feylya Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 I'm sitting here, counting up my pennies and lusting after some wood So far, it would cost about €140 for body, neck, fretboard, fretwire, truss rod and delivery from LMII. Assuming I built all that and finished it, I'd have spent €200 and I'd have a nice finished guitar (hopefully) but without pickups, electronics, bridge, tuners, strap pins or other hardware. If I put a Floyd Rose and 2 EMG humbuckers into it, I wouldn't have much change from €400. How can you all afford to be turning out guitars like there's no tomorrow??? It baffles me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Make that two of us baffled. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TenderSurrender Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Lets make it a party n say theres now 3 of us I suppose could be because usually you dont buy all the parts in one big go so theres time to split up the payments a little... but thats just one theory lol ~~ Slain Angel ~~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 (edited) I try not to use cheap parts, but there IS such a thing as shopping sensibly AND getting halfway decent components. A line has to be drawn somewhere. My first 2 guitars all have the same hardware which amounted to about $200 Cdn. for each. I made my own pickguards, truss rod covers and control cavity plates out of stainless steel and went thru the arduous task of cutting, shaping and polishing. Pickups tend to be the expensive item. I've been using Golden Age overwound HB's but they raised the price recently, making them not worth the expense anymore. If I can find decent, middle-of-the-road pickups at a reasonable price I would be buying them. But here in Canada anything off the shelf is way too much $$$. And I can't expect stores to stock every type of pickup available. I'm still looking for a local source, but I might consider building my own. And lastly, I GET MY WOOD FOR FREE. If I didn't I would probably not even bother building guitars. I've worked at a few boatbuilding shops and they occasionally have scrap mahogany laying around. You wouldn't believe what is wasted. If the grain isn't straight enough they will burn it. I also know a few carpenters who are willing to trade and /or sell some wood. They know what I'm looking for . It doesn't hurt to be on the ball. I'm a real scrounger and usually manage to dig up "freebies" in the junk pile. When I do renovation and construction work I am constantly striking up conversations with trades people. OK, maybe some of the stuff I get my hands on is not AAAAA figured mapled etc. but it doesn't take a degree in rocket science to dress up mutton to look like lamb. Your main expenses occur during the construction of your first guitar. A lot of that money goes into buying the necessary tools. The less proficient you are at using hand and power tools, the more expensive things get. You don't necessarily need a drill press, band saw, planer, etc. I mean, it would be nice to have and I DO occasionally borrow the use of that machinery, like I said, I'm a scrounger. But I can get along just a well with a hand drill, jig saw, hand planes/sanding blocks. It just takes a little more time and effort. Edited May 22, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 I believe you meant "rocket surgery". Really, now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 I build guitars as a hobby and just that. I rarely make much money. If I break even im happy. Truthfully i go for the cheaper hardware, If someone is willing to pay for high end stuff on a custom, sure.But they're going to pay for it not me. But just for my own work El cheapo is good enough. You can argue the idea all you want but unless you get into high end the differences are marginal. Wood is fairly easy to come by and i laminate a lot of stuff. In the long term is probably stronger and more stable anyway. As for pickups, buy a cheap pickup and a coil of 42AWG. you can make pretty much any sound under the sun. The book guitar electronics for musicians is really good for explaning the tonal differences in coil winding. I know you're prob thinkin I dont have a winder or money for one. Well if you can research to build a guitar you can use the same skills, and im sure you can figure it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 I'm less a guitar builder...more a guitar renovator. Especially when starting out, get a half decent copy as cheap as you can and work on it a little or as much as you like. Make a new body, adjust the neck, work on the frets and action, go wild with the electronics...hell even rewind the pickups. (Or make a sustainer ) The result will be unique and you'll learn a lot...the neck, pickups and hardware come with the old banger and can be replaced if you so desire. There are even some cheapy new guitars that aren't so bad if the body weren't plywood body, etc. If you can scrounge some free wood, perhaps you'd find yourself with a unique tone monster! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 I don't have a bass boat, 4-wheeler, cabin on the lake, ex-wife, mortgage, college loan, mistress, speeding tickets or dead-beat inlaws. So I can afford a few guitar projects. In other words, I hardly have a life! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 I'm working on my 5th guitar. None have been scratchbuilds and the 2nd one is in pieces having come to a standstill (but soon to be resumed). The first scratchbuild is in the planning stages now. I started doing this because I needed something different than what I had and couldn't afford to buy it off the shelf. So I started buying parts from ebay and a local guy (www.warnersguitarshop.com) who answered my stupid questions with a friendly smile and sat down and put them together. For pickups, I've been getting my pickups from ebay sellers: Strat from Choppers Music (in Edmonton) and Mighty Mite pickguard assembly from Wildberry Castle, and GFS Tele pups. I'm a semi big fan of Mighty Mite necks. I've been getting them from Great Music Deals. You'd be surprised what you can do if you plan and research and don't be a bandwagon jumper. The name brands are cool but for playing in your bedroom or weekend gigging at the local VFW or whatever I think it's overkill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Right now I'm working on my 3rd guitar and It's been about $500 a guitar. Thats not that bad for me, so I keep building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3Va1L Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 god, i just calculated what it will cost me... using a neck-through from Carvin... man you're right, these cost damn much... around 800$ canadian for everything... thoug its premium stuff... piezo TOM, great pickups, locking tuners... a guitar worth like 2000$ don't have these things.... still, it's 800$ IF i don't screw up anything... man this really costs too much lol... but still, the guitar i was planning to buy was like 1250$ (parker nitefly) and had these features (actually a little less) so i'm "saving" money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzocchi705 Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 My current project has cost me £36 in wood, and with al hardware it will come to around $200 although im not buying really good stuff yet, this body doesnt deserve it. My next guitar is going to cost £140 in wood, a big jump, but this is nice figured maple and mahogany, and its a neck thru so the blanks have to be bigger, Im going to be putting good hardware on this one, origianal floyd, bill lawrence p'ups. I dont expect to have much change out of £600 on this one. Its all about what you want, and what you can afford, i would love some 5A quilt maple, but i dont want to drop 140 just on a top, so i go with the less spectactular 3A stuff and work with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted May 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 I priced up a neck through maple neck blank, 3/4 piece alder body and preradiused and slotted ebony board from LMII. €100+ for that :o It's crazy money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 So far, since I've started building, I average about 2 guitar a year. Since I've been playing for so long, and since I've kept every old part that I've swapped out over the last 20 years, I have a huge box of guitar parts. Junk, is what my wife would call it. I've always been a penny pincher growing up. I constantly look for deals. I enjoy having to dig for a really good bargin. For instance, when I wanted an EQ, I searched around and found most went for $400 bucks, then I found one for $40. I still use the right channel today (the left burned out). For my latest project, I'm actually trying to build a guitar with the cheapest parts I can find. It'll be interesting to tally it all up at the end. Or, now, since I have not added it up yet... 2 humbuckers (pulls from an Ibanez) $20 1 Tele single coil $1 bridge, (wrap over gibson style) $14 Tuners (4/2 set) $2 Neck and Body wood, scrap FREE Fretboard $5 Fretwire, probably free since I have some left over. Truss rod $8 So far that's a $50 guitar. Not bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3Va1L Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 thing is you could prolly build a squier/(cheap)epiphone type guitar pretty cheap (like a 100$)... but it would suck as much as these do... yknow plywood stuff with cheap pickups... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlGeeEater Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 (edited) I priced up a neck through maple neck blank, 3/4 piece alder body and preradiused and slotted ebony board from LMII. €100+ for that :o It's crazy money ← start saving up! No, i'm serious, thats the only way i am able to do it. Don't blow your money on useless junk. Right now, i have enough money for a car and some of college in my bank account. When i get paid(first time i saw a check that had tax deductions for the state, healthcare, ect i almost cried )i put it away in the bank. When i get paid from my dad i split it 70/30 taking the 30 for my self, and the rest in my bank account. I actually within about 3 months saved up 1,000 dollars for guitar building... It may be different for you though being a college student though, not a high school punk Edited May 23, 2005 by AlGeeEater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted May 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Yeah, bills are horrible horrible things. €50 a week to pay bills and enjoy myself on. Not a lot of money. Does anyway buy wood just to make a body and neck? I'm thinking of making a neck through but the most expensive bit is probably the fretboard so I was thinking of just building the guitar without the truss rod or fretboard and seeing how that goes. If it goes well, then I'd get a fretboard and truss rod, fret it and install. If that goes well, then get hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3Va1L Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 AlGeeEater, that's what i plan on doing (more or less, anyways) but first i need a job. As soon as i get one, i'll start my guitar... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Money is a problem for most things. I agree with the comment earlier, "Don't buy junk". Buy the best quality that you can afford. That doesn't mean expensive. It just means you might have to get Gotoh's instead of Grover's or Sperzel's. You don't have to get Jin Ho's. If you don't have a lot of money, you could try pawn shops and trade up. Buy a guitar, take out the good parts, substitute some cheaper parts, and sell that guitar to someone. It takes time, sure, but with just a little dosh you could eventually get a good set of parts built up. From what I understand, this is how Eric Clapton built "Blackie". He took the best bits from 3 pawn shop guitars to build one good guitar and then he sold off the other two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 god, i just calculated what it will cost me... using a neck-through from Carvin... man you're right, these cost damn much... around 800$ canadian for everything... thoug its premium stuff... piezo TOM, great pickups, locking tuners... a guitar worth like 2000$ don't have these things.... still, it's 800$ IF i don't screw up anything... man this really costs too much lol... but still, the guitar i was planning to buy was like 1250$ (parker nitefly) and had these features (actually a little less) so i'm "saving" money ← Does stuff cost alot more in canada? Because I'm looking at about $500 USDfor each guitar. Thats buying the best parts I can find. Seymour Duncan pickups, wood thats about $100 for the body and $60 for the neck, premium grade electronics and hardware, $100 tuners, the best bridge I can find, and I'm still under $500 for each one... Basicly I find that I spend about $350 on everything but wood and the wood changes. Sometimes I might buy a peice of wenge that happens too be $150, but I can get two guitars out of it so it's not really that bad... Than I can get a peice of figured maple for the neck for like $100, but again that goes for two guitars so It's not really that much money in the long run. Considering I spent $410 for my godin I think it's great that I spend $500 for parts. I think it's very reasonable. Now my first guitar was a diffrent story. I had too buy lots of guitar specific tools and it came out too about $800. But since alot of those things are one time buys I won't have too spend that again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 (edited) I've brought the cost down to 350€ for my basses. I save a few bucks by building my own pickups, that's less than 5€ per pickup. I won't pay more than 35€ for a bridge and 7€ per tuner (I use Kluson or Gotoh) and the wood comes from the friendly neighbourhood's wood yard. Edited May 23, 2005 by Phil Mailloux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 It's been said 1,000 times....building from scratch is not the way to save money on a guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorecki Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 It's been said 1,000 times....building from scratch is not the way to save money on a guitar. ← Ahhh...wouldn't that make it 1,001 times? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 erik, that be right! You build to get what you want, not save money. If you got expensive tastes, you gonna spend money on an axe, hand-built or otherwise. Very few people can save money building a guitar comparable to an existing factory-build. The best example of that is a Epiphone 335 (?) copy. Try to make that and save a single penny. You build to build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 well let's qualify that statement.. You won't save money over a showroom factory guitar.. however, if you build and you are skilled and patient, you will save money over say a PRS private stock or a fender custom shop model.. It's not hard at all to spend a grand on materials for your first.. The first is always the most expensive as you will buy a ton of tools and little "have to have's" along the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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