Build your own guitar...

[GamezBond]

http://buildyourguitar.com/

What does everyone think of this?

Can you build your own guitar that will rival the likes of Fender, Ovation ETC

I'm interested, because I heard you can save lots of money by building ur own sh*t...

[Anfontan]

Sure its a great learning experience, and you include features that aren't available on stock guitars. I'm presently building a Tele style kit that will turn out as a very versatile instrument, I could recommend it to anyone with a bit of mechanical and woodworking skills.

[mshilarious]

Originally Posted by GamezBond

http://buildyourguitar.com/

What does everyone think of this?

Can you build your own guitar that will rival the likes of Fender, Ovation ETC

I'm interested, because I heard you can save lots of money by building ur own sh*t...

Only if you already own all the tools.

[Light]

Even if you own your own tools, unless you have a great deal of experience you are highly unlikely to save any money. Even on the initial build, it is difficult to save much money, and then there is an additional issue with resale value. Even if you use very high end parts, such as Warmoth or USA Custom Guitars, people are still not going to be willing to spend much money on your amateur build. With a parts guitar, you can frequently get more money for the parts than the whole guitar. And if you build the whole thing yourself from scratch, the resale situation gets even worse.

Now, don't get the impression that I am suggesting that building a guitar is not a good idea. I think it is a great idea. It is a great learning experience, and it is fun, but you should be aware of all the issues involved. You will not save money, and it is difficult to get a guitar which is as good as a factory made guitar, but if you look at it primarily as a learning and recreational experience, then you are going about it the right way, and can have a great experience.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[flamin-gitaur]

Originally Posted by Light

Even if you own your own tools, unless you have a great deal of experience you are highly unlikely to save any money. Even on the initial build, it is difficult to save much money, and then there is an additional issue with resale value. Even if you use very high end parts, such as Warmoth or USA Custom Guitars, people are still not going to be willing to spend much money on your amateur build. With a parts guitar, you can frequently get more money for the parts than the whole guitar. And if you build the whole thing yourself from scratch, the resale situation gets even worse.

Now, don't get the impression that I am suggesting that building a guitar is not a good idea. I think it is a great idea. It is a great learning experience, and it is fun, but you should be aware of all the issues involved. You will not save money, and it is difficult to get a guitar which is as good as a factory made guitar, but if you look at it primarily as a learning and recreational experience, then you are going about it the right way, and can have a great experience.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

Not only that.. but in the end, Even if it does cost a little more, and it's not "perfect", the satisfaction of building something yourself usually is worth the effort, as long as you approach it with realistic expectations.

[rayc]

The road to hell is paved with unfinished projects such as this.
IF you have the time, skill, tools, talent, patience, eye, ear, parts, help & desire have a go.
Cheers
rayC

[travelin travis]

Originally Posted by rayc

The road to hell is paved with unfinished projects such as this.

i agree. the worst thing about diy projects is that sometimes they don't get finished or take forever to get around to finishing. i've learned my lesson on a few projects and now i tend to let any new diy project idea stew in my head for a few months before actually buying all the stuff.

[Thunder33]

Originally Posted by TravisinFlorida

i agree. the worst thing about diy projects is that sometimes they don't get finished or take forever to get around to finishing. i've learned my lesson on a few projects and now i tend to let any new diy project idea stew in my head for a few months before actually buying all the stuff.

I know exactly what you mean! I am world renowned for not finishing things. As a matter of fact, there is not a lot that I do fini

[noisedude]

I would start by picking up a complete dog of a Strat copy ... I picked up a perfectly good three year-old Squier Strat for £20 a couple of weeks ago ... and then replace all the electrics. The advantage of this is, because it's a Strat, you can buy a new pickguard and mount everything on that before you need to take the existing stuff out.

Then replace the neck (easy cos it's a bolt-on) ... and when you're happy with all of that, build a body and replace that. You end up with a completely new guitar (and still have your original cheap Strat too) and then you just need to think about raked necks and you can get started on a Les Paul type!

[Thunder33]

Originally Posted by noisedude

I would start by picking up a complete dog of a Strat copy ... I picked up a perfectly good three year-old Squier Strat for £20 a couple of weeks ago ... and then replace all the electrics. The advantage of this is, because it's a Strat, you can buy a new pickguard and mount everything on that before you need to take the existing stuff out.

Then replace the neck (easy cos it's a bolt-on) ... and when you're happy with all of that, build a body and replace that. You end up with a completely new guitar (and still have your original cheap Strat too) and then you just need to think about raked necks and you can get started on a Les Paul type!

I was going to do this with a Tele. I actually had one in my hands the other day when I was at Musicians Friend. $75 and it was perfect except for a dinged up finish. I didn't want to stand in line behind 20 people so I left.

[noisedude]

Originally Posted by Thunder33

I was going to do this with a Tele. I actually had one in my hands the other day when I was at Musicians Friend. $75 and it was perfect except for a dinged up finish. I didn't want to stand in line behind 20 people so I left.

It was easier for me ... a kid came into the shop with his beat-up Strat wanting £20 for it so he could pay for the setup I was doing on his BC Rich .... I couldn't sell it in the shop but I took it as a project. One fret dress and five-minute setup later, it plays as good as any of my guitars (well, not quite).

[Thunder33]

Originally Posted by noisedude

It was easier for me ... a kid came into the shop with his beat-up Strat wanting £20 for it so he could pay for the setup I was doing on his BC Rich .... I couldn't sell it in the shop but I took it as a project. One fret dress and five-minute setup later, it plays as good as any of my guitars (well, not quite).

that is funny, the kid in front of me at MF had this haggard old BC Rich that he was trying to get fixed.

[noisedude]

Originally Posted by Thunder33

that is funny, the kid in front of me at MF had this haggard old BC Rich that he was trying to get fixed.

It wasn't haggard, they're supposed to look like that.

[Thunder33]

Originally Posted by noisedude

It wasn't haggard, they're supposed to look like that.

well, this one was haggard. He has painted (poorly) his girlfriend's name or some shit all over it.

[noisedude]

Originally Posted by Thunder33

well, this one was haggard. He has painted (poorly) his girlfriend's name or some shit all over it.

LOL! Why can't you believe me that that's how they're supposed to look?!?!?!?!

[Thunder33]

Originally Posted by noisedude

LOL! Why can't you believe me that that's how they're supposed to look?!?!?!?!

well, I guess I am biased because I hate BC Rich anyway.

[travelin travis]

some of the ugliest guitars......scratch that. the ugliest guitars ever laid upon the planet earth. some people like that kind of thing though.......means fewer ugly guitars for the rest of us.

[Treeline]

I agree with Light.

Building a guitar (or trying to) can be a near - religious experience. Or something like that. But it's a mistake to approach it as a cost cutting measure because that is the one thing that is unlikely to happen. More likely is your first instrument will have enough kludges and oddball gremlins about it that it is simply not as serviceable as something off the shelf and you end up getting something else anyway. It's all about the learning curve, like anything else worth doing.

So go to it and enjoy every moment of it. Just don't set your expectations at an unreasonable level. Kits are great - if you're interested in solid body electrics, look at some of the Carvin stuff. There's a Bolt kit that is a sortakindastratlike. The machining is precise, the electronics are very comptent and available as prewired setups, and what is left for you to do is assembly, finishing and a hell of a lot of learning. If you're interested in acoustic instruments, the Stew-Mac kits are pretty complete, again with top grade machining. Be sure you have all the parts you will need; for the Stew-Mac stuff you will have to get tuners and so forth.

Good luck!

[stetto]

Color me as a prime example of the expense you can put into a build project. I have a friend who went through a two year luthier course at a community college in MN, built some awful nice axes for himself and gave me one of them---One of his earlier works...Super nice neck, handmade, but the body had been a repeat science project for him in school, lots of pickup mods...

All I did was to replace the tuners and refinish the thing--I already have all the tools, as painting and refinishing is what I do...@ my price per hour for the labor and the cost of materials, painting the damn thing alone turned a free guitar into a $750 project, and now the electronics are giving me fits...Sure looks good though...

...Of course you can give a raw body a quick scuff-sand and rub 'er down with finishing oil...That'd save you a few bones...

Eric

[Treeline]

Late in his life, my Dad decided to have his barn renovated as an office / studio / "treehouse" kind of place. He'd go up there and do a little business, have a place for his machine tool and ski area museum pieces, little hobbies and so forth. He'd been meaning to do that for 20 years and could never justify doing it. So we all got together and talked him into it. What started as an idea for a renovated horse stall quickly became a super insulated studio space using the whole barn - and then it grew a boiler and heating system - and then a bathroom and a small kitchen.

About the time he had the woodstove installed he remarked to me "You know, I'm getting absolutely fleeced on this project and I don't care a bit. I'm having way too much fun with this thing." We ended up calling it the Wonderworks. It was the treehouse he never had as a kid; he never had time or money for it as a working adult. But at age 80 he had built a place to play that made him chuckle every time he walked into the place.

Build the guitar and don't keep track of the expense. Just do it.

[cephus]

Originally Posted by Light

Even if you own your own tools, unless you have a great deal of experience you are highly unlikely to save any money. Even on the initial build, it is difficult to save much money, and then there is an additional issue with resale value. Even if you use very high end parts, such as Warmoth or USA Custom Guitars, people are still not going to be willing to spend much money on your amateur build. With a parts guitar, you can frequently get more money for the parts than the whole guitar. And if you build the whole thing yourself from scratch, the resale situation gets even worse.

SNIPPITY

You will not save money, and it is difficult to get a guitar which is as good as a factory made guitar, but if you look at it primarily as a learning and recreational experience, then you are going about it the right way, and can have a great experience.

I think this post kinda smells like "leave it to the professionals, one of which am I".

I am not terribly gifted with woodowrking tools, but I managed to put together a guitar out of spare parts and plywood and it functions well enough that I have used it out with my band for a few years now exclusively. I built it using the most primitive tools: a jigsaw, a dremmel, a sharpened flat-blade screwdriver and a (not kidding) leatherman. This guitar is every bit as "good as a factory made guitar" in terms of playability and sound and is a million times gooder in terms of coolness (the finish is bad, but I don't care because I am not a poseur).

Now, ordering a body and neck from warmouth and painting it pink is something different. The neck was scavenged but I made the body (neck pocket, routing, bridge placement, etc)

A strat (I have a real one that stays at home in the case now) is a terribly simple, crude device. If you want to make a guitar out of a toilet seat, use a strat as a template. There are tons of aftermarket part available for cheap and if you make it with standard sized plumbing, you can always screw a better bridge or pickups to it.

If you put together a guitar, you aren't going to want to sell it, are you? Resale/retail value seems irrelavant.

[stetto]

I'd never recommend against anyone taking on a learning experience like this, as long as they're aware of the possible monetary pitfalls and build accordingly...

I'm desperately wanting to build a new bass for myself, I want one with a fretless neck...The kit route is sure enticing and seems, at the drooling stage anyway, to be the less time and money restrictive...

Eric

[gmiller1122]

I "built" one of those Saga Strat copies. It was easier than building a $4.99 model airplane. The most time-consuming thing was painting it. The neck is pretty warped and the pups stink. I can't stand to play it, but that's what I expected. I did it on a whim and I learned some things. I'll never sell it -- no one would want it, but it looks pretty enough to hang on my wall, when I get a wall.

At least now I know I never want to be a luthier.

g

[Treeline]

Originally Posted by cephus

I think this post kinda smells like "leave it to the professionals, one of which am I"..

Not quite. Light is a pro, but his advice here would be just as good whether he was in the trade, or instead pushed paper clips for a living. The original question involved an economy issue and red flags went up, as well they should.

Your post reminded me of a story that is told of a remarkable luthier named Boaz Elkyam who was traveling through Mexico on his motorcycle, stopped for a few weeks in a village and built a guitar during the time he was there - on a restauraunt table with a jacknife and little else other than locally available stuff like glue and rope. It was a beautiful classical guitar when he was done. The magic isn't in the tools or materials, it's in the head and heart. Boaz is alive and well and I believe is building master grade instruments in California.

[Dogbreath]

I'm opting for one of the Carvin kits. Everything you need in one box.
and saving a couple of bucks never hurts...