Guitar Help

[TheNNS]

I'm looking for a free online tutorial on how to build a guitar from scratch. Thanks

TheNNS

[John A]

Google failed you?

Anyway, it's pretty hard to give you an exact link because you're rather undescriptive about what kind of guitar you want: Electric? Acoustic? Rhythm? Here's some links I came across:

http://www.guitarbuild.com/
http://buildyourguitar.com/resources/links.htm
http://pweb.jps.net/~kmatsu/

Hope this helps

[TheNNS]

Yes, google did fail me this time because I've already visited those links and they are of no help. By the way, I want to make an electric guitar.

Long live Jimi Hendrix

[Nick Evan]

By the way, I want to make an electric guitar.

hmm... How much experience do you have with guitars and carpeting? Building a 'decent' guitar (one that would cost >100 bucks) is very difficult. You shouldn't make a neck yourself but buy it.
If you're off by millimeters on any part of the guitar, the guitar will never tune right and you will just have an expensive walldecoration...

Niek

[TheNNS]

I don't have as much expirience with woodworking, but I've heard of a book that teaches you everything. I really don't care about making the neck, the body is what i want to custumize.

[Nick Evan]

That's still incredibly hard to do. At what distance from the neck should the strings enter the body for example? Depends on your neck, strings, innerwork. But if you get it wrong you won't be able to tune the guitar. Maybe's you could buy an old 'beginners' guitar and chop that up. Change the elements etc?
I don't know of any books that can teach you to build a guitar, but I wish you good luck and let me know how you're progressing!

regards Niek

[jwenting]

Sure there are books to teach you the skills, but without a lot of experience you're not going to make a decent instrument.
Electrics are easier than acoustics, as the main body has only a decorative function (and serves as something to hold on to and bolt the electronics and neck to) so can basically be any shape, size, and material, but that doesn't make it easy.

Master instrument builders are rare and apprenticeship takes years.
When doing it on your own expect to take years too, never mind the title of a book telling you "how to make a guitar in 21 days".

You'll need to be a master carpenter, master woodworker, master instrument maker, decent guitarist (to determine the correct sound and tuning), master painter (to evenly apply the many layers of varnish), etc. etc. all at the same time.

While an interesting idea to do, and I don't want to keep you from trying, don't expect your first (or indeed first several dozen) attempts to be more than so much wasted material.
If you were an apprentice to a master builder, you'd probably spend a year just sanding body parts so don't expect to pick up all the skills in a few hours or days...
And do realise that you're going to need some pretty expensive equipment. A hammer and saw aren't enough, think of a quality lathe and other equipment.

[TheNNS]

I"ve been rethinking it, and I still want to do it, it'll be a fun project. I think you're exagerating though. I have a friend in a woodworking class at school, it's his first year and his making his own guitar. he has the body all carved out and is looking pretty good. Keep in mined he works on it 90 min every other day, so I think it's pretty good.

[WaltP]

I think you should do it. How else do you get experience except by doing it? Don't let others tell you you can't or shouldn't. Prove 'em wrong.

[TheNNS]

I'll do it. Now, just one question. How much would the wood cost? And what kind should I buy?

[jwenting]

it may look "cool", but looks don't make the instrument...
Anyone with half a creative brain and the right tools can take a bandsaw to a slab of wood and carve out a nice looking guitar body for an electric guitar.

It's what comes after that that's the hard part. Building the neck, fitting the bridge, pickups, other electronics, tuning mechanism, fitting the neck, etc. etc.

That takes practice, and you'll likely ruin some bodies before you've got the way of it.

As to woods, you don't want a single wood. Especially the neck is created of multiple laminated layers of different woods, all in exactly the right thickness and place, in order to create just the right characteristics for each instrument as the maker intended.
Another thing that requires a lot of study and experience to get right (or just buy a complete neck to match your tastes).

For the body of an electric guitar, it hardly matters what you make it out of as long as it's stiff enough to not bulge or break when you tension the strings (and there's a LOT of force on those strings).
People have made guitars out of plastic, glass, metal, and pretty much any reasonably hard wood out there.

['Stein]

I"ve been rethinking it, and I still want to do it, it'll be a fun project. I think you're exagerating though. I have a friend in a woodworking class at school, it's his first year and his making his own guitar. he has the body all carved out and is looking pretty good. Keep in mined he works on it 90 min every other day, so I think it's pretty good.

I've actually done this, and it sure is fun. :)

Mind you, mine wasn't close to playable, but that wasn't the point.