Acoustic/electric gutiar

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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?

Reply to
stryped
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Help is readily available at the Musical Instrument Makers' Forum:

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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.

Reply to
Bob.Blarneystone

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:

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Reply to
Nova

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

Reply to
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

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Reply to
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.

Reply to
RonB

How did that bed turn out you were making?

Reply to
Stoutman

It is harder than it looks. Take a gander at this link:

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need lots of special tools and a good place to work.

stryped wrote:

Reply to
Mapdude

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:

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got all of my supplies (except the spruce top) including a full-sized blueprint at Stewart-MacDonald.
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brown

stryped wrote:

Reply to
mwbrown42

Reply to
Darrell Feltmate

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

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> I got all of my supplies (except the spruce top) including a full-sized

Reply to
Gary A 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:

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've also built a 12-string guitar and another 6-string dreadnaught-style guitar this year. If you go to my web site's "Other Stuff" page, you'll find links to several of my other instrument projects.

--Roseville Steve

Reply to
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:

Reply to
mwbrown42

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,

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Reply to
mwbrown42

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

Reply to
Steve

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