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Has anyone here made an acoustic or electric guitar? Is it hard for a newbie woodworker?
Are there any directions on the web?
x-no-archive:yes
Has anyone here made an acoustic or electric guitar? Is it hard for a newbie woodworker?
Are there any directions on the web?
Help is readily available at the Musical Instrument Makers' Forum:
This is a very civilized place to ask any question and receive timely and useful answers. No misbehavior is tolerated.
I suggest that you also go to your public library (or to a bookstore) and check out Cumpiano & Natelson's Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology. It's a comprehensive roadmap to building that does not overemphasize tool-collecting. Moreover, it is only one approach to the subject, but it is thorough. I built my first guitar, using this book as the sole reference.
On a solid body electric guitar getting the neck/action/intonation right is the tricky part. As a beginner you may want to start out with a kit. See:
I haven't made a guitar, but google acoustic guitar plan and there are lots of pages on that. Also check out grizzly.com - they have a variety of supplies and guitar-making kits. Apparently their president is quite an accomplished luthier (that's the fancy word for a stringed insturment-maker - try including that in your google searches too). Andy
Electrics are easier than acoustics, generally speaking.
There are lots of kits available; Matrin sells acoustic kits. I recently built the "ultimate tele" using a thinline body from stew-mac and a warmoth neck. I like it. I'll post a pic on a.b.p.ww.
-- Timothy Juvenal
Luthierie is a pretty specialized kind of woodworking. Some folks study and apprentice for years to get really good at it - especially acoustic instruments. You might want to start with a kit. Take a look at the Grizzly web site and/or order one of their catalogues. The president of Grizzly is big on guitar building and the company offers several reasonably priced kits and a lot of tools, woods and accessories.
How did that bed turn out you were making?
It is harder than it looks. Take a gander at this link:
stryped wrote:
I built an acoustic guitar in the Martin D-28 style. I was inspired by Lynn Dudenbostel's guitar / mandolin series on the DIY channel. I documented the build on my web site here:
stryped wrote:
Mike, Have to say I loved your web photos and the description of the process you went through. Looks like it came out great too. Have you fixed the bridge and played it yet? Building a guitar is at the top of my list for my next woodworking challenge. I took up the guitar this year (like I need another hobby) and spend an hour or two every day playing and practicing. The Dudenbostel series is pretty inspiring. I spent a week at the Adams School of Woodworking this summer and they're planning on doing a guitar making class next year. Rather than wing it like you did, I might go this route instead to get a start on my first guitar. Thanks for sharing your work.
Gary in KC
The Dudenbostel series was an inspiration for me too. I had been building solid-body guitars and basses for almost three years, and then somebody asked me if I would build an acoustic. My response was "no, I couldn't do that!" Then I saw the Dudenbostel program, and I found myself saying, "I can do that!"
Here's the result:
--Roseville Steve
Steve,
Yours turned out very nicely I have to say! I'm also intrigued by that clamping system, I'll have to look into that.
Michael Brown
Steve wrote:
Yes the bridge is fixed and I'm told it plays well - I'm not a good enough player to give an informed critique...
Michael Brown
Gary A > Mike,
The clamping system is called a go-bar deck, and I've found three sources for the fiberglass rods:
1) Luthier's supply places such as Stewart-MacDonald and Luthier's Mercantile ($3.50 to 4$ each) 2) A couple of Ebay sellers have sold them on occasion (about $2.50 each) 3) I made some of my own from 3/16" diameter fiberglass rods I bought in 6-ft lengths from Tap Plastics. I get the rubber tips from Luthier's Mercantile. (about $1.25 each total cost)I cut the fiberglass rod on the bandsaw, and realized after I did it that I should have used an already-worn-out blade. The fiberglass is really rough on saw blades!
I used 2 layers of 3/4" MDF for the top and bottom decks, with 1/2" threaded rod at the corners, with appropriate nuts, washers, and wing-nuts. The wing-nuts allow me to adjust the height of the upper deck. I can lower it when I'm gluing the braces in place, then raise it when I'm gluing the top and back onto the body sides.
I have a luthier friend who used go-bars made from strips of poplar. Why? because it's cheap, and easy to make more at any time. :-)
--Steve
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