the question, how do I get ahold of accurate outlines?
I'm getting the impression that this is somehow some closely held secret no one is willing to share - which doesn't make sense to me. There seems to be no commercial advantage to withholding such information, as anyone can trace an outline of a guitar - which I guess I'll have to do. I was hoping that forums such as these might be able to help save some time and effort, and not have to "duplicate the wheel" so to speak.
You are correct in stating anyone can trace an outline of a guitar. So, why not just visit your local guitar venue and trace? Out of curiosity, I'm wondering why you need these exact measurements if you'll be building guitars of your own dimensions
-tommy
Darryl Young
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Re: Guitar Outlines

Post by Darryl Young »

Keep in mind when you make your own custom shape.......that now you will have to have a custom case built to fit it. Doable, just more expensive.

And yes, most mfgs don't share the dimensions of their body shapes.

There is neat freeware (free for personal use) available to create body shapes. Once you are done with the shape, you can export the outline as a dxf file. the name of it is G-Thang.
Slacker......
rienk
Posts: 94
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:56 pm

Re: Guitar Outlines

Post by rienk »

tommyboy wrote: You are correct in stating anyone can trace an outline of a guitar. So, why not just visit your local guitar venue and trace? Out of curiosity, I'm wondering why you need these exact measurements if you'll be building guitars of your own dimensions
-tommy
Because I was hoping not to have to go through the time and trouble of scanning and redrawing the outlines.

But since such help was not forthcoming, that is exactly what I did today. I got measurements of:
0-28 1919
0-18 1969
00-15 new
000-15 new
D-18 1950
DC-15 new

I plan to put together a comparison of how some of the shapes might have changed over the years. I still need the Jumbo and 12-fret, and for kicks would be interested in the other sizes as well. Likewise, I hope to eventually get outlines for Gibson, Fender, Taylor and others (I already have several Goodall and Takamine from guitars we’ve owned). I will make the data available to whomever might be interested.

Again, I’m using it as a starting point for my own designs, so this is more for curiosity regarding the history of this iconic guitar. Once I figure out what my shapes are going to be (which is really more about proportions, as a guitar still needs to look like a guitar), then I'll start machining molds, bending forms, etc.

Then the real work begins!
rienk
Posts: 94
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:56 pm

Re: Guitar Outlines

Post by rienk »

Darryl Young wrote: ... There is neat freeware (free for personal use) available to create body shapes. Once you are done with the shape, you can export the outline as a dxf file. the name of it is G-Thang.
Darryl, thank you SO much for that tip - I am downloading the software now!
And it may actually be really helpful in digitizing the outlines a received today, so that we can compare them all.
This is a great find!
tippie53
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Re: Guitar Outlines

Post by tippie53 »

With Martin guitars you will see the bodies change a little through the years. Nothing drastic but still there was an evolutionary thing going on. In the early days the molds and patterns were hand made so the variance was from the individual molds used , they as the old molds were replaced from Mahogany to plywood a change again in shape and now they are using an aluminum mold so this changed the shape a bit again.
The the top geometry also changed with time. The key isn't so much about coping the design as understanding why the changed occurred. Personally I would be more interested in the bracing changed. This link can help in that regard .
http://theunofficialmartinguitarforum.y ... Ln-sWcgvE0

enjoy it is a link from the UMGF forum
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
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