Building your own guitar

Well I'm pressing ahead with my second tele build, so far it's going significantly better than the first one and that turned out ok. I got the body blank cut out, routed, drilled and rounded over to a considerably better standard of finish than the first one had at the same stage. I thought long and hard about doing an arm relief cut and a belly cut, and last night decided to have a go. I was amazed at how easy it was. The arm relief cut took only a few minutes with my Aldi belt-sander and 40-grit paper, and the belly cut was also dead easy with a 4-inch angle grinder fitted with a flap wheel and followed up with a rasp to level the surface, then sanded. I won't hesitate to do those cuts again, they are far easier than I thought. So today I have to do a lot of sanding, I hate that stage, dead boring.
The angle grinder wouldn't have ocurred to me as a woodworking tool, but I saw the technique on a build by John Kingma, one of the best builders on tdpri.com, and it looked feasible.

I also got a big slab of bone-dry burr elm during the week, it has very dramatic grain patterns. I think it's too good to use in one piece, so I'll try to find a joinery to make 10mm veneer caps from it and use it on a built-up body maybe, with something like a hollow ash or teak core.

JC

Anybody know of an over-the-counter source of aniline dyes in Ireland? I have seen great burst finishes being acheived on www.tdpri using aniline, but apparently it can't be shipped from the US.

JC

Heres a few pictures of a guitar i built for my leaving cert a few years back, the quality of the image isnt great but i have more......somewhere!

If anybody is looking for cheap spray-cans of paint or lacquer Lidl have them today. I don't know if they are any good for guitar-making but I have bought some to try out anyway.

JC

nialldabass wrote: »

Have you tried Mylands in the JFK trading estate?
Dont have info to hand but should be able to supply most finishing needs

No sign of them on Google or eircomphonebook.ie, are you sure about the sp? I can have a look there, I'll be in Dublin a few times in the next few weeks - where are they in the estate?

JC

I'm so sorry I got mixed up Its Morrells not Mylands here is the link
http://www.morrells.co.uk/branch/7

And if you go in and speak to them they should be able to show you the full range of colours

And by the look of it they still sell cellulose laquer

nialldabass wrote: »

I'm so sorry I got mixed up Its Morrells not Mylands here is the link
http://www.morrells.co.uk/branch/7

And if you go in and speak to them they should be able to show you the full range of colours

And by the look of it they still sell cellulose laquer

Thanks for that - I'll go and have a look the next chance I get, I see they also have brush-on tinted wax finishes, as used by Rico Daniels in 'Le Salvager' on Discovery.

nialldabass wrote: »

Haha yeah that was a great series, I suppose you visit the Luthiers corner over at mylespaul, I've just started looking at valve amp kits aswell now:rolleyes:
There is somthing about making stuff with your hands that becomes addictive

There is something about doing joinery and cabinet-making with a chainsaw and angle-grinder too, like Rico does :cool:. He's still on the channels somewhere. I used an angle-grinder to make a tummy cut on a tele lately and it was actually the ideal tool for the job, fast and easy to control.

I don't read mylespaul, but I do follow the tele builds on tdpri.com. A LP wouldn't be my first choice, I prefer single-coil twang, but I love the SG shape and the two-horn PL junior. I have the drawings for those shapes, might build one with a bolt-on neck sometime - a tele in Gibson clothes.

nialldabass wrote: »

Yeah the angle grinder is not as scarey as you first think, many people carve LP tops with them
And what do you think of Scaterlee's work I'm gobsmaked looking at his builds

He's amazing, always thinking outside the box. Two other guys whose work I like are JKingma and CJFearn, amongst the 'small' builders.

The flapwheel and anglegrinder are ideal for this stuff ok, I wouldn't have thought it. I learnt traditional school woodwork a long time ago, guitar-making makes you find different ways to do things. If you're building LPs or any G-style guitar with a 3 degree tilt on the neck, you'll be interested in this very clever jig:
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10123&t=29117

A lot of thought has gone into the design of that, it's deceptively simple, and would not be a big deal to build.

Where are you located? PM me if you don't want to put it up here for any reason.

nialldabass wrote: »

Wow thanks another cool site to add to the list, I still have no router. next on the list, cutting truss rod channels with a fine saw and chisel is fun,but do-able. My biggest problem is trying to find a good affordable wood supply and to design a nice original headstock, the rest are just challenges to overcome, and your right thinking outside the box is key. Oh and I'm in south Dublin

And wouldn't it be nice to just walk into woodies and pick up some maple for a couple of necks for about 5 dollars like the Americans

Well, it's hard to beat the Aldi router for €27 when it comes round, and they guarantee their stuff, usually for three years. It can't be easy cutting a curved trench for your truss rods with hand tools - are you making guitars or basses? I have sourced wood from a sawmill in Carlow, and from a man with a travelling chainsaw mill in Cork, and locally. The Carlow wood is ready-to-use, the Cork man's stuff must be seasoned. I have a stash of beech and ash from him under cover in my backyard that should be ready by the end of this year's summer. So far I've been making one-piece bodies, but I recently got a 205mm planer-thicknesser s/h on donedeal.ie that should let me make up glue-lam bodies once I get used to setting it. I have a local joinery who are most obliging, they have run my timber through drum sanders and planers, they can get a glass-like finish on the timber in minutes. I got a chunk of elm lately - the joinery sawed it on edge for me to produce book-matched slices 6mm thick for tops, and they sanded them and all - beyond home and diy capability.

nialldabass wrote: »

I'll have to keep my eye on Aldi, only have a Lidl near me but they get some good gear at times. the trussrod channel was pretty straight and relied on the filler strip to curve it so not perfect, But it worked out well and the neck is great. Despite my name i play guitar, for a while I was playing bass with a band and I picked that name and just kinda kept it for online stuff
I'm still very new to guitar building although I'm a French polisher by trade and worked most of my life in the Piano industry so its not totally alien either
Oh and the latest project is a 30inch bass, though I'm gassing for a pinecaster
and feel the need to do a chambered guitar, doubt it would work so well with pine, so thats 2 more builds lined up, in my mind anyway. One day a full bodied jazzbox, even though I'm no fan of jazz but it must bring all the elements of guitar building together.

I suppose home grown lumber is the way to go, do you use any for neck builds or stick with the maple?

I haven't attempted to build a neck yet but I will get there. I bought a cheap neck from GFS for my first one, couldn't fault it - it hasn't even needed a tweak on the truss rod. I have some 25-yr old red larch from a tree I cut down that might do for necks. Larch twists a bit as it seasons, but this stuff has had plenty of time to reach its final shape. It's as hard as steel, that's the only snag.
With your finishing skills you could be making incredible instruments.

With native timber a chambered guitar makes sense - Irish oak, beech, ash, yew, holly, elm etc would all be very heavy. My first sycamore tele is about 8 lbs weight - it wouldn't want to be any heavier.

My future plans would include an electric 12-string, an 8-string mandolin, an electric bozouki, etc etc... I have it very much in mind to develop an idea I got on tdpri.com, that is to build 'the ultimate eagles guitar' which would probably be a tele with a tele bridge pickup, a humbucker, and a strat neck pickup - if it all worked, it would suit what I play, ie Eagles amongst other things, although it wouldn't obviously do the Hotel California intro.

I intend using rumpelstiltskin coolwhite pickups on my current build, have you heard of them?

Going back for a minute to french polishing, what wood would be the best to use for a french polished guitar - mahogany I suppose?

nialldabass wrote: »

Firt thing is I have really neglected the finishes as I know what I can do so i just stain seal, couple coats of laquer and leave them, shame really but it holds no challenge so Im not too bothered, besides I like the old used look lol

Those pickups sound great, not heard of them before, but there is a guy in Wales Wizardpickups, taught a very famous pickup maker and his prices are fantastic, again not tried them but plan on doing so. Meant to be a great guy and will wind what you want

Any wood will take french polish, though it is softer takes alot of effort and not resistant to alcohol, but can look great, I suppose doing somthing day in day out for over 20yrs, ya kind of fall out of love with it

Love the Ideas you have new builds, get some build threads going if you do

There's been more dialogue on this board today than ever before - not a bad thing. I hadn't heard of that Welsh pickup maker, even the British builders on tdpri.com have never mentioned him. His prices? I wouldn't say ~fantastic~, but not as expensive as the big-brand US boutique makers either. By the time you pay 50 Sterling and get robbed blind by Parcelforce they wouldn't be the cheapest - the Rumpelstiltskins are USD140 per pair for a tele, no big difference there. Pity the Wizard guy doesn't upload soundclips or even youtube links. For super-cheap pickups try Ebay for Diesel pickups, shipping from Hong Kong is for pennies. A project that is way off in the dreamy foggy distance for me is to wind my own from the wire inside a phone charger some time. I should at least get Nokia tones ;-)

I've used Colron Danish Oil so far, it's not bad, but getting the absolutely final glassy finish on it is proving difficult. I'll be trying the stuff from JFK for that reason.

Edit - try Ebay for 'diesel guitar pickups' - I wasn't thinking...

nialldabass wrote: »

You should be able to get precat laquer from them which is as close to nitro cellulose as you can get, build up and then sand and buff you'll get a super high gloss finish, they should do it in aerosols and should do coloured aerosols but they might need to do a big batch, but they are proffesional finishing suppliers and know their stuff so tell them what your up to and I'm sure they'll help,

Heard good reports about these pickups that are cheap again no first hand knowledge but I'm sure there are reviews around

http://www.axetec.co.uk/

They have some demos online too

Just looked around their site, they have lots of bits and pieces I'll get from them, eg a tele jackplate with two screws - the so-called electrosocket. The standard type held in by a sharp little metal plate is a total pos, all the US builders think so and I've found out by an módh díreach as usual. I also like the graphite nuts, might get a couple and upgrade a few old bangers lying around here. Their bridges look ok too, seem to be medium quality for medium price, the GFS ones are cheap but very flimsy. I would really like to try a Babicz bridge on my next tele, they really look the dog's wotsit but are pricey, and I ain't working at the moment, although that is self-inflicted and won't last forever.

RamblingRebel wrote: »

Nice thread. Those guitars look good.

Do they play as good as a proper tele?

It's always put me off building my own, I'd be worried it played naff. But I suppose that'd come down to how accurate you are in your execution.

How hard is it for someone with next to none woodworking skills?

I played a classic-pop/country gig last night with the first tele I made, got on fine. Several musicians commented that the sound (single coils) was better that an Ibanez I played last week that has humbuckers. For things like 'The Walk of Life' and Waylon/Willie music it's bang-on, and it was made with cheap GFS pickups.
What's a proper tele? A US Standard, a Mexican, etc? All that gets you is bog-standard Fender pickups which will give bog-standard sound. If you see somebody famous on tv playing a tele in a big band, their is very little chance that their guitar hasn't been tweaked. Its exactly like cars - a Honda that wins a Grand Prix isn't the same as the one you can buy in a showroom, but it sells it. There are lots of independent guitar builders whose instruments I would prefer to own rather than a Fender product - eg Ron Kirn. A G & L is another option - listen to Steve Trovato playing on Youtube, he's the G & L factory demo player for US trade shows etc, and he gets fantastic sound from their guitars.
The pickups are the biggest single variable. Search around for Lindy Fralin, Seymour Duncan, Joe Barden, Rumpelstistskin, Di Marzio etc and listen to sound clips. You'll quickly realise that you can build the guitar you want making the sound you want. You can design the switching the way you want it, add on-board effects if you wish, mix up the pickups, etc - there is no limit, it will be your guitar. Brian May in Queen started out that way and he's still playing the guitar he built himself.
If your skills and confidence are in doubt, why not buy all the bits - body, neck and fittings, and just put it together yourself to gain confidence. I've seen some fabulous guitars made that way by novice builders with no facilities. Don't think it's going to be any cheaper though, it might easily cost more than a shop-bought instrument.
The one I'm presently working on will hopefully have a babicz bridge - $150, Rumpesltiltskin pickups - $140, so there's most of the US price of a new MIM tele gone right off.
Another factor is Irish prices - they are just MAD. I wouldn't dream of buying a new guitar in Ireland, acoustic or electric. Most people I know buy from Thomann in Germany rather than locally. I prefer the USA, I am in a position to bring instruments in from there. I have a Martin acoustic that is about €2400 here, it cost me about 1/3rd of that NEW, when the Euro was good against the dollar. I bought it on Ebay from a dealer in Texas - hassle-free transaction. I played one in Promusica in Cork to pick the model and trusted Martin QC after that.
Sorry for the long answer, hope I've filled you in on a few things.