Relaxing guitar prototyping | Ep.1 Making the body

[@FrugalFixerSpike]

Brother I like the way you smiled when you looked at your wood, after you routed around the top, LOL

[@TornelliGuitars]

Haha thanks Spike, I really love this top, it’s a great feeling when something looks even better than you thought it would!

[@danandratis]

Thanks for the video Gio, why am I not surprised that you use Olive wood in Italy! - tuning in after seeing the 2 Strat collaboration with Todd - Cheers from Canada

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks Dan, and I love using olive it’s one of my favourites! Thanks also for watching the collab video we really appreciate the support!👍

[@JeffGillis-lv1rz]

I love the Olive timber, the fret board is exquisite! Bravo!

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks for the kind comment, I really appreciate it. I love the olive too, it’s become one of my favourite woods!👍

[@jankoel5766]

What a craftmanship! Love your guitars, great timbers!

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks for taking the time to leave such a kind comment, I really appreciate it. Thanks also for the compliment on the timber choices! 👍

[@dominicmercer6953]

Another great design Gio...you can tell it's one of yours👍. Glad you found a use for that neck too🙂

[@TornelliGuitars]

Me too Dom, this neck has been staring at me every time I walk into the shop so I really wanted to make good use of it. Thanks for the support buddy. How’s your prototype coming?

[@dominicmercer6953]

I think my prototype will only work with a more maliable metal like copper or brass...I've tried different techniques with the metals I've got, but I just can't get the curves to form. So sticking with what I know for now😃

[@SweetTGuitars]

I'm so glad to see this born from the Tele submarine you made! I absolutely love this guitar. It may be my favorite of yours so far! We will see how the Strat turns out. Either way, this is a winner as is this video. Love it brother. I'm so glad we are working together brother. I'm having a blast. Peace & Love my friend.

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks my friend, I’m having a great time working together, I’m really enjoying the laughs! I’m really glad you like the design, I’ll have some questions for you on the carves this week, I know that’s your wheelhouse!

[@cross3fire]

As beautiful of a creation as an artisan can bring into this world. Very lovely really. Now, if you could also share the fantastic fragrances!

[@TornelliGuitars]

Wow what a wonderful comment, thanks for taking the time to be so kind!👍

[@tomking8315]

Another Great Looking guitar, loving the belly carve, also i think it does keep that "tornelli style" with the horn shapes, looking forward to seeing some videos with finishing and sound demos

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks for the kind comment Tom and you’re right I need to get some finishing and sound demos done!

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks for the kind comment Tom and you’re right I need to get some finishing and sound demos done!

[@gothridercreations]

Beautiful work as always mate, love the top!!!

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks buddy, I really appreciate it!👍

[@EntropiaGuitars]

Great video Gio, tough to start with a new body again but the result is worth it for sure. Also glad to see your hat and winter clothes, I'm in Alife in about 3 weeks and wasn't sure what clothes to wear. Now I know ... warm ones!!

[@TornelliGuitars]

Haha yes it’s pretty cold here right now, you’ll need the winter clothes! Thanks once again for the kind comment, I really appreciate your support!👍

[@robertr4193]

You know what might be interesting is to do the design you are using for this new build, but incorporate the hollow cavity of the slimline into this design. What ever you do I'm sure it will look stunning.

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks Robert, I did consider this briefly but the body is so light already and the neck is on the heavy side and I didn’t want to risk a diving neck. Having said that I will definitely do a semi hollow version.

[@bobsguitarmods]

Ooh! This is going to be interesting! Looks like something I'd play but with much hotter pickups than you're planning 😂

[@TornelliGuitars]

Haha thanks, I appreciate the support! I’m also wondering whether I need to go hotter. 🤔

[@bobsguitarmods]

@@TornelliGuitars Honestly, it depends on the music that's going to be played on it. I would go Medium output to have best of both worlds 🤷🏻‍♂️ low output can be good if overdriven hard though....sorta of like what Malmsteen does 😁

[@luthiferbuilds]

love it! really new but classic

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks Brett, I really appreciate it buddy!👍

[@ribamarbarbosa8789]

Perfect!

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks for the kind comment! 👍

[@lesblack413]

I'm very impressed with your workmanship and your attention to detail. Your video is as good as it could ever be and I especially like the way you talk to the camera and explain what you are going to do. I am systematically going through all of your videos and gaining enormous benefit from them. I like the carving that you do on the bodies, and wonder if you have done any French carves such as seen on the vintage Mossrite guitars that were made in the US. I know Matt from Texas Toast in the US has made a few. I think they would also fit in nicely with an offset shape body. Thanks for your video!! Les from Australia.

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks for the kind comment once again, I really appreciate it. I haven’t done French carves, I like to keep the carves clean and simple.

[@34guitars]

I really like the wood choices, they compliment each other very well. If you need a hard finish for the poplar burl you can flood the top with CA glue, let it dry and sand it back. It will be very hard. But do a test piece first. Some wood really darken with CA glue. I’ve done a couple of spalted maple tops that were kind of soft with that technique and they turned out great. Also Z-poxy finishing resin can achieve the same effect, but do a test piece also. Great work Gio!! I’m also enjoying the build with Todd! Keep it up!

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks for the kind comment again, I really appreciate it. Thanks also for the suggestions, I’ve had mixed results with z poxy and I’m thinking at the moment that a very light wash of amber to bring out the figure before sealing and finishing is required so I’ll need to figure out what can go on top of that and not lift the colour. I’ll do a few testers, as you suggest and see where I land.

[@joeys24]

Nice. Obviously a Labor of Love. Both You and Todd are an inspiration. I would Love to do my own build. Amazingly I see You used a jig saw and also a hand held power drill instead of a band saw and the drill press I see behind you. Both came out splendid though and look almost perfectly perpendicular to the Top. Especially the hole you drilled. As I watched you start to drill, I thought; “no way he gets that hole in with no angle”, but from here it looked spot on. Yes, you make it look easy. Thank you for sharing. Would like to hear your thoughts on doing a first build and any advice you have for beginners. Would like to see you and Todd do a collaborative Video like this; “What you know know that you wish you knew then”.

[@TornelliGuitars]

@@joeys24 Thanks for the really kind comment, I appreciate it. I’ve actually removed my bandsaw from the shop now because I prefer the jigsaw and never used it, I’ve always preferred moving the tool to the workpiece, ever since I was making furniture before guitars, I’m more accurate that way. The string through holes is just a result of having done it on dozens of guitar bodies and the fact that I use okoume almost exclusively for the main body woods now. Okoume doesn’t tend to deflect drill bits like other woods so I’m confident I can get it every time, I always test an offcut of the body to see how the wood feels when I drill through it and if I’m in doubt I’ll use the press. That’s a great suggestion for a video, I’m going to suggest it to Todd. So far as advice for a first build I would say that if you’re prepared to work slowly and methodically you can build whatever type of guitar that inspires you, or design your own. I would probably suggest a solid body rather than semi hollow or hollow depending on your woodworking proficiency. People do say to start with a Tele but I’ve never understood that because it’s no more simple or difficult than most other solid bodies. What were you thinking of building?

[@joeys24]

@@TornelliGuitars Thank you for your reply and Thank you for taking the time to converse with me. I would probably do some type of solid body double cutaway. With maybe an offset body shape. BTW, I worked in a Cabinet shop for two years, 2013 - 2015. We used hand power drills and jigsaws when we needed them. I also took woodshop in high-school but that was many, many moons ago. I have never heard of Okoume but I have used Poplar many times in the Cabinet shop. The Popular piece you have has the best looking grain I have ever seen! Now, To start building, I’d would need to know what tools to get. I have a cheap table saw and a cross cut saw. Do I need to get a high end jig saw( I have a cheap one)? I have a pretty good power drill as well. However, when it comes to specialized guitar tools, I have a general understanding of what’s needed but I don’t know what’s good and what’s not.

[@TornelliGuitars]

@@joeys24 no problem, I love talking about building, also I just talked to Todd and we’re going to do a video on this subject. You’re already a woodworker which is great so that’s the perfect start. I’m going to assume you’re going to build a neck in my answer. Firstly you don’t need an expensive jigsaw, mine was about £70 10 years ago and I now need to replace it. I ordered a £360 jigsaw and sent it back the same day and I’ve just bought a makita at less than half that price and it is wonderful. Based on what I build my essential tools are Jigsaw, router, drill, sander, Shinto rasp, straight edge, radius block, steel ruler, and a selection of files. If you want to slot your own fretboard and thickness your own neck blank and fretboard you’ll need to add a fretsaw and plane but I’d probably recommend buying a ready slotted fretboard before investing in that and buying the neck blank planed and flattened to the correct thickness. I’d say you could find a friendly luthier in this community that would be willing to slot a fretboard for you for a bottle of wine if you paid the postage and sent the blank! Those are the essential tools but there are some router bits and saw blades and files to get. Routing templates (neck pocket and pickups) you can make yourself. I’ll happily email you a longer explanation if you want to send me you rough plan and I can even use it as an example when Todd and I speak.

[@borgonianevolution]

Oh I am so glad you came back to the Olive work and saved the neck. You were pretty down when that got swamped. That neck is just too well done to be a shelf ornament. I love the body rework. The subtle carve on top works nicely to even it all out and give balance unlike many carves that are heavy at the arm and nothing to balance it all. The Belly carve looks like it could even accommodate my winter "build". It does however near the horn not fit in quite right with the front carves with the way it flows. To me it looks like that sweep needs to carry about an inch and a half to two inches more forward to get rid of that minor point where it kind of abruptly goes back to square. Keep in mind we are talking my half blind and mental opinion here so take it with less then a passing thought. It is hard to see the blue on the front you mentioned as on my screen there is always like an amber filter on your videos that leaves the lighting more yellowish hiding subtle color changes. It could be the way I have my screen set up for gaming so it doesn't kill my eyes but just wondering if anyone else sees it too for my own sanity. There is something with all the figuring going on that wants to be something more visual its just hiding waiting for the right touch either fine sanding or color to leap out and yell BOO! As for the colab challenge video that was a fun video to watch. You two gents interact well on screen. The planned differences on top of what has already been show is going to be incredible.

[@TornelliGuitars]

I really look forward to your comments Bill, thanks my friend. Your right the carve does need to blend or follow perhaps a slightly shallower line into the body. I’ll be going over all the lines an finessing them to make sure I’m happy before moving on. I agree, I love the olive neck and it was just staring at me every time I got into the workshop so I needed to do something pretty to go with it. You’re also correct on the grain, there are figured areas that need to jump out and I’ll need to do that with some kind of very light colour without losing the current look. I’m thinking a very light amber dye before finishing will bring that out like oil would. Testing is underway! Thanks for your continued support and for your kind comments on the collab, we’re having a good time working together and there will be many more!

[@fatpotanga]

Awesome as ever Gio! Lovely wood pairing and I always take something away. Interestingly, I’m doing something similar. Like the sound of the pickup pairing, you thinking of tapping the bridge? That said, a bridge PAF has one job IMO. I love your zen like approach and attention to detail, perfect start to a Wednesday morning! Oh, I absolutely loved vid 1 of the strat build with Todd. I can see it becoming the first of many ‘reimagined’ builds

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks once again Jamie. I’m not planning to coil tap the bridge because I don’t think I’m going to find a paf style pickup that I actually like coil tapped. Thanks also for the support and feedback on the collab build with Todd, we’re having a great time and yes we already have about 20 ideas so there’s going to be quite a few to come. I’m hoping your build is making it to KZbin?

[@fatpotanga]

@@TornelliGuitars possibly, is the short answer. I’m limited on space and time so I’ve not bothered filming anything as yet so I’ve been sticking with the odd Insta post, but I’m toying with it…

[@dnizy]

That looks awesome! For the humbucker, I'd recommend checking out Alegree's "Old Timer" PAF model, which costs about the same as the equivalent Toneriders, but what's really cool is that you can choose which type of magnets they use as well as the resistance. I went for alnico 2 at 7.5k for the bridge in mine with 1 of their P90s in the neck. It sounds great to me

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks once again, your comments are always kind and appreciated! I’ll take a look at the Alegree PAF, plus I haven’t tried them so I’m always keen to test a new brand, particularly if you can spec things.

[@jeffsguitarsgeargarage1691]

Mr. Tornelli, To be honest with you I am a huge fan of your building style & techniques, but I haven't been a big fan of your guitar designs ... Until now !! I don't know if it's the S/H pickup style, which happens to be probably my favorite pick-up style, or the unique dbl. cutaway design !! Put a DiMarzio "Chopper" in the (N) & a DiMarzio "Super Distortion" in the (B) and you might just have a buyer for it before it's even built !! No joke, I'm seriously digging it !! Now you know I'll be watching the whole build !! Keep making sawdust !!

[@TornelliGuitars]

Wow that’s really great feedback and very kind, thanks, this design was meant to appeal to a different type of guitarist so that’s really great to know. I also love the HS arrangement, that’s going to be what I do when I finally build myself a guitar! I’ll see what I can do on the pickups, watch this space! 😉 thanks so much for the support, it is much appreciated 👍

[@TornelliGuitars]

Just a quick note to let you know I sent you a reply on email. Just in case it drops into your spam folder!

[@PauloT.Silva-pts.anywhen]

Beautiful 🌞

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thank you, that’s very kind!👍

[@bhartissimo]

It's sad that you can't use the first body you made, but this one looks great too. And I like the pick-up combination too. Looks like another winner! Well done, Gio!

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks Bart, I really appreciate it. And yes it was sad but I’m glad I found a way to reuse the olive neck!

[@borgonianevolution]

Bhart!!! Where have you been hiding mate? Hope all has been good and you were just busy my friend.

[@bhartissimo]

@@borgonianevolution Hi Bill, things have generally been OK, and yes, I was very busy from September till the beginning of January. I had my final episode of my GGBO2022 build edited, but wanted to redo the demo... which I still haven't. I should get to that soon.

[@borgonianevolution]

@@bhartissimo Yes you should!! At least you are safe and healthy and not missing in action any longer. Have a happy and prosperous new year mate.

[@bhartissimo]

@@borgonianevolution Thanks, Bill! Have a great year ahead too!

[@rbattistin]

Belissima !!

[@TornelliGuitars]

Grazie ! 😀👍

[@micksguitarsarecool]

looks awesome bud. I think its real hard to make a unique shape these days great work.

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks buddy, I really appreciate it!👍

[@christophertodd6405]

A plexiglass pattern would make it easy to see what parts of the wood you want to include in the finished body.

[@christianlee5206]

How do you use the Jig Saw for the body cuts without the blade bending and cutting at an angle? When I have used a jig saw for this I find I have to stay a long way from the line so that if the blade bends the angle doesn't undercut the edge of the guitar on the opposite side.

[@jurgenzoller4407]

Beautiful work as always I really like your style. The build I'm working on at the moment will also have a single coil and a humbucker, wondering what do you think is the best pot n capacitor size combination

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks for another kind comment Jurgen. It’s cool that you’re building the same combination at the moment, I hope that’s going to make it to KZbin? Im going with a single tone and vol so at the moment I’m thinking of going with 2 x 250k pots with 47 cap, that’s most likely where I’ll end up but I may test a 33 cap, either way I’ll be sure to explain what I’m going with and why when I do the vid. I may even test both and record it to make the decision.

[@jurgenzoller4407]

@@TornelliGuitars I was thinking the opposite 500 pots with a 22 capacitor, it will be filmed, but I just found out today that I go into hospital next month and may be out of action for 3 to 4 months. It's a long story but I'm getting a bone marrow transplant. But will continue watching everyone and will stay active in the community

[@TornelliGuitars]

@@jurgenzoller4407 I’m really sorry to hear that Jurgen, I hope all goes well my friend. I may well change my mind, I haven’t given it a huge amount of thought yet but I’ll make sure to detail it in the vid. Take care 👍

[@jurgenzoller4407]

@@TornelliGuitars thx mate, I'll be watching from the side lines.

[@TornelliGuitars]

@@jurgenzoller4407 ignore my previous comment, I see that I can now get a push pull dual 250/500k pot. I’m going to use one of these for the volume. Problem solved! 😀