Trying To Get Into Building Guitars

[Ryan D]

I myself am quite unskilled at woodworking. However, my dad has a good knowledge of woodworking, and a family friend who will be helping us is a contractor who basically lives to work with wood.

I think I have the tools needed - I've got a jigsaw, dremmel tool, drill press, various drills, and a friend has a router with tons of different drill bits.

I think it'd be cool to do, and do again. I can't really speak for myself since I don't know the frustration and hard work involved in the process, but I'm sure that the experience is truly rewarding. I hope that I'd have the motivation to do it again (I think the limiter is the money involved, but I think it pays for itself).

And thank you for the reality check - it's very easy to get caught up in excitement before the project has even started (I'm probably a victim of that, too hahah), remembering that it's not simply taking a chunk of wood and throwing sharp rotating sawblades at it.

This is random, but I was looking at the source of retailers and found this piece of ash (2x8 feet): http://www.grizzly.com/outlet/H4011 for 38$. It's not swamp ash, but it's still ash and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than anything else I've found. Plus it's one blank. EDIT: Crap, I just realized that's veneer. That means it's wayyy too thin for a guitar, right?

Edited January 29, 2008 by Ryan D

[Xanthus]

You could definitely use a veneer to build a guitar in 2 dimensions

But no, you're right.

[Ryan D]

Hahah, damn. Thought I had hit the goldmine there. Ah well.

I was looking at the Stewmac Stratocaster replacement necks, which are $125. They sell necks with unshaped headstocks for strats with ebony fretboards for the same price, but I don't know. My instinct tells me to not complicate things any more (I'd probably beat myself unconscious with the guitar body if I accidentally ran the jigsaw through the headstock and sawed in clean in half).

By the way guys, I'm amazed. No really, I'm serious. I just kind of barged into the forum with no real motivations that would benefit any of you at all, but I got a warm welcome and you guys are so informative and helpful. I'm sorry I have to keep imposing questions on you guys. Thanks for all the help!!

Edited January 29, 2008 by Ryan D

[Rick500]

If you think you might want to just buy a neck, check Carvin's necks before you make a decision. >LINK<

They don't mention it on their site, but you can get any neck/headstock/fretboard/fret option they offer on their guitars, even if you're just buying the neck.

I have several of them, and they play really, really well.

[Edit: If you click on the Accessories button at that link, it'll list a lot of the options, some of them free.]

Edited January 29, 2008 by Rick500

[kiki]

well, I'll try to help.

I only built one guitar, but like you, I started from the very beginning, knowing nothing.

you said you didn't find that book they recommended you. I'll recommend another: "building electric guitars", by martin koch. I saw it on sale at amazon a few months ago.

I used mainly this one, and I think it's great. he's a german, but the book is in english.

the author has a website, www.buildyourguitar.com, with some articles. it's very interesting.

I recommend you to take a look in all building process you found (an there are many in this site). You'll see that there are many ways of doing the same thing, it'll help you taking decisions.

if you want, you can se my guitar too. the link is below, in my signature. I created a toppic for it, in the done projects area.

it's very that you have the basic tools and people to help. in my case, I "borrowed" an wood workshop, and I had a great help from the woodworkers.

well, some tips for you:

- try to choose an easy project. an existing guitar, but without complications. do not make curved top, binding, inlays... (i made a telecaster because it's one of the easiest guitars, and 'cause i love it).

- if you're going to make a new project, make it based on an existing project.

- tune-o-matic bridges are easier to get wrong... mainly, fender gears are more flexible, they are designded to have more setup range, you don't need to be so precise.

- make an bolt-on neck (screwed-on? i don't know the name), not the glued neck...

weel, it's my tips for you... possibly someone can give you differente ones, you do what you think it's better

sorry for my english, I still studing this language...

and show us your building process!

[Xanthus]

+1 Go with Carvin, they're the same price-ish as the StewMac ones, and like Rick says, they give a ton of different options.

And they play VERY well.

[kiki]

Any mistakes you make on your project only serve to make it more custom

hahahahaha

excelent!!!!

[Mattia]

A few notes: all online retailers and all bookshops should be able to get you Melvyn Hiscock's 'Make Your Own Electric Guitar'. StewMac certainly carries it, if all else fails.

As to woodworking skills, I think you just need patience, perseverence, and the willingness to practice things on scrap. My first guitar was my first proper woodworking project. I learned to use a plane, sharpen chisels, use a scraper, what a router was because I wanted to build guitars, and learned by building guitars; yes, I'd screwed together basic pine furniture and the odd side table (boring, not fine woodworking joinery. Dowels and glue), which taught me, well, how to use a powered drill and an electric jigsaw, and little else. Frankly, the minimal soapstone carving I did in art class was probably more useful (shaping things with rasps, etc.) If you've got the skills already, yeah, they're very useful. Otherwise, you're almost better off with a background in machining/metalwork, I think, because the tolerance guitarmakers work to are more akin to that than to standard woodworking practice; perfect is just about good enough.

[Ryan D]

Thanks for the woodworking tips. I'll be sure to have someone experienced walk me through how to use the tools before I touch them, so that I don't drive the router through my lower intestine or something.

Ooh cool, Carvin's got ebony fretboards! Wow, they have a really nice selection of accessories for that neck. Thanks for that website link (and confirmation that their products are high-quality)!

Has anyone personally tried ebony on their guitar? I know it's a matter of personal preference but last time I checked, ebony was more expensive than maple and rosewood (because it has to be hand-fretted, so it's in higher demand), although that could be a load of bullpies. If I can get it for the same price as maple and rosewood, maybe I should go for it..?

Also, instead of shelling out $50 for a tung oil/gloss/satin finish, wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy satin spray-on finish from Stewmac for $15 and use that?

Edited January 29, 2008 by Ryan D

[Xanthus]

Any mistakes you make on your project only serve to make it more custom

hahahahaha

excelent!!!!

Glad you approve

Note: Tongue firmly planted in cheek.

That having been said, I'm still royally pissed at what that good-for-nothing router did to the crook of my flying V haha.

I like ebony, half of my guitars have it for their fretboards. You're right about ebony being more expensive because we love to kill trees I'm taking more of a liking to rosewood, though, because I'm looking to get away from a super sharp feel, tonally. It's all up to you, man, personal preferance.

I will say, though, that Carvin has some nice finishes, too, and the back of the neck is where you spend all of your time. It's up to you whether or not you want to skimp out on something like that, because as you said, cheaper is... cheaper.

Not trying to persuade you to spend more money, but I think it's definitely worth the investment. My Carvin is tung oiled entirely and plays like a beaut.

[Rick500]

Tung oil is really easy to apply, and you can get a big can for probably 12 bucks. Carvin uses Minwax Tung Oil finish, same as you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot or wherever.

[Ryan D]

So I'm guessing you guys prefer tung oil over gloss and satin on the neck, right? Does it just handle better in your opinions?

Edited January 30, 2008 by Ryan D

[Rick500]

I haven't done a spray satin finish yet, myself. I've stuck completely with dyes, stains, and oil finishes so far...so I won't be able to offer any advice as far as that goes.

Edited January 30, 2008 by Rick500

[Xanthus]

So I'm guessing you guys prefer tung oil over gloss and satin on the neck, right? Does it just handle better in your opinions?

I actually feel that the gloss neck I scuffed down with some 0000 steel wool plays the best out of all my guitars. However, tung oil is prettier than paint in most cases, and much cheaper and easier to apply. I'm not too keen on a neckthrough having a gloss body and dulled-out neck, even though I myself did the very same thing but my finish was so crappy in the first place that the whole thing is more of a semi-gloss anyways haha.

If you're doing a bolt-on then this won't be an issue, as the neck and body are separate anyways. I'd get to your nearest guitar shop and play a few guitars. I feel that less-common brands like Music Man are going to be more likely to have tung oil on the neck than others.

[Ryan D]

Hmm..easier to apply sounds good.

Yeah, I'll see if I can head down to Guitar Center or something and see what they have to offer. I imagine it'll be hard to find a guitar with an ebony fretboard though...damn. Ah well, it's worth a try.

One thing I haven't given much thought to is the bridge...I'm pretty sure I want to have tremolo bridge so I can use the whammy bar, because those are awesome. I'm not really sure what kind of bridge I want, though. I know price is almost always proportionate to performance, but I'm still curious if anyone thinks that this $20 bridge by Grizzly (which seems to be a solid company) would snap in half and cause my guitar to spontaneously burst into flames if I were to use it. http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2008/Main/406

I suppose it's better to spend a little more to go the 'tried-and-true' method. Would that simply be a Fender American Standard bridge or a vintage? So..many..options...so confusing!

[Rick500]

Ebony's actually a really common fretboard material. You shouldn't have any trouble finding a guitar with an ebony fretboard if you want to check it out.

[Xanthus]

I've never heard any bad things about Grizzly, but I haven't heard many good things, either. I don't think it's so much more money to get a Gotoh tremolo from StewMac for $50 more bucks. It's a well-respected, proven brand, and if I had to pick one, I'd choose the Gotoh.

Thankfully, I don't have to pick I've a Wilkinson trem on my Carvin, and playing it for years, I have come to the conclusion that I wouldn't get a trem if it wasn't double-locking. Unfortunately, the Floyd is too much of a hassle to deal with, for me, so I'm looking into getting a Kahler. Also, I like to lay into the bridge sometimes, so I've been playing with no trem at all for a while now.

But, like I said about picking a fretboard wood, it's all about what type of bridge you feel most comfortable with. If it's a vintage strat, get a similar bridge, a Wilkinson, Floyd, Bigsby. If you don't have a specific style in mind, I'd get out and play as many different models as you can before buying any parts.

[Ryan D]

Alright, since it's going to be a while before I reach that stage anyway I should be able to muster up the extra money. Thanks!

Now what about tuners? I'm pretty uninformed but from what I've heard and seen, locking tuners are very nice to have. There are a bunch of different options on Stewmac, and I'm not entirely sure which to go with. I suppose it doesn't really matter, but input is always awesome. Thanks guys.

[Xanthus]

Once again my Carvin has locking tuners (Sperzels), which I think are the bomb, but I still get frustrated with how out of tune the guitar gets after whammying it for a bit.

Wow, that sounds wrong.

If you're going to get a strat or similar styled tremolo, then yes locking tuners are a must. Most of the tuning instability in my opinion comes from wrapping those strings a billion times around the posts, something locking tuners damn near eliminate. In the best case, I'd get a double locking system to really cut down on tuning instability, which means a locking nut and a fine-tuning bridge. A strat or similar trem is not an example of this setup, clearly, so the next best thing I can suggest is locking tuners.

So, long answer, get locking tuners.

Short answer, yes.

[Denis]

I hate to be controversial, honestly, but there is another route other than Melvyn Hiscock.

I got started by reading a much simpler book called "Make your own Electric Guitar and Bass" by Dennis Waring and David Raymond. It's published by Sterling. It only describes one bolt on neck 6 string and one thru neck bass, but it worked far better for me on my first (and only so far) build. IMHO, there's more detail, better descriptions than Hiscox.

Also, for my first build, I decided that making a neck was beyond me, and bought a Strat type neck from ebay. Given that I always knew that my first was never going to be a masterpiece, doing that let me concentrate on the body, pickups, wiring, finishing - everything else, in fact.

I have since made a cigar box guitar - thanks to Bill Jehle - and in doing so, realised that the neck won't be beyond me.

I guess what I am trying to say is that the way I work best is by taking small steps towards a goal. If the steps I try to take are too big, then I tend to get discouraged.

However you decide to go, Ryan, HAVE FUN

Denis

[Ryan D]

Oops! Sorry, haha, I didn't realize that you were the one that told me about the Sperzels. I thought I read that somewhere else! My bad.

Thanks for the book recommendation - I'll see if I can pick up both (I think a friend of mine might have Hiscock's, and the other I can order online).

I was planning on going to my lumber this Saturday. For body blanks should I just ask for a 2 foot by 4 foot piece, 2 inches deep? Also, I don't know if they're going to carry Swamp Ash. Do you have any suggestions for backup wood that can still get me a finish like this one (after the first couple pictures): http://desopolis.com/midwest/Strat12.htm

Thanks!

[Rick500]

I've read the Waring/Raymond book too. It's a good start too, and well worth reading.

+1 on the Sperzels. I put them on everything.

[al heeley]

Good post. I think there's a lot to be ssaid for the 'small steps' approach. i started by building a strat off ebay parts - ebay body, ebay strat neck, ebay pickups, then reckoned I could do my own body from a blank billet and fit it with an ebay neck.

Then it went to chambered body/maple cap/ebay neck, and a few more builds before trying a neck-thru design from scratch, radiussing and fretting the fingerboard, etc. These steps allowed me to learn about the tools and techniques needed and to gain confidence.

Next step for me will be a set neck guitar, then one which would represent a unique design rather than copying a PRS/LP/whatever. Still a long way to go.

[Xanthus]

No problem man I'm glad to help.

I'll throw in a nomination for a book my girlfriend got me (packaged along with sandpaper, gotta love her!) by Koch, I'm pretty sure it's called something self-explanatory like Building Electric Guitars. It's a good book, might be in need of a revision/update in a bit, and needs bigger pictures, but the meat and potatoes are still there.

Walnut MIGHT get you into the same category as ash with the grain figuring and the like, but it's obviously a different, darker wood with different tonal properties.

And depending on what shape you're going to be building, 2'x4' is HUGE. Check this out. Very elementary, square block of wood, more than enough meat to build a strat-sized guitar. And I'd see if you can get 1-3/4" thick, unless you have access to some sort of thicknesser. To me, the most mind-numbing task is sanding

[Rick500]

I hesitate to even mention it for fear of sounding like I'm on their payroll or something, but check here for swamp ash blanks as well. You'd do better to buy locally if you can find a hardwood dealer, of course.