So I think I'm finally going to build a guitar

[u6crash]

I've had Melvyn Hiscock's "Make Your Own Electric Guitar" in my library for nearly 15 years and still haven't done it. I've finished and assembled two Carvin bass kits, but it's not the same. At first I was going to just buy a neck, but I realized no one makes one just how I want it and they are expensive. A 30" rock maple blank from LM is only $25.

 

I may even document the build in a thread, but not this thread. What I'd like of like from folks is your best resources that you're willing to share. Some I'm sure we have in common. Here are some that I know about:

 

 

GENERAL

 

Luthiers Mercantile International, Inc.

Steward MacDonald

All Parts

WD Music

Philadephia Luthier Tools

BYO Guitar

 

PICKUPS & ELECTRONICS

 

GuitarElectronics.com

Lollar Pickups

Mojo Pickups

 

MOSTLY WOOD

 

Bell Forrest

Gilmer Wood ($100 Minimum)

 

To tease some specs:

Hollow body(or semi-hollow depending on perspective)

Nickel hardware

P90 pickups

3+ piece laminate neck

Possibly a handmade tailpiece

 

LMI offers this neat product which I may make use of: Neck Laminate pieces. Anyone know of anything similar like that out there? What do other makers use to get those real thin lines in their laminated necks? Maybe it's not even wood. I don't have a table saw, so some operations will be trickier than others. I may acquire one. I maybe make jigs for my router, jigsaw, and/or circular saw when possible.

 

[badpenguin]

Talk to Mr Freeman, he's done one or two.

[Freeman Keller]

If there is anything I can do to lead you astray, er, help in any way please let me know. Here is kind of a shotgun answer to some of your questions.

 

First, I always recommend Hiscock's book to anyone who wants to build an electric guitar - he covers all the bases moderately well but you may want specific help with some of it. One thing that people tend to overlook is his chapter on geometry (designing you guitar) - that stuff will make or break your project. He covers the three basic construction methods pretty well - set neck (Gibson style), bolt on (Fender style) and thru neck (which I don't recommend for your first project).

 

To go along with Hiscock, I would recommend getting some plans for an instrument similar to what you want to build. You talk about a hollow or semi hollow - get plans for something similar so you can see how neck angle, top curves, general layout is going to work. You can (and should) change things to suit your design (get Kinkos to make several copies of your plans so you can draw on them and cut them up. I can help you with resources if you need it.

 

Your resources for materials and tools are good. I buy most of my wood from LMI - top quality and reasonable prices. Think about your order because shipping can add up - try to buy everything at once. I use LMI double acting truss rods altho StewMac and others are fine. LMI has a lot of the thin veneers that you might need for your neck - I'll come back to that. I also buy LMI preslotted preradiused fretboards - I do so many different scale guitars that I've never set up a good mitering system for fret slotting and getting one fret off by a few thousands will ruin the board. Gilmer is another great wood source - they have pictures of everything on line so you can see exactly what you are getting.

 

Most of my tools come from either local hardware stores or StewMac. SM stuff is expensive but good - you can save money if you shop on evil bay but again, its just so much easier to get it from a known source. You'll need three kinds of tools - general hand tools (chisels, planes, scrapers, rasps...), some power tools (for an electric guitar a medium router (laminate trimmer), band saw, belt sander, drill press are all handy but you can work around some of them). For thickness planing or sanding I take wood to a local cabinet shop. I own a table saw but don't use it for guitar building - a fence on your table saw is enough.

 

You will also need some specialized lutherie tools - nut and fret files, some special measuring tools. Invest in good tools, you will use them a lot in the future.

 

Finish could be a whole 'nother thread. I use quality beautiful wood for everything I build and I want to show it off with as good a finish as I can put on it so I use either solvent or water born lacquers. Other people are happy with other finishes - various oils, shellacs, even solid colors. I'll add that finishing is one of the hardest parts of home building but if you take your time, choose your products wisely I think you will be satisfied.

 

I'd like to know more about exactly what kind of guitar you want to build. When you say "hollow body" or semi hollow - do you mean a 175 or 335 style or chambered? Flat top, carved top or laminated arch top? Type of neck joint? Hiscock doesn't cover hollow bodies so you may need some other resources to help with that.

 

If it helps, I have built most of these variations and have build threads which I can point you to - you'll get to watch me screw it up (and recover). There are two lutherie forums, one tends to be a lot more theoretical but this one is pretty good for general building

 

http://luthiersforum.com/forum/

 

Hope this helps a little bit, please feel free to contact me with any questions and please do post a build thread. Now lets make some sawdust.

[Freeman Keller]

I said I would comment on the neck - think that thru very carefully. I love the effect of laminated woods in the neck but it has to be carried out perfectly - remember as you carve the neck if it isn't perfectly symetrical it will really look wonky. Also think about the woods you will use and how you want to carry that theme thru to the rest of the guitar. I did one laminated neck with mahogany and maple (and a thin accent of black fiber) and used the same maple binding on the body of the guitar

 

 

Here is black and white fiber - I like laminating this stuff under headplates and in other places where I want a thin contrasting line. Warning, the white stuff absorbs stain badly.

 

http://www.lmii.com/products/mostly-wood/veneers/fiber-veneer-sheets

 

A laminated neck can make a very strong headstock but I still like doing a scarf joint. I would not, however, try to do a scarf joint with a contrasting skunk stripe - I think it would be a nightmare to line up.

[u6crash]

I don't want to give all my design elements away but I'll respond to some of your questions/remarks (one aspect of the body is going to be controversial; and I'm okay with that).

 

Neck will be bolt on 25.5" scale, no tiltback. I'm going to try to make the drop from the fretboard slightly greater than that on a Fender neck and also I think I'm going to use staggered tuners (the Gotoh model I like is designed to be six in line, but I'm going to slightly curve the tuner side of the headstock). Front and back of the headstock may get faceplates/veneers as I'm not keen on the look of the striped neck on six inline headstocks. I'll glue up a jig for routing the truss rod in the center and maybe even practice on some pieces of MDF first.

 

I'm into art so I'm probably going to do an art guitar, meaning I'm going to draw on the top of it. It's cheaper than fancy wood (which I don't want to get carried away with if this thing is not such a great guitar).

 

Going to try to use a TOM bridge. I'm not sure what I want exists. To avoid using a neck angle I'm going to recess it (I think Carvin did or does this) and I might inlay a piece of ebony that it recesses into. Also going to have to groove the saddles to match the radius on the fretboard because all the TOMs are of course 12". I could possibly use a bridge for a Jazzmaster.

 

It will be an odd flatop. Again, didn't want to waste time carving a top when I don't know how great the whole thing will turn out. When I say semi-hollow I mean more like a Fender Coronado. Almost no center block. There will be a block supporting the bridge. Could feedback like crazy. Might section some of it off. Probably a two piece top and back.

 

P90 pickups. This is technically experimental for me because I've never had a P90 guitar, but in general prefer single coils to humbuckers. Really tempted to go the dog ear route. This would give me the option of having holes underneath the pickups that I can feed the electronics though. No access panel on the back for me. Thinking about doing a master tone, master volume, and a 3-way toggle. Simple. If I do this, is the guitar then significantly louder when both pickups are switched on?

 

Oh, I do have a question about the inlay dots. I'm also planning to get the pre-slotted/pre-radiused fretboard from LMI (at $9 how can I go wrong?), but if I get their side dots, will they be tall enough to glue in and sand down? If I were using the black or white plastic rod it would be less of an issue, but fancier dots isn't an exorbitant cost.

 

Definitely planning to get a good set of nut files and fret files. That kind of commits me to building a couple more. I have a fancy (and heavy) Freud plunge router and a Delta oscillating spindle sandler, both of which I bought probably over ten years ago thinking I was going to make a bunch of electric guitars (I have one quarter finished body kicking around somewhere). There is a hardwood seller nearby that does some mill work and sells a variety of lumber. Years ago they thickness sanded and ran some wood through a jointer for a pretty modest cost. I may get them to make me some walnut laminate strips instead of the wenge from LMI which is more than I need and increases the cost quite a bit.

 

Going to try something different with the finish too..all natural dewaxed shellac flakes. Might go the full French polish method, but might brush it on. I'll probably test some things on scrap first. I know it can be adversely affected by a few things, but it can also be repaired easily.

 

Just registered at the luthier forum! And finally, here is a really old sketch of the body style I plan to do. As you can see I've changed my mind about pickups, bridge, finish, and electronics.

 

Thanks for all your input and suggestions! I can't believe I've put this off for so long. Been working 60+ hour weeks at my job on top of trying to start a screen printing business, but at some point you have to start crossing those things off your bucket list.

 

[Freeman Keller]

Just a few more random comments. I won't try to quote your posts but basically they follow your thoughts.

 

First, looking forward to seeing what you have in mind. A very minor point but its often good to know that a guitar will fit in a standard case. Good cases run $100-150, custom cases are about 300 and take 3-4 months delivery.

 

Neck is fine, just do the plan and profile layouts. Nice thing about a bolt on is you can always shim the pocket to get it to work. You are right about ToM's being usually 12 inch radius and not very adjustable - you might consider a compound radius fretboard. If you are truly making a hollow bodied guitar then a floating bridge is a possibility and can be changed to conform to whatever radius you need.

 

I have found when making necks that it is wise to keep as many square surfaces as long as you can. For example, you can route your truss rod channel on a router table as long as you haven't cut the side angles and its much easier to make the tenon with square sides.

 

Don't know what a Fender Coronado is. Remember that a true hollow or semi will have bent sides - that kind of crosses into acoustic construction. The ES175 does have a simple ladder brace assembly that supports the pups - might give you some ideas for that.

 

Access to the interior of a semi is always tricky - think it out carefully before you put the back on. On both my 335's I prewired and left the electronics inside but they can be fished thru the f-holes if necessary. If you don't do the big center block you'll have lots more room.

 

For side dots I either use black plastic rod if the binding is light or I use small pearl dots that match the other inlay. Wait until the neck is completely shaped and right before you are going to glue the f/b on, drill with a brad point bit, glue them in with CA and you can do a little bit of final scraping/sanding.

 

You don't see French Polish much on electrics - its a lot of work. As always, practice on scrap.

 

Have fun

 

ps - I think WRGKMC put a ToM on a Fender neck - you might ask him how he got that to work.

[*BLEEP*]

 

A 30" rock maple blank from LM is only $25.

 

MOSTLY WOOD

 

Bell Forrest

Gilmer Wood ($100 Minimum)

 

 

 

There should be plenty of hardwood lumberyards in your area that can supply relatively inexpensive nice hardwood lumber stocks of northern ash, alder, maple, and plenty of other suitable species for such projects.

 

 

 

[u6crash]

 

 

There should be plenty of hardwood lumberyards in your area that can supply relatively inexpensive nice hardwood lumber stocks of northern ash, alder, maple, and plenty of other suitable species for such projects.

 

 

 

 

There is exactly one. I live in a pretty remote area. They can mill stuff, but it's extra so I'll have to do some math and figure out how much the stuff I want will cost.

 

* * *

 

Okay, I'm back. That might be the way to go. At $9.50 a board foot for figured maple I can get a figured maple stock 4" wide for just over ten bucks.

[u6crash]

Okay, questions for Freeman (or anyone who can answer).

 

What exactly is a floating bridge? I thought the TOM was technically a floating bridge because the strings hold it to the posts. StewMac offers some floating bridges, but they are crazy tall and designed for archtops and would require a significant angle.

 

If the true definition of a semi-hollow is that is has bent sides, then mine won't be. What would you call a Thinline Telecaster? I thought a semi-hollow was mostly hollow, but with a centerblock and a hollow body was mostly hollow with no centerblock. Then again, I'm not sure if there there is a governing body that sets these definitions. Or I just haven't read that book yet.

[mrbrown49]

If the true definition of a semi-hollow is that is has bent sides, then mine won't be. What would you call a Thinline Telecaster? I thought a semi-hollow was mostly hollow, but with a centerblock and a hollow body was mostly hollow with no centerblock. Then again, I'm not sure if there there is a governing body that sets these definitions. Or I just haven't read that book yet.

 

Sounds like you are going for a chambered build? Routing out the body to make the hollow portions, leaving a block for the bridge, and then laying a top on?

 

Sounds like a cool project. Keep us up to date with your progress.

[Freeman Keller]

Okay, questions for Freeman (or anyone who can answer).

 

What exactly is a floating bridge? I thought the TOM was technically a floating bridge because the strings hold it to the posts. StewMac offers some floating bridges, but they are crazy tall and designed for archtops and would require a significant angle.

 

If the true definition of a semi-hollow is that is has bent sides, then mine won't be. What would you call a Thinline Telecaster? I thought a semi-hollow was mostly hollow, but with a centerblock and a hollow body was mostly hollow with no centerblock. Then again, I'm not sure if there there is a governing body that sets these definitions. Or I just haven't read that book yet.

 

 

The usual definition of a floating bridge (as opposed to a fixed) bridge is one that falls off or shifts position when you take the strings off. Examples of instruments with floating bridges are archtops, mandolins, violin family. There is a floating bridge version of the ToM that has little archtop looking wings but ToM style saddles. The distinction is important in the way that string vibration is transmitted to the top (which is mostly important for acoustic instruments). Here is a guitar that I built with a floating bridge,

 

 

The reason I suggested a floating bridge is (1) you were talking about building a hollow or semi hollow body which is usually an arched top and (2) while you didn't actually say it, it sounded like you were using a Fender radius neck (7 or 9 or something) with a 12 inch bridge. An archtop style bridge would be easy to change radius, a ToM will not. (3) you mentioned a handmade tailpiece - again, that suggests arched tops.

 

You have also talked about recessing the ToM into the flat top - I really do suggest that you do the profile view of your geometry and look carefully at whether you will have the right break angle with your handmade tailpiece. Every guitar I make I check and recheck and recheck again to make sure that my neck angle (which can be zero, of course but usually isn't) will work with the bridge I have chosen. The little pieces of wood simulate the posts

 

 

 

 

If you google "semi hollow body guitar" you will find that it leads you to Gibson ES styles - most often the 335. These guitars were built with bent sides, archted tops and back and a block of wood inside to support the pups, bridge and tailpiece. Here is a 335 style guitar with the back off

 

 

Here is one with a smaller center block, same idea however

 

 

If you just take a solid body and hollow it out it is usually called "chambered". Here is a chambered guitar with the top off

 

 

 

I don't care what you build and I'll look forward to seeing it, but your terminology has been missleading.

[u6crash]

Well, mine will kind of be a hybrid between those two. I understand the traditional definition, but when I Googled "semi-hollow" construction one of the things I found was this:

 

"Other guitars are borderline between semi-acoustic and solid body. For example, some Telecaster guitars have chambers built into an otherwise solid body to enrich the sound. This type of instrument can be referred to as a semi-hollow or a chambered body guitar. Players disagree on exactly where to draw the line between a constructed sound box and a solid wooden body (whose construction also affects the sound according to many players)."

 

Mine will have a separate top and back, which much thinner sides than the chambered Les Paul above. Maybe I'll have to make a new name for it.

 

The floating bridge makes me nervous. How do you get it in the right place for intonation every time you change strings? I'm not saying it isn't intersting or that I wouldn't build one that way some day, but I probably will stick with a TOM this time and change the radius. I do think I might consider a compound fretboard (I think LMI offers that, right?).

 

[DeepEnd]

. . . The floating bridge makes me nervous. How do you get it in the right place for intonation every time you change strings?

You change strings one at a time and the remaining strings keep the bridge in a fixed position, same as with a mandolin or banjo.

 

[u6crash]

Now I feel stupid. 😊

[DeepEnd]

Why? If you change all the strings at once the bridge will indeed shift. Once you've though it through it's obvious, not so much before. You're not the first person to ask. Good luck with the build.

[Freeman Keller]

If you have to take all of the strings off at once put small pieces of tape at the ends of the bridge feet. After a while you will get little indentations in the lacquer. Also, on most archtops the points of the f-holes are the approximate starting point for locating the bridge.

[Freeman Keller]

Build whatever you like, call it whatever you like.

 

I don't believe LMI does compound radius fretboards - most people do it by hand.

[u6crash]

Even now without a floating bridge I change strings one at a time to keep tension on the neck unless I'm doing a deep clean or other work to it. I kind of like this floating bridge idea and might have to really consider it for another build.

[Freeman Keller]

Even now without a floating bridge I change strings one at a time to keep tension on the neck unless I'm doing a deep clean or other work to it. I kind of like this floating bridge idea and might have to really consider it for another build

 

Please understand that I was NOT recommending a floating bridge on an electric guitar. They have a very valid application on acoustic instruments (namely archtops) but makes no sense on an instrument where you don't expect the top to vibrate appreciably. It seemed like a possible solution to your dilemma with conflicting radii and at the time I thought you might be building a hollow body (by my definition).

 

[papaschtroumpf]

It sounds like you're taking on an awfull lot for a first build. Check out http://projectelectricguitar.com/eight-mistakes-to-avoid-when-building-your-first-guitar/ . Having just finished my first build (a simple telecaster) I can attest that the guy is right on with tips #1 and #2, unless you have a lot of experience working with wood and tools (I didn't).

People like Freeman make it look easy, and even they make mistakes, they just make recovering from them look easy too, but they have years of experience.

With a telecaster under my belt, I barely feel ready for making my next build which will be basically a Blueshawk clone (in many ways not dissimilar to what you are doing: flat top, semi hollow carved body, P90s, 25.5" 3x3 neck...).

 

Good luck on your build, you will learn a lot no matter what.

[Grant Harding]

FYI - I made an ebony floating bridge with a compensated bone saddle for my 335 type guitar and it really killed the sound. Woofy with little sustain, but not in a punchy way like a good jazz box. I was really careful to profile the bottom etc, but it didn't last a whole string change and it's back in my parts bin.

[Freeman Keller]

That is a very good article