TV

[impala59]

Much to ponder there Jim! I don’t quite get your first paragraph, perhaps a drawing?
The whole design concept is fascinating and as far as electric guitars go, there are not many different designs for the amount of years they have existed. The telecaster is 70 years old and still current as are many others, Les Paul, 335 etc etc. Either we are mostly conservative (with small c) or they got it right way back when. Like other items of longevity such as shotguns, (my personal collection has items from 1937 to current that have interchangeable parts) the guitar is fundamentally a tool that needs to fit a human being. The form is almost inescapable, so the design becomes ornamentation along with improvement to usability, output, performance etc. Look at cars from a century ago and the only real change is cosmetic and performance, the concept remains the same. With classical guitars the pinnacle was reached and it is accepted that the design is what it is.
Back to the TV, the shape originated from a tracing of a telecaster, the lines running back were taken from the waist point, the upper then continued to the neck join and the lower kept the horn and consequent access to the upper frets. The material lost and gained by this process was about equal. This, hopefully explains the somewhat stubby look to the arrowhead shape, but is in keeping with my personal brief for the size and weight etc. As Simon identified, there was an unfortunate result from this amalgamation in that the horn took on a dominance that it does not have in a regular telecaster. I intend now to reduce to version 3. I hope that when the scratch plate and hardware is fitted I will achieve a balanced appearance. The headstock is a regular V which I do not as yet intend to alter. I was quite taken by Sonic’s photoshopped picture, (now there’s a man who can design, his most recent offering actually made me want an offset, and I don’t like offsets!!) that is dividing the parental difference by the centre line, maybe a future build?
I too have been questioning design, it’s an interesting area and keeps the old grey matter turning over, who knows where we will go next? I thank you and all other members for your support, comments and interest

[Simon Barden]

Very few people understand Jim.

[JimC]

Very few people understand Jim.

and certainly not the girlfriend...

I don't quite get your first paragraph, perhaps a drawing?

Does this help... Straight lines in blue, radii in red. All the way through in this version there's always a straight line before each radius, and the radii are arcs of circles, not compound curves. I tried to draw my lower horn so the angles to the centreline mirrored those of the V.

It could do with more symmetry maybe.

In this idea I've tried to make all the angles the same, so the upper rear and lower front horns are symmetrical about the red line, the two lower horns are mirror images, and the angles of the front horn are the same as those of the rear horns. Needs more work. Anyway, just throwing a couple of ideas in the pool, hopefully not spanners in the works...

Maybe that front horn should be blunter, same radius as the others...

[impala59]

I really like those ideas, thank you. I am a little further along with the TV, it’s not that dissimilar to your drawing but still has the rounded telecaster influence. I may have to make another now! I would be interested in how you would mirror the design for the headstock

[Rabbit]

So it's not going to be named Headwig and have an angrry inch? (#5)

[JimC]

I'm not sure I've got something in my mind for a headstock... It would be nice to have the angles of the headstock mirror the angles of the body. The practicalities of locating the tuners versus the strings complicates things unless things like turning posts for the top and bottom strings are introduced. A 4 + 2 might be worth considering.

[Simon Barden]

But 4+2 is neither Tele nor Flying V like, so you then add a MusicMan vibe in as well to confuse things.

The downside to the arrow headstock is that on a real V, the outer E strings are very splayed as they come off the nut. The arrow headstock in the photos is longer, so the strings are less splayed. The more splayed the strings, the better the nut has to be cut to get tuning stability. 6-in-line or 4+2 can give you a straight string pull where a slightly rougher nut can be acceptable, though a well-cut nut is always a good thing to have.

[fender3x]

I think that JimC may be onto something. The shape he sketched looks the best to me so far.

I had my own idea, which was to abandon the horn and take a bite out of the lower edge to rest on your knee.



After looking at my idea, I am now completely convinced that JimC's idea is better ;-)

[JimC]

The notch would make a great novelty guitar though, you could paint it up like Tom and Jerry style cartoon cheese... An oval body, painted up to look like gruyere cheese with the big holes, a big bite out of the bottom with tooth marks... Oh dear, am I losing sanity again?

[fender3x]

Oh dear, am I losing sanity again?

If so, it may be collective. I was sort of thinking of it as the shark attack Flying V.