How to build an Electric Guitar.

While I acknowledge there are many instructables on building, modding and hacking guitars of all sorts; it is my intention to demonstrate how you too can achieve professional like results when building your own instruments. I am also going to take you through the more daunting task of building the guitar neck from scratch, something many builders avoid by re-purposing old or using "store bought" necks. And lets face it, if you play guitar then you know the neck can make or break an instrument, so why not make one to your own liking.

I hope some of you will find some inspiration from this Instructable and try building your own electric guitar. Also, if you would be so kind as to vote for this Instructable in the Epilog challenge. 

Step 1 Shaping things up.

OK, so you've decided to do this, now you need to decide on a body shape. Whether or not you decide to copy an existing body style or create your own masterpiece you will need some templates as building guides. I chose a Les Paul single cut away shape because I want one but could never convince my wife to let me spend several thousand dollars to buy one!

Comments

[friger]

Wood for the body, I used 3 layers of 3/4" plywood.
Wood for the neck, I used maple, I got every thing I needed from a section
3/4" X 6" X 24".
Wood for the fret board, I used a section 1/4" X 2 1/4" X 20" of Walnut.
Medium high nickle silver fret wire.
2 Humbucker pickups, two 500K ohm control pots, one 3 way selector switch, about 3 feet of telephone jack wire, one 1/4" stereo or mono jack. A capacitor for the tone pot and a pair of dial covers for the controls.
You would also need the rings to cover the pick ups, a set of 6 tuners, a bone for the nut a truss rod, a cover plate for the control cavities, and a jack plate for the jack. some strap buttons (2) a hand full of screws the very small ones that would be used for installing the tuners and cover plates.

Get some wood filler, some automotive spot and glazing putty, high build primer, lacquer, finish paint, clear coat, paste wax, sand paper ,grits ranging from 60 to at least 320. Some 0000 steel wool and wipe on poly.

[friger]

As far as tools go, every thing I did in this instructable could be done with hand tools however some of the routing operations would be tricky and time consuming to say the least. I used; in no particular order:
table saw, joiner, chop saw, stationary belt/disc sander, drill press, cordless drill, angle grinder, electric and hand copping saws, jig saw, soldering iron, wire strippers and various pliers, spoke shave, block plane, smooth plane, cabinet scraper, router, rasps, files, sandpaper, digital calipers, tape measures, various straight edges, carpenters squares, dovetail saw, flush cut saw, plastic headed hammer, chisels, various drill bits and screw drivers.
I think that about covers it.

[mrsocky]

Do you think it would be possible to make a guitar, using the same process as this, but made of good quality MDF?

[friger]

Hmmm, certainly not the neck but the body, yes. I don't know how it would resonate though. Try and get some HDF (high density fiber board). Also watch the dust from that stuff, it is very irritating.

[josh1324]

I don't think you could use MDF for the neck, but for the body, i don't see why not,

[tmuck]

So how ridiculous would it be if I made an electric ukulele?

[get_awesome]

I actually did a bit of looking into this, determined to make an electric uke without just putting a soundhole pickup or something similar into an acoustic. Based upon what I found, your best bet is to use an electric mandolin (see "Mandobird" for an awesome example of a solidbody, or you could do a scaled-down version of a stratacoustic, if you were more into the hollow-body idea). If you made your body and neck in this size you could harvest parts from a mandolin. For further inspirado, check out ukeleleunderground.com - their forums are full of people who are completely obsessed with all things uke. I'm sure you could get a lot of detail questions answered there. I have this on my long list of things I want to build, where I'm sure it will stay until after I've constructed a home-made Les Paul, rebuilt my Epi acoustic, added a custom tailpiece to my son's half-scale acoustic, and added inlays to my SG. I'll probably get around to making a tele-lele (or should I call it a ukecaster?...) in a few years if I'm lucky.

[friger]

Not ridiculous at all, major funky for sure, I'm trying to imagine how a uke would sound pushed through a 100 watt Marshal stack with a ton of overdrive. DO IT

[tmuck]

I love my acoustic uke but i'd love to experiment with an electric one. Even better, an electric one that I made. I just wish I had more time to put toward this project, not to mention the tools that I don't have. :/

[friger]

Why not make a piezo pick up, they take about 10 minutes to put together and the parts are easy to get, then just tape it to the body of the uke near the bridge?

[tmuck]

I'm really showing my inexperience here. "piezo pick up"?

[friger]

Are you familiar with those window alarms you can get at the dollar stores?

[tmuck]

not even a little bit. :/

[friger]

Ok,check this out. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-harvest-a-piezo-element-from-a-window-alarm/

[friger]

OK, give me a day or 2 and I'll post a short Instructable on how to make a piezo pick up. Watch for it soon.

[tmuck]

thanks so much :)

[ihaveguitarskills!]

DUDE SICK!!! I AM SO GOING TO USE THIS. Bt one question. How do you know that the area you put the frets will be a solid note?

[friger]

Thanks,For the fret spacing it is all based on the math. If you use the fret calculator I listed or just google "Paul's fret calculator" plug in the scale length you want to use and it will give you the distances from the nut for each fret. You will also need to input how many frets you want, 21 or 22 is average. An average scale length for an electric is 24 1/2" but you can go as long or as short as you like.
There is also a simple math formula you can use which I would need to look for but it is based on what is called the rule of 18ths.

[freeza36]

you could just not cover it. fender guitars dont have a cover

[friger]

And I never liked that about Fenders.

[greedo]

how much did this all cost you. And what supplies are needed for this project?

[friger]

If you look at the image notes you will have some idea of the materials I used but basically it was cabinet grade birch plywood, figured maple, walnut and assorted bits of hardware. Cost was about $150.00 Canadian.

[baconrocks]

I love how that looks like a cross between a Tele and a LP. :)

[friger]

I was shooting for the best of both worlds. I'm going to try a Tele Thin Line next. I really am a sucker for semi hollows.

[Rednecknerd]

Thanks for the awesome ible. I am looking for my first guitar now and figure about time for my third or fourth guitar I'll know enough about what I like to make my own. This is great for that future planned build.

[reidrocks]

Friger, excellent DIY! As former head repair tech for Jackson guitars in Ft. Worth TX, I commend you on your work and sharing it it with the rest of us. Guitar necks can make or break a guitar of course and your instructions may inspire some amateur luthiers to try to make their own rather than purchase finished necks. I have always used commericial blanks for the nut and enjoyed learning how you prepare from scratch. That sequence on constructing the nut could stand alone here and be of great value. Hope everyone understands that making your own nut can mean starting over, especially the string spacing. Thanks for your post!

[friger]

Thank you for your kind words, and you are right about the nut, I'm currently redoing the one I posted in this ible. My E strings were just too close to the edge of the neck for my taste. It always my hope that someone will glean enough insight from my work to try their own.

You held my dream job, Do you think Gibson is hiring? I would sweep floors just to say I work for them, even with their current legal problems.

[reidrocks]

Not sure Friger. I thought I read they were laying off in one plant. You could check their website and look for corporate contact.

I would enjoy working at their facility in Bozeman Montana. Love Montana and have enjoyed flyfishing there.

Re string spacing, lots of online sources for help. let me know if you want links.

Measure thrice and cut once with luck! :)

[friger]

I passed up an opportunity to go fly fishing in Montana back in the late 80's and I've regreted it ever since. Come to New Brunswick and chase after our Atlantic Salmon (flys only), the trout pale in comarsion but still offer a decent challange.

I'll take those links.
Thanks,
Dave

[reidrocks]

I would love to fish Canada. Can't take a step without hitting another lake. Fishing Yellowstone was amazing. Planning another trip to Texas coast for surfcasting soon.

http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/fret-and-nut-calculators/nut-calculator/

The notes on this video show where to download the spreadsheet. Make sure you go to last tab on that doc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Aw8sTrwdc

Download the pdf in the first comment on this page

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/109915-compensated-nut-layout-tool.html

[tmuck]

here's something that bugs me (i know, i'm getting ridiculous). how do you know the proper distances to space the frets?

[friger]

http://www.sirgalahad.org/paul/fretcalc.html
This is the only thing you need now. Just plug in your numbers and Bob's your uncle.

[tmuck]

you. are. AWESOME.

[tmuck]

would it be too much to ask for a supply list? (tools, materials, etc.)

[sconner1]

Beautiful job. The maple neck really shimmers.
I love the in-depth detail of this build, especially the hard parts like neck and nut.
Thanks for the link to the truss rod build vid. I never thought that would so easy.

[friger]

You and me both. I think it took me about an hour to make mine. Thanks for the tips on driling metal.

[sconner1]

Foil tape works too. Connect it to ground for even better EMI shielding.

[sconner1]

For more precisely drilled holes in metal, with a sharp pencil and straight ruler mark the centers with a cross. I sometimes cover the area with mask tape and mark on that to help visibility and protect the metal from unintentional scratches.
Use a spring loaded center punch or a nail set to make slight dimples that help get the drill started and prevent "walking".
When you start drilling, use very light (almost no) pressure until the drill starts to cut. Emphasis on "Cut". Make sure your bits are sharp, they should cut shavings not grind out dust. Lubricant oil helps. For large holes, start small and "step" up to larger bits. Small bits need faster speeds and larger slower.

[jcano yribarren]

This is amacing! How much time spent on it? Years?
Maybe it's too hard for me, but I would be interested to know how much time and money do you spent to create this fantastic guitar.

[friger]

Considering I only had at most a few hours in the evenings and on weekends to work on this, and I began the project in July, I think it went fairly quick. At most I would say I spent 40 or 50 hours on the build to this point. Cost was OK, I spent about $150.00 in total for all the parts and wood.