muttley600
Banned
Following the recent guitar build threads here there has been quite a bit of interest from members in having a go themselves. Myself and JCH have been investigating the possibility of heading up a build thread where we walk all those interested through a basic build with the aim of producing a functional guitar with the minimum of investment in tools and equipment. We have also been in touch with the admin here, particularly chili and Charter to discuss the best way forward.
What we have come up with is outlined below and we would like some input from members before committing. This thread is for all your suggestions and comments so lets here them.
The Aim
We need to set some basic aims and objectives. As stated the main aim is to build a guitar with a limited range of special tools and equipment. For anyone getting into this for the first time or moving on from doing setups and kit builds the prospect of building from scratch can be a little off putting. It needn't be.
The project will be divided into sections to clearly outline the process for each stage. Hopefully we will be able to walk through the tools, jigs and methods used to construct a basic guitar.
The project will be divided into sections that will hopefully make it easier for people to find the information they need without wading through long threads with lots of side tracking and off topic discussion. We have decided that the best way to do this will be to create a thread or threads that will contain the nuts and bolts of the build and the tools and jigs in an orderly fashion. This thread will be for JCH and myself to post progress in and we would ask that everyone refrain from posting in those threads. We will have separate thread in which all questions and comments can be made and we will be on hand to respond to them. Chili and Charter will be on hand to move or delete any rouge posts so please try and stick to this simple rule to make life easier for them.
It would also be great if anyone who decides to give the project a go start their own build thread so we can all add encouragement and praise as things progress.
The Guitar.
The guitar we plan to build will be based on the Les Paul Junior. This is an ideal start as the guitar is functional and not overly complicated in terms of design or features. At present the plan is that JCH will be building a double cutaway and I will be building a single cutaway. That will provide an option for people who may wish to build either one. We also intend to introduce a few other changes to the build to demonstrate that a little thought and planning allows you to modify the plans to accommodate exactly what you may want to build. I believe JCH will be sticking fairly close to the plans. I will be making a few changes to the basic design but nothing complicated or that makes the build more challenging. We will also be walking through the process of making the pickups for anyone that feels they wish to attempt that as well. A stock pickup would be fine however.
The tools
The basic tools required will be outlined most of which are readily available if you don't have them already. Tools are great and you can never have enough however many often presume that you need a large range of specialist tools to build a guitar and this simply isn't the case. Many of the specialist tools can be made and we will be walking through this as well. Radius blocks, fretting tools, clamping tools, all can be improvised or made with only a very few exceptions. If you want to outlay on any specific tools I'm sure JCH and myself can point you in the right direction. It's important to get the right tools especially if you are spending good money and they are to serve you well in the long run.
Much of the process of building a guitar is about the jigs used to get the job done. We will be spending quite a bit of time describing these and also how they work. Again the outlay for these is not excessive and most can be made with half inch ply and some square timber stock or off cuts.
I will be putting up a list of tools categorized as essential, preferable and handy to have. JCH will also out line what he is using although I would imagine they would be very similar.
JCH has also agreed to put up a cutting list for the timber required and for the parts. For anyone in the UK or Europe I will be happy to advise on where to get what is needed.
The Plans we will be working to will be attached for anyone that wants to look them over. They exceed the forum limit for upload so hopefully we will get Chatar to host them for download. If not then we will email them over to anyone interested. You can get these printed full size quite easily or if you have software that allows you to tile print you can print them on A4 and assemble then from there. The important part of the plane is the outline as that is pretty much the only part we will be scaling off the paper. For most everything else we will be marking as we go from listed dimensions.
Thats it for now. Any questions fire away and happy building. I would think we will be starting on this in the next few days. How long it will take is anybodies guess but until you start on a journey you can not arrive at the destination..
What we have come up with is outlined below and we would like some input from members before committing. This thread is for all your suggestions and comments so lets here them.
The Aim
We need to set some basic aims and objectives. As stated the main aim is to build a guitar with a limited range of special tools and equipment. For anyone getting into this for the first time or moving on from doing setups and kit builds the prospect of building from scratch can be a little off putting. It needn't be.
The project will be divided into sections to clearly outline the process for each stage. Hopefully we will be able to walk through the tools, jigs and methods used to construct a basic guitar.
The project will be divided into sections that will hopefully make it easier for people to find the information they need without wading through long threads with lots of side tracking and off topic discussion. We have decided that the best way to do this will be to create a thread or threads that will contain the nuts and bolts of the build and the tools and jigs in an orderly fashion. This thread will be for JCH and myself to post progress in and we would ask that everyone refrain from posting in those threads. We will have separate thread in which all questions and comments can be made and we will be on hand to respond to them. Chili and Charter will be on hand to move or delete any rouge posts so please try and stick to this simple rule to make life easier for them.
It would also be great if anyone who decides to give the project a go start their own build thread so we can all add encouragement and praise as things progress.
The Guitar.
The guitar we plan to build will be based on the Les Paul Junior. This is an ideal start as the guitar is functional and not overly complicated in terms of design or features. At present the plan is that JCH will be building a double cutaway and I will be building a single cutaway. That will provide an option for people who may wish to build either one. We also intend to introduce a few other changes to the build to demonstrate that a little thought and planning allows you to modify the plans to accommodate exactly what you may want to build. I believe JCH will be sticking fairly close to the plans. I will be making a few changes to the basic design but nothing complicated or that makes the build more challenging. We will also be walking through the process of making the pickups for anyone that feels they wish to attempt that as well. A stock pickup would be fine however.
The tools
The basic tools required will be outlined most of which are readily available if you don't have them already. Tools are great and you can never have enough however many often presume that you need a large range of specialist tools to build a guitar and this simply isn't the case. Many of the specialist tools can be made and we will be walking through this as well. Radius blocks, fretting tools, clamping tools, all can be improvised or made with only a very few exceptions. If you want to outlay on any specific tools I'm sure JCH and myself can point you in the right direction. It's important to get the right tools especially if you are spending good money and they are to serve you well in the long run.
Much of the process of building a guitar is about the jigs used to get the job done. We will be spending quite a bit of time describing these and also how they work. Again the outlay for these is not excessive and most can be made with half inch ply and some square timber stock or off cuts.
I will be putting up a list of tools categorized as essential, preferable and handy to have. JCH will also out line what he is using although I would imagine they would be very similar.
JCH has also agreed to put up a cutting list for the timber required and for the parts. For anyone in the UK or Europe I will be happy to advise on where to get what is needed.
The Plans we will be working to will be attached for anyone that wants to look them over. They exceed the forum limit for upload so hopefully we will get Chatar to host them for download. If not then we will email them over to anyone interested. You can get these printed full size quite easily or if you have software that allows you to tile print you can print them on A4 and assemble then from there. The important part of the plane is the outline as that is pretty much the only part we will be scaling off the paper. For most everything else we will be marking as we go from listed dimensions.
Thats it for now. Any questions fire away and happy building. I would think we will be starting on this in the next few days. How long it will take is anybodies guess but until you start on a journey you can not arrive at the destination..
