The Electric Guitar

Who’d a thunk it?

I didn’t grow up with music. I vaguely recall being exposed to some in elementary school. Printed music was more bizarre than a foreign language, enough so that I avoided it for decades since.

My son started guitar lessons a couple years ago. Listening to him play, marveling at his ability to learn so easily and a desire to do something special for him, I was inspired to try my hand at making an electric guitar.

Eventually, I hope to have a series of posts that relay the entire process. Before documenting the steps I think it’s prudent to capture some key lessons learned.

If you have a desire to build your own guitar here are some things to consider before going any further:

1) It will be, in almost every case, cheaper to buy than to build. – Unless the guitar you want is custom in some way, as was the one below, by the time you invest in the tools, hardware, electronics and miscellaneous needs you will spend more than it would cost to obtain a decent Chinese knockoff or previously loved guitar.

2) Research, research, research. I read no less than 3 books cover to cover, and would have certainly benefited by reading more. I bought Make Your Own Electric Guitar & Bass by Dennis Waring and David Raymond; Make Your Own Electric Guitar by Melvyn Hiscock and Fretwork Step-by-Step published by Stewart MacDonald. What one book missed the others made up for. Sadly each of them leave something out, leaving you with the challenge of trying to “read between the lines”. There are also a number of helpful forums and sites I found including: www.stewmac.com, www.projectguitar.com, www.tdpri.com, and   www.guitarnuts.com.

Buy the book here!!!

3) Obtain all the hardware before you begin. The most important components are the bridge, tailpiece, fret board and nut since they will play a major role in string height and their relation to the fret board and body of the guitar.

4) Layout  – Make sure you layout every aspect of your guitar before you begin. Key measurements include the scale of course but also you must know in advance the type of bridge so that you can lay out the side profile including the anticipated string height. Fender style guitars have strings that run parallel to the body while most Gibson styled guitars and many others have an angled neck.

5) Jigs n Fixtures – Wherever and whenever possible create jigs and fixtures to ensure accuracy while routing the body, cutting the component shapes are drilling the peg-head, neck or body.

I discovered that my son had created a “trademark” that was showing up on some of his school work, this was the inspiration for the design of his custom guitar. Here is the final result: