I6's First Guitar Build

[ImmortalSix]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

Yes! Forearm contour FTW.

I'm definitely seeing a daphne blue, no contour, double bound, no guard, double P90 with cutoff Tele bridge in my hands from you within the next decade my friend.

Excellent! I really hope to be able to / choose to build these for other people in the future. I love doing it, it's a lot of fun.

The only problem I see at present, is that it's way expensive.

If you look at the cost of materials, I could probably itemize it fully, but here's a ballpark:

Mahogany slab: $90
USACG neck: $250
Bridge: $30
Nut: $13
Control plate: $10
Pots, Caps, Jack, Electrosocket, Switch, knobs: $55
Pickups: $120
Neck plate: $12
Tuners: $40
Pickguard material: $20
Tru Oil: $15
Paint: $20

Subtotal: $675

So, I have about $675 in raw materials in this guitar.

Factor in tool-type-stuff that you can't use again, like sandpaper, paintbrushes, etc, and that's another cost. Call it $25.

Factor in all the MDF, pre-made templates, spray adhesive, etc. I used making templates, and there's another cost. This cost will be present on any custom shaped build. Call it $40.

Subtotal: $65

Add that to the $675 and you've got $740

Now, the biggie - factor in my time. This was my first build, so it's useless to figure out time for this one, but in the future, I see myself spending a solid 40-80 hours on a guitar build, being realistic, including finishing, setup, everything.

If I paid myself $10/hr, that'd be $400-$800.
If I paid myself $20/hr, that'd be $800-$1600.
If I paid myself $30/hr, that's be $1200-$2400.
If I paid myself $40/hr, that'd be $1600-$3200.

I fancy myself worth more than $10/hr.

But add in the lowest of the low, 40 hours at $10/hr, and I'm at $400, plus the $740 from above, and we're at $1140.

Don't even guess what it would be to cover a tiny portion of the tools I bought to outfit the shop in each build.

So the lowest theoretical price I could charge for a guitar and make any profit at all ($1) is $1141. For $1 profit.

So, you can probably understand my consternation about how to even consider making guitars for anything other than fun.

Because I don't know how easy it will be to compete with, say, Fender's American Deluxe line pricewise. Especially since there's no way I could work for $10 an hour or accept $1 profit.

I think that's why you see a lot of small-shop guitars getting so fancy and expensive - they make them look fancy so it feels more understandable to ask so much for them, and they have to ask so much for them because even my ugly mutt of a guitar has about $675 worth of materials in it, and is (and will be, even after finishing) quite amateurish in fit and finish.

So it's all for fun at this point, or I'll make you any bolt on you want for $2000.

Not exactly compelling

[ImmortalSix]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

you can wire it either way. I would have the master control it as well, but I also prefer a 2 humbucker guitar to have 1 volume.

I like the idea that the master volume and master tone are exactly that - they control tthe volume or tone of everything - whatever's getting sent to the jack.

[beggar_guitar]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

Cool build! I'd love to take a shot at building my own guitar one of these days. My father-in-law would love to help tackle a project like that.

Congrats!!

Nevermind - I think I can apply this:

That's my current wiring scheme in an HSS strat. I love it. Super versatile!

[ImmortalSix]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

Pasted from another thread, for the sake of focus:

This guitar must be finished man. It doesn't matter if it is flawed in minor ways, if it tunes and plays well, it's your guitar. I often think to myself that a finished project of any standard is miles better than an unfinished project of any standard. Also i think it feels more 'complete' in the mind and makes it easier to give yourself wholeheartedly to the next project, although some people seem to be able to have several projects on the go at the same time and still get great results.

Yeah, this guitar must be finished. You're almost there. I seriously do want to see this finished before i die. Please.

(Oh btw, the Purpleheart Tele looks great, it looks unique in a way that seems to match my perception of it's unique tone).

Thank you very much. I need to create an MDF template for my pickguard design, then make the pickguard (should be a useful thing to learn / exciting way to start a fire), then mock it up on the guitar before I can paint. The pickguard will have weird pickup locations and a stealth P90, which means I'll be drilling holes just so the pole pieces can "see" out. It is going to be a royal pain in the dick to make and I couldn't begin to tell someone else what I want, so I just bought a sheet of tortoise plastic and a chamfer bit for my router.

Then I'll paint the guitar (poorly). Then I'll sand and paint and sand and paint and wetsand.

Then I'll paint the headstock (same color as body - white)

Then I'll finish the neck in TruOil. Then...profit?

[Kam]

...which means I'll be drilling holes just so the pole pieces can "see" out.

Is that really necessary? I didn't think that the plastic of the pickguard would interfere with the magnetic field from the pickup.

[ImmortalSix]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

Is that really necessary? I didn't think that the plastic of the pickguard would interfere with the magnetic field from the pickup.

Glad you asked!

No, I don;t think it's necessary either, but I'm hoping it will be a cool style element / conversation starter:

"What are those holes on the pickguard th...OMG, NICE BRO!"

I took the cover off the P90 and I'm going to jack the pole pieces way up, so hopefully, if executed well, you'll see these 6 little holes with pole pieces baaaaaaaarely visible and it will be one of those little details that makes you say "wow, cool."

[Kam]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

Glad you asked!

No, I don;t think it's necessary either, but I'm hoping it will be a cool style element / conversation starter:

"What are those holes on the pickguard th...OMG, NICE BRO!"

I took the cover off the P90 and I'm going to jack the pole pieces way up, so hopefully, if executed well, you'll see these 6 little holes with pole pieces baaaaaaaarely visible and it will be one of those little details that makes you say "wow, cool."

It's little details like this that make this build so interesting to watch.

I think that'll look pretty cool.

[Lazarus1140]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

I think that's why you see a lot of small-shop guitars getting so fancy and expensive - they make them look fancy so it feels more understandable to ask so much for them, and they have to ask so much for them because even my ugly mutt of a guitar has about $675 worth of materials in it, and is (and will be, even after finishing) quite amateurish in fit and finish.

So it's all for fun at this point, or I'll make you any bolt on you want for $2000.

Not exactly compelling

I've thought about this a lot and figure a builder would eventually have to be able to build rather tha buy the neck. Even so, that's more time, equipment, and certainly a tremendous learning curve.

Anyway, what I thought about is with all the downtime in the finishing process, the labor cost would probably be reduced considerably if you were building four or five (or ten) guitars at the same time, I mean you could color coat guitars and assemble and wire several while the coats dry.

I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud. This is of particular interest to me because I need to find something I love to do that has at least some profit in it to supplement my income in retirement.

[ImmortalSix]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

I've thought about this a lot and figure a builder would eventually have to be able to build rather tha buy the neck. Even so, that's more time, equipment, and certainly a tremendous learning curve.

Anyway, what I thought about is with all the downtime in the finishing process, the labor cost would probably be reduced considerably if you were building four or five (or ten) guitars at the same time, I mean you could color coat guitars and assemble and wire several while the coats dry.

I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud. This is of particular interest to me because I need to find something I love to do that has at least some profit in it to supplement my income in retirement.

I will build necks eventually. That will save a lot of money. A neck blank is $10 - $20 worth of wood.

I have the same thoughts - builds in batches of 12, so I set up my router table and do all the shape cuts at once. Then set it up for the roundover and do all 12 at once. Then set up for the control cavity once...and so on.

Batch building is something I think I would love to try.

I, too am thinking about making guitars for other people, for money. I'm in no position to do that right now, obviously, since I'm a novice and still have a lot of mistakes to make before I know what not to do, but it would be a really fun way to supplement income.

[crusty philtrum]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

When i built my LP-style guitar last year, i remember thinking i wish i'd had another body block and built two identical guitars at the same time. I would have called them #1 and #2, and with each process, i would have always done it on #1 first, so that any minor errors could have been addressed before doing the same thing on #2. That way, no matter how #1 ended up, #2 would probably have been better.

But in my case the reality was that I only had the one block of wood and didn't have the funds to be buying double the hardware and pickups. That brought a special mantra .... "YOU GOT ONE SHOT ... DON'T FARK THIS UP !!!!!'

For ongoing construction, yes it would definitely be more productive and conducive to profit to make a whole bunch of the same thing at the same time. (Lotsa fun when it is time to sand and polish the finishes though .... makes my shoulder ache just thinking about it, hehe). But when it comes to a new design, you'd probably need to make a couple of prototypes first to be certain not to build a batch of twelve that all featured exactly the same flaw or shortcoming.

I dig all the funny little areas that these kind of projects take the mind...it's like all this philosophical stuff comes with the territory.

[Lazarus1140]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

But when it comes to a new design, you'd probably need to make a couple of prototypes first to be certain not to build a batch of twelve that all featured exactly the same flaw or shortcoming.

That's true, but one could probably at least rout for different pickups or experiment with new colors without risking too much error carryover.

I dig all the funny little areas that these kind of projects take the mind...it's like all this philosophical stuff comes with the territory.

It is funny, but philosophy needs to be converted to practicality soon for me because ... well, I'm not getting any younger.

[ImmortalSix]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

Good point - I made a ton of mistakes on this design.

If I were just making Telecasters, though, I could charge pretty confidently into a batch build.

Good stuff about the little ideas coming with the territory - it is fun to think about ways to make the builds better and possibly share them with others.

[MisterE]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

Too cool.

Amazing, for not having the expertise you pulled it off great.

I will keep tabs on this build.

[astrozombie]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

Maybe I'm just stupid, but I didn't see any mistakes that are unforgiveable, considering you made this guitar yourself.

question: how hard is it to route really, and where did you get the tools?

[ImmortalSix]

Re: I6's First Guitar Build

Maybe I'm just stupid, but I didn't see any mistakes that are unforgiveable, considering you made this guitar yourself.

question: how hard is it to route really, and where did you get the tools?

Routing is extremely easy. The catch is that it's very (very) dangerous if you set up or execute improperly.

you can read the story of my gradual tool accumulation at http://phinnguitars.blogspot.com