Make you own guitar

[Megadeth]

I want a new hobbie.... So I saw a book yesterday on making your own electric guitars, and I thought "Hey that would rock!"

So I am going to start getting into this slowly at first then more in depth later... I was thinking about starting with a kit then after I get some things down go with making a lot of the stuff myself....

Has anyone here ever made a guitar before? Any pointers?

 

[So]

Old wooden box + rubber bands + 9volt batteries = cheetar!

 

[lobadobadingdong]

do you have any electrical engineering experience? if not I'd suggest finding something else.

 

[CptObvious]

Lots of people make Warmoth copies (warmoth.com). I thought about making a Warmoth Telecaster copy but you don't really save that much over buying a real Fender, and the resale value is much lower. But on the plus side you can customize it any way you want.

 

[nakedfrog]

I've seriously considered it. I'd probably still buy the neck off of something else, but do the body and everything else myself. I'd have to think long and hard about whether or not I'd want to wind my own pickups.

 

[Hammerhead]

Ask this guy how he made his.

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: Hammerhead
Ask this guy how he made his.

lol :thumbsup:

 

[Megadeth]

Yeah, I was thinking about making the neck and the body mostly... I was not going to make my own pickups or anything like that....

 

[TheNinja]

I know some places like Carvin have kits. I think it would be VERY hard to get a nice straight neck and fretboard. I think it would be very fun to make the body though and design the shape and color scheme. Go for it

 

[mrCide]

make the body, buy the neck, get an ynwie neck

 

[Megadeth]

Originally posted by: mrCide
make the body, buy the neck, get an ynwie neck

Yeah, like I said, I'm gonna start with kit's and work my way up.... If anything, my father will be able to make a neck... He works wonders when it comes to wood work... That's his life.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: lobadobadingdong
do you have any electrical engineering experience? if not I'd suggest finding something else.

There's not much electrical work in a guitar....it's actually very simple wiring. The body carving is the hard part

I changed the pickups in an Epiphone Les Paul I had in about an hour...pickups are nothing more than modified microphones. I ordered some push/pull pots for it to do THIS mod on it and it came out great! Be sure to sheild your wiring with wire mesh to avoid EM noise on your pickups.

 

[memo]

yeah the making isnt actually hard if you get one of those "make your own packs". Pretty much following instructions. all the parts are pre made so it gives you the chance to get accustomed to it. I would suggest trying to make your own acoustic guitar actaully. They are a touch easier in my opinion plus its more satisfying to me

 

[Megadeth]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: lobadobadingdong
do you have any electrical engineering experience? if not I'd suggest finding something else.

There's not much electrical work in a guitar....it's actually very simple wiring. The body carving is the hard part

I changed the pickups in an Epiphone Les Paul I had in about an hour...pickups are nothing more than modified microphones. I ordered some push/pull pots for it to do THIS mod on it and it came out great! Be sure to sheild your wiring with wire mesh to avoid EM noise on your pickups.

Yeah, I've changed pickups in a couple of my strats... nothing to it really.

 

[CptObvious]

Making your own guitar body sounds tough. Even manufacturers of expensive guitars use CNC routers to cut guitar bodies because the machines do a more accurate job than any human could do. But more power to you if you do it

 

[Megadeth]

Originally posted by: CptObvious
Making your own guitar body sounds tough. Even manufacturers of expensive guitars use CNC routers to cut guitar bodies because the machines do a more accurate job than any human could do. But more power to you if you do it

I have 9 guitar's and a bass guitar at home... I have plenty to play on right now... I just want to make guitars as a hobby.... Even if it doesnt turn out to be as good as anything that I own right now.

 

[Raincity]

I made few strats with Warmoth and Chandler bodies and necks. It?s really a time consuming process. It?s really easy to screw up the finish and topcoat if you rush it. You may want to start with a prefinished body on you first attempt and see if it's for you. Going this route first time you still have to learn how to assemble, cut and file the nut and do a proper setup.

 

[Triumph]

I've been looking at the Warmoth products. Their website isn't too good; apparently it costs like $160 on top of the price of the body, to get the body painted? That sounds exhorbitant.

 

[MaxDepth]

Help is as close as a click away.
Just a note of caution. I've busted two necks already.