willus Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 alright guys this is my first post and this is the first time ive been on this site. i have never built a guitar in my life. but recently due to not seing on the market that particularly "wows" me, i feel like i want to build one. now i really wanna know everything i need to know before i start my project. so is there any adivce anyone has? thanks :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 Buy "Make your own electric guitar" by Melvin Hiscock. It basically has everything you need to know in one book. Other than that, just search the forum and read as much as you can before you start. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlarremore Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 I think Hiscock's book is good there is another out there as well you may wish to invest in. If you go to Amazon and find one the other follows close behind. I started last year on the same quest, different goal. I didn't have a Tele in my collection but wanted something a little out of the ordinary. So I started with a kit guitar from Saga. Very affordable for a starter. I modified it by placing a veneer on the top .... long process. I learned a lot from it though. That's a great way to start. Saga's are meant to be opened, finished and played. Not a lot of customizing is needed or required. Thing is, unless you are fairly experienced with woodworking it could be daunting. I had some basic tools - bandsaw, router, garage tools - and it still pushed my limits. Of course I'm not a woodworker by experience. I think the hardest part of the whole thing is the finish. Learning the finish part is an art in itself. It's more like autobody finishing than wood finishing. Wood finishers stain then slap poly on and guitar people just don't do that. I'm still trying to understand why lacquer is so great even though it's been outlawed in Texas. Point being I would work up to it because mistakes can be EXPENSIVE. Start with a throwaway guitar made of pine if you want to just do a quick guitar. It doesn't have to be playable, just something you can experiment on. Buy a neck on Ebay and make it fit the body you build. Look, $4 of wood is a whole lot cheaper than $400 of mahogany in a pile on the floor. Another route is to buy a used guitar and customize it. I like this route. Really, there are only so many common shapes of a guitar. Fender or Gibson. The rest are variations. Before you get started plan it out. What do you REALLY want? And try to stick to it. My last build was just a finish change. I wanted a crackle finish. That alone probably cost me $200 in products and time to make it work. But I got it. I hate it but be patient. It takes a long time. Like I said my first one took a year. Of course I put it down for a couple of months, but it can take a while. Research your parts and see what you like. Play some guitars and see what you like and don't like about them. And I hope I never have to build a neck. Jef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesy Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 Also, check out this series of videos on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB6l-bssWzc...feature=related also this one for acoustics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willus Posted July 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 Also, check out this series of videos on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB6l-bssWzc...feature=related also this one for acoustics thansk man and thanks heaps to everyone else. **** this site is a lot nicer and the people seem a load more curtious and kind than that of ultimate-guitar.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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