Build Your Own Electric Guitar!

Step 1 TOOLS, PARTS AND SUPPLIERS

Tools Needed

Plunge Router and Router Bits
(I use a Skill router with a 1/4" bit, a 1/2" bit with ball bearing guide and a 1/2" round over bit)
Drill and Drill Bits
(A basic electric drill and bit set with an optional 6" sanding disk for carving down the body, and a 1/2" Forstner Bit for counter sinking the neck ferrules.)
Jig Saw
(Any good jig saw and fine tooth blade for cutting the plastic control covers)
Belt Sander (optional)
(For carving down the top back body contour)
Mouse or Orbital sander (optional)
Dremmel tool (optional)
(Use with a sanding attachment for hard to reach areas that need to be sculpted)
Drill press (optional)
(I wish I had one, it makes drilling perfectly straight holes much easier)
Clamps
(Good to have if you need to laminate your own body blank. A small one is good to have for holding the neck inplace when you attach it)
Soldering Iron and Solder
Flux and Wire
(Both for the electronics)

Basic Parts and Electronics

Premade Neck
(Trying to build your own neck is difficult and requires more tools that you might be willing to buy.)
Body Blank
(Make your own out of Birch Plywood or buy a blank from a retailer)
Bridge
(I tend to go with a hard tail type bridge since it can be easily bolted on. Not much to it.)
String Ferrules
(These are used to hold the string in the guitar and are placed in small holes drilled in the back. You won't need these if you decide to go with a Gibson style bridge and tail piece.)
Tuners
(It's a good idea to get high quality tuners since the cheaper one don't stay in tune as well)
Screws
(You will need pick guard screws for the control cavity cover and other various size screws for pickup rings and truss rod cover. Your bridge should come with screws but check and make sure in case you need to order any)
Ferrules
(For the neck and strings. You can use a neck plate instead of ferrules but I like the clean look and tight fit that you get with the ferrules.)
Pickups
(This depends on the type of sound you want and how much you are willing to spend. Shop around for good deals.)
Pickup Rings
(Most come with screws when you buy them but if you decide to go with all gold hardware you might want to buy gold screws separately.)
Plastic
(You can get a sheet of black plastic from Stewart MacDonald and use it to cut the cover for the control cavity.)
Control Knobs
(These can be bought from many online retailers. Get the style that best fits your guitar design. Shop around for the best deal)
Potometers
(Uses for volume and tone control you typically need between two and four depending on the type of sound you want. They come in different sizes and values so the best thing to do is look up a wiring schematic online for the set up you want to see what kind to use. Seymour Duncan has great schematics.)
Capacitors
(They also come in different values so find out what you need from your schematic)
Input Jack
(I like to use a long shaft input jack. All you have to do to install it is drill a hole. Pretty easy)
Control Switch
(These come in different styles also. Fender Strats use 5 way switches while Les Pauls use 3 way ones.)

Parts and Suppliers
Stewart MacDonald
Seymour Duncan Pickups
Guitar Parts USA
Guitar Fetish
Guitar Parts Central
Guitar Jones USA
Guitar Parts Online
DJs Guitars
Catalina Guitars
EBAY

There are tons of different online retailers and ebay stores that you can find a great deal on parts and supplies, but those were just some of the ones that I have purchased on and been satisfied with their service and parts. NOTE: Do your research when it comes to parts and the quality of the parts you buy. I like to get feedback and reviews from Harmony-Central. You might not be able to get reviews on everything, but it helps you out allot.

Comments

[skyewire]

I noticed earlier that gluing two pieces is best for a body blank, why? why not one solid piece? and is that gluing one of top of eachother?

[rchuncleskeleton]

most of the more expensive guitars use a solid piece of wood for their bodies, which usually give better tone and more sustain. Most cheaper guitars(under $500) are made out of two pieces of wood because it's cheaper for the factory to produce a guitar by gluing two pieces of left over wood from their more expensive guitars together but usually ends up producing a guitar with less sustain and worse tone than a solid(single piece of wood) body guitar. That's not the only factor in tone and sustain though as having a set neck vs. a bolt on neck will usually give you better sustain as well. Then there's also the "neck-thru" guitars which in turn use two body pieces and a neck piece going all the way through the center of the body with the three pieces glued together and this usually results in superior sustain but the tone usually isn't as good.

[rchuncleskeleton]

This guy called them "Potometers" when their actually called "Potentiometers" more commonly referred to as "Pots". Potometers are a device used for measuring the rate of water uptake of a leafy shoot(how fast a plant draws in water). Potentiometers are a three-terminal resistor with a sliding contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider.

[bubba_fatman]

this might be a dumb question and it might already say this somewhere(lots of helpful information[hate to put $200 dollars into something to have it suck ass})but what is the (recommended) dimensions for the blank?

[IronManMC]

It's pretty much a matter of personal preferences and room enough for scale length (including bridge, tailpiece, etc.) and your controls. Blanks are not mandatory. Way back in (mumble-mumble), I made a guitar using a wooden toilet seat (a used one ..... NOT!). If I made another today, I have a "toilet" refrigerator magnet that makes a flushing sound. I'd add a flush lever to trigger it. I wonder what other bathroom sounds are available? hmmmm..... do I really need strings? -Mike "Le Petomane" Curtis

[gbuilder]

It really just depends on the size of the guitar you want to make but they are typically 22" x 14" x 1-3/4". This will be a big enough size for a bass and plenty of size for a guitar body.

[trevor2011]

hay i gotta question do the pickups need to be tha same kind of what im gonna do this as soon as i get tha cash im thinking about buying demarzio pickups cause i figure i need to put a lotta money in them considering thats where tha sound comes from right??

[IronManMC]

You can theoretically mix brands and types of pickup. The one factor I would be most concerned with is output levels. A single coil pickup with fewer windings will usually have far less volume than a monster "super distortion" humbucker with a ridiculous amount of windings and an inductance of >10 henries. Pickups usually come in bridge and neck models. The strings vibrate less and sound more strident near the bridge. Bridge pickups will therefore be higher output and less trebly. I've owned many different brands of pickups. I'll comment on two excellent brands, DiMarzio and Carvin. Both are quality pickups at good FAIR prices. I had a DiMarzio dual sound. I swapped an old no-name bridge hummer with a bridge Carvin Holdsworth dual sound, and was VERY pleased with the sound, tonal flexibility, and especially the 22 adjustable pole pieces, giving me yet more things I can adjust in my search for perfection. I changed the DiMarzio for a Holdsworth neck pickup for a very worthwhile improvement. Carvin sells directly to the public. These pickups are US$49.95 each. http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/group.php?cid=82 near the bottom of the page.

[gbuilder]

You can use different brands if you wanted to. Some artists do that to get different tones out of their guitar. But I would probably stick with one brand that you like or that you have played before so you know what kind of sound you'll get when you install them. Pickup manufactures design sets of pickups to work together for guitars like Strats that use 3 switchable pickup positions (Bridge, Middle and Neck). Since you get a different tone when you switch between those positions it's probably best to use one set where each pickup has been wound to sound its best when wired up with others of that set. Hope that makes sense.

[frodobot]

Is it cheaper to make a guitar or buy one??

[IronManMC]

Some of the store brands (i.e. Sam Ash' "Carlo Robelli") are surprisingly playable. If you have time and experience to cherry pick (or are friends with a knowledgeable guitarist), and you buy it on sale, you can get a pretty good instrument for $150-$250. Before I get your expectations too high, there are very good reasons behind expensive guitars. Many of them are well worth their massive price tags. Some are just plain overpriced. They're made with more expensive parts and more costly materials by skilled craftsmen who know their business and spend a lot of time making sure everything about your guitar is just right. Expensive parts cost more because they require more expensive raw materials, much tighter tolerances, a lot more time to build, and a craftsman who has spent decades honing his/her craft who takes pride in his workmanship and product. Cheap parts are mass produced, from cheap materials, with sloppy design tolerances, using the cheapest labor possible. And cheap labor is usually too concerned about making it to the next paycheck to go the extra mile required for a quality product. Sometimes the difference between quality and cheap is great. More often, it's not that much - noticeable, helpful, but not deal-breaking in and of itself. But combined with all of the other cheap parts that go into a guitar, this lack of quality adds up. There is a HUGE difference between a "playable instrument" and one that "practically plays itself". My favorite electric bass is an Epiphone Les Paul standard 5 string. It originally sold for $800. I bought mine from an excellent bassist who needed rent but also wanted to make sure his baby went to a loving home. The neck is perfectly shaped and very comfortable. The tuners are tight and smooth, and string pitch changes in perfect cadence with turning the tuner; there's no slop or string binding. The pickups are solidly mounted, solidly constructed dual sound humbuckers with a huge, clean sound. The volume and tone pots are well constructed, smooth, noiseless. The 5 position pickup offers neck humbucking, dual-coil-in-series, and single coil in various combinations for a wide range of different timbres. The circuitry is well designed and brings out the best in the instrument. Each of these is (excuse the punnery) relatively minor in and of itself, but in combination they multiply exponentially. It had also been set up professionally, painstakingly. Over the years, I've played in a number of top 40, jazz, blues, and funk charting bands. I've either owned or had the use of a lot of top shelf instruments and such. "You want drugs? We'll get you drugs. You want girls? We'll get you girls. You want boys? (I suspect they said that to see us squirm uncomfortably) We'll get you boys". I've never played anything this nice that retailed under $2000. You can literally SEE the quality in this instrument. The action is ruler perfect. It is built rock solid out of Impervium, an element from the deepest reaches of outer space that has yet to be discovered by the primitive scientist of this planet, and then dipped in the river Styx (named after the band, not the Greek wimp with the spear in his heel) to imbue it with every musical quality in the known and unknown universe. And then it was kissed by the goddess of bass, Carol Kaye (swoon..... ) In my 46 years playing guitar, I have never come across a lower end instrument that "practically plays itself, even cheapies that have been honed by expert luthiers. One of my electric bass students, whom I shall hereinafter refer to as L, is drop dead gorgeous, a quick learner, and is absolutely convinced that I can walk on water (I know where the rocks are), raise the dead (which I do at quitting time), and incapable of doing wrong or making misteaks (well, one out of three ain't bad) ( :D ) L owns a number of decent lower end basses, including an Ashbory, which is quite different and very good for what it is. Because flattery will get you EVERYWHERE with me because I'm egocentric, shallow, and superficial, I've spent a lot of hours setting up and servicing her collection of basses. They are playable. I let L try my LP. That was a BIG mistake. My hopes and ulterior motives were instantly dashed. She now had a new love. My bass. Her eyes lit up like Las Vegas on July 4th. She glowed with an effulgence reminiscent of Disney's Snow White being draped by little flying things (I think they were those huge Florida albino flying roaches) with the finest silks, jewelry from Tiffany's outlet store because even Bill Gates couldn't afford that much bling at retail prices, and a pair of Manolo Blahniks finest to ensconse her tootsies. She looked at my bass with those "Rohypnol" eyes (ahem..... or so I have been told) and exclaimed, "Wow! It practically plays itself", and rambled on excitedly about its virtues. She is not given to high praise. Or maybe it's just me. I have that effect on women. And many men, too. As long as this is understood, that a guitar built from cheap parts can be only so good, I feel comfortable recommending the better cheap guitars. I hate it when something I said several years ago comes back in the form of a complaint. Good luck. -Mike Curtis http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=588641

[the-ruler-of-craziness]

any one know where to get a les paul junior/SG neck from, i want dot inlays.

[csigler]

You can have one made to you custom specs. I have used diveombinc.com in the past.. I am sure there are plenty of others, ut I can't speak for them.

[The DotCommunist]

 What horsepower plunge router is required?  Also, what depth does the router need to go to, I found some online and a lot of them say the maximum depth is 2 1/2 inches, what did you use and what is recommended?

[metdrummer]

Horse power isnt all the critical in a router. Obviously, a more powerful router will be able to handle cutting deeper in denser woods than a lower power one. If you have a lower power router, take out less wood with more passes.

[metalwarrior40]

"(Trying to build your own neck is difficult and requires more tools that you might be willing to buy.)"

Have you, yourself, built your own neck? It's not hard at all. It is no more harder then building and routing out a guitar body. Pre slotted fretboards can be bought if you dont want to slot it yourself. Fretting is not hard, and only requires simple tools most people already have. Shaping the neck is the same deal.

[metdrummer]

Agreed. The first guitar I made I bought my neck thinking it would be too difficult. The current guitar I'm making is neck through, so a premade neck was out of the question. I was surprised at how easy it was. All you really need is a radiused sanding block (for the fret board), a hammer, and a crowning file.

[emedina94]

how cheap can the neck be 

[penguin.waddle14]

 i got my neck for really cheap. like, 3O bucks on ebay. you can get all these supplies for dirt cheap if you look hard enough, but id say you can find one from anywhere between 4O and 8O bucks.

[PrysiBoi]

Is it expensive to make one, if you get me?

[penguin.waddle14]

 i managed to make mine for 25O dollars.

it can be an expensive project, but it can also be super cheap

[jimbo333]

it can be but it can also be done dirt cheap, if you purchase the neck and make the rest that will make it significantly cheaper. a neck is about 60. then on ebay you can buy blanks for guitars that are planed and the basic shape is cut out. thats another 50 or 60(you have to do a bunch of routing), from there the only thing that could set you back is the pickups but you can get cheaper ones. and keep the bridge simple. switches the jack and the pots should be less than 30. so you could build a descent guitar for less than 200. of course its worth alot more than that if you decide to sell it. (if you do a quality job) . i like buying cheap guitars with one pickup then modding them for a tremolo bridge more pickups etc. a peavey rockmaster is a good place to start for the basic platform(about a 100 new). its all about whats in your budget, i dont have a large one so i tend to make really cheap guitars better with a new neck and new pickups, bridges etc. also if you dont have a router (which i dont) you can get away with a drill with some wood bits and a chisel and hammer if you are patient with it, i have done some nice work with this method, plus you get some margin for error if your going to use a pick guard (i think it looks better with out but if you mess up you dont have a choice.) hope this helps, happy building :) ps. you could try looking for a kit that might be 200 or 250 ish

[kyrinp]

i've been making mine and it's only costed about 500 dollars aud which is very cheap for a custom guitar. that also includes my tools paint scratchplaye material and D'addario strings.

[volquete]

YES

[yfrue]

 is it possible to build one out of glass?

[60829]

 dude, that would be so sick!
it would look so awesome

[60829]

 how much do all the parts cost all together?

[monstermatt72]

Yep, it's called Resoglass.
Real glass would have almost no tonal qualities, plus the the downsides that Penguin stated.

[name125]

yo it is soooooooooo cooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllll but i think it is beter to buy your ditar

[monkeinstein]

u use acrylic.. not glass... and it's only the body... i think.. :D

[penguin.waddle14]

no.

i mean yes.

but its not the best idea.

and it would be very very heavy. and its hard to cut glass like that.

[killersquirel11]

Agreed

But you could probably use some type of plastic.  Better yet just make one out of wood then buy one of those gold leaf kits and make your own golden guitar

[penguin.waddle14]

 that sounds fun. mine is gonna be metallic ice blue

[pinz321]

 No, you don't use acrylic. Acrylic is too fragile. If anything, you would use polycarbonate.

[penguin.waddle14]

i am using Fender paint from a guitar store.

[mechaghostman2]

I made a guitar out of nothing but a couple sheets of .25 inch plywood. It looks awesome except the paint job (My brother did it without me knowing). I built it with a saw and a couple of drill bits. And it is extremely light weight. But the pickup is an old crappy one so it doesn't play distortion. But I bought a $100 guitar at Walmart so maybe I'll take the parts off that. Not right now though, it's too much fun at the moment! I just take the neck off other guitars to build my own. The neck on it right now was from a garage sale and I got it for $2.50! Very cheap! 2 frets were messed up, but they have since been fixed, and the neck has a bend, so it sucks when I try and play it, but I put something underneath so the strings are further from the body, but not by that much, and it works perfectly fine. When I take apart my $100 Walmart guitar, the neck from that is going on my TMEG1, which is my guitar that I made. And the crappy pickup is going to go back on the old Kent acoustic electric. So I'll have 1.5 acoustic guitars, and 1.5 electric guitars! If it doesn't work I can always put the parts back on the original guitar!

[pyroninja21]

dude you can probably get the crapy guitar neck fixed by going into a music shop and telling them about it. they will probabley adjust the truss rod to stop the neck from bending more or fix it compleatly

[mechaghostman2]

I've tried adjusting the trust rod, I pulled the damn end out all the way and it still wasn't fixed. But I got cheap $100 WalMart guitar I disassembled and put those parts on my guitar.

[pyroninja21]

you might want to consider getting a new neck sry i cant help much

[metallica8080]

 man, this is really cool, thanks for putting this up, i think im gonna make one for my dad. but how much would one cost min - max? because, you know im on a budget