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Here´s the final result! Currently with
Optima gold 09-46 strings. |
In late December 2015 I got this awesome idea of building my own guitar. So I started looking for instructions and tips around the Internet. Of some thing there´s a lot of articles and videos etc. and some things are not so much in discussion. I didn´t have much woodworking experience before this build
(like one wooden bench and small items like a clock..), but I´m a crazy person who attempts all the weirdest things. ;) -My tools are very, very limited... I only have like sandpaper, a coping saw, a cordless drill, a plastic hammer for fretting, a hand saw, a cheap soldering iron, one plane, a file and a rasp. I only bought a hand-held-router and top nut files, as they seemed necessary for getting the string action right and hollowing the body..
It was a really teaching experience and made me think about my future, as a luthier, maybe! :)
I started by finding guitar plans online and putting together features I wanted to have in my guitar. I didn´t make a complete custom build ´cause I don´t have any experience in luthiery and I don´t have anybody to tell me exactly what to do.
Here are some specifications of my guitar:
-24" scale
-24 frets
-graphite nut
-abalone inlays
-rosewood fretboard, 20" radius
-Mahogany neck and body
-flame maple top
-Neck joint is kind of a combination of bolt-on and set neck, it´s also almost half through the body
-dual truss rod, adjusting at the headstock
-Neck pickup: humbucker
-Bridge pickup: P90 (cheap ones..)
-Individual on/off switches
-Potentiometers:Neck tone, neck volume,
bridge tone, bridge volume.
-Stop-tailpiece and tune-o-matic bridge
-the headstock shape is inspired by the Gibson
classic, Les Paul and the body and
the pick guard are shaped like Brian May's
"Red Special".
And here's the building process described shortly.
1.Buying the materials: When I had come up with the design and 1:1 plans, I made a research of tone woods, electronics and other guitar parts. I decided to use mahogany for the neck and body, rosewood for the fretboard
(I would have wanted to use ebony, but it's pricey..) and flamed maple for the top
(I found a cheap piece, which wasn't "perfectly flamed" so I got it for 25€). I bought the neck and top blanks from a luthier in Southern Finland and quite much the rest of the parts from a instrument part/fishing equipment store in Oulu, Finland(from their online store). The stains and the control knobs I bought later from UK. Stains are from Crimson Guitars and the knobs are from BrianMayGuitars
(House Music ltd.) I'm planning on making a review of the CrimsonGuitars' "Stunning stains" soon.
2.The fretboard:
Even though I don't have any specific equipment for making fingerboards, I wanted to learn the process, even without the right tools. It was truly worth it, 'cause I learnt a lot about guitars in the scientific aspect. I learnt to understand scale lenghts and the reasons for frets' spacing. I'm also happy with the result-it's a fully functioning fretboard and I can say the guitar is completely made by me! :)
I starters by sanding the blank, it was really rough when I got it so I had to smooth it up to make it possible to saw the fret slots. After sanding I measured the fret locations carefully and TRIPLE CHECKED them. I "drew" them on the blank with a razor blade. Then
(please don't shoot me ;) ) I cut the slots with a coping saw.. Yes COPING SAW.. It was horrible to do, but, luckily, worked. So you don't kinda need a fretting saw to make your own fretboard.
Next I drew the outlines on the wood and drilled holes for the inlays. Round inlays are easy, because you can just drill the holes with right sized drill! I glued them on and cut the final shape of the fretboard.
Then I sanded the radius
(20") with a self-made sanding block. I can say that here double sided tape is your best friend. You just tape down the fretboard and the sandpaper on the block. Then I put on the side dots-drilled the holes, glued the sticks in and cut them. Lastly I sanded them flash with the side of the fretboard.
I then installed the frets in re deepened
slots with a plastic hammer
(originally bought for jewellery making ring bending etc.) which works just fine. Before the fret installation, I glued on the graphite top nut. At this point the fretboard was done as far as it could be before doing anything else.
3.The neck:
I started with a mahogany blank. First I made sure that the profile fits on the blank. Then I made the scarf joint and drilled the tuner holes. It indeed wasn't easy, 'cos I only have small plastic clamps
(I'm not even sure if I can call them clamps..) Next I glued a little piece cut from the other end to make the neck heel, clamped on with rope.. Hehheh..Luckily the Titebond glue does it's job nice and tight! Next I routed the truss rod channel. Even once I used a proper tool for the job... But not too good, I obviously don't have a work bench, so I most parts I did in my very bedroom, but routed in the shover. My room turned orange because of the mahogany dust. I had to hoover every day. Then I, using a hand saw, cut out the neck's shape. Next I hand sawed slots on the neck and finished off with a plane to get the thickness right.
(Look at the pictures to get what I mean.) I used the same method to make the 2° neck angle.
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| Starting to take it´s shape! |
Rasping the neck profile was actually quite calming. I found a good video online to get the neck evenly shaped and straight. Lots and lots of sanding up to high grits and then glue the fretboard onto the neck. For this I was lucky enough to be in touch with my uncle so I got to lend his clamps. Then some more sanding to make the neck flash with the fingerboard. By the way, coping saw is really usable when cutting headstock into shape. The neck is now done!
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| The thicknessed neck |
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The neck after profiling and
sanding |
4.The body:
At the latest now you're going to notice that my methods are insane.. I cut the body out with, yes, again, COPING SAW.. It's 4cm thick mahogany. And I held it against my table with my other hand while sawing..well, breaking saw blades.. I'm good at maths but I can't count far enough to know how many times I broke a blade ;). Let's say I broke two blades per, say inch, so you get the picture. We had two coping saws, well not anymore. I broke the saw as well. The job was just too harsh. But it broke just after I had cut the top, too. It took me like 3-4 hours to cut out the body. So the coping saw is not a appropriate tool for this but I'd say it's possible to use coping saw if making only one or two guitars.
Next to the router again! I just love that tool.. It's so versatile. I routed the control cavity, pick up cavities and the neck pocket. I also hollowed the body to make it lighter and to make the sound warmer. It really is nice to hear your playing even when not plugged in. Then I taped the paper template on the body and rasped the outline straight, to the line. Then sanded a bit and moved on to make the top.
5.The Top:
I received the maple in two pieces so I had to glue them together. I use strong tape to "clamp" them. Then thicknessed it with a plane and sandpaper. Drew some outlines after that and cut it out with the almost dead coping saw. Again, too hard job for the tool, but felt real easy after the mahogany.
Next up was gluing the top to the body. I glued them at my uncle's place at the same time as the fretboard, so I had clamps. :)
So the body put together, I could do the belly cut on the back-drew some guide lines for the depth and size of it and rasped the material off. Then I rasped the sides straight and sanded them carefully to prepare for binding. I router the binding channel and, surprisingly, managed to get it to be exactly the right size.
6.The binding:
After going through the net for ages, I decided it's best to install the binding with acetone, as it doesn't reject any finishes. Acetone is a good solvent, so it makes the plastic glue itself into the channel. For the same reason I didn't want to use normal paint brush for this, as the plastic brush would melt and cause trouble. So I had to be creative, and made my own brush using wooden sticks and my dogs fur! It is very usable for putting on acetone.
(I have a Yorkie, so the hair is not woolly, but silky. Some of the hair had fallen off while I've been brushing her.)
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| This is my dog hair brush |
I put a generous amount of acetone into the channel and pushed the binding in. Then I taped it on, so it had time to set up and it would stay on. Put it on in about 10cm sections, tape on and repeat. It needs to be left to dry for 24 hours. I had one crack in one tight curve, so again the acetone came to help me. Leave small pieces of the binding plastic to soak in the acetone for a while, stirr, and the paste can be used to fix this kind of cracks and imperfections in the binding, and after it's sanded or scraped, it will no longer be visible that there ever was any problem there. :)
7. Putting it all together:
A couple of test fits and little modding, I finally glued the neck to the body. The joint is nice and secure, 'cause it fits tightly and secured with glue and two big screws
(this sort of joint is also seen in the Red Special, which has also affected in some features in this guitar, but I've made small changes to it) The screws, anyhow, are not visible for they are facing down, from neck TO body and it hides under the pick guard. After this part was done, I was able to breathe again. It started to look like a guitar, a guitar that could actually work! I was so happy, but even happier I was when I finally plugged it in and it gave a sound through my amp!
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| The neck and body finally attached! |
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| Grain filling... |
8.Finishing(grain filling, staining and spraying lacquer):
Most parts of this guitar are mahogany, so grain filling had to be done. I used Rustin's mahogany filler. Mahogany is very porous wood, so I put on 5 or 6 layers of filler. Then sanded up to 600 grit, just to be extra careful.
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| 1. Starting with black... |
Then comes the fun part! Staining a sunburst finish on the guitar. I found nice colours at Crimson Guitars online store, so I bought the "crimson red" and the black ones.
(I'll write a review of these stains some day soon...)
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| 2. Sanded |
I first secured the binding and stained the top black to make the figured grain pop out. Then I sanded it back so that there was only enough black to make the grain show better. Then I stained the top red and added black to the edges. These stains are water based so they are safe to use and can be blended together with water. I even have a video of the staining process, I'll probably post it in the future.
when the top looked nice, I removed the painters tape and stained the rest of the guitar red. I put on a few layers, till I got the colour I wanted. In the front of the headstock I put a little black among the red to match it with the top.
When the stain was completely dry and outside was a nice weather, I hung the guitar with metal cloth hangers and chain. Then I sprayed on the lacquer, 11 layers of it. I used alkyd spray lacquer. I used two complete bottles of 400ml. I followed the instructions found on the Tundra Man website.
Then is probably the hardest part of building an instrument: letting it dry for two long weeks! I'm happy that those weeks weren't rainy, 'cause the drying takes longer in high humidity. You know it's dry when it doesn't
smell like lacquer anymore.
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| After 8 coats of lacquer |
9.Wet sanding and turning it into a mirror:
After the surface is dry, you may think it is shiny. Well, it looks quite much like an orange peel, so it's not just smooth ENOUGH. That's why wet sanding is important. I started with 1000grit and used a soft, straight "sanding block". Use light circular motion and from time to time wipe off the excess water. Move up to next grit when you can't see any more shiny spots. Put one drop of soap in the water to make it crab the finish better. Be extra careful around the edges, so you don't burn through the lacquer. It's surprisingly thin.
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| Before wet sanding. The "orange peel" |
Next I took 1200grit and repeated the same I did with the 1000grit. It takes less time to sand with higher grits as the lower grits have done the hard work.
I finished off with 200grit and then moved to polishing.
(It wasn't the easiest job to find as high grit as 2000 in my local stores.)
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Here you can see what happens. It should become hazy like in the
front and stop shining. But when you feel it, it´s incredibly smooth |
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| Wet sanding done! The "apple peel". |
Polishing:
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| Is it shiny enough yet? |
I used Turtle wax rubbing compound, fine grit paint restorer and hard shell car wax. They are good for guitars for they don't include silicone which would make refinishing a living hell.
I used soft cotton pieces to hand rub the products on the guitar. Apply pressure so it heats up a little.
(Don't let it heat too much thought, as you'll burn off the lacquer.) I repeated the rubbing with all three products, as instructed on the packages.
I did not polish the neck to keep it faster, satin-like finished.
When it was looking like a mirror I stopped rubbing and took some time to see what I had created so far. It takes effort to do all this by hand, but I knew it must be possible, as they did everything by hand in the old days..
10.the pick guard:
Then I made the pick guard out of 2-ply black/white plastic, specially meant for this use. This I could have done a lot better, I have never been good at working with plastic.. Maybe it's partly because I kinda "hate"plastic.. But it was still good enough to be used so I didn't buy more material, for the reason I don't like plastic.. A shame that I couldn't find any other material for the pick guard.
So, I cut it out with the still usable coping saw and routed the edges to 45° angle. Then cut the holes for the pickups and switches and drilled holes for the tune-o-matic bridge and the pots. Next I sanded the edges and shielded the back side of the guard.
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Here´s the wiring. Not so clear because all the wires
are grey. |
11.Installing the hardware and the final setup:
Then I was able to do the shielding with aluminium tape, install the bridge and the tailpiece, do the wiring, put on the pick guard, install the tuners, and finally put on the control knobs and string up the guitar!!
I had to design the wiring myself because I didn't seem to find anything similar on the net..
(aka individual on/off switches and individual tone and volume pots for both pickups.)
The control knobs I purchased from UK. I just couldn't find metal hat knobs anywhere else. They were a bit expensive for a pair of knobs
(~25€/pair) but they are the kind of knobs I wanted so I bought four of them. :)
When I got the strings on, I plugged it in an tested that everything works like they should. Then played a little just because I had to get to enjoy for my new instrument! Anybody who plays the guitar or has build one, knows why. ;)
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| Putting things together. |
Then I adjusted the string action and filed the to nut. I had bought the cheapest top nut file set on the market. They still worked pretty well. Unfortunately I had to file the bridge saddles to get the action low enough.
Then I levelled and polished the frets and waxed the fretboard with bees wax.
(smells nice, just like honey!) Really didn't have to touch the truss rod because the neck is quite thick, but that's how I like it.
Then strings back on and to intonation adjustment.
So here it is! My first guitar all finished and set up! I'm in love with the sound, it's nice and rocking!
And here are my final thoughts. What I like about my guitar, what I could have done better and things I learnt. Wasn't so shortly described but still more than half of the information is missing... I would definitely build another guitar!
(I've already made plans for it! Fully custom this time!) Then I can post the build step by step and make it more like a tutorial. :)
Things I like about my first guitar build:
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The sound! It's just perfect for playing rock and progressive rock, especially. I love it! The tone is rich and very versatile! You can get warm, bluesy sounds from the neck humbucker and screaming clear sounds from the bridge P90. And combined it's just.. amazing!!
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How it looks. I think the overall design is looking good. Probably making the guitar has produced a tight bond between me and the instrument.. :) But I love it!
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The colour. The stains worked well and gave me exactly what I was hoping for.
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scale lenght (24"/610mm). It's really good for bending. Shorter string with same pitch=the strings are looser=easier to bend.
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24 frets. I like to have the extra two frets to the most common 22 frets.
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It's light weighted. It's comfortable to play for a long time when your shoulder and back don't "die" as fast.
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The switching system. It's quite unique compared to production model guitars. Its easy to remember and works like a dream. It's useful to be able to turn off the both pickups at the same time if you for example have to tune your guitar on a gig while you're supposed to be quiet.
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the neck profile and finish. The neck is quite thick, which most guitarists don't seem to like, but for me the thin fretboard with thick profile is just perfect. Satin finish was a good idea, it make the neck fast.
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Tuners. Not perfectly straight...
hrrrrmph... |
Things I could have done better:
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The pick guard. I must learn to work with plastic. I was too rough on it and it shows...
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The top. Mostly I'm really happy with the top, but it has a couple of cracks.. You can never be too careful when handling guitar parts I guess..
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The neck joint with the fingerboard. It should be even more flash and smooth.
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Tuner installation. The tuners aren't perfectly in line. The holes were, but I managed to put them pointing slightly uneven.. Doesn't affect the use or playability, so it really doesn't matter.
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The tailpiece holes. They weren't exactly 90° with the top, so the installation was harder.
Things I learnt:(just some of them)
-When you are creative and truly want something, it's possible!
-coping saw is not for 4cm thick material...
(but it could be.. ;) )
-You can never have too many clamps
-It's impossible to prepare for finishing too well.
-When building instruments, most of the time is used sanding
-Triple check your measurements and plan well before you do something
-What a scale lenght is
-what affects tone and how
(not completely, you never can, I think)
-Tone woods and high quality guitar parts are expensive
New techniques I learnt
-routing
-fretting
-guitar setup
-binding(acetone as glue)
-wiring designing
-scarf jointing
-wet sanding
-polishing lacquer
-neck shaping with a rasp
-filing the top nut
-grain filling
-rubbing a sunburst finish
-fret levelling and re crowning
-fret polishing
-intonation adjusting
(I'm surprised how easy it is!)
-book matching the top pieces
-And plenty of other useful things!
The total cost of materials was around 350€
So I could buy a guitar with less money. But if the job is done well and with good materials you should compare the price with higher price range guitars, so in my opinion I still saved money. Anyhow that wasn't the reason for the build and it never should be. I got one more great experience and I'm thinking that I want to be a professional luthier in the future!
:)
If you read the whole thing, or even parts of it, I really appreciate it and hope you enjoyed it! Thanks a lot! I also hope that it helped you if you had questions.
If there's something you'd like to know, please put your comment below or directly email me to
craftsmanmusical6@gmail.com
THANKS GUYS! NEXT POST COMING SOON! :)
