Build a Custom Electric Guitar

by slimguy379

30K7769

Intro: Build a Custom Electric Guitar

This is a picture of my "not so complete guitar" but it is a start... I always loved old school rock and also most modern rock and recently am learning I just thought my old used guitar could use a "makeover"

STEP 1: Design

Find a design. I used a Paul Stanley aka Star Child design, but you can Google different designs. find one you like next sketch the design on to a poster board. make sure you like the look, feel, and make sure that it will be comfortable!!! next get some MDF from home depot. I used 1/2" and another piece of 3/4" (shown in picture). but trace the design you drew onto both pieces wood. now the power tools!!! cut the designs out w/ either a 1. a ban saw 2. a saber saw or 3. scroll saw. both of the pieces don't have to be perfect just similar. (I'll explain later)

STEP 2: Gadgets

I used old switches and gadgets but I'm pretty sure they can be bought at Radioshack (I love Radioshack) but I have 1 switch 4 knobs and one female / output jack. to put it together you will need some wiring diagrams (below) these are the wiring diagrams I used not to hard to understand. after your drive to Radioshack stop over at Lowes or home depot and pick up some heavy duty plexi glass. this is where the hum bucks and knobs etc are going to go.

STEP 3: Componet Resting Spots

the componets need to be IN the guitar so you need to cut a place for them I used the 3/4" piece to cut into (more space see picture) the plexi glass pieces will rest on top of the holes. after cutting the plexi glass to the shape desired place them where you want them to go now take a drill bit and drill holes in both the plexi glass and the the wood ( these holes are for the screws to hold the plexi to the wood) during this step you should also dremel a pathway from the hum bucks to the componets to do this I used my dremel tool along with a drill bit. I made a line / cut with the dremel and a straight edge. then I placed the needed wires in the cut then glued the 1/2" piece on top. (also w/ the 3/4" you need to cut a place for the Neck of the guitar!!!!)

STEP 4: Knobs

for the knobs I needed 4 of the same thing and keep it cheap you can buy knobs at Radioshack or else ware but instead I used 4 plain white dice cool, cheap and I have a few extra (if I screw up or something) all I did was take my drill press and dill a hole the size of the top of the knobs. later when every things good and settled I'll put a dab of hot glue to keep it more secure. I use hot gleu because it will be easy to rip off if necessary.

STEP 5: Whats Next?!?!

well from the pic you can see that, thats about as far as I've gotten (considering I started this in the winter and I hate working in the cold!!!) but next I have to drill holes for the string / chord holder and adjuster then cut the piece so both top and the bottom are the same shape, sand it smooth paint it's base coat, airbrush my design on it, and then clear coat it. shouldn't be to far down the road till this project is done. I'll update it later on. I know there are going to be millions of question so bring them on, I'll try to answer asap!! also I have no idea what design I should airbrush on, any ideas? send me a comment or message!!!! please, I really would like peoples input on that subject

73 Comments

genghistron 12 years ago

Just a couple notes on Gibson wiring diagram. Gibson typically uses linear taper (B) pots for volume, instead of the log taper (A) that are illustrated here. Audio, or logarithmic taper (A) pots work fine, they will have more a useable middle/low volume 'sweep' but the top/high output is more sensitive, in other words the volume will drop will be more dramatic in the first few degrees than using a linear taper pot.
Gibson's also generally use .022uF capacitors for tone control. Single coil guitars like Strats/Teles/etc will typically use the .047uF caps because they roll off more high end. In a humbucker guitar the higher capacitor value may leave your pickup sounding quite dark and muddy.

Tyrssen 12 years ago

Very nice!!! As to what design to airbrush on it: ooh, tough one. It all depends on what you're into. You've dared to be an individual in crafting your own guitar, why stop now? I've done plenty of custom car and motorcycle painting, and suggest you look to the world of custom automotive painting for ideas. I've been playing for about 40 years, and might even get good some day; but the only one I ever "built" was a Saga kit that I quite like, actually. Next I'll up the ante a bit with an explorer kit from BYOguitar.com. I'll probably shoot a metallic gold finish for a base (over primer of course,) maybe dab it with Saran wrap for a "crinkle" effect while it's still wet, then shoot a candy maroon over "most" of it, sunburst-style. All this can be done from spray cans. I think.

wolf1728 12 years ago

I see my website has been referenced.
Unfortunately, the domain name 1728.com was stolen from me last month.

The link should now go to www.1728.org/

static911 13 years ago

i wish i would have found this befor i spent $72 on a poplar body blank but yall should look at projectguitar.com they have a tutorial and suplies section that can be really helpfull in building your own guitar

kicker109 13 years ago

Is it okay if you can draw a proper schematic? because i cant really understand it... Sorry if I sound a bit rude

diy-guitar-guy 14 years ago

i have a really bad idea, could you take an icelolly stic or summin like that and attach the two single coils together and put a new hole in and make a humbucker?

gtrgy 14 years ago

hey i was looking at the wiring diagram and had a suggestion. Instead of using 500k ohm potentiometers, you should use 250k. This is because with single coil pickups that produce a sharper sound, the 250k bleeds of some of the harshness to ground , giving you a warmer tone.

TheMadTinker 15 years ago

Those are actually single-coil pickups, not humbuckers. A humbucker is a pickup that (most often) looks like two single-coil pickups stuck together. The reason they are called humbuckers is that they cancel (or buck) the 60Hz hum that a single-coil pickup will produce when plugged in to an amplifier by adding together two signals that are out of phase with each other. Also, with single-coil pickups, 500K pots (those are the "knobs") are way overkill; for single-coil pickups 250K pots are preferred. If those were actual humbuckers (which a Les Paul-style schematic assumes) then 500K is the way to go. I'm sure that if you're using all the hardware that came with your guitar you should be fine, but if you're putting things together yourself, then you should be aware of these sorts of things.

slimguy379 15 years ago

dude read the comments on the FIRST page, god damn!!

bobbyderf123 14 years ago

this is a better page than the first page to point out a thing that only noobs would do, look at it this way, less people see his competely true comment so you look less like a noob

jacobguitar 14 years ago

im doing something similar, the sanding is taking forever....what material did you make the pickguard with and what did you use to cut it?

pyroninja21 14 years ago

i want to make a blue sunburst guitar with double humbuckers it will be sssssoooooooo sweeeeet

The Jamalam 14 years ago

That is a really nice guitar you made. 4.5 stars!

mike patterson 14 years ago

the mahogany or walnut does not have to be expensive--re-cycle old furniture--beware of veneers and nails---old dining room tables can supply lots of wood, not to mention modern maple chairs with broken legs thrown out ....caution---do not destroy antique furniture--lots of other stuff around.

bigredlevy 14 years ago

yeah, those are single coil pickups mate. it's easy to make a circuit to wire them in parallel so they would sound similar to a humbucker.

I used this circuit to wire single coils in one of my guitars:
http://www.1728.com/supr7-1b.gif
it can switch the p-ups in series parallel or individually.

also, with the size of the cavities routed in the body of your guitar, i would not have recommended mdf. pine would have been a stronger option.

funky design though. nice work mate.

abadfart 14 years ago

those aren't humbuckers a humbucker is two put together

486dx4 14 years ago

what did the neck come off of? it looks like a harmony or national. you should look it up on ebay, every once in a while those can be worth a pretty penny!
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