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Hello Everybody,

Building your own guitar is not for everybody but it is a good way to learn. You do not need a lot of tools, but you do need some skill in woodworking. I have a small band saw, and a sander unit and a few clamps for gluing the work and o bench with a vice. Pictured is the present guitar I am building, which turned out to be a Mini SG style. I started with a fret board bought on eBay from Japan and I cut strips of ash from some branches of an ash tree that was in my neighbors firewood pile. I found the Ash is very stringy to work with but otherwise no all that hard. All the hardware needed in this project came to about three hundred dollars.

The top photo shows this guitar when I started this thread. The second photo down shows the back and has a coat of grey primer paint. I intend this to be a dark green body guitar. The third photo down shows my first glitch, as the roller bridge was far too high when I put a straight edge over the fret board as shown in the next photo down. This is my first guitar where the body is not bolted on to the neck, and as a one piece I tried to keep it slender. The pickups are also quite tall and I have less than an inch to work with. Doing some math I found I could route out about five eights of an inch and still not cut through to the back. I decided the pickups could be cut down a bit as they were only plastic covers and once in the proper places I plan to use silicone to hold them in place.

The next photo down shows how I made a mask out of scrap to hold up the router while cutting the pickup hole near the neck. The bottom photo shows the parts laid out where they will go. All that is left is to cut holes for the wiring and then go back to the refinishing process that needs to be done before this can be finally assembled. I made the routed hole large enough to allow for movement of the roller bridge. This guitar also has a roller nut as well to accommodate the Bigsby tremolo. I will need this to be able to adjust the intonation. I learned this lesson the hard way as I found my first used electric guitar was very hard to tune, until I woke up to the fact the basic settings were wrong. Ah, the fun of going through life trying to figure it out.

That is pretty much all I have to report at present. Hopefully my next post will have a little movie with a way for you to hear how this guitar will sound.

Bob

Thanks for all the great comments. I had to change the photo. You must look under my profile to see the photos and then by double clicking the small photos they become large. I appreciate the interest.

May10 Bob

Thanks

Bob,
I'm also a woodworker and have been interested in learning more about guitar construction for a long time. I have a lot of hand tools and a joiner's workbench but not too many large machines as I'm limited on space. If I attempt to build a guitar, I'd probably tackle a solid body electric first. Fortunately there is a fair amount of information available on the internet. Perhaps there are other closet luthiers on TG that would share their stories.
Tom

Bob:

This is one of my favorite topics! I have been wanting to build my own guitar for quite some time now. I have a few books, and have been doing some research. If I lived in Northern California, there would be about two or three different workshops I could take. Down here in Southern California, it is a different story. There is one, but it is too far away to be feasible. My local woodcraft store here in Ventura is supposed to be holding a guitar making workshop late this year, according to the owner. I am on the waiting list now and they should be contacting me when the sign ups are out. I have a pretty decent collection of woodworking tools, but still would need a heater/bender, various clamps, and some of the specialty planes. I fully intend to build one sometime soon. When I do, I plan on taking pics throughout the process to share my adventures (or misadventures) with everyone. I have dabbled a bit in the solid body electric stuff, and found it to be fun, but more for the electronics part than for the woodworking part. There is just so much you can do to a guitar, that it would be hard to get bored with it...

Thanks for sharing this with us!

Jason

Music Junkie wrote:

Bob:

This is one of my favorite topics! I have been wanting to build my own guitar for quite some time now. I have a few books, and have been doing some research. If I lived in Northern California, there would be about two or three different workshops I could take. Down here in Southern California, it is a different story. There is one, but it is too far away to be feasible. My local woodcraft store here in Ventura is supposed to be holding a guitar making workshop late this year, according to the owner. I am on the waiting list now and they should be contacting me when the sign ups are out. I have a pretty decent collection of woodworking tools, but still would need a heater/bender, various clamps, and some of the specialty planes. I fully intend to build one sometime soon. When I do, I plan on taking pics throughout the process to share my adventures (or misadventures) with everyone. I have dabbled a bit in the solid body electric stuff, and found it to be fun, but more for the electronics part than for the woodworking part. There is just so much you can do to a guitar, that it would be hard to get bored with it...

Thanks for sharing this with us!

Jason

Jason,

You might want to take apart that new Taylor of yours just to see how the professionals put it together.

Hey Bob, thanks (or curses) for starting this. I suppose that would depend on one's perspective.

I too am a fairly accomplished woodworker, and have really wanted to tackle one of the "build it yourself kits" that Martin Guitars sells.


Several guys have described the wood that comes in the kits as second rate, but heck for a first timer, it may be my best way to own a Martin.


Now that the Alaska Spring is here in full bloom, I can't see myself spending a lot of time in the shop right now. But in the fall, after the salmon are long gone, and sheep and moose season are a thing of the past (and its getting darker) I may just bite the bullet and go for it.

Scott Butler

We have a series of videos we are creating on this very topic ...soonish

Thanks

Anyone thinking about building a guitar should take the plunge and actually do it. It is indeed a great way to learn about guitars and you'll likley to be motivated to play even more than you do now. I'm on my second build right now and this one is going quite a bit quicker.

I'm sure it would be great to go to a building class but it isn't necessary if your not looking for a carier in it. There's loads of infomation on the internet and lots of books and tapes. Kit's aren't necessarily made of second rate parts. There's some real good luthiers selling kits to order and some will give you great support through the project.

For a first timer interested in building an acoustic I'd suggest doing a search on Bill Cory and follow the path. SS

dennisg wrote:

Music Junkie wrote:

Bob:

This is one of my favorite topics! I have been wanting to build my own guitar for quite some time now. I have a few books, and have been doing some research. If I lived in Northern California, there would be about two or three different workshops I could take. Down here in Southern California, it is a different story. There is one, but it is too far away to be feasible. My local woodcraft store here in Ventura is supposed to be holding a guitar making workshop late this year, according to the owner. I am on the waiting list now and they should be contacting me when the sign ups are out. I have a pretty decent collection of woodworking tools, but still would need a heater/bender, various clamps, and some of the specialty planes. I fully intend to build one sometime soon. When I do, I plan on taking pics throughout the process to share my adventures (or misadventures) with everyone. I have dabbled a bit in the solid body electric stuff, and found it to be fun, but more for the electronics part than for the woodworking part. There is just so much you can do to a guitar, that it would be hard to get bored with it...

Thanks for sharing this with us!

Jason

Jason,

You might want to take apart that new Taylor of yours just to see how the professionals put it together.

Dennis: My heart just skipped a beat thinking about that.....

J