Thanks Ben for another awesome video! By the way, in response to th-cam.com/video/tCCEN-04WLk/w-d-xo.html: found your dust mask right there at th-cam.com/video/tCCEN-04WLk/w-d-xo.html
Will you make a guitar for me if i call you papa? I'll never talk back and I'll do my chores without you asking🤣... your videos are awesome keep up the great work!!!
A thing that Apple did in Mac Pro gleefully nicknamed the cheese grater is that they used a ball end mill not a flat end mill. Your results are super cool, it kinda looks like it has a resonant chamber there. The Apple one is more flowing though. Just wanted to share so that maybe you'll use it for future experiments.
There's just a hint of overworking the strings in most of the limited playing I've seen (or it could just be a recording thing, engineered for speech), as in hitting it harder than what suits the music. It just feels like his playing style lends itself for some unyielding metal instead of what he usually plays.
When I was a child, my father wanted me to follow his passion with woodwind instruments...a few years later he discovered drum sticks I had bought at a local music store. It broke dad's heart but I still play and own the drums that replaced my clarinet. I hope your efforts are rewarded and your daughter learns and enjoys the fruits of her father's occupation. :)
lol at least your dad was somewhat supportive, my mom told me I would never play guitar any good, I can't sing because I wasn't born with the talent to do so. And yes she said it like that, thinking it was tough love and not discouragement. Today she is eating her words since I can pop off the Serrana Arpeggios from Jason Becker, and I can now sing Micro Cuts by Muse (very hard song to sing, if you've heard it you will know why) and my current useble (meaning I can form words at that pitch) vocal range sits at a C2 - B6. I just didn't listen when she told me that. She had never heard me play or sing when she said it that was the real kicker.
@@evilcowboy I hate negativity, and parents are often the ones who begin that demeaning process. I didn't have a mother, she divorced my dad before I was 5. I was raised by my grandmother who played piano and loved music. My dad saw me only on weekends. :)
@@evilcowboy Hmmm. It seems to me the "tough love" worked. You did it in spite of her accusation, which was what she wanted for you all along. She couldn't teach you or even guide you in the direction of music, therefore, she said you couldn't do it, hoping it would make you figure a way. Guess what. Her method of "guidance" worked. That's the way some taught. The way where everyone does NOT win a trophy. That should make your "trophy" that much more meaningful. Congratulations on having a mother that cares for you. Remember her on Mothers Day....and today. Call her. My mother passed away in 1989. I was 24 years old. All I can do is remember.
Back in the late 80's a pal of mine took an import Strat type body and went to work with hole saws of various diameters, drilling completely through the body. He painted the results a nice yellow, installed a 12 string neck and bridge, and dubbed it "Swiss Cheese". It sounded really good.
I adore how just *beastly* that guitar looks and then the weight comes up XD And of course I love the purple. I went "Oh wow." when I finally saw what you were doing. Looks great!
Looking forward to seeing how the custom forged circular cell honeycomb tuners look in part 12 of the series. For weight relief I’m going to say 2.1 lbs.
Love your process, Ben. The viewer can practically see the creativity emitting from you head as it happens! Thanks for letting us tag along on your adventures!
Interesting 3D-effect. I say the weight relief so far is about 422 gramm. As this is my first comment on any of your videos, I have to thank you for - at this point - some years of awesome enterainment, invaluable knowedge, some great tools and not least my very first few selfmade guitars. Your content has always been inspiring. Cheers.
Hi! When i was a full-time bass maker, weight was the main reason my clients came to my shop. I started to think ways yo reduce it, and managed to lower it to 3,1kg in average for a 5 strings :D
Dad!!! I love it!!! My dad died when I was a kid. He was a mechanic and fixed up three wheelers and things like that for me. It's awesome to have a parent with such passion and passing it down to their kids. Very nice guitar!!
Dreamy... and my aspie brain seriously wants to put at least 10 dials in the holes in a very abstract way to control what? Who cares...would be madness and even keep the holes to pass through. Love the gentle nature of the color. You are a craftsman.
True story: A colleague at work once showed me an electric guitar with many holes drilled through its body in a similar fashion. "Is this not a COOL guitar?" he said. After a little thought, I replied unto him, "It's certainly well-ventilated."
You are very patient Ben. How can you be so creative and patient at the same time. The straight lines of the holes clash with the curves of the body. Really like the overlap in the holes between the front and back. Thanks
The effect of the overlapping holes front and back is really cool. Makes the body appear to be hollow. I am curious as to how you treat all of those sharp edges. So here is my suggestion. In my woodworking I hate sharp edges and corners (due to chipping and the finish wearing off of those sharp corners) so I keep a 1/16” round over router bit loaded in a small trim router (with the offset base). I find that little round over is hardly noticeable and much nicer to the touch. You will still have to quickly touch that little round with a piece of 150 grit sandpaper, but that goes really quickly. My guess is that you have removed 2.7 lbs/1226 grams of material. And I am betting that your daughter will be absolutely thrilled with her “new”, and very unique, axe. One of these days I am going to have to try my hand at building a guitar.
'Puckered the old proverbials' - I'm gonna use this all the time now! It'd definitely be great to see this guitar painted clean silver like the iMac, maybe make a bit of an Apple style guitar with it with their clean aesthetic
Walking out the dividers like that is how you lay out rivet patterns for helicopters/ airplanes. I was just doing that a few minutes ago. Im watching you on my lunch break
Well, since you like to make it difficult for you... go on with it and make the holes look like a honeycomb 😂😂 Looks awesome so far! I'm lookinf forward to the finishing process 😎🔥
My middle daughter asked me to build her a guitar because she wanted to learn to play. I just finished it. It's a one piece ash body with myrtlewood top, maple neck with ebony fretboard, myrtlewood binding and dots, and a myrtlewood headstock cap.
9:02 I appreciate how you just let everything breathe by stopping the music and allowing the silence for a few seconds. That was very relaxing and gave me some time to catch up, reflect, and head onto the next part of the video with a better understanding. It's amazing how great just a few seconds of silence is!
I guessed 3.27 lbs and got a heart too. So I'm guessing we're damn close. I did not go through the comments when I guessed either...just kinda blurted out 3.27, like Rainman in his K-mart underwear..
I love the look. My guess on the "weight loss" is 14oz. Or .397kg! This should be really great when finished. A great idea for weight removal and for a design change. ✌️
Very cool video, and a cool finished guitar. Excellent work, sir!! One minor nit-pick from a machinist here; please wear safety glasses when you're operating that drill press! Never want to see anyone get hurt doing something they love. ;o)
Nice one, so far! I'm interested to see how/if the sound of the instrument has changed. I will admit I'm a little concerned that it might end up being a bit on the fragile side for a child's guitar. Edit: I'm guessing that you have removed the equivalent weight of 14 glass marbles, 3 quarter-inch steel washers, and a banana.
That's excellent. Even though I've just watched you do it, I can't figure out how it looks so hollow. I wonder how it will feel when your arm is resting on it?
Buddy of mine blamed me for stealing his booze,a couple weeks later he found it in his cupboard of pots and pans,he felt bad for blaming me,so he gave me his guitar which he bought from the grocery store for $5,it was in bad shape so I worked on it to be played,it is a CB sky kids guitar,I gave it to my daughter,I'm the only one who plays it,I hope she likes it within the next decade,I love guitar just as much as you,I hope your daughter keeps this forever.
Beat you! my mate sold me his tele copy he made about 35 years ago . Ash body, so heavy he drilled it out like a honeycomb .in fact there is the body of a bee in one of the cells god knows how he got there. it gave the guitar a really different tone . I love it and it plays like a dream.
Same idea used to remove weight from hot rods in the fifty's. Holes of various diameters were drilled out of the inner doors along with the removal of most the nonessential interior.
Greetings from South Florida USA. This is the first time I've seen open chambering on a guitar body. It's usually hidden under a 1/4" (7mm) top. My only caution is when you do the refinishing. The newly exposed wood could use up a bit more paint thus adding a bit of weight. But if you burn it....... Thanks for your informative and fun videos.
I reckon the holes are larger than 20mm diameter - assuming Ben used the same drill bit as on the trial piece that you can see a steel rule in - maybe about 24-25mm? Also compare their relative size with the humbucker route, usually about 40mm wide.
I have to agree with everything he says in this video. I'm a beginner myself, so I'm happy to get high quality guitars for a really good price. But of course I will upgrade to something like the Fender when I feel I am ready. It's not an entirely rational decision, it's got an emotive element. Playing music is art, there is an element of the love of the history/tradition, of brand tribalism, of appreciation of the craftsmanship of the instrument, of being part of a clique with others who have the same specific preferences, of emulation of the stars you look up to, of supporting the company (and manufacturing location if its important) and all these are fine, they arent meant in a negative way, rather they round out the hobby. Would I pay an extra 1000 for an original Fender? Yes, undoubtedly, at the right time of my musical career. Well, not a Fender for me personally, as I am a metalhead and have the same attachment to Ibanez for their place in the metal community as others have for Fenders, which is kind of a case in point. It's not exactly rational, but it's meaningful to me.
I think that to make a guitar lighter I would start by routing out most of the area that is covered by the scratch plate - that being the low hanging fruit in this case as that material would not be missed from a visual aspect. A new scratch plate that could cover a wider area such as the top and bottom horn (as seen in guitars like the Burns Bison) would allow this hollowed area to be extended. In other guitar designs such as an LP style where the guitar would not have a scratch plate I would be tempted to use a band saw to completely remove the top allowing me to route out the majority of the body area below where said top sits before gluing it back on. I have no idea how well this would work, but then I am a hobbyist going through a thought exercise.
"We have to talk" is actually FOUR words that nobody really wants to hear. A good example of THREE words that nobody really wants to hear would be something more along the lines of "You have herpes".
Can I offer a possible word of advice to you as a father? My father plays. In 9th grade I took an interest in learning. He bought me a guitar and some books. I fumbled with them a few months, then quit. My freshman year of college Enter Sandman came out, my roommate said if I bought the tab book he could teach me how to read it. Over break I was home practicing the songs off that album, when my father, annoyed by their simple repetition, finally said, "Why don't you learn to play something else??" I threw it back at him: "Why don't you teach me something else??" So he taught me Stairway. And then many more songs after that. Years later I realized - I didn't want to learn how to play guitar. I wanted to learn how to play _from my dad_. Maybe your daughter doesn't want to learn. Maybe she wants to learn - from you.
Just for a laugh I bought an Academy strat copy from the buy & sell for $50. 2 things surprised me. How well it played and how light it was. Years ago if you only spent $50 you'd get a guitar you absolutely couldn't play. I was pleasently surprised at how smooth this axe was. Cheap everything but pretty good...and it weighs nothing! It's like the empty milk carton thing when picking it up. Cheers. I hope your daughter is practicing & playing!
I love handwork as much as, maybe more than, the next guy. It's one of the things I love most about your channel. That, and watching the incredible workmanship of a maker that I wish I had half the skill of. Still, this pattern should have been done on a CNC. But next best would have been a paper layout, like you said, but done in a graphic program and printed. You could have located front to back with 3 holes instead of one for each front hole. It looks awesome! Can't wait to see the finished project! Lucky me, Part 2 is already out!
Comes to mind. Start those holes with Forstner Bit, finish to depth with a metalwork End Mill. Hey presto ! No annoying centre point holes. Whaddya think ?
lol by the title, I thought what an ungrateful child, especially because that's what you do! So glad that's not the case here, she's not a brat and you are totally setting her up for success!!! I hope she enjoys it and loves it more & more!
lol, it was totally my fault.. and I am sure she will love the final result.. at the very least she is having a BLAST being my client for a change :) Thanks for watching!
My last guitar that I built was over 12 lb before I was finished I had cut the tree down years before and had cut a number of boards out for different projects I loved the grain and brown , red , green and orange colors as I had made it out of Hedge Apple ( Osage Orange ) To make the guitar a more manageable weight I used a milling machine to remove a LOT of wood from the back I left the front untouched On the back I put a veneer that came from the next board from the same log This allowed it to look like 1 piece of wood But I ended up with a guitar that weighted just over 8 lb I was thinking you might have used that to remove the weight
About 9 mins in: so miniBen basically taught Ben the importance of doing the small things well, not just making big gestures with flaws? It’s an early Xmas miracle…
Very cool! I figured since you asked, I was thinking of having a slight taper on each hole. Not sure tool would do the job but that's what popped in my head. Looks sweet man!
It is endearing that you gave your daughter a guitar, it is typical of any dad, that you did not think about it from her perspective. 10.4 lbs?? I'm 50 and my 9lb is a pain in the ass. collaborate with her! Make it hers. What a perfect time to ask her about "if" she had a guitar, what would she like on it??? Great video.
I put off watching this because I glanced at the thumbnail and thought it looked a bit obvious and honestly a bit crap, obviously, I should have known better, that is an unbelievably cool effect. That first rotating shot showing the shift, stunned, thank you.
I feel like it might benefit from the pickguard somehow mirroring the design with overlapping circles. Obviously it doesn't look like someone just randomly drilled into the guitar as is but I think the pickguard mirroring the design will make it look even more deliberate and cohesive.
I think it's lost 2.5lbs and I think if you could put the purple on the inside and then burn the outside that would look out of this world. Amazing one again Ben!
If for some reason you ever need to drill something the same way again. After the forstner bit, if you used a hole saw with the same OS diameter as the forstner and a feed bit, every hole would be centered using the hole saw as a guide.
It looks amazing! Are you going to give the holes a tiny round over? I feel like that would be even cooler. I’m guessing you’ve pulled 3lb 8.5oz out of it so far.
Nice way of going about it ... you got such an awesome effect going with the drilled holes, looks like a hybrid hollow body. It looks like you removed 762,6g of material ... at a first glance ;)
I have a lovely ESP LTD XJ-6, from the re-release era, that would very much benefit from something like this. That said, I might be able to shave pounds just under the large pickguard. But I love this....
This may seem obvious, but you could also chamber the body and put a cap on the top and achieve the same goal without the visual effect of holes....if desired of course.
Awesome effect. I might very well take to one of my cheaper gats in a similar manner with the drill. Might be fun to fill with some epoxy with some embedded LEDs for some fun effects. I feel duty-bound to point out that you only needed two datum points drilled all the way through, from which you could have developed your entire pattern on the back. I'm sure your daughter will love it.
I'm paralyzed from the waist down and have playing guitar for 30 years now in the chair. I'd take that guitar in a heartbeat! After 30 years my shoulders are shot and I can only play abt a 1/2 hour at a time before my shoulder gives out. The weight relief in that would be like playing a guitar made of air compared to my Les Paul.
It's got to be atleast 2,1/2 lbs lighter with the holes if you continued with the holes all over the guitar you could use pink expandable insulation in a can fill the body, put clear lucite caps on the holes , that would look good to show the drill patterns an add LEDs inside the body
I'm thinking you could have made a template with plywood. Masking tape and super glue it to the top and drill. When you finished the top pop it off and mount it to the back with a proper off-set to align the back holes with the front holes. Bob's your uncle. Well, actually, Bob's my uncle. Unless you have one too.
Following the outer contour for the bigger holes and then successive parallel lines with successive smaller holes it would look more organic in my opinion.
Nice idea, I wait to see how will it affect the tone, but I keep my fingers crossed that I will not change that much. My back would thank me for doing same to my bass. My estimation is that you took off 550 grams
I'd maybe go with slightly smaller diameter holes. And then maybe off-set your grid template so that the holes line up more uniform around the edges of the guitar.
The first 1,000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/crimsoncustomguitars10211
Thanks Ben for another awesome video! By the way, in response to th-cam.com/video/tCCEN-04WLk/w-d-xo.html: found your dust mask right there at th-cam.com/video/tCCEN-04WLk/w-d-xo.html
Will you make a guitar for me if i call you papa? I'll never talk back and I'll do my chores without you asking🤣... your videos are awesome keep up the great work!!!
Paint it in bright colors and add some glitter and blinking LEDs. In other words BLING IT UP!
*Could you kindly post the link to part 3, please?*
A thing that Apple did in Mac Pro gleefully nicknamed the cheese grater is that they used a ball end mill not a flat end mill. Your results are super cool, it kinda looks like it has a resonant chamber there. The Apple one is more flowing though. Just wanted to share so that maybe you'll use it for future experiments.
“This is turning into a bit more of a project than I thought” should be the next Crimson T-Shirt design.
Kind of sums up every build perfectly.
I think he protests too much.
I rarely watch this guy but straight up I would buy that t-shirt. That shit is my every day life lol.
If u havent been in that position, U have never done a project 🤷🏻♂️🙈
Ben every episode: "I'm a guitar builder not a guitar player"
Also Ben: *plays guitar pretty damn well*
I make guitars sound good, but not playing them. I can fix the hell out of them. Frustrated guitarist.
He put in some time in the OTHER woodshed during the plague.
There's just a hint of overworking the strings in most of the limited playing I've seen (or it could just be a recording thing, engineered for speech), as in hitting it harder than what suits the music. It just feels like his playing style lends itself for some unyielding metal instead of what he usually plays.
Now imagine this guitar standing alone on stage before the show, backlit from below and with light smoke floating through the pattern 🎸
Smoke machine guitar! Woohoo!
Oh I want b-roll of this
are you high?
@@benburnett8109 Not yet, that's what the smoke is for...
For Snoop Dogg's band?
When I was a child, my father wanted me to follow his passion with woodwind instruments...a few years later he discovered drum sticks I had bought at a local music store. It broke dad's heart but I still play and own the drums that replaced my clarinet. I hope your efforts are rewarded and your daughter learns and enjoys the fruits of her father's occupation. :)
lol at least your dad was somewhat supportive, my mom told me I would never play guitar any good, I can't sing because I wasn't born with the talent to do so. And yes she said it like that, thinking it was tough love and not discouragement.
Today she is eating her words since I can pop off the Serrana Arpeggios from Jason Becker, and I can now sing Micro Cuts by Muse (very hard song to sing, if you've heard it you will know why) and my current useble (meaning I can form words at that pitch) vocal range sits at a C2 - B6. I just didn't listen when she told me that. She had never heard me play or sing when she said it that was the real kicker.
@@evilcowboy I hate negativity, and parents are often the ones who begin that demeaning process. I didn't have a mother, she divorced my dad before I was 5. I was raised by my grandmother who played piano and loved music. My dad saw me only on weekends. :)
@@evilcowboy
Hmmm. It seems to me the "tough love" worked. You did it in spite of her accusation, which was what she wanted for you all along.
She couldn't teach you or even guide you in the direction of music, therefore, she said you couldn't do it, hoping it would make you figure a way.
Guess what. Her method of "guidance" worked. That's the way some taught. The way where everyone does NOT win a trophy. That should make your "trophy" that much more meaningful. Congratulations on having a mother that cares for you.
Remember her on Mothers Day....and today. Call her.
My mother passed away in 1989. I was 24 years old. All I can do is remember.
Trypohobia
@@RalphSampson... couldn't that be accomplished with a more challenging tone rather than a demeaning tone?
We Have To Talk:- "Three words nobody wants to hear..."
I demand a recount!😁
Great Michael Scott moment.
Three words? Forget how to fucking count?
hahahaha... exactly
@@BackyardRambo ...that was the joke in the video...
When ben says it will be a two part, we can be sure it will be a minimal of three maybe even four.
Two parts per episode for the planned 10 episode series.
More likely 5-10... because REASONS!!! 😁
The Complication v2
@@LRBerry v3
@@redknight1322 Well I could make it a headless guitar.... And how about a hollowbody?
Back in the late 80's a pal of mine took an import Strat type body and went to work with hole saws of various diameters, drilling completely through the body. He painted the results a nice yellow, installed a 12 string neck and bridge, and dubbed it "Swiss Cheese". It sounded really good.
"This is turning into more of a project than I thought"
*Somewhere back at Crimson HQ an intern sighs and resets a clock*
31:15 I knew something scary was heading to the window.
“I built her a guitar”, “burn it”… yep; I can sympathise.
I adore how just *beastly* that guitar looks and then the weight comes up XD And of course I love the purple. I went "Oh wow." when I finally saw what you were doing. Looks great!
Looking forward to seeing how the custom forged circular cell honeycomb tuners look in part 12 of the series. For weight relief I’m going to say 2.1 lbs.
I love how you get all nervous like you wouldn’t just grab a new blank if you messed it up. 🤣 It looks great, man.
Love your process, Ben. The viewer can practically see the creativity emitting from you head as it happens! Thanks for letting us tag along on your adventures!
I would pay for something like this, even if I'd rarely if ever play it. Such craftsmanship is commendable
Interesting 3D-effect. I say the weight relief so far is about 422 gramm. As this is my first comment on any of your videos, I have to thank you for - at this point - some years of awesome enterainment, invaluable knowedge, some great tools and not least my very first few selfmade guitars. Your content has always been inspiring.
Cheers.
Most teenage kids hide their marijuana from their parents. You had to hide your drumsticks. We grew up different's all I'm sayin'.
Hi! When i was a full-time bass maker, weight was the main reason my clients came to my shop. I started to think ways yo reduce it, and managed to lower it to 3,1kg in average for a 5 strings :D
Take my money!!! 💸💸💸
Dad!!! I love it!!!
My dad died when I was a kid. He was a mechanic and fixed up three wheelers and things like that for me. It's awesome to have a parent with such passion and passing it down to their kids. Very nice guitar!!
Dreamy... and my aspie brain seriously wants to put at least 10 dials in the holes in a very abstract way to control what? Who cares...would be madness and even keep the holes to pass through. Love the gentle nature of the color. You are a craftsman.
True story:
A colleague at work once showed me an electric guitar with many holes drilled through its body in a similar fashion. "Is this not a COOL guitar?" he said.
After a little thought, I replied unto him, "It's certainly well-ventilated."
Was that guy by chance RON THAL???
I’ve got to say making a wooden table for my pillar drill was one of the best things I did after buying a pillar drill
I love how he is saying how the wiring is crap and all that, but he built it a few years ago. Good to recognize your own skill improvements.
You are very patient Ben. How can you be so creative and patient at the same time.
The straight lines of the holes clash with the curves of the body. Really like the overlap in the holes between the front and back.
Thanks
The effect of the overlapping holes front and back is really cool. Makes the body appear to be hollow. I am curious as to how you treat all of those sharp edges. So here is my suggestion.
In my woodworking I hate sharp edges and corners (due to chipping and the finish wearing off of those sharp corners) so I keep a 1/16” round over router bit loaded in a small trim router (with the offset base). I find that little round over is hardly noticeable and much nicer to the touch. You will still have to quickly touch that little round with a piece of 150 grit sandpaper, but that goes really quickly.
My guess is that you have removed 2.7 lbs/1226 grams of material. And I am betting that your daughter will be absolutely thrilled with her “new”, and very unique, axe.
One of these days I am going to have to try my hand at building a guitar.
'Puckered the old proverbials' - I'm gonna use this all the time now!
It'd definitely be great to see this guitar painted clean silver like the iMac, maybe make a bit of an Apple style guitar with it with their clean aesthetic
You have me interested in the kit option. The attention to detail and patience you have is the reason I watch your videos.
Walking out the dividers like that is how you lay out rivet patterns for helicopters/ airplanes. I was just doing that a few minutes ago. Im watching you on my lunch break
Alright.. your job is officially cooler than mine!
Well, since you like to make it difficult for you... go on with it and make the holes look like a honeycomb 😂😂
Looks awesome so far! I'm lookinf forward to the finishing process 😎🔥
Man, a fretless bass with this would be dreamy.
My middle daughter asked me to build her a guitar because she wanted to learn to play. I just finished it. It's a one piece ash body with myrtlewood top, maple neck with ebony fretboard, myrtlewood binding and dots, and a myrtlewood headstock cap.
Sounds incredible, lucky girl!
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars
A gallery on your site of guitars built with your tool/supplies would be cool.
9:02 I appreciate how you just let everything breathe by stopping the music and allowing the silence for a few seconds. That was very relaxing and gave me some time to catch up, reflect, and head onto the next part of the video with a better understanding. It's amazing how great just a few seconds of silence is!
Thank you for the positive comments, I will pass them on our editor. Really appreciated. DC
The effect looks amazing, would love to try this with a single cut guitar. My guess on weight relief up to this point 3.25 lbs.
Go watch Texas Toasts vid. Drilling those little azz holes doesn't take any weight out at all.
@@JC-11111 it does when you drill 20 of them…
If you are removing material you are removing weight. It's just simple physics.
I guessed 3.27 lbs and got a heart too. So I'm guessing we're damn close. I did not go through the comments when I guessed either...just kinda blurted out 3.27, like Rainman in his K-mart underwear..
I love the look. My guess on the "weight loss" is 14oz. Or .397kg! This should be really great when finished. A great idea for weight removal and for a design change. ✌️
2lbs.9oz Removed. And I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but I love it!! Nice work brother!!
I probably just would have bought her an air guitar at this point! The ultimate light guitar that everyone needs in their collection!
You should add LED lights! It would enhance the pattern in a spectacular way!
Very cool video, and a cool finished guitar. Excellent work, sir!!
One minor nit-pick from a machinist here; please wear safety glasses when you're operating that drill press! Never want to see anyone get hurt doing something they love.
;o)
thank you, and fair point, I really do need to wear eye protection more than I do!
I got hypnotized for 35 min. This is genius!
If my dad built guitars like yours I'd constantly be requesting things😁
Nice one, so far! I'm interested to see how/if the sound of the instrument has changed.
I will admit I'm a little concerned that it might end up being a bit on the fragile side for a child's guitar.
Edit: I'm guessing that you have removed the equivalent weight of 14 glass marbles, 3 quarter-inch steel washers, and a banana.
What size hole in the washers?
That's excellent. Even though I've just watched you do it, I can't figure out how it looks so hollow. I wonder how it will feel when your arm is resting on it?
Buddy of mine blamed me for stealing his booze,a couple weeks later he found it in his cupboard of pots and pans,he felt bad for blaming me,so he gave me his guitar which he bought from the grocery store for $5,it was in bad shape so I worked on it to be played,it is a CB sky kids guitar,I gave it to my daughter,I'm the only one who plays it,I hope she likes it within the next decade,I love guitar just as much as you,I hope your daughter keeps this forever.
Beat you! my mate sold me his tele copy he made about 35 years ago . Ash body, so heavy he drilled it out like a honeycomb .in fact there is the body of a bee in one of the cells god knows how he got there. it gave the guitar a really different tone . I love it and it plays like a dream.
This is the one where Ben finds out his daughter has trypophobia
Anyone else noticing that this video has ghosts?
Same idea used to remove weight from hot rods in the fifty's. Holes of various diameters were drilled out of the inner doors along with the removal of most the nonessential interior.
Greetings from South Florida USA. This is the first time I've seen open chambering on a guitar body. It's usually hidden under a 1/4" (7mm) top. My only caution is when you do the refinishing. The newly exposed wood could use up a bit more paint thus adding a bit of weight. But if you burn it.......
Thanks for your informative and fun videos.
Even with all the wood you removed, I’m betting you really only took away like 18-20oz so far. Love the look though. Super neat.
Not even close
Assuming holes of 10mm radius, body of thickness 42mm, and swamp ash with density 500kg/m^3.
I reckon you removed about 0.37kg
The holes look a lot bigger than 10mm
@@gooseholla1 : radius and diameter are not interchangeable.
I reckon the holes are larger than 20mm diameter - assuming Ben used the same drill bit as on the trial piece that you can see a steel rule in - maybe about 24-25mm? Also compare their relative size with the humbucker route, usually about 40mm wide.
First time here. May I first say a fine craftsman with an envious shop. Also, the head ink is superb and unique.
thank you and thank you :)
I have to agree with everything he says in this video. I'm a beginner myself, so I'm happy to get high quality guitars for a really good price. But of course I will upgrade to something like the Fender when I feel I am ready.
It's not an entirely rational decision, it's got an emotive element. Playing music is art, there is an element of the love of the history/tradition, of brand tribalism, of appreciation of the craftsmanship of the instrument, of being part of a clique with others who have the same specific preferences, of emulation of the stars you look up to, of supporting the company (and manufacturing location if its important) and all these are fine, they arent meant in a negative way, rather they round out the hobby.
Would I pay an extra 1000 for an original Fender? Yes, undoubtedly, at the right time of my musical career. Well, not a Fender for me personally, as I am a metalhead and have the same attachment to Ibanez for their place in the metal community as others have for Fenders, which is kind of a case in point. It's not exactly rational, but it's meaningful to me.
Brings new meaning to the old adage: Less is More.
Ben Crowe:- "I'm going to drill a load of big holes in a Strat body"
Russ Ballard:- I approve of this message"
I think that to make a guitar lighter I would start by routing out most of the area that is covered by the scratch plate - that being the low hanging fruit in this case as that material would not be missed from a visual aspect. A new scratch plate that could cover a wider area such as the top and bottom horn (as seen in guitars like the Burns Bison) would allow this hollowed area to be extended. In other guitar designs such as an LP style where the guitar would not have a scratch plate I would be tempted to use a band saw to completely remove the top allowing me to route out the majority of the body area below where said top sits before gluing it back on. I have no idea how well this would work, but then I am a hobbyist going through a thought exercise.
Hey dude, haven't chanced upon your videos for a while. It's nice to see you again, you make great videos
Thank you James, I really appreciate this!
Welcome back and thank you. DC
"We have to talk" is actually FOUR words that nobody really wants to hear. A good example of THREE words that nobody really wants to hear would be something more along the lines of "You have herpes".
Um.. I was just checking.. ah, just making sure you guys were on the ball with the whole counting thing.. you know?
My nominee for 3 words that no guy ever wants to hear is “Is it in”?
@@bigk4755 Runner up: "Is that it??"
@@mallninja9805 usually followed closely with belittling laughter.
@@bigk4755 How about "say", rather then "hear"?
You sir, are a true artist and master of your trade. I always enjoy seeing all your creativity at work.
Thank you very much. So great to have positive feedback. DC
Was brought here from a Motorcycle video. Gladly watched all of this episode.
Thank you. DC
Can I offer a possible word of advice to you as a father? My father plays. In 9th grade I took an interest in learning. He bought me a guitar and some books. I fumbled with them a few months, then quit. My freshman year of college Enter Sandman came out, my roommate said if I bought the tab book he could teach me how to read it. Over break I was home practicing the songs off that album, when my father, annoyed by their simple repetition, finally said, "Why don't you learn to play something else??" I threw it back at him: "Why don't you teach me something else??" So he taught me Stairway. And then many more songs after that. Years later I realized - I didn't want to learn how to play guitar. I wanted to learn how to play _from my dad_.
Maybe your daughter doesn't want to learn. Maybe she wants to learn - from you.
Just for a laugh I bought an Academy strat copy from the buy & sell for $50. 2 things surprised me. How well it played and how light it was. Years ago if you only spent $50 you'd get a guitar you absolutely couldn't play. I was pleasently surprised at how smooth this axe was. Cheap everything but pretty good...and it weighs nothing! It's like the empty milk carton thing when picking it up. Cheers. I hope your daughter is practicing & playing!
I love handwork as much as, maybe more than, the next guy. It's one of the things I love most about your channel. That, and watching the incredible workmanship of a maker that I wish I had half the skill of.
Still, this pattern should have been done on a CNC.
But next best would have been a paper layout, like you said, but done in a graphic program and printed. You could have located front to back with 3 holes instead of one for each front hole.
It looks awesome! Can't wait to see the finished project! Lucky me, Part 2 is already out!
Comes to mind.
Start those holes with Forstner Bit, finish to depth with a metalwork End Mill.
Hey presto ! No annoying centre point holes.
Whaddya think ?
lol by the title, I thought what an ungrateful child, especially because that's what you do! So glad that's not the case here, she's not a brat and you are totally setting her up for success!!! I hope she enjoys it and loves it more & more!
lol, it was totally my fault.. and I am sure she will love the final result.. at the very least she is having a BLAST being my client for a change :) Thanks for watching!
Full body blank drilled to this pattern, wire all holes with LEDs, fill with semi opaque resin, cut and shape as usual from there
"That puckered the odd proverbials". OK, that's going in my quote bank!
My last guitar that I built was over 12 lb before I was finished
I had cut the tree down years before and had cut a number of boards out for different projects
I loved the grain and brown , red , green and orange colors as I had made it out of Hedge Apple ( Osage Orange )
To make the guitar a more manageable weight I used a milling machine to remove a LOT of wood from the back
I left the front untouched
On the back I put a veneer that came from the next board from the same log
This allowed it to look like 1 piece of wood
But I ended up with a guitar that weighted just over 8 lb
I was thinking you might have used that to remove the weight
About 9 mins in: so miniBen basically taught Ben the importance of doing the small things well, not just making big gestures with flaws? It’s an early Xmas miracle…
(Incidentally this is also Ben achieving legendary parent status…until she becomes a teenager, when having the raddest guitar at school won’t matter…)
About 29 in: oh no, it was about Dad all along…
That's sick ill be back for part 2 you got my subscription
Looks amazing! My guess is 874g. I’m looking forward to the next video.
Very cool! I figured since you asked, I was thinking of having a slight taper on each hole. Not sure tool would do the job but that's what popped in my head. Looks sweet man!
It is endearing that you gave your daughter a guitar, it is typical of any dad, that you did not think about it from her perspective. 10.4 lbs?? I'm 50 and my 9lb is a pain in the ass. collaborate with her! Make it hers. What a perfect time to ask her about "if" she had a guitar, what would she like on it??? Great video.
she is the client and loving it :)
I put off watching this because I glanced at the thumbnail and thought it looked a bit obvious and honestly a bit crap, obviously, I should have known better, that is an unbelievably cool effect. That first rotating shot showing the shift, stunned, thank you.
Hey, you got it in one.. it is entirely about the additional dimensions created and without that really would be a little naff.
Holes all the way thru. Various sizes.Organized pattern. Flat black. Countersink, and paint the Countersunk bits in black light paint.
I feel like it might benefit from the pickguard somehow mirroring the design with overlapping circles. Obviously it doesn't look like someone just randomly drilled into the guitar as is but I think the pickguard mirroring the design will make it look even more deliberate and cohesive.
Ben Crowe; the best luthier in his entire household.
le résultat est sublime, hâte de voir cette guitare finie
I think it's lost 2.5lbs and I think if you could put the purple on the inside and then burn the outside that would look out of this world. Amazing one again Ben!
That would be cool.. though I have promised no fire with this one.. sorry
Ok, this is coming along nicely, subbed!
thank you, and welcome to the channel!
Watching this video, it was posted 6 days ago, can't wait for the 2nd video.
If for some reason you ever need to drill something the same way again. After the forstner bit, if you used a hole saw with the same OS diameter as the forstner and a feed bit, every hole would be centered using the hole saw as a guide.
I'm not sure how well it would track with so much material removed, but a spoon bit would give a nice clean bottom to the holes.
Use a clear scratchplate then you can see the holes underneath scratchplate where it would be covered
That would be cool!
It looks amazing! Are you going to give the holes a tiny round over? I feel like that would be even cooler.
I’m guessing you’ve pulled 3lb 8.5oz out of it so far.
Nice way of going about it ... you got such an awesome effect going with the drilled holes, looks like a hybrid hollow body. It looks like you removed 762,6g of material ... at a first glance ;)
Love your videos, I will watch all 5 of this series.
I have a lovely ESP LTD XJ-6, from the re-release era, that would very much benefit from something like this. That said, I might be able to shave pounds just under the large pickguard. But I love this....
yeah, I have experienced the weight of those before, bring on the lipo-router!
Haha! I laughed exactly like you, when you ended the drilling! It looks so incredibly cool!
Love watching his brain work.
This may seem obvious, but you could also chamber the body and put a cap on the top and achieve the same goal without the visual effect of holes....if desired of course.
6 lbs now and it's frikking gorgeous!
Awesome effect. I might very well take to one of my cheaper gats in a similar manner with the drill. Might be fun to fill with some epoxy with some embedded LEDs for some fun effects. I feel duty-bound to point out that you only needed two datum points drilled all the way through, from which you could have developed your entire pattern on the back. I'm sure your daughter will love it.
Ak! Of course you ate right.. 2 points easily filled.. now I really feel a little dim! Lol
So this is your take on a semi- hollow body guitar! Very unique! My guess on the weight discarded is 4 pounds.
I'm paralyzed from the waist down and have playing guitar for 30 years now in the chair. I'd take that guitar in a heartbeat! After 30 years my shoulders are shot and I can only play abt a 1/2 hour at a time before my shoulder gives out. The weight relief in that would be like playing a guitar made of air compared to my Les Paul.
It's got to be atleast 2,1/2 lbs lighter with the holes if you continued with the holes all over the guitar you could use pink expandable insulation in a can fill the body, put clear lucite caps on the holes , that would look good to show the drill patterns an add LEDs inside the body
I'm thinking you could have made a template with plywood. Masking tape and super glue it to the top and drill. When you finished the top pop it off and mount it to the back with a proper off-set to align the back holes with the front holes. Bob's your uncle. Well, actually, Bob's my uncle. Unless you have one too.
Following the outer contour for the bigger holes and then successive parallel lines with successive smaller holes it would look more organic in my opinion.
Hallo dear Ben, this guitar transformed into a very modern and impressive Guitar already! I am curious to watch the next episode with new finish! :-)👌
Nice idea, I wait to see how will it affect the tone, but I keep my fingers crossed that I will not change that much. My back would thank me for doing same to my bass. My estimation is that you took off 550 grams
I'd maybe go with slightly smaller diameter holes. And then maybe off-set your grid template so that the holes line up more uniform around the edges of the guitar.