Second Build(kinda) And Repair Work

[Abunai Guitar]

Hi, this is my first post on this forum.

So my first question is regarding a school project. I am doing this school project with my friend and we were gonna build an electric guitar, but the thing is neither of us have actually made a guitar completely from scratch before, ive done the whole assembly process and some common replacement and repair stuff but nothing like this.

We were originally planning on doing something like a PRS with a carved top that would be really impressive but I REALLY want to just make a guitar we could actually play no matter where the design is from. This lead me to thinking we should make a Stratocaster or telecaster of some kind because they seem to be the popular Newbie project. Is there any way I can ensure that we will end up with a quality instrument or is it just foolish to think we can make anything quality on our first try without any major woodworking experience? I have already done a lot of research in the making of guitars and spent a lot of time skimming through tutorials so i can understand the building process. So if someone could put me(and my friend) in the right direction as far as choosing a guitar design, the specific method(if any different than usual) that newbies like us should use or anything like that.

My second question is shorter.

So a few years back my dad and I bought this really cheap strat kit from Grizzly Industrial. Most of it was pretty low quality but we just followed the instructions and it came out fine but its a pretty bad guitar in general and isnt even comparable to squier strats. Just recently I borrowed the american made vintage strat that my drummer's dad had and i loved it and all the tones i could get out of it. I was wondering if there was some way i could get that old homemade strat, replace the neck, pickups and maybe the bridge and get somewhere near the quality and sound of a real strat? So basically when it comes to bad guitars how much is the body responsible for the overall low quality and would replacing those parts be worth it given the cost, for the sound i would get in the end?

thank you so much!

[ihocky2]

First thing you and your friend need to do is by Melvin Hiscock's book on how to build and electric guitar. Both of you read it cover to cover. Then read it again, cover to cover. On this site, that book is pretty much the bible for build electric guitars. It gives you a very good understanding of what is involved and the steps and the correct terms. That way when you come back here, you can ask more specific questions and get quicker and more usefull answers. When you ask "How do make the body" you'll get some answers, and a lot of varied responses. If you tell us you have the body shape cut out, and all of the cavities made but want some tips on carving or shaping the edges, you'll get a lot better info.

As for the quality of a first buid, it all comes down to one word PATIENCE. If you rush through things you will get a playable instrument, but it won't be anything special. If you take your time, plan things out, do some practice work, replan, and just go slow there is no reason that you can not get a very good quality guitar out of this. In reality the majority of first builds are lacking in a fwe areas, but there are members here who built fantastic guitars for their first, so it is not out of reason.

Telecasters are probably the most basic design of an electric guitar, and are always a great place to start. Strats are not much worse, and are about the same if you make it a hardtail. Pointy guitars like a Randy Rhoads or a Vee are not really any different than a Strat except for the shape. Carved tops do add a degree of difficulty, but are not too bad to make.They require some practice and getting used to techiniques, but can be done. For a first build I would stay away from the carved top though. There is already so much to learn, there is no need to add more to it.

The best tip I can give is to build the guitar in your head over and over again. Plan out what you will do in what order. My current build has probably been finished 500 times in my head, but in real life is still being painted. By going over it in your head, you are prepared for what you need to do next, and will also let you figure out what mistakes will hurt you final result and which will disapear. A router gouge in the body is a bad thing, but if it happens where the neck pocket will be, now it is no worry.

[RAI6]

While planning everything out in your head is a great way to go, it's hard to imagine exactly how everything will actually work.

How do you know how to plan for all the mishaps that could occur with a router, if you have never held one in your hands?

I think you have to follow this path:

Think it through

Try on scraps

Note your mistakes

Think it through

Try on scraps again

Think it through

Start working

There has to be some sort of hands-on experience. It cannot be all planned in your head....

[ihocky2]

The practice is absolutely a key element if you have no wood working experience and is always a good idea anyway. My main point is that it will help keep you on track and as you move through you'll see easier what pitfalls you may encounter. When you move onto the next step, you'll be able to easier spot where you're problems are going to be.

[Abunai Guitar]

Alright thank you guys so much, I already have Hiscock's book, school has gotten in the way of reading it but i have looked at a lot of it. My dad has been working with wood since he was a kid and we were planning on practicing with his tools a lot and having him critique us on our woodworking skill and whatnot. We are prepared to take as much time as possible and our original plan was to pretty much make two guitars just make one out of really cheap wood so we can practice and not waste money. I have definitely considered the fact that research doesnt make me a luthier at all and that no matter how much research i do, hands-on practice is a must. This is my last week of school and ill ask my dad to help me a lot and let me practice on the many scraps he has lying around.

Neither of you answered my second question but if someone could help me because i know i can do that job perfectly fine i just need to know if like its worth the money to replace a crappy neck, bridge, and pickups in an effort to reduce the bad quality of the guitar.

[Razbo]

I am in the middle of my first build and, all I can do is second what has already been said.

As far as your second question, have you actually priced out what it is going to cost to accomplish your first goal? You are speaking of replacing every part but the body wood. I put together a list for the absolutely cheapest guitar I could build via StewMac prices and the body was still less than 1/3 of the total cost.

If that old guitar is plywood or something, maybe it is actually the neck you want to save?

Edited June 2, 2009 by Razbo

[Abunai Guitar]

I am in the middle of my first build and, all I can do is second what has already been said.

As far as your second question, have you actually priced out what it is going to cost to accomplish your first goal? You are speaking of replacing every part but the body wood. I put together a list for the absolutely cheapest guitar I could build via StewMac prices and the body was still less than 1/3 of the total cost.

If that old guitar is plywood or something, maybe it is actually the neck you want to save?

The guitar is made of alder like any other strat and the overall wood quality isnt that bad, just the hardware is just very low quality and the neck isnt very well constructed, but it just sits in my closet because the parts are so low-quality that i hate using it and it seems like a waste of money and i think if i want a new strat anyways it would be much smarter and cheaper to fix the lowquality guitar up than buy a new one.

[Workingman]

I upgraded a yamaha pacifica fat strat and am very happy with it. I got most of the parts from e-bay, including two lace sensor pickups, and the rest from my parts bin. That and a little work dressing the fret ends has made for a nice guitar. I spent about $80 on fixing it up. If you take your time looking for bargains you can do a nice upgrade without spending more than the guitar is worth.

[ihocky2]

You mentioned build 2 guitars, with one out of cheap wood for practice. I know a lot of people right away go for pine for practice because it is so cheap. I would recommend looking at using poplar or basswood or alder for practice. They are all fairly cheap, and sometimes cheaper than pine. The down side is that you might not find useable practice wood at Lowes or Home Depot. The up side though is that if it turns out even decent, you have a very usable guitar made from standard guitar woods.

[foil1more]

I have built 2 grizzly kits, the expensive bass kit and the steel string kit. The hardware on the bass is decent but the pickups are pretty bad. http://store.guitarfetish.com/ has good prices on pickups and they have pretty good reviews.

The funny thing about the grizzly acoustic is that it a very cheap kit but it sounds incredible.

[Abunai Guitar]

You mentioned build 2 guitars, with one out of cheap wood for practice. I know a lot of people right away go for pine for practice because it is so cheap. I would recommend looking at using poplar or basswood or alder for practice. They are all fairly cheap, and sometimes cheaper than pine. The down side is that you might not find useable practice wood at Lowes or Home Depot. The up side though is that if it turns out even decent, you have a very usable guitar made from standard guitar woods.

okay yeah that makes sense, my dad has educated me somewhat as to what woods are common and whenever i see some wood i dont recognize he identifies it for me so i already ran it by him before about making a pine version of the design before hand and he said its about the same cost as alder so i think ill do this:

1. practice woodworking on scraps like you guys said

2. have my dad critique my work and help me

3. try to make the design out of alder(with no finish and old hardware or something)

4. evaluate results

5. Redesign guitar accordingly

6. build guitar according to (new) design

[ihocky2]

I would take your first practice build all the way through the finishing stage. Most people think that once the body is built and ready for paint you are almost done. But in fact you are 50% of the way there or less. Getting a good finish takes practice as well. Look at any cars finish, you'll see very slight orange peal to it. But it is slight enough that it is acceptable. On a guitar, that is a horrible finish. The finish people expect on a guitar is much more demanding, it needs to be dead flat and glass smooth. The fit and finish of guitars is a higher demand than that of almost all of other wood working.