Finally Have The Chance To Build Something

[Pex657]

Hey all!!

First I want to say that this is a great and welcoming community. I have spend many hours reading the forums when I was suppose to be reading for class, and I never found it a waste of time. My personal favorite section is the In Progress Section of the forums, you people are just amazing with what you create and actually make. Cheers to you all and I hope all your guitar dreams come true!

With the thank you out of the way, I am finally given the chance to join all of you in this life hobby. I always dreamed of building a guitar but sadly I lived in an apartment and did not have the space and resources to make my dream come true. I have moved my self into a house and now have room for the tools.

Sadly I won't get any of the tools until December (birthday gift), but I am not planning to waste any time. I have purchased this books to read until then:

1.) Make Your Own Electric Guitar by Melvyn Hiscock

2.) Guitar Player Repair Guide: How to Set-Up, Maintain, and Repair Electrics and Acoustics by Dan Erlewine

3.) How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great!: The Electric Guitar Owner's Manual (Guitar Player Book) by Dan Erlewine

4.) Another book.. but forgot the name and don't have it with me... it comes with a guitar plan already.... if that helps

Hopefully by the time the tools come, I will be ready to start on my first build.

My questions are:

1.) Are there any more books that are worth the read?

2.) Which tools should I start(brand, price, ..etc) with?

Thanks,

-Pex657

[Mattia]

Just FYI, book 3 is, near as I can tell, a 'for dummies' version of book 2, which is excellent. Probably has a little extra stuff in there, but it's geared towards players, not builders. As for books, your numbers 1 and 2 are all I've ever bothered buying; read those, and it gives you a solid foundation that will help you better understand the various tutorials available here, and the archived discussions at MIMF.com. Frank Ford's FRETS.com is also an excellent website for repair type things. If you've got zero woodworking experience, it might be a good idea to get a book on general woodworking, although I can't reccomend a title. Learning to sharpen chisels and plane irons and tune up planes helps, and they'll teach you a good bit about general woodworking techniques, not all of which actually apply 1:1 to guitars; we tend to break quite a few 'rules'.

Tools...buy them as you need them. Not all upfront. Spend as much as you can - within reason. Buying cheapie tools is very expensive in the medium-run, as you will need to replace busted ones. Essential power tool #1: the router. Get something decent sized, 1 3/4 HP or so (Think Porter Cable 690, Bosch 1617, Whatever the equivalent DeWalt or Hitachi is), fixed and plunge base kit if possible (note: I'm assuming you're in North America. Otherwise, look around locally, and you'll get a plunge router). Don't buy router bit sets, buy good quality router bits, and only the ones you need. Whiteside, Robb Jack, Infinity Tools, CMT are all good. I tend to shop at routerbits.com (Whiteside), very happy with their service.

Other useful power tools include: a drill press. Mine's cheap, but it does the job for now - mostly drilling tuning machine holes straight, some use as a drum sander. Hand drill is useful as well, but won't get insane amounts of use. Some, yes (various electronics connecting holes). For carved top electrics (Les Paul, PRS), I wouldn't want to be without an angle grinder. Even a cheap one will do here, because these things are designed to grind through stone and metal, and will hardly notice a bit of wood getting in the way. Instructions on how to use all over the forum.

I'd also reccomend a couple of Chisels (good steel is nice, I'm not fond of Japanese ones, but some love 'em. Two Cherries/Kirschen are good price/quality ratio, but check Lee Valley's website for more alternatives), maybe 1/4", 1/2", 3/4", and I use my 1/8" a lot, but I may be odd. Rasps are fantastic: if you have the money to spend, Nicholson's patternmakers stuff is great (again, Leevalley.com), but I also like Shinto rasps (japanese) and Microplane tools. A block and jack plane are also great tools to learn to use, but not strictly essential, I suppose. Veritas are great new, otherwise find someone who knows about these things to help you, and get some old (ie, OLD OLD) US-made Stanleys. The new stuff is lousy.

Some files are always useful, scrapers are fantastic (google cabinet scrapers to learn more), sanding drums nice....

...too much to list, really. But I repeat: buy the tools as you find you need them. The router is a no-brainer, and you'll want a few rasps and files at least, but the rest...buy as you go.

[erikbojerik]

You can't go wrong with Mattia's list.

I use my electric rotary drill quite a bit when it comes to buffing out finishes. Also a random orbital sander get a lot of use.

You should also consider making yourself a router table to use with the router, and get (or make) a good quality fence. Comes in hands for truing up surfaces for joining when you don't have room for a big power jointer.

[al heeley]

Good luck in the addictive hobby, watch it take over your life!

Actually the Hiscox and Erlewine books I cannot recommend highly enough, they are an excellent read, but not the same as practice. Both books will tell you in the back about a recommended range of essential tools. Its good advice.

[skibum5545]

Congrats on the new house, and good luck with your build!

One thing I have found about luthiery that makes it nervewracking-- but at the same time, gives it its inimitable joy-- is that there is always some improvisation involved. Reading books helps, true, but sometimes you just have to take a step back and ask yourself, "What's the best way for -me- to solve this problem?", and then go for it.

As for tools, a router is a total necessity, and not a place to skimp on the price-- IIRC Metal Matt has a story about the collet of a $20 router blowing to bits while he was working on a guitar. Ouch.

A Drill press is really handy, but I suppose that on a tight budget an electric drill, a good eye, and a steady hand will suffice.

I've never found myself using chisels; generally, a rasp will do for most things. However, if you're building a tool collection, it's never bad to have some chisels around.

A good spokeshave is not only handy for doing contours, it's a helluvalotta fun to use! I've heard Veritas is -the- brand right now, but it never hurts to ask around.

Finally, get yourself lots of clamps. Big ones, small ones, long ones, short ones, tall ones, wide ones; C-clamps, bar clamps, tube clamps, spring clamps... you get it. It can never hurt to have too many clamps. As a corollary, just make sure you have enough clamping pads to accompany them; stacks of old business cards work wonderfully, and are refreshingly disposable.

Again, don't be afraid to improvise where necessary. You may find that you need or want a tool not listed here (i.e. spindle sander), and so you can just buy it then. Conversely, you may stock up on every tool a book lists and only use half of them.

Enjoy!