Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

Dr. Vegetable

Dr. Vegetable

New member
Ok, so I love the concept of Skate Guitars.

734640_236950393116724_1201815444_n.jpg


Unfortunately, the creators have become such an internet sensation that you apparently have to be Pearl Jam (literally!) to get them to answer your email.

But I have a plan. It involves a pair of Canadian Maple skateboard decks, a pre-slotted maple fretboard from StewMac, and some other bits+pieces from my local mom-n-pop. I know I'm taking a kind of first-world approach by not using beat up old reject decks and not actually cutting my own fretboard, but I think my odds of success are greatly improved.

I'll be closely documenting this project as it unravels. I am as determined as I am crazy.


skate-guitars-7.jpg
 
Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

coool!

so you're using two decks sandwiched together for the body?

What about the neck back? I presume you'll be hand carving it?
 
Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

To easy man haha. Nothing beats a really good challenging project. I am in the process of building a 36 fret guitar from scratch. Its been a crap load of work/reading but its well worth it.

take it to the next level make neck through skatecaster from some snowboards?
 
Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

CTN said:
coool!

so you're using two decks sandwiched together for the body?

What about the neck back? I presume you'll be hand carving it?
Click to expand...

Actually, I was hoping to avoid sandwiching. I'm going to try having the body only one board thick. I might have to put a pickguard on it, though - half the challenge is to fit the wires and routs out of sight. One board for the body, another for the neck with a maple fingerboard added.

I'll be carving, or more likely sanding the back of the neck. I expect very strange results, because the boards aren't very thick. I'm trying to figure out if I can get away without having a truss rod, because there might not be enough room to put one in.

I should have all the parts to build it by the end of the week.

c3b1be49a8.jpg


kramersteen said:
To easy man haha. Nothing beats a really good challenging project. I am in the process of building a 36 fret guitar from scratch. Its been a crap load of work/reading but its well worth it.

take it to the next level make neck through skatecaster from some snowboards?
Click to expand...

The girl at the skate shop where I bought the decks suggested that I should make the next one out of a long board. It's an idea worth considering.

Longboard_skateboard.jpg
 
Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

Sounds awesome, dude. I Have a couple of old decks around and I've been considering the same thing, though I was thinking along the lines of an electric uke or something. I was just going to go with a slide guitar, but I've gone off the idea.

Thanks in advance for finding solutions to all the hundreds of problems I inevitably would have had. :D
 
Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

I just had a good look at the link and i must say i love them. I will be making one to thanks for the idea haha

Mine will be more Metal inspired
 
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Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

I plan to take the opposite approach. I shall fit skateboard wheels to my Chapman Stick.
 
Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

Dr. Vegetable said:
The girl at the skate shop where I bought the decks suggested that I should make the next one out of a long board. It's an idea worth considering.
Click to expand...

Very cool project.

I've made a couple of longboards with a friend. They can be much thicker than skateboards, and made from solid wood instead of laminated. Maybe you should consider that for the neck since you don't want to sandwich two boards.
 
Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

Considering how thin a skateboard is, how you gonna fit a pup and wiring into it?
 
Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

there must not be very much balls to the sound... thin as ****. thinner than a Sabre.
 
Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

GuitarDoc said:
Considering how thin a skateboard is, how you gonna fit a pup and wiring into it?
Click to expand...

Good question. I have a plan that involves routing all the way through the board, if necessary, for the pickup routs. I may even put a tremolo spring cover on the back to cover the pickup from the back, since the bridge will also be rear-loading.

I'm actually more puzzled by how to drill all the wiring channels.

astrozombie said:
there must not be very much balls to the sound... thin as ****. thinner than a Sabre.
Click to expand...

You should check out the videos on the Skate Guitar site. I don't know if they have the most versatile tone you'll ever find, but they seem to be quite playable. Some of the clips are pretty good. These clips are what convinced me this might have some potential as more than just a wall hanging.



 
Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

Planning is proceeding smoothly. The fretboard should arrive today, truss rod tomorrow.

I had a facepalm moment when looking at the second picture in my OP and realized that the necks are made from two layers of skateboard that are stacked together. This can be seen more clearly at the tip of the headstocks in this picture of neck blanks:

skate-guitars-necks.jpg


It makes more sense because I was really wondering how to shape a neck out of such a thin piece of ply. So I'm changing my plans slightly. I'll double up on the neck which should definitely allow room for a truss rod. Unfortunately, that makes the entire project more complicated but I'm really looking forward to the challenge.

It's a good thing I haven't started cutting yet!
 
Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

A guitar made from a skateboard, What could be more rock & ROLL than that!
I'll be watching this one stack up:D
 
Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

Ride the guitar to your gigs, play, and ride it back home! Truely versatility at its finest :D
 
Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

Isn't this essentially the zoom suit guitar that Gibson made (and everyone hated) 2 years ago??
 
Re: Highly Improbable Project - Wish Me Luck!

The Dali said:
Isn't this essentially the zoom suit guitar that Gibson made (and everyone hated) 2 years ago??
Click to expand...

Hmm... Let's jus' have a little look...

SGZTBWCH1-Finish-Shot.jpg


Yeah, I think it's safe to say that everybody hated the Zoom Suit because it is butt ugly!

This is a much different project, really. The similarity ends at the multi-ply body wood. You might as well compare it to a Road Worn Strat.

strat_body.jpg


Project update: Fretboard, tuners, and truss rod have arrived! I now have everything I need for the build in hand. I'll start cutting and glueing this weekend.
 
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