If you play or have a passion for the guitar you will have noticed that your instrument looks like all the others. Even if you can repaint it and change the hardware you will never be able to define it as your guitar. By following these tips you can do it.
Steps
Step 1. Plan the construction
Without a project your guitar will feel like something totally unplanned. Think about what you want to look like and what parts you want to use. The shape of the guitar depends on your skill in making it. The parts you will use instead depend on the price you are willing to spend and which brand you prefer.
Step 2. Draw a pattern
For anything you want to build, from a house to a toy car made with Lego, you will need a blueprint or instructions. For the project, draw "very clearly" the guitar you want. Avoid writing about the project, it could confuse you later. Just report the measurements and write all other notes on other sheets. One help can be to print a full-scale photograph of the desired shape. Tracing it on a lighted table or glass helps.
Step 3. The body of the guitar
The guitar needs a body. This is the most important part of the instrument, without it there would be no strings, pickups and sound. You can make one yourself. If you already own a guitar you can draw one following its body. However, if you want your guitar to look unique, you'll need to make one out of a block of wood. Draw the body on the block of wood: the type of wood affects the tone and sustain of the guitar (how long a note plays), and carves the wood into it. Exotic type body woods such as mahogany or ash can be found in specialty online stores such as stewmac.com. Once you have a rough cut of the desired shape you will need some space where you will go to put the handle. There are three varieties of neck: the simplest is the bolt-on one; the second set-in (glued), looks cleaner but is not versatile or rigid; neck-thru, where the neck extends into the body.
Step 4. Buy or build a handle
Buying a neck is easier, but part of building a guitar is also building the neck. It is not difficult, just a block of wood of the right size. If you build the neck you will need to make the frets as well, and to make the frets you will need metal bars (or fretwire) which are also found in packs of several pieces. Preparing the keys is a long job and requires some skill. Each key requires its own groove where the bar must be inserted, which must be filed to be matched with the other keys. If they are not adjusted, the whole neck will suffer and the frets will "fry" under the strings.
Step 5. Take a vertical cutter or if you are experienced a wood chisel and dig the recess for the handle
This can vary depending on the size and you will have to carve the wood a little at a time.
Step 6. Choose the pickup configuration
The pickups generate a magnetic field and pick up the vibrations of the strings. Without pickups the guitar will not be able to work together with an amplifier. You will also have to choose in what order to mount the pickups, which depends on your budget. Some examples are:
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SSS, SSH, HSH, HH, H, HHH, SS, Or HS
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S means single coil and H means humbucker.
Be very careful in choosing the pickups as these affect the sound a lot
Build an Electric Guitar Step 7 Step 7. Buy the pickups
By now you should have chosen the pickups. Search well where you can find good quality and not too expensive ones and buy them. You can also search online for bargains (three pickups for € 60 for example).
Build an Electric Guitar Step 8 Step 8. Cut out the recess for the pickups
There are two types: top and bottom. The top ones have cables and circuitry on the upper face of the body, from where they are accessed (as in the Fender Stratocaster). The other has access from the back of the body of the guitar (as in the Gibson Les Paul). Basically, you need to drill a hole in the body for each pickup. Make it deep enough for the pickup and make other holes or channels for the cables going to the controls and other pickups.
Build an Electric Guitar Step 9 Step 9. Assemble the tailpiece and bridge
The bridge is the part that holds the strings and adjusts their height. The handle should be fixed to serve as a reference point. The holes in the bridge must be EXACTLY in line with the nut (at the top of the neck at the beginning of the fretboard). Some bridges hold the strings (for example Telecasters), while others require an additional piece called a tailpiece or tailpiece (like Les Paul).
Build an Electric Guitar Step 10 Step 10. Paint
This is the fun part, painting! Choose any color or finish you want and prepare the body to be smooth by wiping it with sandpaper. For a deeper finish use nitrocellulose varnish to bring out the grain of the wood. Apply an even layer. After it dries, apply another one. You will need at least four coats, keep applying until it darkens as much as you like. If, on the other hand, you want the guitar to take on a relic (ie “aged”) appearance more quickly, apply fewer layers and do not put a clear coat. The clear varnish serves to fix the other varnish. If your project requires a natural finish then you will need it.
Build an Electric Guitar Step 11 Step 11. Buy the pickups
By now you should have chosen the pickups. Search well where you can find good quality and not too expensive ones and buy them. You can also search online for bargains (three pickups for € 60 for example).
Build an Electric Guitar Step 12 Step 12. Find a wiring diagram, buy the potentiometers and control knobs (maybe even a tone capacitor) and mount them in the prepared cavity or on the bezel
Build an Electric Guitar Step 13 Step 13. Get an amplifier
It's useful and good to have one even if you think you don't need it. With an amplifier you can add or remove effects, not to mention that some amps are very loud!
Build an Electric Guitar Step 14 Step 14. Install the hardware (mechanics, nut, input jack and more) and adjust the action
The standard says that the height of the strings should be around 1-1.5mm at the 12th fret. Regulating action is the difference between complaining about it and loving it. It's a long and tedious and different job for each guitar.
Advice
It can be expensive and time-consuming work
Warnings
- If you are not an expert in electrical wiring, get help. If you don't, you could get hurt.
- It may not work the first time.
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