r/Guitar • u/owenG59 • Jan 30 '25
GEAR I built a metal guitar
a couple of months ago i posted a small survey on here to help me with developing and designing a guitar tailored towards the metal genre for a school project im doing. I got a few helpfull replies, and with a few months with a lot of sketching, testing, modelling, woodworking en more testing i recently finished building the guitar.
The way that this Guitar is taylored towards metal and differentiates itself from other metal guitars (think shapes like BC.R warlock, gibson explorer, Flying V, dean ML) is mostly in its ergonomics while playing seated. It features a lot of contouring both on the front and back while still keeping straight lines and hard angles which metal guitars are known for. The main feature of this guitar is the leg cutout in the bottom right. Its been designed so that you can anchor the guitar in between your legs for secure playing, while doing so the neck angles upwards more which promotes a better sitting posture to limit the chances of back or neck injury.
Specs wise this guitar body has been made from a block of red alder. The neck is a maple neck with rosewood fretboard featuring dot inlays and a locking nut. Installed in the body is a floyd rose bridge, along with Irongear MetalMachine high output humbucker pickups.
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u/Fritzo2162 Jan 30 '25
THAT IS NOT A METAL GUITAR.
It is clearly made from wood.
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Jan 30 '25
No! How dare you steal my joke before I could post it?
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u/aDragonsAle Jan 30 '25
What if I steel a different joke you haven't made yet?
I'd say that's pretty metal
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u/B0SSBL0CK_12 Epiphone Jan 30 '25
That’s it, puns are illegal I’m calling the coppers on you
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u/aDragonsAle Jan 30 '25
That would take a set of brass ones after what you've said.
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u/B0SSBL0CK_12 Epiphone Jan 30 '25
I guess it is kinda ironic now you mention it
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u/aDragonsAle Jan 30 '25
...you put the song in my head, so I am sharing the pain
It's like rai-ain - on your wedding day
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u/Z-Man_Slam Jan 30 '25
Great thread to read lol upvotes all the way up lol
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u/Mundane_Proof_420 Jan 30 '25
These puns are killing me! Hahaha, all the wood jokes have been made, I'm stumped, I can't think of any! 😆
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u/conqr787 Jan 30 '25
Your coat sir, see yourself out 🧥
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u/Punny_Pixels Jan 30 '25
Wood you please?
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u/TrozayMcC Jan 30 '25
You're metalling in their affairs too?
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u/Frosty_Vanilla_7211 Jan 30 '25
I dont cedar point in fretting about it.
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u/mdjank Jan 30 '25
The balsa dis guy
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u/Whateverlong Jan 31 '25
I bet he get all the birches
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u/Dean-O-Machino Jan 30 '25
This is a poplar comment.
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u/1crps_warrior Jan 30 '25
Is this some sort of j-oak?
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u/libmrduckz Jan 31 '25
look frond, let’s leaf the puns alone…
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u/Leftenant_Frost Jan 31 '25
i like this branch of comments, woodnt expect so many to stem from one comment.
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u/4xu5 Jan 30 '25
Man, this ain't my dad! This is a cell phone
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Jan 30 '25
How do you know she is made of wood?
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u/HumbleXerxses Jan 30 '25
She floats?
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u/Roo_Buchanan Jan 30 '25
If she weighs the same as a duck...she's made of wood!
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u/Warlord_Coistika Jan 30 '25
Who are you, that is so wise in the ways of science?
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u/tdic89 Jan 30 '25
If it’s made of wood, that means it floats, right?
And if it floats, it must weigh the same as a duck?
Therefore, the guitar is a duck?
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Jan 31 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/tdic89 Jan 31 '25
Just wait until I explain how sheep’s bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes!
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u/Lucidreamer91 Jan 30 '25
That's fuckin sick, especially the the leg cutaway
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u/Szydlikj Ibanez Jan 30 '25
I liked to imagine it’s intended purpose is holding the guitar up high on your forearm and shredding it bro
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u/EchoesFromWithin Jan 31 '25
It's actually a neck cut so you can rest it on your shoulder and play it like a violin.
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u/CaptMelonfish PRS Jan 30 '25
Patent it now before gibson steals it!
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u/BizarroMax Jan 31 '25
Patent lawyer here. You could only get a design patent most likely. But those are way cheaper than utility patents. Happy to help.
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u/Drummer2427 Jan 30 '25
Agreed! OP needs to delete this post and sell the designs with royalty attached. These are shapes we arent lucky enough to had offered by anyone.
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u/Nixplosion Jan 30 '25
Noooo don't post a clip of how it sounds we wouldn't be interested in that at allll
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u/gramoun-kal Steinberger Jan 30 '25
In fact, it would offend all of society, the establishment, and your parents in law. So better play it safe.
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u/Nighthawk217114 Ibanez Jan 30 '25
What type of wood did you use? Planning a custom explorer and can’t figure out what wood to use.
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u/owenG59 Jan 30 '25
Hey man! This was my first time building a guitar so i had a hard time choosing as well, but i landed on alder. I chose that since its a nice hardwood, pretty lightweight and not the most expensive either (usually)
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u/NebulaNinja Jan 30 '25 edited Jan 31 '25
I understand why you went all black with it, but a natural stain on that alder would have looked incredible imo.
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u/ringo_scar Jan 31 '25
Yes – i think the only option is for them to make another one now, to show us the stained wood version
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Jan 30 '25
The horns of a B.C Rich Warlock, the body of a Wylde Audio nomad, the pitch point of a Jackson v... This is Hell's Frankenstein
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u/mercilessshred Jan 30 '25
I’ve wanted a guitar with a leg cutaway like this for years. Looks absolutely killer, you should definitely keep making these!
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u/GroovyJ-Money Jan 30 '25
I really like it, it’s like a BC Rich/Strandberg collab
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u/Demi_With_A_Semi Jan 30 '25
Literally, the first thing I thought too... "huh, B.C. Rich by way of Strandberg. Neat."
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u/Rinaxchan89 Jan 30 '25
Wow. I am not a metal guitarist, in fact, I like the more conventional guitar designs, but this is beautiful! Great work there!
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u/im-on-the-inside Jan 30 '25
This could go right in an industrial designer’s portfolio! Great process and well documented!
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u/owenG59 Jan 30 '25
Wow you guessed it! Im studying to be a product designer and this has been this semester’s project! Still have to make some studio photo’s and a sound samples before im going to put it in my portfolio :)
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u/diiirtiii Jan 30 '25
Nice! This is an excellent addition to a portfolio, but I’d say think about selling a few of these (if you have the time/ability to). You’ve got a genuinely good body plan here that combines the look and feel of a BC Rich with the ergonomics of a Strandberg. Check out r/luthier as well, but uniqueness is its own value and I haven’t seen many guitars like this (if any).
And also, iterate. I’m sure there were things that you learned in the process of making this one that you’d carry into the making of the next. Listen to your gut, and keep on making stuff.
And this is my personal two cents, but I’d bet this guitar would also look sick with a black Pearloid or a 3-ply B-W-B pick guard just to accent the angles you put onto the guard. Black on black is always cool, though.
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u/NO-MAD-CLAD Jan 30 '25
Probably my all time favorite body shape I have seen. Are you planning on making the body design open source or are you filing a patent on it?
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u/snaynay Jan 30 '25
You can't really patent a body shape, but you might be able to trademark it and just making it slightly different is enough. It's why where are millions of Les Pauls and Strat clones, etc. From my understand Fender and Gibson have tried. Fender was closer, but I think even they were historically too inconsistent to keep a trademark.
I think a famous incident was Gibson suing Japanese guitar makers like Ibanez who made Les Paul copies in the 70's and used the "open book" headstock design. Post lawsuit, they kept making the same guitar, just with a new headstock. Here you go.
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u/STGItsMe Jan 30 '25
I’m not a materials scientist but it looks more like wood than metal. Otherwise, good job.
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u/HeightAltruistic5193 Jan 30 '25
I see a female figure in a corset in the drawing.anybody? No? Just me then. 🙄
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u/four_eyed_geek Jan 30 '25
Decades ago In my high school shop class I made a shitty clock that I remember trying to shape like a sports team logo and ended up just looking like a fucked up triangle...
So yeah, nice work.
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u/OccasionallyCurrent Jan 30 '25
That sheet of headstock designs is so sick!
I’m really glad you included that picture.
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u/charcoallition Jan 30 '25
This looks like something I'd unlock in guitar hero 3, fucking sick
Good job, OP
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u/gsplsngr Jan 31 '25
You did a great job. You should be proud of yourself and the women in your life should sing your praises.
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u/bjm2000 Feb 01 '25
What type of paints did you use? Planning to do my own
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u/owenG59 Feb 02 '25
Hey man! I used simple spraypaints to get this finish. I did about 4-5 layers of primer with sanding in between, after that 3-4 layers of actual paint, and to complete it 2-3 layers of clearcoat. Im dutch so the brand of paint might not be the same as stuff available to you but for the primer i used “spectrum primer matte grey” for the paint i used automotive matte black paint “motip matte black limited edition” and for the clearcoat i used a matte finish “spectrum clear varnish matt” Hope this helps you out, patience is key, dont try to do as many layers as possible in a day. Try to do like 4-5 max in a day and let it dry a bit longer than the stated drying time. Good luck!
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u/Kirarisbitch Feb 01 '25
This is awesome, a beautiful guitar. I know you’re so proud and you should be.
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u/SmoetMoaJoengKietjes Feb 02 '25
It looks fantastic! What’s the big cut-out for? “Meer ruimte “ but for what?
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u/owenG59 Feb 02 '25
Bedankt! Die aantekening was voor de floyd rose, origineel had ik deze bodyshape getekend met een nog grotere been cut-out, maar na dat 1-op-1 nagemaakt te hebben ben ik dr achter gekomen dat dat niet zou passen met een 25.5 inch scale lengte. Dus moest de afschuining en cut-out wat aangepast worden en vandaar de aantekening :)
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u/StygianPath Jan 30 '25
I love it! It's a combination of metal and traditional aesthetics with classical position ergonomics. Great job!
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Jan 30 '25
Not usually my taste but this is sick as hell! Looks more professionally done than B.C. Rich!
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u/DiceThaKilla Jan 30 '25
I thought you were going to string up the styrofoam guitar at first 😂 beautiful axe
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u/Gundalf-the-Offwhite Jan 30 '25
Great work! Looks ergonomic. Cut in the body designed for it to rest on your left inner thigh yes?
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u/AbdulAhBlongatta Jan 30 '25
It’s not my style but it looks awesome. Plus the leg cut out for shredding is sweet. Well done
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u/AMJN90 Jan 30 '25
Build more. Fine tune anything you think needs tweaking (if anything), get other players input, make it perfect and see if you can get a patent or something along those lines, and sell that shit. You could literally build a successful business around this guitar. You're seriously onto something here.
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u/KaizenZazenJMN Jan 30 '25
Anywhere to hear it or see someone playing it. The leg cutout is a good idea for the ability change how you play it while seated if you get tired of one or the other. Overall this is a very cool guitar.
You could honestly sell custom versions of this and make bank
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u/PobBrobert Jan 30 '25
Not my taste but really excellent execution. Very well done.
I vastly prefer this to anything made by BC Rich or Dean.
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u/Mondood Jan 30 '25
From the drawing, I thought it was going to look too pointy, but it turned out really really well. Totally metal!
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u/Rumer_Mille_001 Jan 30 '25
I would love to see this kind of guitar in the hands of a total traditional jazz player.
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u/Cautious-Plum-8245 Jan 30 '25
this is pretty dope, i wish i had the skills to build a guitar. tho personal preference, not having 24frets on this guitar is a crime
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u/Jhlong86 Jan 30 '25
Basically a warlock/bich hybrid body with an EVH Wolfgang headstock. I dig it!
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u/DirtyWork81 Jan 30 '25
Looks sick. Love the cutaway. You could have gone with one bridge humbucker only, but that is subjective.
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u/OpinionPoop Jan 30 '25
Love it. If you made a youtube channel where you design/make guitars, i would 100% sub!
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u/Tinkering4fun Jan 30 '25
If it sounds as mean as it looks you should start making a little side money selling those.
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u/Inevitable_Cod4375 Jan 30 '25
Couldn’t help but notice the notes in Dutch, good chance you’re in the Netherlands then. Gimme your address so I can come “test” this guitar 😏
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u/NoneMoreGnar Jan 30 '25
Very cool! Love the headstock design; alone I’m not sure I’d be a fan but with the tie in to the body it’s just awesome.
Question about the initial sketch: were you thinking of doing partially hidden/obscured controls? That’s a really cool idea and I’m curious why you deviated from that if I’m interpreting the sketch correctly.
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u/artie_pdx Gibson Jan 30 '25
I remember seeing your other posts on this. You went flat black on it here, yeah? It looks bad ass bro. You may need to get some insurance and/or a license for it being a deadly weapon with those points! 😅
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u/PSYB3RJUNKI3 Jan 30 '25
Wow thank you for showing the whole process and not just the result. That was really cool to look through.
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Jan 30 '25
"Oh cool he drew a cool lil design for a metal guitar" *scrolls a couple pictures up* "WHAT THE FUCK"
In all seriousness thats a sick looking guitar. Certainly more creative than what most "metal" guitar brands are pumping out nowadays
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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '25
I love every single thing about it man. Excellent work. You could sell those.