Is it a lefty?
I would be glad to help where I can. It sounds like you are building an electric guitar whereas I have only built acoustic so far. I do want to build my wife an electric bass one day though.
Nope, righty.
But it’s a good pun with my name
That’s right! But I guess the process for building a bass would be similar but the dimensions very different.
Hi,
Lots of fun , and I think it’s quite easy…The guitar is already in there, all you have to do is cut away some wood and the guitar will appear automatically …
pfff …
Good luck , but above all have fun
Greetings
Haha thanks Rogier!!
My main aim is to still have all my fingers intact by the end of it. Second to have fun and then hopefully also have something looking like a guitar
That will be fun to see at each stage. Good luck with building it. Is that some curly maple for the back?
Thanks Roderick!
It’s quilted maple for the top, alder for the back.
carve top?
Yes. I’m thinking it will look like a chamfer at some angle and not exactly like the Les Paul carve. Something like in this video: https://youtu.be/pDdwnX-T2Nw?si=D45jLMIkuVHq1x3b
That is sure going to be a labour of love but I’m looking forward to following this thread and seeing the end result.
Also, how cool to have built your own guitar.
What a great project.
Have you decided what style of guitar are you going to build? Tele, Strat ? Clearly not an acoustic or hollow body.
Look forward to seeing your progress.
I’m working on that. It will be an electric and I’ve based my design on an Ibanez RG/Jem. Similar contours but bit more exaggerated horns and maybe different cuts but I’m still working on that. Just for fun, it will be a set neck.
That to me is an amazing task. I constructed my latest guitar with one tool! A credit card. Keep us all posted.
@Notter Mark, @Barrysascotsman Barrt thanks!
All the comments here are very encouraging!
As for the credit card tool, that’s not going out of fashion any time soon!
Update 1 - 17/10/23
It took me a little longer but over the last weekend I finalised the CAD for the body and I have a shape and some features I’m reasonably satisfied with.
That meant I had to decide not just for the pickup configuration which I knew from the start it would be HH but also for all other componets and their arrangement on the body. Their dimensions and placement on the body’s CAD are mandatory before I start cutting wood and punching holes.
So I’m going for a tune-o-matic bridge and concentric pots, volume and tone for each pickup, both recessed and a 3-position mini toggle switch.
Having decided on all of that and their positions I printed out the drawing… Only to realise that I had forgotten to place the mark for toggle switch and the centre of the corner radius for the pickups. Not much harm done though, they’ll be added on the template itself.
Which I almost got finished before the bandsaw decided to call it a day.
Pics below…
Looking really cool!!! What a fun project for you & it’s exciting to see what’s happening!!!
Can’t wait for your next update!!!
Tod
Thank you Tod!
How did you create your template? Was it downloaded or did you do it in a computer program or did you buy it?
Looking cool though.
I made it myself in Rhino (CAD software) once I was happy (relatively) I printed it in 1:1 scale and stuck it on a piece of mdf.
Sticking the drawing on the wood was the most difficult! I almost messed up but I was lucky in the end.
After that, I had to use the bandsaw to trace the lines for the shape and then drill out the pickup cavities which I didn’t have time to finish.