johnezz Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Post 1 - 25th August 05Well ok, i'm building my first ever guitar I'm doing this as a personal thing, but also as a school project, so most of it will be done at the school workshop, and ill take pics of the completed work i do when i do it. Building will take awhile about 2 months. I've researched and researched till my eyes have bled, ive bought some books of How to Build Guitars.Value for Money is what im going for.Basically im building a Strat, thats not really a Strat. Firstly it has 24 Frets, and a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and a Jazz in neck. The body is going to be Basswood. So yes for Strat purists, cover your eyes! This will be my METAL guitar . Reason i chose the Strat, well firstly its the easiest to make, also there are a HUGE amount of parts availible for making Strats this means they are cheaper too.Make Basic desing (excuse my shit job at using Paint)I will slightly modify the design (so suggestions to change my design are welcome!), like head stock shape and colour, and whether to cut the lower horn deeper for better access to the 24 frets (or to even do 24 frets at all)Ok well building your own guitar isnt cheap, the wood alone costed $150 AU and thats good because Basswood is a cheaper wood than Alder, Ash or heaven forbid Mahogany.Thats the wood in it's raw self, highly reakonisable as a guitar isnt it I got this wood from a place in Sydney called Gilet Guitars, who have supplys for the professional guitar builder. I'm also using Titebond glue, which is very good, you cant use PVA or PVC lol.Here i have traced the shape of a Strat onto the Basswood body, I will later down the track use to to rough cut the shape on a Bandsaw.It is preferable to use a 1 piece body, but they are hard to find, so 2 piece will do just fine. The joint line will be used as a centreline to which everything will be marked off.Now i could of just glued it together, flat piece against the other. But to make the join stronger i was advised to use biscuts to strenghen the join. I placed to biscuts to (hopefully) miss the cavities that will be routed out.I have not glued it just yet, that will be done next lession in class. After that i will start on the neck and get that finished, The body is done last.Well i havent got far yet, but i thought i may aswell make a start.I will update when i can.Happy guitar playing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Next_Best_Thing Posted August 27, 2005 Share Posted August 27, 2005 no one replied to your post .well, im not the right guy to give you indications or make comments, as i only had contact with a guitar for 1 and 1/2 years, and dont know what does it takes to build one. guess ill learn some from you .keep it going Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanGenie Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 I think it's a tough job to build a new guitar bascly out of nothing. I would ask the guys in guitar shops that repair guitars or take on old guitar and modify it to get a feeling for the "to do's" and "not to do's". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnezz Posted August 28, 2005 Author Share Posted August 28, 2005 I think it's a tough job to build a new guitar bascly out of nothing. I would ask the guys in guitar shops that repair guitars or take on old guitar and modify it to get a feeling for the "to do's" and "not to do's".<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Don't worry, i've be-friend a professional guitar builder, he's helping me out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanGenie Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 that's cool I wish you good luck with keep us up to date with your results I'm interested in your progress. keep it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnezz Posted August 28, 2005 Author Share Posted August 28, 2005 (edited) that's cool I wish you good luck with keep us up to date with your results I'm interested in your progress. keep it up<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Thanks for the kind words I'll make sure to take as many pics as possible, and update when i can. hopefully ill get alot of work done this week. Edited August 28, 2005 by johnezz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santana Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 How thick are you going to make the guitar? Are you going for the standard Strat thickness? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisi Rokks Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 lol, i thought that was great! nice pics lol and great GREAT wood ah that made me laugh...in a "this is unusual and really cool" way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnezz Posted August 29, 2005 Author Share Posted August 29, 2005 How thick are you going to make the guitar? Are you going for the standard Strat thickness?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>I might go for slightly thicker than Strat thickness.That way i'll be able to recess the tremolo caviety cover without it hitting the bottom of the whammy bar block and springs.I'm yet to glue it, i will hopefully do that tomorrow, just about to ring my guitar builder friend right now and ask for some tips for the next process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnfnr86 Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 Hows the guitar builidng going johnezz? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnezz Posted September 8, 2005 Author Share Posted September 8, 2005 Hows the guitar builidng going johnezz?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Glued the body, just waiting for my Guitar Building friend to lend me the templates to rout out the body cavities (humbucker cavities, neck and tremolo cavities)So i have a bit of a delay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnfnr86 Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 Cool, be sure to keep up ipdated with pics when you do eventually rout out the bits n pieces!much respect to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Little Thing Posted September 9, 2005 Share Posted September 9, 2005 that's pretty cool im waiting to see your picture of the guitar in work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forsaken Posted September 9, 2005 Share Posted September 9, 2005 Pretty cool, johnezz. Good luck with it. Post some new pics if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anagram Of Oral Sex Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 It would be a very fun and neat skill to have, being able to make your won guitars, PLUS you can make a shitload of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Me Scandar Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 awesome man, good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnezz Posted September 12, 2005 Author Share Posted September 12, 2005 Ok well i FINALLY! got the templates today.I'll will start the routing tomorrow, but here's a pic of what i've done up to now (which isn't much)Those are the templates, and as you can see the body is glued and i have levelled down the neck blank so it is now completely flat and ready for the next step after i do the body. Thanks for your kind words guys, wish me luck tomorrow, i'll need it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Kin Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 Ok well i FINALLY! got the templates today.I'll will start the routing tomorrow, but here's a pic of what i've done up to now (which isn't much)Those are the templates, and as you can see the body is glued and i have levelled down the neck blank so it is now completely flat and ready for the next step after i do the body. Thanks for your kind words guys, wish me luck tomorrow, i'll need it <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Good luck man, looks great so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnezz Posted October 25, 2005 Author Share Posted October 25, 2005 Well i haven't updated for AGES!But i haven't got much work done, i ran into some major problems, but i have sorted them out and im back to building the guitar again.I have just done the Neck cavity and i rough cut the shape of the body, it's looking more like a guitar now. The body is still too thick, i'll have to thickness it down, just the body is Basswood i think leaving it at that thickness will make the tone way too dark i dont maybe, what do you people think? It's very light, so weight wouldnt be an issue if i left it that thick.I also bought a pickguard for it, tortoise shell, it will look great on a black finish. I have gone with a H-S-H configuration which will give me a huge range of tones.Peace out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forsaken Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 (edited) Oh man. Nice pics dude. This thing will turn out good. Edited October 25, 2005 by Forsaken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnezz Posted October 26, 2005 Author Share Posted October 26, 2005 Did some more work on the body today.I made the body thinner, although i might of gone too thin, oh well that wouldn't matter too much.I've also drill, then routed the cavity for the tremolo block.I also made a start on the comfort cut for the arm, i used a spokeshave for that.And i thought the body was too big so i'm reducing the size by about 1cm as you can see i have marked it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnezz Posted November 1, 2005 Author Share Posted November 1, 2005 MY BABIES HAVE ARRIVED!!!!Hehehe, yes yes yes, thats right i finally got my pickups.Seymour Duncan Jazz and JB, $330.Arn't they beautys! I can't wait to finish my guitar and whack these babies in.Also i bought a bridge, not just any bridge, this one is a very good quality solid steel one, weights a tonne, but that means a hellva lot more sustain.Also got pickup mouting rings, the little bag has all the screws and springs for the tremolo bridge.Rock on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GNR'R Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 Thats awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabre Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 wow this project is exciting me now. I wish I could do something like this, I cant even solder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irish Rose Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 nice work!Reminds me of the fun I used to have in the woodwork class! Be careful with the router, i almost fucked up a project i was making one time, it slipped and took a lump out of the wood! I hope it works out well 4 ya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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