axo151 Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 i've never built a guitar. i have a fairly extensive knowledge about most of the harware and materials used to make a guitar (wood, pickups, fretwire, tuners, etc.). i want to try and build a tele. i own a strat and les paul, so this should be a nice addition, and i've heard that telecasters are easy to build. i'd probably go ash body/maple neck, nothing really special. anyway, how hard is this to do? i imagine that building a neck and getting the radius right must be pretty hard, inserting a truss rod seems like a tough task as well. maybe i'd buy a premade neck from stewmac or warmoth or something, but i'd sort of like the satisfaction of doing it myself. i realize this is a very general question, but could you give me a few answers to the effect of how hard is this to do, what type of tools will i need, how much will it cost me, can i get a nice playing guitar my first go around, etc. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 hey axo,i would love to help...but these questions are very broad in nature...there is so much you need to look into before deciding which rout you will take. but read around in the pinned topics in each section,and then read all the tutorials on the main site(projectguitar.com) you will learn much more that way than you will in this topic,i am sure of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoofnagle Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 Yes, that seems like a good combo for a tele. As for building it - it is not that easy. Your questions/concerns are valid and a search of old posts on this site will give you many answers. Additionally, books by Hiscock and Koch on guitar building are must reads (IMHO). I am constantly rereading these. I would start there to address your first questions. Good luck and welcome, Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axo151 Posted December 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 (edited) alright thanks guys iw ill do that. before i start doing this though, what sort of price am i looking at? assume that my pickups cost 150 bucks together. everything else will be standard good quality hardware. and nothing special with the wood, ash and maple. Edited December 8, 2004 by axo151 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 depends on too many variables...where you get your wood,what you buy and what you build,what where you buy your parts,yada,yada,yada... i spent about $600 on my first,and only about $300 on my second,and it was much more complex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axo151 Posted December 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 (edited) yeah but just a ballpark number. 200 dollars? 500 dollars? 1000 dollars? edit: just saw the second half of your post. thanks, sounds good. Edited December 8, 2004 by axo151 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 axo, if I may call you that, you seem to be a lad with some time to spend on supthin as worthwhile as building a guitar so I'm going to make a suggestion. Buy a cheap, maybe evn crappy, kit for $150.00 to $200.00. Spend some real time on every little part of that kit and don't expect anything really good to come out of it. Avoid disappointment and you will be ready for the next step: your OWN guitar. Built just the way YOU want. Cheap kits are a blast cause there is no fear of failure! You will save every penny you spend on the kit by learning what it really important in your OWN guitar. Listen to the guys that disagree with me, though. Can't be right all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CudBucket Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Axo, you'll need to have all the parts before you start so you can lay it all out. The truss rod and fretboard radius are two of the easier parts to building a neck. Slotting it are another story. Check out my site: www.downinfrontht.com I'm illustrating my first guitar project there. Maybe you can pick some info up there. Good luck. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axo151 Posted December 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 hey guys, thanks for the support. at the moment, i don't have a lot of free time on my hands. i'm a sophmore in highschool near boston. the northeast has some great schools, and i got tossed right in the middle of it.......i go to a very good private school which requires a lot of my time (school starts at 8, i'm rarely home before 6, sometimes not even till 10, and then ive got hours and hours of homework -- and im slacker by their standards!). i've got a girlfriend too, that takes more time. i still manage to squeeze 2-3 hours or so of guitar playing in every day (theres always a guitar on my knee as i work or sit at the computer). i've had a lot of interest in guitar building for about a year, and i messed around this summer with stripping an old guitar, taking it apart to look at how it was put together, etc. i love old guitars and old amps, and i love guitars that feel great. the desire to have a guitar that felt great AND played great is what lead me to guitar building. anyway, eventually i will get around to building a guitar, and i think starting from a kit sounds like a great idea. thanks for all the ideas and support, maybe i'll find time after christmas to start reading up on this stuff. if i could get to the point where i actually know how to build a good sounding and playing guitar, i would be overjoyed. anyway, keep up the good work everyone, and thanks for the tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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