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Hey I'm AJ, I'm 14 and am now infected with the desire to build my own guitar. I've been playing for about a year and love it but when it came time for me to buy a new one around a month ago, i realized that i couldn't afford one so decided to build one myself.

Somehow I got the idea stuck in my head and it wont go away. I've read this forum a lot and ordered a couple of books to get more information. I'm just about ready to go now but i realized that I cant find a wood supplier where i can buy a piece of wood for a solid body electric guitar (the design that I'm doing is a stratocaster shape if that makes a difference). The only sites I've found are high quality pieces that I cant afford. Where can i get cheaper wood for a "first try" guitar?

Thanks all,
AJ

Hi AJ welcome here.

The best advise I can give is this.... GET OUT BEFORE YOU GET STARTED... you'll have a lot more $$ in the end

Just kidding, sort of.

Honestly the first guitar will cost you more than most you'll see at guitar center. This is the truth. By the time you've purchased materials, a couple of tools and get some sort of finish on the guitar you'll be well over $1000. It can be done for less but you really have to be creativ with some of the tools you'll need (fret slotting saw is one I can think of).

Anyway, you could get a decend block of wood from Stewart Macdonald (see link above) or from Luthiers Merchantile (also see link above). They should have an inexpensive set of solid body wood for you.

Also try fellow OLF member BobC at RCTonewoods. Just because it's not on his website doesn't mean he doesn't have it. Most likly he'll have something for you. He's a great guy and usually can get what you're looking for.

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Hi AJ and welcome to the forum.
You might have a local lumber yard near you that sells hardwood. You could go there and ask something quartersawn, maybe some Ash, I don't build solid bodies however.

But anyway look for something quartersawn (preferably) at a local lumber yard, and good luck.
Somebody will probably be along with some different advice, but check out you're local lumber yard.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Great to hear you are interested in building a guitar. I will let you know that the cost of building your own guitar may not be as inexpensive as you think. However, if you are ready for the challenge there is lots of learn and if you look around you should be able to find some wood and parts for a decent price. I know that I have several parts around that I could part with for minimal cost. If you list what kind of wood are parts you are looking for you may find others on the OLF may have a few things around that could help.

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Brad
Avon, OH

Hey AJ - welcome to the wonderful world of guitar building.

One of the least expensive sources of nice wood might be the family heirloom dinning room set or perhaps an antique bedroom set. Just time the disassemble for when no one is home and tell them that some guy named Billy Thomas on the Internet told you that it would be OK to do............

Seriously you are starting at a great age and you will find a lot of knowledgeable help here for the asking.

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Hesh
Ann Arbor, MI USA
http://www.heshtone.com

Here is what Sylvan Wells did. He built it from a 2x10 from Home Depot. Looks good if you ask me. Wells Guitars Home DePaul

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Welcome to the forum AJ!
Good advice here so far. I dont knwo what part of the country you are in, but you may also want to check with your local sawmill or someone that owns a portable sawmill. Sometimes they have pieces of good wood laying around thatwont work for anything else but are just the right size for an electric body. Ash is a popular wood for electrics and if you live in the northeast you should be able to find some at a reasonable price.

The wood is the cheap part of building guitars. You will come out a LOT cheaper to buy yourself one of the SAGA kits on eBay and put it together and finish it for your first try. I have built a couple of them and they really arent bad for the price. You can customize them later with wild pickups and custom paint to make it your own guitar.

You can build yourself a killer axe that is custom to your tastes for less than $200 if you go the kit route. You also gain a LOT of experience in the process too.

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Reguards,

Ken H

Welcome AJ! It's great to see someone your age wanting to build a guitar. I just put finish on an electric that a friend of mine built. He used mahogany and topped the guitar with brazilian cherry. He got the wood from a local lumber supplier. He bought the fingerboard, frets and electronics from Steward Macdonald. As some of the others have said, you can get into a lot of money on equipment, unless you are lucky enough to have a friend that has at some equipment, such as a bandsaw and router. That would be a big help. Good luck, and be patient. Your first guitar will probably be a learning experience, and it will make you want to build more guitars to perfect any issues you find on the first! Like some of the others have said, you may end up spending more money than you expect, so keep that in mind as you go forward.

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Brad Tucker

http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/archive/older/archive/pallet.html

AJ check out this line of guitars from Taylor Guitar in ElCajon California. They make them out of scrap wood from disassembled pallets.



Good luck in your quest. We know you're in school right now, but when you check this thread you should have some fun. Stratocasters are cool guitars.

AJ, I mentioned my stroll down the wood aisle at Lowe's Home Improvement store in another thread. An incredible 1 by 4 board was hiding amongst the other not so cool boards of douglas fir. Turns out it is a C grade board from Idaho, a little two tone, but what grabbed me was first the look, very straight grained, and then, looking directly at the end of the board, the grain was also perfectly vertical to the width, meaning perfectly quartersawn. The other axis is of concern too, that would be grain runout. Very important for acoustic tops, and can affect the way it looks visually too once built.
Cost: $5 for a top, more labor to actually build with this, but it's for fun,,,,,and it's cheap fun.

First welcome to the forum. As others have posted building from scratch vs buying for the most part and certainly for the first time is not cheaper. There are materials , consumables and tools to consider.

That said if you have a basic collection of woodworking hand tools you can build a kit for a budget around $500 that with proper care will render you a guitar equal to a factory guitar with a MSRP around $2k. Keep in mind that this comparison is based on the assumption you can do a quality job on the joinery, set-up and finish.

Factory guitars are much cheaper than hand built not even counting the labor cost because they buy their materials in large quantity and are jigged up for most every process. However you with care can produce a better guitar by hand when build with an eye on detail.

This is a wonderful craft. you may or may not find it suitable for you.

Now lets address your playing skills. With just a year under your belt you have a limited knowledge base. With out trying to be mean here I must tell you that this fact will hinder the quality of instrument you will build.

If I had a student in your shoes I would not recommend they build and instrument at this point. I would instead recommend that they find an existing hand built or factory built guitar of good playability that is with in their budget. There are many fine new and used instruments out there everyday in the $300-$800 range. I can highly recommend Alvarez professional series guitars. They offer models starting at $400 and are all solid top guitars and several are all solid back and sides as well. They will come out of the box very playable and can be professionally set up for fabulous playability.

I am not at all trying to scare you away from lutherie. I consider all advise I give anyone to be what I believe to be in their best interest. I would be providing less that honest insight if I did not tell you truthfully that at this point in you playing that in both financial and artistic interest right now you are better served to find as good of quality guitar for sale as you can afford and wait to attempt to build when you musical skill can be helpful with a build.

Well after i got the idea into my head about building a guitar, i decided that i wanted to build one even if i could afford one at a store. Because my dad and all of my family work in some kind of trade, all the tools i would need are right there for me and the only tool ive purchased is a band saw wich was pretty inexpensive so it didnt set me back too far.

I've definetly realized that this will cost me more then buying a guitar but its something that i want to do anyway. My playing experiance is not going to be a great help since I've only played for a year but I play a lot so my skill shouldn't effect me too much im hoping.

After seeing the "Home Depaul" guitar I think that I'm going to try something like that because i live close to one and its cheap and if i mess up I wont feel as bad from ruining that wood. Sadly I live in Bergan county, NJ and nothing is in Jersey. I've searched for lumber yards but I've only found a wood import place that sells huge peices for wood for furnishing that is way out of my budget. So the Home Depot thing seems to work well for me.

Thanks all for your help
- AJ

Welcome aboard AJ.

Here's another thought...Consider looking up a local builder. Tell him you'll clean his shop on a regular basis in exchange for his tutilage in building guitars. At the same time, he's sure to have wood lying around that would go a long way toward that 1st guitar. Make sure you have your parents involved in arranging this with the builder and make sure that you are all comfortable with the arrangement. Guitarbuilders love to teach!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Are there any local builders in the Bergan County area of NJ? I've searched online and could'nt find any that's within an hour of me.

Frank Finoccio is in Easton, Pa and you can see the NJ state line from his back door. It should be about an hour away for you. I doubt he would be interested in shop cleanups, but he could probably lead you to someone in your area that may be willing to give a hand. We also have one OLF member who is in New York, which looks mighty close to where you are.

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Reguards,

Ken H

AJ,

I build my first solid body electric when I was 16 and that was after people saying I wouldn’t be able to do it. My first was a copy of a Fender Telecaster, my second guitar at age 18 was based on a Stratocaster. In those days the internet, guitar building books and plans weren’t available. If I did it, you can as well!

As for wood, surely there are HomeDepot’s or other assorted lumber stores in your vicinity. For a solid body electric you don’t need quarter sawn wood. For the neck, flatsawn wood turned on edge and laminated produces a quartersawn neck which is desireable for maintaining a straight and true neck. Hardware store variety will make a good solid neck. As for the body, maple would work but is heavy. If you could find mahogany, you’ll be off to the races for the body and neck.

My only tools were a table saw, jig saw, a cheap router, hand drill, rasps, some clamps and sandpaper and it turned out just fine. Any other tools I scrounged or borrowed. If you could gain access to your school woodshop I would bet the teacher would rip your stock, thickness plane your body blank and neck blank for you and help you do any laminations needed. As others said you could get all of your hardware from StewMac, LMI or even eBay for that matter. At a minimum you’ll need to purchase:
 Bridge
 Pick-ups
 Pots
 Jack
 Shielded wire
 Machine heads (tuning gears)
 Truss Rod
 Fretwire
 Bolt-on Neck plate
 Nut blank (though pre-cut ones can be obtained)
 Pre-radiused and slotted fretboard – save you a lot of work

If you have access to some tools that would be a huge bonus.

If the foregoing or what others have said has deterred you, the suggestion of a Saga kit is a good idea. You can finish it in an oil finish which you can purchase from HomeDepot.

I’ll say what was said to me, “I bet you can’t do it and do it right”. Prove’em wrong AJ and go for it!

If you can get some shop help at school or others to help you with tool and building skills, and have a need, I will assist you in getting what you need. PM me