Potvin Guitars is me, Mike Potvin. I'm a one-man shop building electric guitars full-time since 2008. I love all things vintage, and have a bit of an obsession with muscle cars. I like to build guitars inspired by vintage classics, but I also have some original designs that I'm really proud of. I also have a line of guitar building templates and jigs that I make available to other builders (pro and hobbyist).
Question - my golf club has an old prominent pine coming down - one that caused much frustration for many golfers !. A friend of mine is a professional guitar player and also a golfer. He wants to make a guitar body from the line. It will likely involved epoxy voids etc. what is your thought on pine (soft) as guitar body wood ?
There's nothing wrong with using pine for a body. As you said, it's a soft wood, so be prepared for it to get dinged up easily. One thing to keep in mind is that you won't be able to just slice up a freshly cut tree and make a guitar. It'll require years of air drying and/or some time in a kiln before it's usable. Good luck!
Thanks for this helpful video! I almost bought a baritone telecaster neck for my StratAcoustic and now I know it will not work. I will look for a stratocaster baritone neck now that I know.
Thanks Mike! I was just about to pull the trigger on some 3M 9740 tape but came across your video. You just saved me $20! That 3M is pricey and I’m not gonna indulge in the stewmac prices for theirs. Oh I also want to thank you for making the fender toronado template. That was actually my first build using your template and it come out great!
Nice work, Mike. I was impressed by how you locked the unit in place with the piece in the back. Very clever and necessary I would imagine. Another great video, thanks!
Excellent video with clear concise information. The T and S jig really illustrates the concept in simple empirical analysis. Thanks. Not arguing any point but I have a T neck on S ‘ocasta and although saddles had to be moved toward nut I was able to intonate it..plays well sounds nice but not the belle of the ball. I know I shouldn’t say this…I still want to square them shoulders in the pocket to make the neck snug up in there!
You can change to spring loaded Speaker terminals unless you were more permanently mount caps. I like the speaker terminals because I can swap in different values for side-by-side comparison of the caps when you've narrowed your preferences.
Hey Gary, Position the template correctly for your scale length, then tap a 1/8" brad point drill through each of the 4 holes to mark the post locations. Then remove the template and drill with the correct size brad point drill bit for your particular posts.
Slap on some duct tape, some super glue, or shove in some wedges and your student bolty can indeed use the wrong neck...lol! Or you could get a job and buy a good guitar, or get the right neck.
Great Job Mike. Thanks for answering my questions about truss rods. Very helpful. As well the tips on using locator pins through the fret slots when gluing up the fretboard is a great idea. Thanks Sheldon
The builds look great 👍 Do you think you could do a video on how to use the carve top jigs? Will there be a set of carve top jigs for a 335 style at some point?
The LP carve guides are fairly straight forward- route around each template from largest to smallest to form a stair-step / pyramid. Them smooth out the steps with whatever tools you have (orbital sander, chisels, sandpaper, scraper etc). The 335 carve is not as well documented as the LP, so unfortunately I don't have any measurements to work from :)
Well done, Mike! AS you know, I've done teaching and stuff. As well, I was a technical trainer and training developer for some time. I think you did well.
If you'd like me to answer your guitar building questions Live, jump on my email list so I can tell you when the next Livestream takes place! potvinguitars.com/subscribe/
Greetings from a fellow Ottawan. How the heck did I not know you had a RU-vid channel all these years? Why settle for one tone cap? I like to use something I got from Craig Anderton over 40 years ago: a bidirectional tone pot. Tone pot wiper goes to volume input lug, and each outside lug of the tone pot goes to ground through a different-value cap. I like to use a "standard" value cap (generally .022uf) on one side, and something about 1/5 to 1/4 that value on the other side (e.g., 4700pf). Because this constitutes what is effectively two tone pots in parallel, that requires hiking up the pot resistance. I use 1meg linear. When set to its midpoint, it becomes two 500k tone controls set to full treble (i.e., negligible cut). I would be nice if someone made a 1M linear pot with a centre detente, so you could rotate until you feel the little click, but alas, I've never seen one in the wild. But quite honestly, almost any position 40 degrees or so away from either end tends to be bright enough. The lower/smaller cap side provides a nice "rounding" of the tone, and can introduce a bit of a resonant shift. I like to describe it as "sanding off the edges". This stands in contrast to the dulling effect of the cap in the other direction. One of the perks is that all tonal changes are accomplished in half the rotation normally required by a conventional tone control. This makes it ideal for those who like to use "pinky wah" (producing a wah-like treble swell by quickly rotating the tone control). Rotary switches are great for many things. I made a little gadget for selecting the optimal current-limiting resistor for LEDS illumination. LEDs vary in how efficient and bright they are. What may be a suitable resistance for making an old-school red LED bright enough may result in a newer superbright one being blindingly bright. So, I have a little jig with a 12-position switch and a range of resistors from around 1k5 up to 18k. A 9V battery plugs into it and the LED gets inserted into a socket. I start from the highest resistance value, and work my way down until get a brightness that's suitable. What counts as "suitable" depends not only on the LED's brightness, but the background against which it will be seen. An LED against a dark background can afford to be a little dimmer, while one against a white or light background needs to be a little brighter. Handy little thing.
@@PotvinGuitarsThanks. It probably won't identify the *exact* resistance, but if, for instance, 4k7 is a little too bright and the next switch position of 6k8 isn't bright enough, that will provide an idea of what possible standard value will be optimal. It was something I found necessary because of a parts drawer chock full of different LEDs from different eras. A person could always use a pot, I suppose, and measure the pot resistance when you hit the sweet spot, but this is less cumbersome because one can know, in advance, according to switch position. Of course, choosing a cap *absolutely* requires a switch!
Yes! For the occasional lefty, you can just flip the templates over. If you're left-handed, and you only build left-handed models, just get in touch by email and I can make you a dedicated left-handed set 👍🎸
Thanks for this, Mike. Well-presented and informative. The static overlays/screen shots were awesome for later use to easily see some information you want to revisit. Looking forward to whatever else you put out.
The thing that I am taking away is taking a smaller bite while routing the body perimeter. And I will make sure to sand right up to the line, leaving only a small amount for the router to remove. Very well done, Mike. Thank you!
If you'd like me to answer your guitar building questions Live, jump on my email list so I can tell you when the next Livestream takes place! potvinguitars.com/subscribe/
Scott White - I saw your message in the chat just now about using an oscillating edge sander before routing. That's a great idea if you didn't quite get close enough to the line when you did the rough cut of the body on your bandsaw. The goal is always to leave as little work as possible for the router to do.
Hey Mike. Thanks for the video, sorry I couldn’t be there for the live. Great information on router techniques and help with the neck angle info. Sheldon B.
If you mean can you sand the corners of a Strat neck pocket to turn it into a Tele neck pocket, then no that wouldn't be possible. You could use a Tele neck pocket template and router to do it though.
I had pretty much given up on double sided tape until I tried Mike's recommendation. It is excellent tape, no more sticky residue. Pretty expensive, so I still use masking tape and CA glue for non-critical things. Although spectape tears off easily, I still prefer a big tape dispenser that holds the double sided tape and a roll of binding tape. This allows me to grab sections of tape with one hand. Thanks Mike!
@@PotvinGuitars I am going to build a 5 string bass guitar sadly I had no luck till I came across your page. There isn't 5 string templates. I can only find 4 string templates. I will be ordering a template here soon.
To attach sandpaper to the blocks or leveling beams I use a "repositioning" spray adhesive made by 3M. It's designed for photo albums or scrap books where items may need to be moved. It holds the paper in place but can be easily peeled off and replaced. If there is residue left rubbing alcohol or similar cleans it right up.
Good tip. Still have not started that first guitar, ( a box of your templates are staring at me from the corner) but we canoe building folks can appreciate sandpaper hacks. Also a Red Green fan, so spare the duct tape....
Nice video, Mike. I like the duct tape on the sandpaper tip. I'm going to give it a try this weekend. The spray glue is another that I will try. Thanks, Mike!!
Followup: I will say that the duct tape on the back of the sandpaper is a brillant tip! I was making a speaker cabinet this weekend and I gave it a try while rounding over the edges. The paper did not rip in the middle and it seemed to do a bit of a better job than the sandpaper alone. Thanks for the tip!
Thanks Mike. What is your opinion of random orbital sanders? The first electric guitar I made was covered in swirls from my sander; my aging eyesight didn't spot the pigtails until the finish was several coats deep. I now sand by hand. Guitars don't have enough area to sand for me to risk using a power tool. Keep these tips coming, very useful.
Orbital sanders can absolutely leave tiny swirls if you have a heavy hand or don't work through enough grits. On a project like a guitar where you're probably going for a mirror smooth finish, they can be really visible. A dual action sander can solve the problem. A DA sander usually makes the same small circular movements as an orbital sander while simultaneously also moving in a larger eccentric circle. The dual motions do a better job, but I've only ever seen them as air-powered so you'll need an air compressor large enough to run a fairly "hungry" air tool. If I'm only working on one body I'll also consider hand sanding as opposed to breaking out my DA. The large block you see me holding in the video is exactly what I use in that case :)
If you know what you're doing, it would be easier and quicker to modify the Tele neck to fit the Strat pocket rather than selling and buying the "right" neck. Plus, some people want a Tele neck on a Strat body because it is interesting.
You're right- if you have the know-how, skills and equipment, it is possible. I'm not saying you *can't* make it work, or that you *shouldn't* . I'm just pointing out that this is literally a case of "making a square peg fit into a round hole".
The contours are engraved on the body template so you can take measurements. Cavity depths are dependent on the hardware you're using, but if you have any questions after getting started just email me, I'm happy to help 👍
