Building My First Guitar

[relaxx]

'Lo everyone.

This year for my grade twelve Tech Studies major project, I am making a guitar. I know alot about what I want, the parts I need, and have read up alot about the wood aswell. The problem is, because this is a custom (partly ) design, I need to cut the wood out myself, and make the neck myself (7 strings :S). I have 8-9 months to do it, but I have to completely organise myself and how I am going to do this in the next 4 weeks.

I am here, because I have no idea where to start - I still don't know what alot of the things are on guitars (actually it's just one, the truss rod? :S). The whole project is very daunting, especially the fact that I will be spending ALOT of money, and the chances that I will make irriversable mistakes are so high. So what should I do? Any tips?

I will supply you with any information that you need to help me.

Thanks everyone

Here's a few bits and pieces from what I can remember of the plan (don't have it on me at the moment)

Wood: Mahogany

7 strings

finish: sheet metal/woodgrain (combination, arting something up for this later on)

I still don't know what wood to use for the neck/fretboard, but i'm thinking maybe wenge.

Also, does anyone have any tips as to where to buy wood in Brisbane, Australia?

Thanks

[crafty]

First, figure out how much money you're willing to spend, then you can make plans for wood and parts. Second, make a list of every single item you're going to need to complete the project, and compare that to how much money you're willing to spend. Third, read as much as you can and start small. If you've never worked on a guitar before, you might think along the lines of something simple like a Tele or Les Paul Junior kind of design. There's a lot of customization and fabrication you can do with those simple layouts, and keeping it simple will help you build it right the first time.

There's a lot of Aussies on this forum that I'm sure would be willing to help you find the parts you need and whatever advice you require. Good luck.

[Phil Mailloux]

"Teak and Fancy Timbers" down on the gold coast has most woods you'll need. Wenge is pretty expensive though, about twice the price of rock maple. I'd stick with maple unless your parents are a bottomless pit of money

There's also Moxon Timbers in Yeronga that carries a lot of imported woods but their showroom is quite small and you can't really see most of the woods you'd buy which is a disadvantage. Have a look in the yellow pages and make some calls, you'll find some more.

[relaxx]

"Teak and Fancy Timbers" down on the gold coast has most woods you'll need. Wenge is pretty expensive though, about twice the price of rock maple. I'd stick with maple unless your parents are a bottomless pit of money

There's also Moxon Timbers in Yeronga that carries a lot of imported woods but their showroom is quite small and you can't really see most of the woods you'd buy which is a disadvantage. Have a look in the yellow pages and make some calls, you'll find some more.

Yeah, I was looking at Moxon, but I haven't actually gone there yet.

First, figure out how much money you're willing to spend, then you can make plans for wood and parts. Second, make a list of every single item you're going to need to complete the project, and compare that to how much money you're willing to spend. Third, read as much as you can and start small. If you've never worked on a guitar before, you might think along the lines of something simple like a Tele or Les Paul Junior kind of design. There's a lot of customization and fabrication you can do with those simple layouts, and keeping it simple will help you build it right the first time.

There's a lot of Aussies on this forum that I'm sure would be willing to help you find the parts you need and whatever advice you require. Good luck.

The problem is, I have a specific guitar in mind that I want to make. Also, I already have a list of most of the parts that I want, but I don't know where to get alot of them.

I'll show you what I want to do:

Some of you, probably not many though, will know it as the Mattocaster.

I want to make a 7 string version. I have all of the schematics done, most of the electrical stuff (mods, etc), so that is not really a problem. The problem for me is that, I don't know what alot of the parts are on the guitar, and I feel like I can never finish a design completely if I don't know what everything does/is.

Are there any goods sites where I can read about this type of stuff? ProjectGuitar is good for the practical, but there's not alot of theory

Thanks again,

Jonathan

[Mattia]

<i>I want to make a 7 string version. I have all of the schematics done, most of the electrical stuff (mods, etc), so that is not really a problem. The problem for me is that, I don't know what alot of the parts are on the guitar, and I feel like I can never finish a design completely if I don't know what everything does/is.</i>

Like what? Guitars aren't that complex. Wiring's as crazy as you want to make it, and between the tutorials, past discussions, guitarnuts.com, you should be able to work it all out.

If you're looking for definitive answers on what wood will affect what how and which construciton method is best and what will give you the best mojo....forget it. There isn't a single answer to a lot of those questions. There's a lot of conjecture, as many opinions as there are people, and many, many things can be contradictory, and yet still more or less true.

Melvyn Hiscock's 'Make Your Own Electric Guitar' (book, that) has an excellent chapter on designing a guitar, walking you through all the decisions you need to make, and offering various options/information on each step.

[Daniel Sorbera]

Read through all the turorials on the main site here than get Melvyn Hiscock's book. After those reads you'll have a prety good idea of what to do. Or at least know enough to ask the right questions to get your building underway.

Note: Guitar building is very very very addictive. You can't just build one. So keep in mind your pocket book is going to start taking hits in the name of guitars