teh_chris Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 well more like, I want to build a guitar. the first thing I'll tackle is the body, I've bought 2 boards of poplar and no matter what, I think it's going to take 4 pieces to make the body. I've been doing a little researching, searching sites. I've found that routers are pretty useful in this for making cavities and for the body. I'm still not sure how I want to cut the body. I don't have any kind of extreme tools like a band saw so I'm a little limited, I have a jig saw though. I'm kind of hoping if someone can tell me if a jig saw will work for cutting the body, it doesn't have to do the best job, it just has to work. And any other suggestions for materials I'd appreciate, I am sort of on a budget. if anyone reads this I'd greatly appreciate it, it is kind of long. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 (edited) if anyone reads this I'd greatly appreciate it, it is kind of long. I'm sorry but if you think that post took a long time to type than your going to get very discouraged building a guitar... A jig saw will work but because the blade flexes it's important to cut it outside of your line and than sand it perfect. You can get away without a router if your good with a chisel but a router will make your life a whole lot easier and can be had reasonably cheap with decent quality. Edited August 26, 2005 by Godin SD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh_chris Posted August 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 (edited) thanks for the reply...and From here it looked like a lot, so my eyes decieved me. Also, I can probably type faster than you. And a lot of the time people don't feel like being bothered to read a newbie's post. Edited August 26, 2005 by teh_chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bytrix Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 What he meant is you are going to have to do alot of reading, I'm not even considering starting my full project for atleast another month and I've spent two weeks reading through all the tutorials on this site and many others, plus I just ordered a few books, one on the making of guitars and one on electronics for guitars (they were cheap anyway). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh_chris Posted August 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 What he meant is you are going to have to do alot of reading, I'm not even considering starting my full project for atleast another month and I've spent two weeks reading through all the tutorials on this site and many others, plus I just ordered a few books, one on the making of guitars and one on electronics for guitars (they were cheap anyway). ← What books did you order? I'm not one to wait, and I don't really care, this is a first so I'm going to learn from it. I'm amazed I didn't start like 2 days ago, but I've been researching and I just went to borders but I couldn't find anything good, plus all the books were expensive. but the only thing I'll do soon is glue the wood together and I probably won't even do that for a few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhoads369 Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 I'm not one to wait, and I don't really care, this is a first so I'm going to learn from it. I'm amazed I didn't start like 2 days ago, but I've been researching and I just went to borders but I couldn't find anything good, plus all the books were expensive. but the only thing I'll do soon is glue the wood together and I probably won't even do that for a few days. ← Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh_chris Posted August 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 hmm I'm already looking into some books, I just ordered one today called make your own electric guitar by melvyn something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 Yep, good place to start. Melvyn's book is pretty much the 'standard' work, IMO. Also, look at the tutorials section here, the strat building one (Guitarfrenzy's, I think) very nicely illustrates how to cut a body to shape with a jigsaw and trim with a router+template, and is just generally very informative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bytrix Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 Yeah, that one looks good and will help me plan my guitar out (Make Your Own Electric Guitar). When I was adding it to my basket, Amazon showed me the other recommended books, I'm not too bad with my electronics but this had a few good reviews so I got it too (Guitar Electronics for Musicians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akozols Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 My first body was made a few years ago using Home Depot poplar, rasp, and a coping saw. I didn't have a router to make the neck pocket so I so I used poplar that was 1" thick and made two layers for the body. The top layer, I took my time and used the cope saw to cut the neck shape. I glued the pieces together and that made my neck pocket. I used water putty to fill all the hholes and valleys and finished using auto store can lacquer. It turned out pretty well. You just have to take your time and use what you have. good luck, Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 (Make Your Own Electric Guitar). That's often referred to as RTFM around here. That's the book that most everyone starts with. It should show you most of the stuff you'll need to know. It's not the only way to get the job done as you will soon find out, but it's a good overview of electric guitar building. The more thought time you put into your build, to more success you'll have in the end. It's great that you want to learn from your mistakes, as you stated, just try to avoid them by thinking through what you are doing. When you hit a roadblock, or mess up, that's when the real fun begins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeiscosRock Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 I may pick up that book eventually, I've been meaning to for a while. I thought it might be fun jumping in with both feet using all the info on the main site and the forum - that's way more than any book could tell me! btw, Jehle, do you by chance still have the Jellycaster tutorial? The links been broken for a while and that makes me sad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 That "Guitar Electronics of Musicians" is also a fairly decent book. Actually, my guitar teacher had that book, and it was the very one that got me interested in building! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh_chris Posted August 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 (edited) My first body was made a few years ago using Home Depot poplar, rasp, and a coping saw. I didn't have a router to make the neck pocket so I so I used poplar that was 1" thick and made two layers for the body. The top layer, I took my time and used the cope saw to cut the neck shape. I glued the pieces together and that made my neck pocket. I used water putty to fill all the hholes and valleys and finished using auto store can lacquer. It turned out pretty well. You just have to take your time and use what you have. good luck, Al ← wow that makes me feel a little better now...I'm going to go look up what a rasp and a copesaw are now anyways, this is probably the best forum I posted on, I really appreciate all the input. thanks everyone Edited August 27, 2005 by teh_chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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