Build your own guitar ?

[ted s]

I've been thinking about this for a while, more so the past few days cooped up with a cold. I am interested in a hardtail strat or a standard tele.
I know there are Saga and Grizzly kits, but I'm not interested in getting a bunch of crap electronics that would never be used or questionable woods.
What about buying a quality finished neck and unfinished body ?
What about buying a pawn shop cheapy as a donor ?
I don't have the tools to actually make a body from scratch but I do have access to them.

Anyone else gone through this ? I'd really appreciate hearing about it.

thanks

Ted

 

[pie_man_25]

I've went through this also, I got a saga strat kit, and please, don't put it down, in spite of the crappy ten-piece basswood body, and the crappy tuners, everything works great, just put some cash on good tuners, and maybe some good pickups and an alder or your prefered tonewood body an you've got a working guitar. yoiu could also try going for a WD music kit, about $400, and a pre-finished body and everything is top-notch, you can find them here:

www.wdmusic.com.

once again, these ones are premium quality.

 

[ted s]

Thanks Pie, good to know you have good things to say about the Saga kit. I may go that route as a first.
Thanks for the tips.

 

[robert43]

I got my new bass neck from Rondo a SX its well finished for the value.
My Jazz bass is made via ebay & others Body ebay Eden fairly good & right price
Tunners Wilkson are good value again ebay
Bridge locally ( no name ) ok I would buy it again thinking of relacing bridge at GFS
Pickups GFS very good value not as good as S&D etc but for the price good value
Thing I like about is you can do what you want / finish etc
I can recommend a Danish oil finish if you are not that ggod at painting all you do is put on wait 10 mins rub off 8 coats in 4 days
I would recommend if you did this finish put on Minmax rub on poly 6 coats 2 a day . Nice finish & very durable
Electronic if you can do it take it to some one only 1/2 dozen wires to solder
End of the day you can tell people you made it & you will be suprise how many people like it
I have had 2 offers to build parts bass/ guitar from people I might take them upfor some thing to do
Any way best of luck

 

[ted s]

Thanks for the tips Rob43, I just saw the pic of your bass, looks GREAT !
Now I'm thinking rather than a build for a first, maybe a re-finish for starters.
Pick up a beater, don't care about the electrics or finish, as long as the body is decent, could be scratched and dented for that matter.

 

[robert43]

Thats a good idea my 1st play around was a old bass at a grage sale for $5 thought oh well its no good it can become a wall hanger or if I stuffed it up total I will brun it:bravo:

 

[Bloozcat]

Here's an site you might want to check out if you're looking for excellent quality bodies and necks for a good price.

http://www.guitar-alley.com/servlet/StoreFront

B. Hefner is not just licensed by Fender, but makes bodies and necks for Fender as well. The downside to ordering from this site, is that in order to get a body for $119.99 or a neck for $129.99, you'll have to wait about 5-6 weeks to get them. Great for long range planning, but not too good if you gotta have it now. You can get them quicker from this manufacturer, but it'll cost a lot more.

Warmoth and USA Custom Guitars make great quality bodies and necks as well, but they're much pricier than B. Hefner's Guitar Alley.

A couple of good books I'd recommend before getting started:

Guitar Player Repair Guide, by Dan Erlewine
This book will give you all the information you'll need to assemble a solid body electric guitar from pre-made components. It's like a must have book for general guitar repairs and set up too.

Guitar Refinishing Step-By-Step, by Dan Erlewine & Don MacRostie
Great guide for a beginning guitar finisher.

Let me know if you do plan to go ahead with a build of your own, Ted. I'd be happy to share the sources I use for the parts 'n pieces you'll need to put one together...without breaking the bank...

 

[ponticat]

Here are two more book suggestions:

Make Your Own Electric Guitar, by Melvyn Hiscock

Building Electric Guitars, by Martin Koch

 

[ted s]

Thanks Blooz and Pontcat,
.. oh so many wannadoo's

 

[pie_man_25]

Thanks Blooz and Pontcat,
.. oh so many wannadoo's

...the GAS is strong in this one.... you will learn well from this experience.....

 

[Sblack]

Try a Carvin Bolt Kit. I built two in the past, and they are second to none -- high quality and still reasonably priced. They are priced at about $400+ now, but when I built my kits they were about $300.00.

 

[markb]

For lots of info for self builds, try the Tele-Tech section of www.tdpri.com. A search there on 'partscaster' or similar would be useful.

The Squier 51 modder's forum is full of useful stuff for the builder/tinkerer too. I've lost the link but google'll get you there.

 

[ted s]

thanks guys

 

[marnold]

Try a Carvin Bolt Kit. I built two in the past, and they are second to none -- high quality and still reasonably priced. They are priced at about $400+ now, but when I built my kits they were about $300.00.

I've been looking at those for a long time but never did anything about it. They claim it is "no soldering", although I don't know how they connect the jack hot and ground. When I was considering that, I was planning on going with their black paint job, an HSS configuration, black pearloid pickguard, and a bird's eye maple neck. Would be sexy, no?

 

[ted s]

For those that have made there own body, what kind of characteristics/qualities would you look for in a router ?
Anyone used a StewMac neck ?

 

[notalentbum]

frankencaster

Hi Ted,
First thanks for enabling my GAS on another thread.

Do you know the story of George Washington's original hatchet, on display somewhere? They had replaced the handle a couple of times and the head once.

If you start with a cheapie and take off everything crappy, you may find yourself with nothing left, but you may find that the neck and body of most strat knockoffs are decent. Painting is easy enough and there are people far away ( bruce wei on eBay) who will inlay your name on a cover for the back.

I'd start with a Squier beater and take the screwdriver and sander to it. If you don't like what is revealed, then investigate one of those nicer bodies.

Best of luck,
NoTalentBum
(free advice worth 85% of what it costs)

 

[sumitomo]

Hi,I have a Warmoth Tele and a Saga LP,the wood quality of Warmoth is great but I would go for stainless frets as mine wore out quickly compared to my Strat and the Saga it makes a nice slide rig once you change the cheap pups and pots.Like the saying goes ya get what ya paid for.Sumi

 

[robert43]

If you want to change pickups etc another way might be 1 of those reall cheap new guitars on ebay.
I look at it this way if its no good & you got it at the right $ you can allways use it as a wall hanger.
My son loves Lespauls & I am thing of buying 1 for his wall to hang up

 

[notalentbum]

National music supply on eBay has one they call the FLP (search titles and descriptions ) for about $80, plus $45 shipping. (US$) I think their Strat copy is probably a better player,and much cheaper, but it depends on what you want. Chances are you couldn't get a decent framed picture of a Les Paul for much less than $120. I think a determined DIY luthier could probably do some shimming and make it playable, but you don't know until it comes in.

NO endorsement
No connection to NMS or eBay
No Talent Bum

 

[pie_man_25]

If you start with a cheapie and take off everything crappy, you may find yourself with nothing left, but you may find that the neck and body of most strat knockoffs are decent. Painting is easy enough and there are people far away ( bruce wei on eBay) who will inlay your name on a cover for the back.

wow, I just bought a neck off of bruce wei, nice neck, jazz style, bone nut and a snake inlayed on it, I'm thinking of making either a jazz style or a thunderbird style body out of maybe douglas fir (it looks exactly like those "ash" eden bodies) or possibly maple. whatever really, as long as its not plywood or pressure treated.

 

[ted s]

Anyone familiar with "Eden" for necks ?
looks like they are out of BC.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260201711971

 

[Bloozcat]

Ted,

I just ran some quick numbers, and you could get all the components you'll need, except the paint for $500.00 or less + SHIPPING costs (that can add a little to the cost). All top quality components for the major parts too, like CTS pots, CRL switch, bone nut, Wilkinson/Kluson vintage style tuners, Wilkinson vintage style tremolo w/steel block, B Hefner licensed by Fender body and neck. Even the GFS Premium Alnico II pickups that I used in the price quote are great quality and sound good too.

The thing is, you'll be spending a lot of your time in putting this guitar together. It would be a fine quality guitar rivaling a Fender USA guitar when you're through. But, for about the same money +/- a few bucks, you could buy a Jimmy Vaughan Strat off the shelf with comparable components and quality...and Fender's name on it.

You could go with cheaper components (or a kit) and save maybe $150-$200 bucks, but it wouldn't be near the quality as either of the other two options. When you were through building the cheaper guitar, you'd probably start in upgrading the lesser components soon after...and still not have the quality in the wood when you were done.

So it comes down to this: How much does building you own guitar mean to you? Is it worth the time, effort, and money to get a quality guitar that is uniquely yours? Or, would you rather just buy one that's roughly equivelent and forgo the hassle? Or just go with a less expensive kit to learn on, see if you like guitar building, and not worry if it's not top quality.

Decisions, decisions......

 

[ted s]

Well, I'm pretty darn sure I'm not interested in a kit, my previous post re:Eden necks was only because they were in Canada (but I guess that doesn't really matter if by chance they are importing), second thought says how good could they possibly be for 30 bucks ? A family friend who is a carpenter/woodworker planted this seed, he is in the process right now with his own build and has given me the Coles notes on the body build, so, I have access to his shop if need be.
I don't have a problem spending the time or "reasonable" amount of coin.
I have had good experiences with Guitar Fetish and would use them again.
Just have to make the first step and get the body blank. There is a local exotic woods place very close with blanks ready to go.

 

[notalentbum]

if you build it...

Ted, there is an eBay seller in Ontario called BEZDEZ who has a lot of luthier supplies, including some strat-ish bodies. You may want to check him out, assuming he is not you. I bought from him once and was pleased with pricing and service, though it was for a pretty safe item- wall hooks, I think.

Over in the How Many Guitars thread I saw where someone else besides me acquires both guns and guitars. Among some shotgun fanciers, it is considered a good thing to load your own shells. It is not that you actually save money, but that you get a better quality product for the same money you'd spend anyway...

Hoping that cold is better...

Notalentbum

 

[ted s]

thanks.. uh.. notalentbum.. I don't like calling you that, so I now pronounce you NTB for short...

 

[Bloozcat]

Over in the How Many Guitars thread I saw where someone else besides me acquires both guns and guitars. Among some shotgun fanciers, it is considered a good thing to load your own shells. It is not that you actually save money, but that you get a better quality product for the same money you'd spend anyway...

There are a couple of us here with these dual afflictions...

I don't load shot shells, just metallic cartridges. It's certainly not to save money that I do it with the current cost of components, but because of the increase in both velocity and accuracy that I get from the rounds I load myself.

For those who've done both, this is a good analogy for building your own guitar. You get exactly what you want when it's finished, plus the satisfaction and pride that comes from acheiving a worthy goal (Yo Adrian, I did it!).

But I gotta tell ya', loading the shells is a whole lot easier and less time consuming than making a guitar...

 

[robert43]

Anyone familiar with "Eden" for necks ?
looks like they are out of BC.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260201711971

Hi I have used a Eden neck ( current project a 5 string bass .
I got a 5 string Eden neck for $50US including shipping ( which to Australia is good )
The neck is pritty good I have also used a SX neck & quality etc is about the same ( head stck diffrent )
Robert

 

[robert43]

Also the natural wood body bass ( 1st project ) is a Eden body good but no holes drilled for grounding bridge & to each pickup

 

[ted s]

- Tele and Strat templates.. check.
- body blank.. check.
- Ebay neck on order.. check.
- new blades for jig-saw.. check.
- buy a router.. check.
- mdf for practice.. double check.

I guess that's it, time to go make some dust.

 

[warren0728]

cool ted...can't wait to see the results! :beer:

ww