Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Tech => Topic started by: bamboofrog on July 19, 2008, 08:55:49 AM

Title: Thinking about building a guitar
Post by: bamboofrog on July 19, 2008, 08:55:49 AM

Hello all

I have had an idea for a while that I would like to build my own guitar (probably a crazy idea :D), but if anyone had any advice on how to start, courses, books etc. it would be greatly appreciated.

The main problem is that I have very limited wood working experience so my learning curve is likely to be very steep.

Any help would be gratefully received.

Title: Re: Thinking about building a guitar
Post by: WezV on July 19, 2008, 09:34:56 AM

melvyn hisc--k's book is the bible - dont ruch it and feel free to ask any questions?  forums like project guitar, the UKGB (http://www.simnettguitars.co.uk/forum/) and mimf are very handy but you need to be able to distinguish between the people you should and shouldnt be listening to when you ask advice

guitony will recommend the bailey course, and if you look around you should find the guitars he has built on that

its not a crazy idea but i would always recommend keeping the first one simple rather than trying to build your ideal guitar first time

when i started building properly 6 or 7 years ago i was very familiar with guitar set-up but had absolutely no woodworking skill or tools at all...  my first was good enough to  make me build more

Title: Re: Thinking about building a guitar
Post by: bamboofrog on July 19, 2008, 09:58:02 AM

Cheers Wez

I have just ordered the book, when you say keep it simple, would i be better off looking at a kit or getting straight into the woodworking, fortunately a friend of mine is a carpenter so he has a lot of tools and experience (although not with guitars).

Title: Re: Thinking about building a guitar
Post by: WezV on July 19, 2008, 10:35:08 AM

kits are good if you fancy one... i did do a tele kit before i did anything else

but i only learnt how to do an oil finish from it... i already knew how to assemble a guitar at that point

a lot of people seem to buy the neck for the first and just make the body, necks are a bit scary but easier than they seem... the main problem is that the neck needs more specialised tools than the body and that will add a lot to the cost

Title: Re: Thinking about building a guitar
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on July 19, 2008, 10:44:34 AM

The book is excellant
I would recommend reading it cover to cover before getting stuck in

Then plan your guitar from top to bottom first
Getting the planning 100% sorted first will make for a smoother project

I will not start one of my projects unless I have every last detail mapped out

Title: Re: Thinking about building a guitar
Post by: bamboofrog on July 19, 2008, 11:53:52 AM

Thanks for the replies, really good advice and much appreciated. I am looking forward to the book arriving.

The kits don't really appeal, I will have a look into some courses as well.