Have you ever imagined building your own electric guitar ? You know what ? That's possible and that's not even really difficult.
A few years ago, I did a fully functionnal instrument even if I am really not a handyman. During this serie of articles I will explain you the main steps of that kind of work, so that maybe you will be convinced to start your own project.
How did I get started ?
At the very first, my goal was to buid a decorative instrument. I'm a really big fan of hard-rock/metal music and I wanted to decorate my living room with small replicates of the most famous guitars.
As I didn't find anything suitable on the internet I decided to find tutorial on how to make a 10-15cm sized electric guitar with a piece a wood. But, instead of fake intruments I discovered that many people build their own real instruments even if that's not their job. I told myself : that's what I want to do. So instead of a miniature, let's build a real guitar !
Should I create my own guitar ?
If your goal is to win money by not buying an instrument I think you won't be satisfied. You will spend money on tools, spare parts, wood and if it is your first project it will be very difficult for you to get a professional result. My goal was to build something that looks like a guitar and with a decent sound, but if I spend the money to buy a guitar in a store i would have got a better instrument. Just do it if you are passionate and you will be proud of your work ! Not for money.
Prepare your work
You don't need to be a professional instrument maker to build your guitar, but that's still a big project. So you can't start building without a minimum of preparation. First of all documentate yourself a lot. If you are not a guitar player learn the different parts of the guitar, maybe borrow one to understand the shapes, the dimensions etc. Once you have global idea of what is an electric guitar you can make a schema and start a list of the different steps you will need to achieve to reach your goal. The more precise it is, the less you will have bad suprises along the project.
For each item of your list you need to ask yourself : which techniques, tools I will need to complete the step. During this serie of articles I will present you the main steps of my own project, but it's not the only way to do it, and maybe not adaptable to every kind of electric guitar.
Get the raw material
First of all, an electric guitar is most of the time made of wood. You will have to find different wood essences depending on your needs. But beware, you will probably not find them in DIY stores : just forget about pine, fir, spruce : they are not suitable for that kind of work. I choosed mahogany for the body/neck, and Pau Ferro for the fingerboard. Be sure to use a hardwood for the fingerboard (ebony, pau ferro...).
I bought mine on a spanish website called "Madinter", but maybe you can find wood waste from a a sawmill too : it will be cheaper.
And then you will have to find the different spare parts : strings, bridge, inlays, frets, truss rod, tuning pegs, microphones... I recommend you not to spend too much money on these : at this time you are not sure that your guitar will be fully functional. It would be deceiving to have the best microphones on a guitar that could not be tuned.
You have got all of these ? You are ready to start building your guitar. The next article will be the making of the body ! It's a really fun part where your guitar takes its shape really fast.