I am going to hand craft a guitar. I have a question

[vixousegoldfish]

I have a book that is very good for making your own guitar but i want to know if there is a good way to cut the initial shape of the body without a bandsaw?

[Slipstream]

A benchtop scroll saw would do it.

[Cluck]

Your going to need a lot of Hydrogen Peroxide an- oh, a hand crafted guitar.

[philo426]

What type of wood will you use for the main body?

[FadedCayenne]

mahagony! o man, i wanna do that.

[JustStartin]

What type of wood will you use for the main body?

Good question. Dense hardwoods can be a bear to cut through. Light duty saws will have a hardtime. I tried to cut through a mahogany/maple top with a Dewalt jigsaw. Fresh heavy gauge blade the works, and the wood was literally smoking. Ended up cutting the body from the blank with a router.

Softer woods will be an easier go. Light duty gear may do the job, but if I were you I'd try to get access to a band saw to rough cut the body, and drum sand it to the final dimension.

[philo426]

I agree,trying to cut Mahogany or Rock maple with presision is going to be difficult with a scroll-saw.

[ModestCargo]

My friend is doing this, he's starting on cutting and shaping the maple neck tonight. It's gonna be a Firebird shape body with a tele bridge, noiseless strat bridge pickup, rail neck pickup, bolt maple neck, and tele shape headstock. Unique.

[FadedCayenne]

i really want to. how much does a slab of mahogany cost?

how much does total construction cost?

[Slipstream]

i really want to. how much does a slab of mahogany cost?

how much does total construction cost?I saw a slab that costs $4,000 but it was humongous. A mahogany slab that's about the right size for a guitar body will run ya about $100.

A total construction can cost just about whatever you want to spend.

[JustStartin]

Timber prices are through the roof, especially exotic species. The hacks of lumber I get in, even spruce 2x4 framing lumber is stamped "product of chechoslavakia(sp)". The most recent floor underlayment was listed product of Germany.
The tree hugger, nature nazi contingent, pumping mass dollars to campaign funds restricting what can be harvested in this country forces us to rely on exports. Our domestic timber, and even steel, is going to rebuild Iraq for the next "We hate the US regime". You pay for it in one way or the other. Taxes, increased building costs, etc.
Political pressure from mass dollar enviromentalist toolbags, makes it difficult to import exotic species also. The costs go up. At whose expense? People need to eat, to earn a living.

Here is an idea. When you take a tree down, plant another one. To simple isnt it. Reharvest in 20 to 25 years.

Most environmentalists I've met, the closest they've come to the wilderness was weeding their flower beds.

Sorry for the rant, but I HATE TRENDY TREEHUGGERS!!!!!!

[Ranger]

Your going to need a lot of Hydrogen Peroxide an- oh, a hand crafted guitar.


I..uh...I didn't get it.?

[martinedwards]

Reharvest in 20 to 25 years.

not Mahogany you wont!!!!!

Hard wood is hard because it grows slowly. after 25 years a mahogany tree will be about two inches accross. that isn't enough for a neck let alone a body!!!

Don't know how long Mahogany lives, but Oak, they reckon 300 years infancy, 300 years maturity, 300 years decline. Now THAT'S an hard wood!!!!!

BTW I hate tree huggers too!!! they get in the way of the chain saw!!!

[Weak as Hate]

I have a book that is very good for making your own guitar but i want to know if there is a good way to cut the initial shape of the body without a bandsaw?

I'm doing one where I got a chunk of some softie wood and simply whittled away....theraputic almost

[mr mungbeen]

do some research and find out what the best tonewoods are... some are better for the neck, some for the body...

I'm gonna leave making guitars to the pros and just focus on making musak...

[Marshall Stack]

Walnut or Maple for the neck, Alder or Basswood for the body, Ebony or Rosewood for the fretboard.

I am building my own guitar as well ("building", mind you...not "crafting"). I found a mint condition Ibanez quilt top S-470 body that will be my platform. I'm going with an Ibanez 24-fret Prestige neck (like on the Jem) and the Ibanez "zero-resistance" tremolo. I'll have a professional luthier do the finishing touches and fine tuning, them I slap some strings on and I'll have a sweet "custom" guitar!!

I need advice on electronics, but I'll start another thread for that...I dont want to hijack yours.

Good luck and keep us informed on your progress!!

[JustStartin]

not Mahogany you wont!!!!!

Hard wood is hard because it grows slowly. after 25 years a mahogany tree will be about two inches accross. that isn't enough for a neck let alone a body!!!

Don't know how long Mahogany lives, but Oak, they reckon 300 years infancy, 300 years maturity, 300 years decline. Now THAT'S an hard wood!!!!!

BTW I hate tree huggers too!!! they get in the way of the chain saw!!!

You're confusing an long life tree with reharvesting time. In a proper growth environment mahogany will flourish. Trust me, mahogany will be a heck of alot wider than 2 inches after 25 years. The slab I used for my guitar has growth rings that range from 1/4" to 3/8" of an inch. Mahogany is a very long-lived species, with generation times
approaching centuries. Regeneration is random, occurring in extensively
cleared areas after large-scale disaster. Therefore, it generally
occurs in even-aged stands. Next time I post pics in the guitar build thread I take a pic of the grain for you.
The reason for the concerns about mahogany are poor lumbering practices in Central and South America, and now Asia.

Where did you get that 300 year infancy thing. The Sierra Club or Earth First. Thats right up there with the Spotted Owl and Desert Turtle hoax they pulled.

I dont hate tree huggers, I just have a neighbor who contantly pontificates on nature, and over half the stuff he spews is BS.

[Slipstream]

Hey, good news, there's no bag limit on spotted owls! :)