Well, seeing as how lutherie (guitar building) is how I make my living, yes I have made a few guitars.
Building a guitar is not actually all that hard. The thing you need is patience. Very few of the individual steps is difficult, but each one must be done with precision if you are going to be happy with the result.
Personally, and this is the way I started, I think it is a good idea to make a parts guitar first. I would get a body and neck from Warmoth, or ACG, or even just a cheap body and neck from WD, some pickups, a pickguard, etc, and put it together. It is a big help in learning to understand the geometry of a guitar. This may or may not be your ultimate guitar, but it will be a very good learning experience. Along with the parts, make sure you get a few books on the subject.
Actually, I would suggest you get ALL of the books on the subject. And the videos. And read every website there is on the subject of guitar building. Learn everything you can, particularly if you are an inexperienced wood worker. You will find that no two of us ever use the exact same methods. Find the methods which make sense to you, with your abilities, and your available tools. That is how you build.
Once you have built a parts guitar or two, then you are ready to start going into the design area. I used to start with a big piece of paper, a long straight edge, a good ruler, and a set of French Curves (these days, I use my CAD program). Use the paper to get the shape roughly accurate, and then transfer it to a few pieces of hard board, which you can sand until all the curves are fair (meaning, there are no bumps or other anomalies). Running your thumb along the edge is the best tool you will every have for finding a bump in your other wise fair curve. If your shape is symmetrical, only do a half template, as it will be much more accurate that way.
I could easily go beyond the 25,000 character limit, but this is not really the right place to do so. Instead, let me give you some resources.
The
Stew Mac catalog is probably the most well know source for lutherie information, and they have the best selection of books you will find. Their main focus is on repair, but they have a lot of information, tools, and materials for building as well. It is also just a fun catalog to get. You will, however, NEVER stop getting it. I, for one, don't mind. The other major Lutherie supplier is
Luthier's Mercantile International, inc.. LMI (as they are usually called, or Luthier's Merch) is mostly an acoustic builders spot, but they have really nice figured maple tops (among other things) for electrics. They are a great company as well, and have some great tools, and some good prices on some of the materials. They also host the Healdsburg Guitar Festival every two years, which is a great place for us Luthiers to get together and compare the growth of our beards (you have never seen so much facial hair in one room in your life). Michael Horrnick of Shanti Guitars (I think that is his first name, I just remember his guitars and his beard) always wins with his ZZ Top beard.
Gulab Gidwani owns Exotic Woods, which is an excellent source, though I am not sure what his minimum order is, or if he even has one. I like saying his name, but I love his wood.
Randy Allen is a great source for slotted fingerboards, and if you are only doing a few, it will be cheaper than buying the jigging to do it yourself. LMI and Stew Mac will also sell you slotted boards, but I like Randy. I think (don't remember) that he is cheaper, as well. His boards are all CNC cut, so they are accurate beyond compare. If there is one area in which accuracy is most important, this is it. I get most of my mahogany, ash, alder, and plain maple from my local hardwood lumber yard, Youngblood Hardwood. I have a wholesale account, so their prices are great for me. You will not have the wholesale account, but you will probably have a similar hardwood supplier in your town. Your friends uncle will probably know where it is, but if not, look in the Yellow pages. If you buy rough lumber (which is all places like that sell) you need to have a planer and a jointer, along with the table saw and radial arm saw, but you will save about 30-60% on the wood. If you buy a lot of wood (we do) then it just makes sense to buy rough. Surfacing is pretty damn easy, though dull. I almost forgot. {URL=
http://www.alliedlutherie.com/]Allied Lutherie[/URL]. They are competitors with Luthier’s Merch.
There are a number of good forums on the web.
rec.music.makers.builders,
rec.music.makers,
rec.music.makers.bass,
rec.music.makers.guitar,
rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic, and
rec.music.makers.marketplace all have good info, sometimes.
The Thirteenth Fret is also good sometimes, though more of an acoustic site.
Acoustic Guitar has a good Luthiers corner, and some great builders hang out there. Rick Turner is frequently there, and his is a very knowledgeable electric guy (he founded Alembic, among other things). Also look at the
Musical Instrument Makers Forum. With all of these sites, you need to learn to separate the wheat from the chaff, but when you do, there is some great stuff there. If you can find it.
Frank Ford's Frets.com is easily the largest guitar related website on the internet, but it is an acoustic guitar repair site. None the less, you should explore it, just to learn something of the attitude of one of the truly great luthiers in the world. Frank is without question the most highly respected guitar repair guy out there. Frank was in town recently, and when we took him out to diner, he made one of the great quotes I have ever heard. He was talking about what he says to students in lutherie schools, and it is this, "When you get out of here, I am your competition. Guys like me have a problem with motivation. I work six days a week, and on my day off, for fun, I go into the shop." If you decide you want to be a professional luthier, that is the kind of dedication you need to have. It does not sound like that is your plan, but be careful, as the bug can easily bite you.
Charlie Hoffman of Hoffman Guitars has the other really huge website out there. He is an acoustic builder with a repair shop, and has a huge amount of information on how he builds.
Jim Olson is the biggest star of the small shop lutherie world, and his site (actually maintained by a customer) has an interesting section on his building process. It won't actually help you at all, as he is very automated, but his shop is fascinating.
Kathy Matsushita is an amateur builder, but a very serious one. Her site will help you a great deal.
I am afraid that no one has done a really comprehensive site on electric guitar building, at least not that I know of, but there is a lot in common between the two.
As for what you will spend on materials, that depends a great deal on what you buy. I know that, for me, I try to keep materials cost to no more than, and hopefully less than, fifteen percent of the price I charge. The rest is all labor. So that would be $300 or less. But remember, I am buying all of my parts and materials at wholesale prices, so you will have a hard time matching my costs. I would guess you could do it, and get good quality wood and hardware for about $500, but I really don't know.
The first step, however, is not figuring out the cost. The first step is learning everything you can. Go forth and read, and then read some more. Read everything you can get your hands on. Everything else comes next.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Just keep getting sidetracked into other nonsense.
Thanx for the replies Light, juststarting, c7sus , apl, and lala... 
