icedfirefly

Hi! I can get a Ibanez Gio grg170 or a grg270, could that hardware work to make my first body or is too crappy? I know is a tremolo one instead of a fixed bridge, but I think I could do it... The idea would be to use the hardware for one or two builds, then assemble it back and sell it, then I can get some new hardware for my next build... I'm trying to save some money in the hardware for my first build so i can use it instead in getting some good tools. Thanks!!

Thanks guys. Tomorrow I will go to a shop in Barcelona to see which woods do they have. I will keep you posted! Cheers!

I can`t edit the post for a second time, so i have to make a new one... I saw someone selling a nice used ibanez neck with reverse headstock (My all time favorite headstock) for around 110 Euros so for my first build maybe i could go that route, just make the body... Another option could be getting a cheap Gio (Around 100 euros) and use all the parts but the body, maybe is cheaper than gettting all the separate parts. From what i saw the neck it a lot more tricky than the body, so maybe skip the neck for the next one... Any suggestion? Thanks!!!

Thanks Ripthorn and ScottR, so, spalted maple out, just a regular body then, sounds good too Any wood in particular that could be better for starters? i would like to try to do both body and neck. For the build i was thinking no pickguard, 2 pickups, fixed bridge Switch, volume and tone controls, jack, shouldn`t be too much of an issue. Pickups, i was thinking some Ibanez, maybe V8 and V7 or INF, many people upgrade them, so i could get some used ones for cheap. Bridge and tuners... i don`t know, i think it will be better to put quality ones, to avoid tunning issues, but maybe there is no need to put top of the line ones... any recomendations? Thanks!

Hello guys, I got almost zero experience at building guitars, all I did so far was sand down my RG505 and do some stain job on the top, the end was nowhere near professional but I love how it turned. So, i want to learn to build guitars, and since I guess it will take a while and many different builds think it will be better to do just one tread and keep it going instead of making a thread for each build. I want to build all the guitar from the ground, except the hardware, I got no rush, so if I mess up, I will learn from it, get a new wood part and start again. My idea for the first build is something similar to a Rg, got two of them and I love how they looks, I want to keep it more or less simple, but also I like how spalted maple looks, so I'm thinking on putting a spalted maple top. One thing I did read in a book, is that to make the diagram, is better to have already all the parts, so you have the exact dimensions of the different parts and avoid bad surprises. What do you think about that? I will start by reading about how to do the design and then I will bring it here so you can take a look at it. Cheers!

Thanks guys!! Very encouraging words!!! I already startet my first proyect, i`m building a workbench, i think in a 3 or 4 days it should be ready and from there i will start a thread to keep going with my guitar building evolution. And i`m pretty sure i will be reading and posting in the Tools and shop chat area too!! I`m almost beggining from the ground equipment wise and have so many doubts about tools, what to get.. which quality, new or used, etc... Cheers!

Hello guys, new guy here, my name is Ivan. A bit about me, i always liked to fix and build things, i play guitar and i like the idea of making guitars, i would like to do it profesionally in the future. I found this forum and it´s incredible the skills you guys have... there is so much to learn. Now, how to start... a few months ago i started asking different luthiers around my city about courses, they go from 2.000 to 3.000 Euros and take around 6 months. Sadly wages are not what they were, and after paying the bills i only have a few hundreds left, I need to save like a year to get 3.000 Euros so it would take me year and half until i finish the course and can start building on my own and start getting experience. There is a lot of info on the internet and also i saw a few books people recommend, like the Melvyn Hiscock one. So i could use the money instead of saving it each month, and buy a couple books, learn on the internet, buy the tools and start with some cheap woods in the beggining and learn "by myself". (Don´t know if it is really is "by myself" if i´m reading books and asking in forums, in reality i´m still learning from others but...) I would love to hear the opinions of experienced people. Thanks!