[justin22885]

im looking for a variety of guitar designs.. it would be nice to get a solid model or 3d CAD of a stratocaster body (atleast).. a higher end super strat such as the ESP M-II NTB would be absolutely perfect since im looking to make a neck thru.. the jackson SL2H would be great as well... also les paul body and neck seperate so they can be carved seperately and set in later.. also im looking for a few of the lesser common styles, such as the BC rich designs, the jackson king V body shape..

does anyone have any of these designs theyre willing to share? if so, thanks ahead of time, if not, i will probably work on them myself and share them if anyone has the 2 dimension drawings

if no one has a carved top strat yet... i could digitize mine this summer?

[CarveOne]

They are all here in this forum but you will need to search for them unless someone volunteers to post it again. They usually do. The Strat and Les Paul files were posted not long ago.

There are other guitar building plans sites like this one (not free, but low cost) http://www.guitarplansunlimited.com/

Also check out http://www.cncguitar.org:7171/index.htm

CarveOne

[justin22885]

i have a strat body .igs file im currently editing in solidworks, i filled in the pickup and control cavities already so i can now use the strat shape, to design a two humbucker, back routed super strat type guitar... ill post the finished product when this stage is finished.. however, im also designing a built in neck for a neck-thru design, which will take me a bit longer since i have to smooth down the heel for a better feel

i also have a full 2d schematic for the gibson SG that i will be converting to a 3d model with solidworks.. i will post the finished product here as well

also a full set of which appears to be factory schematics for the les paul i will be converting.. one file will contain the parts for the neck, body and control cavity cover that you can machine seperately, ill also be posting that when its finished.. probably do the les paul when im done with the strat... so if anyone has some 2D schematics or solid models to share.. that would be great

[justin22885]

that site you gave me.. guitarplansunlimited.. the preview photos should be enough.. there are a few on there im certainly going to have to buy because theyre styles ive been looking for.. the rhoads V is just a king V with a shortened top on the lower side.. so splitting the rhoads V body and doing a mirror of it should give me an accurate king V (one of my favorite designs)

[CarveOne]

I'm sure that anything you can contribute here will be greatly appreciated by the forum viewers. There are many other guitar builder sites on the wwweb that can also be of help.

I was watching a re-run of Antiques Roadshow on tv recently where a lady had a Les Paul gold top and a working Les Paul amp with it. Auction value was said to be at least $20,000 for the guitar itself. I wouldn't mind having a few of those I could let go of for that price....

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Here are a couple other links:

http://www.exchange3d.com/cubecart/3...l%20model.html (Not free)

http://www.3dcadbrowser.com/browse.aspx?category=58 (Free?)

I'm not sure how good any of these models are or if they are even useful to you.

CarveOne

[justin22885]

what would be really great is if i could find 3D cad files of common guitar components.. pickups, knobs (though both of those are simple to make) but the bridge, and tuning pegs would be nice too

[CarveOne]

See if these sites have anything interesting:

http://www.guitarbuild.com/modules/m...wcat.php?cid=5

http://liutaiomottola.com/components.htm

CarveOne

[justin22885]

omg.. wow.. that just made my day.. i found CAD drawings for a large variety of models i was looking for, and hardware components too, ill be busy for a while converting these to 3D.. ill post results later, and upload the bolt on versions of these bodies when im finished

[justin22885]

im having a problem with the files on the first link.. it appears theyre rastered scans of printed schematics.. the dimensions im sure are correct.. but theyre made up of about 100,000 tiny lines, so many lines its almost unusable, does anyone know a solution for cleaning this up into splines?

[CarveOne]

im having a problem with the files on the first link.. it appears theyre rastered scans of printed schematics.. the dimensions im sure are correct.. but theyre made up of about 100,000 tiny lines, so many lines its almost unusable, does anyone know a solution for cleaning this up into splines?

That link goes to a dxf library, but one level up from there is where you can choose a library of dwg format files.

I just tried a few cavity templates in both dxf and dwg format in TurboCAD v12 and I see individual line segments and arc segments and I can join them by selecting them and then doing a join operation to create a polyline.

One of the other files was already polylines but it looked like it was originally created on a 320x200 paint program. Diagonal lines were severely stairstepped.

Does this sound like what you were seeing? If so, the best I can think of is to trace over them in your CAD program using polylines and curves to create a new file. It would be a good idea to confirm the dimensions are correct as best you can.

Point me to a particular file that has "100,000 lines" and I'll see what I get.

CarveOne

[justin22885]

for the ones i was looking at.. i have no doubt the dimensions are correct, it looks like it was a raster or vector, theyre spot on its just theres something like 10,000 almost microscopic lines making it up, you have to zoom in so far that even a curve is a straight line on that level to actually see teh individual lines.. what i did was used a nearest snap and the spline tool to trace it perfectly.. then deleted the origional crap... it took me a while, but now i have the perfect lines for the ESP F series guitar and soon the BC rich beast...

i was wondering though if you knew what the radius of that curve on the inside of a jackson king V is?.. using the rhoads V which uses the same top horn but an offset lower horn i drew a centerline, cut everything on the lower half and flipped it.. matched it over a picture of a jackson king V to verify that is correct, all i need is the radius of the crotch where the two horns meet... anyone know?

[CarveOne]

- snips -

i was wondering though if you knew what the radius of that curve on the inside of a jackson king V is?.. using the rhoads V which uses the same top horn but an offset lower horn i drew a centerline, cut everything on the lower half and flipped it.. matched it over a picture of a jackson king V to verify that is correct, all i need is the radius of the crotch where the two horns meet... anyone know?

No, I don't have a clue. Can you draw a circle then scale it to exactly match the curve, then determine the radius that way?

CarveOne

[justin22885]

perhaps.. from what i heard, jackson sold a body template for the king V in the late 80s.. i might look around and see if anyone has those origional drawings i could possible raster and get the precise dimensions needed

[justin22885]

a message for carveone.. the les paul i was working on.. its coming out quite nice.. theres a les paul circulating around where someone just did a simple dome feature to the top, its way off, not even close to the contour of a real les paul

the one im working on, using some more advanced features in solidworks as well as cross section views of the les paul has allowed me to actually replicate the les paul carved top almost exactly (i still need to tweak a few lines).. but yeah, i got the top right...

when im finished, if youd like, you said you were planning to make a left hand model? i could probably flip my model and youll have a proper left hand les paul model to CNC

[CarveOne]

a message for carveone.. the les paul i was working on.. its coming out quite nice.. theres a les paul circulating around where someone just did a simple dome feature to the top, its way off, not even close to the contour of a real les paul

the one im working on, using some more advanced features in solidworks as well as cross section views of the les paul has allowed me to actually replicate the les paul carved top almost exactly (i still need to tweak a few lines).. but yeah, i got the top right...

when im finished, if youd like, you said you were planning to make a left hand model? i could probably flip my model and youll have a proper left hand les paul model to CNC

I replied to your PM earlier this afternoon. I included my email address, and yes, I'm still interested in the left hand version but will be very grateful for both versions as I may want to build the right hand version for myself. There is no rush, so get it finished to your liking. Others here would be very happy if you wish to post them here as well.

One issue for the lefty version is the hardware availability specifically for the Les Paul. I haven't checked into that but I have seen some lefty hardware on a few sites

CarveOne

[justin22885]

well.. im wondering if there are any les paul owners in here that could verify for me how the dimensions look, how the curvature looks, im not finished yet.. though the holes are already on there for volume pots and the selector switch.. and tune o matic bushings, i have yet to cut out the pickup cavity, or the neck pocket, of which neither will be hard (not even considering the 3.5 degree neck angle)

also, taking a rhoads V schematic i had, mirroring the top horn, fixing the crotch piece, all i have left to do on that besides routing cavities, is to scale it down a couple inches, though the shape is that of a king V, the actual size is a tad larger...

as far as left hardware goes, you should be able to remove the saddles on the les paul.. and rearrange the order, so the one with the largest notch is on the other side, and so fourth.. and the nut, could probably get a pre slotted nut if you dont have the files.. and mount it in reverse..

the humbuckers should typically work fine.. but if theres anything in them specific to the gauge of string its pickup up.. you could probably reverse those.. so it shouldnt be difficult setting it up for a leftie.. the body is hardest

heres a photo of the les paul so far.. let me know what you think of the contours.. i did use a schematic showing the cross section of the carved top for a contour line so itll be spot on

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3577/...f40ee2ed_o.jpg

[justin22885]

oh.. solidworks (great program) can export to just about any 3d cad format.. so let me know which format you want it in when i send it... ill send two, right handed model, and i'll mirror the entire model for a left hand version

[CarveOne]

oh.. solidworks (great program) can export to just about any 3d cad format.. so let me know which format you want it in when i send it... ill send two, right handed model, and i'll mirror the entire model for a left hand version

Let's try dxf via email first since the files will be smaller and I'll see what that looks like. Then if you wish, the SolidWorks version can be posted here when you are finished with it or post it on your own website if you have one and link to it from here.

Thanks for the hardware info and your work. The boss's son is currently taking a SolidWorks class at NCSU in his mechanical engineering course so I will squeeze what "learning" I can out of him when I can.

CarveOne

[justin22885]

autocad formats are probably best, given the popularity of autocad, most 3d cad programs will support the format... ill probably finish it up today and email it, and post a copy here