Making an electric guitar

[jfc]

any tips on this . I know a few of you have made one and some of you earn a living from it . I will probably use wenge again as i did on the accoustic but what parts do i need to buy in ? I want to make the whole thing apart from the finger board . i bought some parts to make another accoustic but are they the same for electric ? I have a finger board , fret wire , truss rod , and tuning pegs . I will do the nut and bridge out of solid bone ( if thats the right thing to do on an electric ?

[jonnyd]

I have allways wanted to build an electric guitar. I bought a book about 2 years ago and that is as far as ive got at the moment. The book is called Make Your Own Electric Guitar by Melvyn Hiscock. It seems to cover all the aspects and goes into detail about how to do everything. Just need to find sometime to do it.

[davyowen]

Are you really going to build an electric guitar or is this just a ploy to get me to post more? ;D

For an electric guitar you will need:

Tuners - usually of the sealed type on an electric rather than unsealed where you can see the gears.
Nut - can be bone, but due to the common use of string bending and tremolo use, more slippery materials are available - graphtech make good stuff for this.
Pickups - either single coil or humbuckers or a combination of the two.
Potentiometers - used to control the volume and tone output from the pickup/s.
A selector switch if you have more than one pickup, or toggle switches if you want to use coil-tapping if your pickups will allow.
A bridge - many options available such a floyd rose floating bridges or fixed bridges.
An output jack to connect the guitar to your amplifier/effects pedals.

Then you need the obvious stuff:

A 20" x 14" slab of timber for the body between 1.5" and 2" thick.
If you intend to go with a clear finish, or the tone you are after requires it, you might want to add a 'decorative top' which is a 1/4" thick piece of figured timber (usually flamed/quilted maple but can be anything really).
A 30" x 3" piece of timber for the neck if you go with a bolt-on or set-neck. Will need something longer for neck-thru.
A 20" x 3" piece of timber for the fingerboard - pre-slotted for the scale length desired.

You are going to need to decide:

What neck construction to use - bolt-on, neck-thru, set-neck.
What style of music you intend to play with it - this will determine what pickups you want, and also the timber you need to get the best tone for that style. Heavy metal players want a crisp attack so go for lighter/less dense woods such as basswood. Alder is a good timber for general use, its right in the middle with regards to warmth and bite/attack. Mahogany is very warm, and gives a smooth tone.

Ultimately though, the pickups are going to shape what you hear from the amp, so a good set will give you a versatile guitar for many occasions.

You mentioned using wenge, but as it is very heavy, I wouldn't recommend using it for the body of the guitar. It could be used for the decorative top, but a 20" x 14" x 2" slab isn't going to want to dangle off your neck for long. Likewise for the neck, wenge would make a good wood for the fingerboard but for the main part, its going to be too heavy/dense. This isn't to say that you can give it a try, it might be perfect for you, but the standard combinations that are around today are here because they are the best compromise between playability and tone.

Anything else you want to know sir? ;D

P.S If you do go ahead and build one, let me know and I can get you some nice discounts on the parts you need - I have alot of the common parts laying around already.

[engineerone]

honest davy am not taking the mickey (p+ss)
but would jacob's favourite material work

ie what is the problem with using mdf?

having seen some of the stuff people play, you wonder whether the body of an electric is anything other than a carrier for the
fret and the electrics, or am i being too simplistic ;D

thought that since jason knows so much about mdf, it might make life easier for him

paul

[jfc]

I was in the workshop today and found the parts i had bought to make the next accoustic . I know i'm never going to get around to that and assumed that an electric was easier ? But wasnt sure if the parts i had would be ok for an electric .

[davyowen]

Well to simplify things, you basically have a set of strings vibrating between two points - the bridge and the nut. On an acoustic guitar, those vibrations are amplified by the construction of the body, so the timber used plays a significant role in shaping its sound. With an electric guitar, you rely on a pickup to convert the strings movement into electrical signals that the amplifier then amplifies (obviously ) My opinion is that although the timber used on an electric plays a part in how the whole guitar vibrates, and therefore how the strings are vibrating to a tiny extent, the tone is really determined by the pickup and the amp.

Regarding MDF, there are electric guitars made with carbon fibre necks and whole electric violins made from CF too, and although I haven't played either, and I'm definately not an expert on physics and how sound travels through various materials, I will say that the things that work tend to stick around, and the stuff that doesn't dies away. Electric guitars made from alder, with a maple neck and a rosewood fretboard have been going strong for over 50 years so it must be doing something right.

If I ever get some spare time though, maybe I will experiment with an MDF body, unless Jason wants make a prototype first and see how it sounds ;D I would be amazed if MDF was strong enough for the neck though, even with CF reinforcing rods behind the fretboard the headstock is going to be a problem.

[davyowen]

Jan 11, 2009 18:14:30 GMT jfc said:

I was in the workshop today and found the parts i had bought to make the next accoustic . I know i'm never going to get around to that and assumed that an electric was easier ? But wasnt sure if the parts i had would be ok for an electric .

An electric is easier in the sense that you don't have to faff about gluing all the supports and pissing around with elastic bands to etc. It is also very easy to start an electric and leave it in pieces until you have time to finish it I speak from experience ;D

If you give me some details about the parts you have I'll tell you if you can use them.

[jfc]

For what it costs i may aswell buy new stuff and leave the stuff i have incase i decide to make another accoustic .
What would you recommend , timber wise aswell ? Or is it a trade secret ?

[jonnyd]

Has anyone got any good sites for guitar timber and guitar making bits. I am initially thinking of building a les paul type with figured maple top but will probably change my mind.

[davyowen]

Well what kind of style are you looking to play mostly? Or do you just want a decent all rounder?

As mentioned, alder is a good middleground - not too bright but not too smooth/warm. Have you seen any guitars that you like the look of? If so, just go to the manufacturers website and it'll tell you what timber is used and you can just copy it.

www.wdmusic.co.uk/
www.allparts.uk.com/

I use both of these companies on a regular basis and they are great. I can get bits and pieces for atleast 25% cheaper than listed so if you want me to get the bits you need just let me know

[stevep]

When I built a Les Paul copy I got all the timber and components from David Dyke www.luthierssupplies.co.uk/
A useful bit of advice from a stringed instrument maker friend of mine on making the fingerboard - cut the frets slightly oversize and file off the barbs. Glue them into the slots with epoxy, using a couple of lengths of 12mm steel rod to apply pressure to the ends of the frets all the way along the length. Use blocks (shown in blue below) to keep the rods in position. I've only shown two but you'll probably need 6 or 8 for an even pressure.
The reason for doing this is that when you need to replace the frets after you've worn them down, they come out cleanly with a bit of heat to break the epoxy bond. If they still have the barbs on, the fingerboard will end up a complete mess as the barbs will lift out large chunks of finger board. It has the added bonus of ensuring that all the frets are in perfect alignment, needing little or no filing.

[jonnyd]

I suppose i would be looking for a good allrounder but i suppose it will be mainly for rock/blues. I have quite a bit of utile, ash, tulipwood and maple hanging around the workshop would any of these be any good for the body?

jon

[jfc]

Hmmm well i wont be playing heavy metal on it but then pickin like Scotty moore is a bit beyond what i can do . To be honest i like the gibson semi accoustic sound but i suppose that gets into the accoustic construction again .

[jfc]

This is the sort of electric id like to make .

[stevep]

You need a nice bit of flamed sycamore or quilted maple for the body then - home.btconnect.com/daviddyke/Blanks.htm between £55 and £210. It looks like the fingerboard is rosewood, but it might look good in ebony if you can get a nice black piece.

ps www.touchstonetonewoods.co.uk/ is another good supplier of components, but maybe not so good as David Dyke for wood

[jfc]

I used touchstone for the accoustic parts and they where very helpful . Thats the style of guitar i like , it doesnt have to be that timber .