I Want to Build my own guitar

Paddy the Greek

Hello everybody.

After searching continuously for a guitar that I like and not finding what I want...I have come to the conclusion that the only way to be truly satisfied is to build it yourself.

Stylewise....I am looking to build something similar to the nuno bettencourt N4 with the reverse headstock etc....http://www.musicradar.com/gear/all/guitars/electric/6-string-solid-body/nuno-bettencourt-n4-relic-19569/description
The real deal is too expensive and The cheaper N2's are really badly made.http://www.rockpalace.com/en/product/Washburn-N2-Nuno-Bettencourt-Signature-Series-Natural-Matte

As we all know, money is tight these days and building your own often works out even more expensive than buying one off the shelves. So....I have an old crappy Encore Strat copy at home that I learned on years ago. Very similar to this:

http://www.guitarbitz.com/popuplargeimage.asp?strImage=483.jpg&strImageType=version&strPageTitle=Encore%20Blaster%20Pack%20-%20Red

I was thinking maybe I could use the body of that, strip it down and then purchase A good quality neck and decent hardware online from Warmoth http://www.warmoth.com/ or one of those parts websites....

My question is....would a neck and parts bought online be compatable with the body of a cheap Encore strat copy? Are parts standardized in their sizes....would a decent neck made by another company be compatible with an Encore body?

Any advice from people who have experience of building theyre own would be appreciated

darrenw5094

I would like to do the Carvin thing someday.
http://www.carvinguitars.com/kits/

fguihen

i am almost totally unqualified to answer the OP's question, except for the fact that a number of years ago i did purchase a piece o S**t guitar for next to nothing, to see what i could do to make it "mine".

OP, from reading your original post you want a very specific guitar. Starting with the neck, its most likely you wont find a blank neck with a profile to your liking and if you do, chances are it wont have enough wood in the headstock area to customize it into your own shape. This means making your own neck.

Making a neck is a huge deal, and not to be attempted by anyone who is not very skilled in carpentry and generally handy all round.

Even if you are ok with your hands, chances are you will have to buy a lot of tools and equiptment, and you will end up with an ok neck, but it prob wouldnt be much better than a cheapo guitar you buy in any shop for 100 bucks, as your skill levels just are not there in the beginning and you have to learn the nuances of neck building.

So, you will spend a lot of money, and use a lot of time to come up wtih something you could have bought for very little in any music store.

Thats just the neck. I didnt even get into the body, finishing, electronics etc etc.
Im not trying to discourage you, but just consider the time, effort and cost of totally building your own guitar and it usually becomes apparent that you wil end up spending less on a much better, fully finished instrument.

If your still up for it, heres a good place to start:

http://www.projectguitar.com/

--Neck Building Tutorials
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/tutorial9.htm

darrenw5094

I still think the Carvin thing is worth a look. Ebony board, Schaller tuners etc.
Seems to be reasonably priced for the whole kit too.

Demeyes

A warmoth neck probably won't be a proper fit for your Encore strat. Strat copies comes with all sorts of varied parts.
Building your own guitar will cost you a lot of money in wood and parts as well as tools but it'd be worth trying. I think if you have some experience woodworking or are serious it's something you could learn from all the info available online.

Paddy the Greek

Cheers for the replies guys.....

I agree that building your own guitar from scratch has the potential to be very costly and there's a chance it might not live up to expectations....

I wouldn't envisage building a neck from scratch...I have zero carpentry skills. No, what I would probably do is just buy a decent neck and attach it to the body of the old guitar which I will have stripped and sanded down.

Im just wondering if blank necks are standard in size on 'Strat' style guitars...i.e would a neck manufactured by warmoth.com fit with an Encore body?


That carvin kit looks pretty good...the only thing that would discourage me would be the shipping costs from US to Ireland. Also, Im not so sure I like the shape of the headstocks....Im into fat 1970s era strat headstocks....but a left hand one, so that it will look upside down on a right handed guitar.....

Im very specific arent I?!!!

Demeyes

Paddy the Greek wrote: »

Cheers for the replies guys.....

Im just wondering if blank necks are standard in size on 'Strat' style guitars...i.e would a neck manufactured by warmoth.com fit with an Encore body?

Like I said above, I doubt a strat replacement neck will fit perfectly into your Encore. You'd be able to get it fit but chances are you'd have to re-drill the neck holes and maybe sand down the heel, or else you could be left with a bit of a gap at the heel. There is no standard that all Fenders and copies adhere to.
It might be an exact fit but there'd be no way to tell for sure until you tried it.

You could probably get a beat up MIM strat for cheap and strip that and get a Warmoth neck for that.

Paddy the Greek wrote: »

That carvin kit looks pretty good...the only thing that would discourage me would be the shipping costs from US to Ireland.

I think Carvin have an EU distro too but they are more expensive. I don't think you can buy directly from them in the US to ship over here, they'll redirect you to their EU people.

PeterIanStaker

darrenw5094 wrote: »

I would like to do the Carvin thing someday.
http://www.carvinguitars.com/kits/

Yeah so would I. Nice looking kits there.

Someday I might buy a few cheap guitars and cannibalise them for parts to make one guitar, anyone here ever done that?

Eric_Clapton

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

Someday I might buy a few cheap guitars and cannibalise them for parts to make one guitar, anyone here ever done that?

Yea, I done it once. Made a decent strat out of 3 other strats. Good times.

FruscianteFan

As Demeyes said I doubt that the neck would fit the encore body, and even if it does fit it may not sit right in the neck pocket and the strings could run of the fretboard. I would say your best bet is to forget the encore body and get a decent custom body or else get a fender (Mexican or American) and get your warmoth neck and it will fit perfectly. They are licensed fender necks made as replacements so they can drop right in. And then you can pick every little detail about the neck yourself. Also there are more places than just Warmoth for buying necks and bodies. Have a look at USA Custom Guitars too. They make some savage stuff. Though it will be expensive as it will be shipped from the US and you will have to pay VAT and taxes (~25% of total inc. shipping).

Paddy the Greek

THanks for all the good advice people....much appreciated.....

I think Ill forget the Encore body altogether....a cheapo fender body is probly the way to go and work from there.....

All the Best....

P.

PeterIanStaker

Eric_Clapton wrote: »

Yea, I done it once. Made a decent strat out of 3 other strats. Good times.

No way, what colour? :P

kranog

http://www.guitarpartsonline.com
These guys are great - i'm working on guitar 2 now and I get almost all my parts from these guys.
They are good quality and cheap.
hope this helps mate....post pictures of your guitar as you are putting it together!

shizz

kranog wrote: »

http://www.guitarpartsonline.com
These guys are great - i'm working on guitar 2 now and I get almost all my parts from these guys.
They are good quality and cheap.
hope this helps mate....post pictures of your guitar as you are putting it together!

I can't find this info but how much do they charge for delivery?

kranog

depends on the weight usually - they use a standard USPS global priority shipping - it's cheap enough though - just mail them and ask how much the shipping would be on the items you want to order.

E.A.P

I can give you some tips from when I built a guitar from scratch for the leaving Cert last year.
You should be able to build a neck using a saw, a plane and a spokeshave if you take it slow. Having a guitar building book with you will help you get it right. I had this with me when I built mine http://www.amazon.co.uk/Build-Your-Own-Electric-Guitar/dp/1570762953/ref=pd_ys_iyr11
The REALLY tricky part is the fretboard, but you can buy a ready made one to save you the trouble.
You won't be able to make the body look like a Washburn. They cut trenches into the face to fit the circuit when building the strat and cover it with the pickguard. Also the cheap wood under the paint won't look as good and I don't think it made from swamp ash.