Official Luthiers Forum!

Really nyazzip? Be kind or get off the forum. This isnt a hate community, its a luthier community. Elikeatts has not done anything to offend anybody. Im honestly a little shocked be the negativity that Im reading here. I have not seen anything like this during my seven months of participation on the forum (up until now it has been a kind and helpful group of gentlemen). I dont know what gotten into some of you guys but how about we settle down! -Alex

This is a great list. There are a few substitutions you could make if you are only going to make one guitar. The first four on the list are great tools, but you could get by with hand tools, but be prepared to practice a lot before you attack expensive wood. Actually, that's good advice even with the tools listed!

If you plan to build the neck then the list is pretty complete. If you are going to buy a neck and just do the body then the bare minimum would be:
Scroll saw to cut out the body
Drill press is great because you can get a cheap sanding drum to go into that to help finish the body, plus you can use it to rough drill the pickup and control cavities.
A router would be great for cleaning up the cavities and the neck pocket, but if you are really good with a chisel you could go that way.
You can get brush on finishes. I have no experience with them but some say they are good. You can also go to [url]reranch.com[/url] and get rattle can finishes.

One cautionary note: Most people DON'T stop at one guitar and spend a lot on tools!

THAT is funny! (I don't care who you are)

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Consider me the administrator of this thread. As long as I'm not offensive to you, there's no reason that I can't lay some ground rules everybody can agree on in this particular thread. Sure, I don't really have any authority on this site. But you guys have had your oppertunities to inform me about my likelihood of success and now I'm ready to get off that subject. So no more negative comments please. You immediately violated the rule after I kindly asked people not to be negative. Post supportive comments or don't post at all. Thanks.

I did have one friendly person go out of his way to offer me his help on my project and I appreciate his pm and his kindness and helpfulness. I did the same thing I'm doing now (declaring myself administrator of a particular thread) on another vbulletin forum I frequent and the site administrators granted me that authority seeing as how I was fair and respectful on the particular thread. I'd like to have a good conversation here and I'm taking everything everyone says into consideration.

I for one think your guitar is likely to turn out great, it seems like you have the background and mindset for this type of work, and have access to the right kinds of equipment, and also this forum, if people are going to be willing to help you, which I'm sure some will.

I started building when there was only a fledgling internet, no forums, and all the local guys were d%^ks who only wanted me to fail and were unwilling to share their methodology and philosophy. I also had ZERO woodworking experience, and no technical expertise or engineering education.

It took me three years to produce a satisfying instrument from scratch.

As much as most of would like to think otherwise, solid body electric guitars are probably the easiest musical instrument to build from scratch with no experience. Forums like this make it even easier.

Maybe that's why the response to this thread has been less than stellar.

I personally think it would be awesome to see your first guitar turn out better than a factory guitar and be exactly what you want.

Maybe it sounds cooler to say "This is my first guitar I ever made, look how awesome it turned out!" than to say "it took me three years to produce a satisfying instrument", and that's why the negative response to your post?

Maybe people are thinking you will produce a stellar instrument and they won't get any credit for helping you out, or you will blame them when you only partially follow their advice and something bad happens, then it looks like they gave you bad advice?

In any case, please post pictures of your build! I'm sure there will be dudes lurking, waiting for SOMETHING to go not quite right so they can swoop in and say "I told you so! Shoulda listened!!!", but maybe not.

I wouldn't blame if you decided not to, though.......

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Old growth, shmold growth!

I'll more than likely post pictures whether it turns out right or not. I'll always be the first to admit when I'm wrong. The wood-working aspect of the build should be a very interesting challenge for me. I grew up working around wood. My dad was a logger and owned a sawmill and we've always done lots of wood-working projects such as the scale radio-controlled airplane models I mentioned above. Not to mention I've built a number of competitive furniture pieces when I was in high school.

Fillipo,

Don't post here anymore.

I've been as kind as I could possibly be. If you actually read what I said, I was only saying I don't want 5 straight pages of people saying how I'm not likely to have the results I want. At which point I said NOTED and AGREED. The first couple of times people said that I took it as constructive criticism. You, along with others kept on until it got to the point of apparent negativity. I never said anything bad or offensive to you. I've detected hostility in some of things a few of you have said since y'all first responded but I've let it go. Yes, I'm very confident in the criteria of my first post. Now drop it or don't post. BOTTOM LINE! Go to someone else's thread and waste space. Any more rebuttals to my posts and your welcome in this thread will be worn out.

Actually to be fair I will restate my initial post.

Here we go:
1. Bachelor's of engineering wants to build a guitar.
2. Decent player and wants quality instrument.
3. Have done least a year of research prior to attending this forum (not mentioned in op)
4. Swamp ash (body), maple (neck), ebony (fretboard), duncan humbuckers, floyd rose, fast neck etc...
5. Strat style similar to Charvel San Dimas.
6. Never meant to offend or list unrealistic criteria.
7. Hope this is more understandable than my op.

.

Eli,
posting on any forum is like driving down a public road.
So, anything somebody says shhould be weighed in,
and taken for whay it's worth.
Welcome to the forum!
We might not say what you want to hear, but might be able to help!

I'd say it's time to get started on your dynamite guitar instead of posting here on how we are to address you.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I don't think building a high quality San Dimas style super-strat straight outta the chute is unrealistic at all.

I can think of MUCH harder guitars to build as a first try.

Maybe his first post should have been something like this"

"Hello kind sirs. I have been reading this forum for several years now, and am only just now beginning to plumb the depths of the knowledge contained within the confines of this online Tome. I know that I am just a maggot, but I would like to attempt a build of one of these Guitars myself. Is this possible? Can I realistically expect to have my guitar approach playability, on my very first try? I feel that, with your help and guidance, this may not be too lofty a goal, but I will only be able to do so with the help of the Masters, if only they will bless me with responses to my pitiful inquiries, mundane as they may be. Is this too much to ask, or shall I go and flog myself for the arrogance I have presented to your faces. Do with me as thou wilt do, and your will shall be mine...."

Allright, maybe not, but I don't think this guy deserves scorn and belittlement, simply for showing some confidence in his ability to acquire a new skill set. Maybe that offended the sensibilities of some on here who feel that they've spent years developing the skills that Eli seems to think will come naturally to him?

If so, no one here is obligated to respond to his inquiries, or offer assistance in any way.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

I'm not trying to be mean man but you are really dancing on every nerve I've got. I don't think you've posted one nice response. They've all seemed to be directed towards trying to pick a bone with me. You were more than likely truthful with everything you said but stop trying to see how smart a** you can be with me.

Check my 2nd post.




Uh.... no.

Dude.
In my 30 plus years in luthiery I've heard it all.
You've say got mad skills, and want to kick ass right out the gate.
I can count on one hand the number of guys who did.
I want you to succeed - really.
Just get busy doing it, 'k?

And I promise this is my last post until you put up pix or post something about your progress, and my next post will either be help for you or praise for you.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Ok I appreciate that. I'm glad to have someone with 30+ years experience help me. I can't get started till christmas cuz that's when I'll get the wood. But I do have a question before I begin.

Do I need all the pieces before I cut the body shape or can I just make a back template, cut the shape, then make a front template with all the knobs, bridge, etc... in place after I buy the pieces?

For one-offs I like to have all the hardware that I am going to use, and also to have the neck fully constructed if I am making a bolt neck, so that I can lay out the components exactly where they need to go, and measure the neck pocket depth exactly to the neck, in case there is some variance to the final thickness of the heel and fretboard thickness that needs to be accounted for.
Here's a thread showing my body build sequence:

viewtopic.php?f=10123&t=33164

The actual woodwork prior to finishing took two evenings.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Welcome Eli!
You must be very excited about your first build -it is an exciting part of the journey, especially being a guitarist for a while - you have learned your likes and dislikes. I feel bad about posting, because of what you mentioned above with looking for some "personal opinions from some more experienced luthiers"... I do not qualify there because I have only build 1 guitar thus far, however any advice I throw your way you can give or take - I am only telling you my experiences and will not give you any opinions on what I think you can or cannot do. A little over a year ago, I was in your shoes scrambling for info on how to make my first build. My intent was to make the most kickarse guitar for myself and had no intentions to make anymore guitars after that... period. I bought the SAME book you have, I was trying to figure out what tools were needed and I did some pretty insane things to make a dream come true. One of the first things I did was put the book away (the one WE bought), mainly because the guy kept on telling me things that I shouldn't do, ESPECIALLY on my first build. So I read, watched videos, read some more(All on the internet) and I basically got tons of info on each phase of my build. I also developed a new friend who had been building guitars up in Ohio for 27 years that I was able to tap into for gobs of info. I did not agree with everything he said, because I figured out different approaches from different builders via forums like this one.

Here is the skinny: I had to buy lots of specialty tools (even ones that I thought I could get by without), lots of reading (besides your book), I would suck up to ANY luthier I ran across, no matter what a d*&# I thought they were (I didn't have the warmest welcome because they are pretty strong-headed in their ways (am am starting to understand why mainly to my experience thus far) - I didn't want to burn any bridges with these guys - my logic to that was there may come a time when one of them may help somewhere down the road (A couple of them helped rescue my guitar during the build that are posting on this thread). It's very hard to break through my head with the way I think things out (worse than an engineer, I actually have a committee up there arguing 24/7). What is really needed is 2 simple tools that will help you build the ultimate guitar and I feel the need to share them with you:

1. Perseverance
2. The ability to not only overcome problems, but to turn them into "Innovative Design Changes".

My guitar took almost a year to build, working up to 12 hours a day most of the time. During my journey, I have meet some phenomenal builders from around the world and by the end of the build of my first guitar, I found an inner peace that was indescribable. You see, last August, I really didn't know how to work with wood, do inlays or knew what a fretboard radius meant. I found a new passion in my life at 48 years old and I was convinced towards the end of my build that this is now what I wanted to do.

I was contacted by a guitar dealer on Saturday night who deals only with high-end builders, who is planning on selling my first guitar (On consignment) for a list price $(insert a reaallly big price here) and has offered to purchase any future builds from me (I am currently working on 3 guitars, one of which is pre-sold)

If you thought this thread was stirring up the , - wait till you see what they might say about my last paragraph!

This is how you build your FIRST guitar:


OK, everybody get back to work.

Again - good luck man!

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"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Holy s***! $65,000?!?! What did you do, find a piece of wood elvis signed and make a guitar out of it?

Thats totally awesome man but I could never do anything like that. I just really want a good quality instrument thats more or less just standard but a little bit different in a way. I'm not that gifted and I can't even afford the guitar I'm about to build. Thanks for sharing that. But I'm not as talented as you. I'm just a very average boy struggling to get through graduate school. That story almost reminds me of tenacious d in the pick of destiny where they're after the ULTIMATE guitar pick and its all wild looking and carved out of the devils tooth. Your guitar probably has some magical power! Lol. That is meant to be funny btw I'm not making fun of it at all. That's one hell of a guitar! Very nice! But I'm afraid thats beyond my rather impaired ability.

Ha! You'll eventually figure THAT one out.... you're an engineer!

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"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

I think it is well within the realm of possibility to build a great first guitar and there are many example of people who have done so on this forum. A first build without making any mistakes you have to fix along the way? Well, that's another story entirely! Go for it Eli and post lots of pics. I can promise you one thing: you will get the fever. Build fever. And there is no cure.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

couldn't have said it bettah!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Dont be afraid to change up the design on the body and headstock a little bit to make it more unique and "your own"!