Building a guitar

[HeadleyGrange]

Hey everybody, I'm new to guitars and the board. I'll spare the introduction and get down to business here...
I'm a car guy and like to build stuff. I recently discovered the idea of building a guitar. How much fun could this be? So I have come here for some help. I don't know anything about guitars from a construction point of view. I have looked on the gibson and fender website at various models, what they were made of etc. I came to the conclusion that mahogany is the wood of choice for the body, and rosewood and ebony seemed like the top woods for the fretboard. Am I right here? Also, what kind of electronics am I going to need? I know pickups and an input jack for an amp. But I really don't have a clue. I plan on building this thing completely from scratch, I have a decent size bank account to cover the cost of this, so buying good stuff is not a problem, and I don't really have a timeline...I want to do this right. So if you know of anywhere to buy wood, electronics, etc... Post it up, also any and all advice is helpful. Oh yea, and please don't give me any crap like...do you know how much work this is? blah blah blah, I don't really care. Thanks!

[zappatude]

Click on the guitar build sticky thread at the top of this section.

[Munga]

Well, before you build a guitar, I think you should become really familiarized with wiring, what a guitar is made up of, how it is made, etc. Go to www.projectguitar.com for tons of resources and tutorials. Also, check their forum. It is dedicated exculsively to...you guessed it...building guitars. www.stewmac.com is an excellent site for parts and tools and jigs for making guitars, as well as many books and videos. www.warmoth.com is a great site for ordering premade parts. I highly recommend you do what I did, and order the neck but make the body. It can be really overwhelming doing it all at the same time. Also, http://www.guitarbuildingtemplates.com/ is a must. If I would have bought one of those templates, my guitar build would have been done a month ago. Don't be scared off by the price, first of all, they are worth it tenfold compared to the amount of hours needed to match what they offer, and second of all, building guitars aren't cheap. They really only come in handy when you are building $2-5k instruments, and your time isn't worth any money, like mine.

Alec

[PlayerOfGuitar]

ya that sticky is very helpful. lot of pages tho. you could go to warmoth.com and get a body blank, and cut your own shape. u can also get the neck and pickup and bridge routing done on the blank. those are probably the hardest parts to get right. but if you want to build it all by your self then dont go there.
also, what are u going to make the neck out of? id recomend maple, just cuz pretty much every guitar neck is made of maple, and then a ebony fretboard because they are really slick,
post pics plz

[HeadleyGrange]

Well, everything is going to be custom, obviously. But I don't really want to try and copy any particular guitar. I am in the very beginning stages, I probably won't even begin to start collecting parts for a month or two. I still need to come up with a design, figure out where to get parts, etc. I might end up just buying a neck, because that is really the only thing that is worrying me. I figure if I can put together a motor, I can build a guitar. Thanks for all the helpful links Alec, I'll be sure to check them out. I checked out the sticky at the top of the page, but I hate reading long threads like that. It can get quite boring and monotonous sometimes. Keep the ideas flowing folks.

dave

[martinedwards]

I suggest going on ebay and buying a cheap strat or Les Paul Copy.

then pulling it apart.

actually holding the bits in your hands really help you see whats going on.

when you're done, you can stick it all back together and sell in on again.....

www.guitarfetish.com for parts too.......

[Stray Dog]

Go to the forums at www.harmonycentral.com, go to Electric Guitars and search for 'guitar build thread' I think. There is a guy called Ajcaholic or something who has built two semi-hollow guitars, with REALLY detailed step-by-step photos of how he does it on the forums. Its fascinating, and will really help you.

[Munga]

Well, everything is going to be custom, obviously. But I don't really want to try and copy any particular guitar. I am in the very beginning stages, I probably won't even begin to start collecting parts for a month or two. I still need to come up with a design, figure out where to get parts, etc. I might end up just buying a neck, because that is really the only thing that is worrying me. I figure if I can put together a motor, I can build a guitar. Thanks for all the helpful links Alec, I'll be sure to check them out. I checked out the sticky at the top of the page, but I hate reading long threads like that. It can get quite boring and monotonous sometimes. Keep the ideas flowing folks.

dave

I would highly recommend you do a pre-existing design for your first guitar, but if you don't, more power to you.


Alec

[HeadleyGrange]

I have another question, I have noticed that when people are building the body they use two pieces of wood, why not just use on piece that is as thick as two?

[JacksonMIA]

I have another question, I have noticed that when people are building the body they use two pieces of wood, why not just use on piece that is as thick as two?
Multi-piece bodies are more commonly made of two or more pieces side-by-side. This is done because it is difficult (sometimes impossible) to find a single piece of wood wide enough. When the multi-piece bodies are made using one on top of the other, there are usually two possiblities - it's a laminate body (it's actually cheaper to glue several really thin sheets together) or a figured top (a nicely figured wood like maple looks great, but it's not usually good for an entire body - you need a darker sounding wood to tame it a little).

I've bought several books over the past month to try to start learning myself. One of them was really good, but I don't remember the exact name. I'll look it up and get back to you. I'd also strongly advise, if you're willing, either getting a cheap guitar to take apart and learn how it goes together or getting a kit from some place like USA Custom Guitars or Warmoth so you can learn the assembly and setup on perfectly cut pieces of wood - because your first guitar won't be perfect.

But if you're confident and have some scrap wood to practice on before ruining an expensive piece of mahogany then go for it. I'll hopefully be starting soon on my first prototype. My dad gave me some scrap lumber left over from building his shed. I plan on building several prototypes this way before starting with expensive wood.