Build Your Own Electric Guitar!

Step 7: ASSEMBLY AND WIRING THE ELECTRONICS

ASSEMBLE Now you can put it all together! By this time you'll be so excited you'll forget about the electronics and start to string in up before you get the electronics in but it's ok, we'll get there. Start with bolting on the neck in the same fasion that you did when you test fitted everything. Then follow that with the tuners, bridge and pickups. Don't forget to run the wiring for the pickups when you put them in.

SHEILDING Sheilding is good to use if you want to minimize that annoying buzz you can get from surrounding interference that electronic components such as amps can produce. You can use sheilding paint that is a bit more expensive but easier to apply than copper tape. All you do is paint it on and let it dry. It also gets into the areas tape can't reach. To install the tape you basically just apply it to the inside of the control cavity and solder up any seams that might let the interference through. The soldering can be a little tricky since you have to lay down a long bead of it along the seam. Kind of like welding. Here are some futher instructions After this is done you can install the pots and switch. Be careful when tightening them down not to scratch the finish. Add the knobs and get out your schematic for wiring it up.

WIRING Lay your beautifully finished guitar on a soft towel so you don't scratch it and cover the back with a cloth as wel so you don't splatter solder on it. How you wire you guitar up depends on the layout you have chosen. Mine was a simple one tone, one volume and three way switch set up. I have gone with the Les Paul set up on other guitars which is a two tone and two volume before as well. What ever set up you go with just follow the schematic that either came with you pickups or get one from Seymour Duncan. They also have instructional videos that are done by Seymore Duncan himself on Strats and Les Pauls. I recomend watching these if its your first time wiring a guitar.

Comments

[Derek Vigil]

How much would it cost to build a whole guitar including electronics and paint?

[curt-fullmer]

Probably 50 bucks if youre smart about your shopping

[jasonrocks22]

Shielding is that plastic seal on the back of your guitar that just covers up all of the wiring. its usually black.

[dennis41]

what is a shielding?

[incubusmadman]

ok so i understand all of this wiring business except for one part, when you connect the wires to each arm (or some people call them legs) of the pots, is it best to just wrap/tie it or to actually solder it?

[lnknprkfrk13]

Both would work, however if you just simply wrapped or tied the wires, the connection wouldn't be the best, and the connection wouldn't last forever. Soldering is definitely the way to go, as the connection will be better and you won't have to worry about the connection failing.

[guitarist09]

g,day do you have any information on here about connecting up the jack/input?

[Gothik1]

how do u put strings on a mdf guitar,cus i made 1 and have strings

[kyrinp]

if you try to use an mdf guitar i don't think it'd sound very good, but it's sure to be the same as with any guitar

[jeydon123]

u should ask a famly member cuz its hard to show on the internet

[mikethe30]

hey what if u buy active pickups where would u do the thing so that u could hook it up

[DHgb9319]

UH I GOT A QUESTION ABOUT THE BRIDGE WHATANGLE DO I USE FOR A GIBSON TUNE-O-MATIC

[Psychic Master]

ive got the parts from an old broken guitar and they all work perfectly but when i took it apart i forgot to write down xactly which wires go where. ive got 1 volume and 1 tone knob then a switch and 3 single coil pickups...cann u tell me xactly how to wire it so tt it will work correctly

[gbuilder]

The best way I could tell you how to wire it up is to show you. And the best place to get a wiring schematic is the seymour duncan web site. Here is one I found for what you are trying to do http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=3s_1v_1t_5whttp://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=3s_1v_1t_5w

[kid123]

where do you place the wires from the humbuckers to connect it to the rest of the circuit? Where do the holes go?

[iwannarock]

i wanna make my own bass, are they pretty much the same steps or is it totally different?

[psykopaath]

yh man i play a bass and im doin a few mods on mine it the same principle same wiring for the same amount of pickups but be sure to use bass pickups other wise the sound will suck.well hope that helped man c ya