good electric guitar building books, videos or websites?
- Thread starter Snoogles
- Start date
Bludave
New member
Re: good electric guitar building books, videos or websites?
Any book by Dan Erlwine is excellent.... Here
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Books,_plans/Building_and_repair:_Guitar,_electric.html
Any book by Dan Erlwine is excellent.... Here
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Books,_plans/Building_and_repair:_Guitar,_electric.html
Chris of Arabia
Desert RATT
Jocelyn
New member
Re: good electric guitar building books, videos or websites?
+1 Excellent book. And I love his sense of Humor. Dans Books are nice too .
+1 Excellent book. And I love his sense of Humor. Dans Books are nice too .
crusty philtrum
Vintageologist
Re: good electric guitar building books, videos or websites?
These are the books i studied before building my LP-based instrument last year (there's a thread about it in The Vault). Plus many blogs and Youtube vids that i found easily via Google searches. The latter sources were helpful not only for 'what to do and how to do it', but also for 'what not to do' ... learning vicariously through other peoples' mishaps.
Plus ... something i was taught by a very skilled friend who took to building superb guitars .... work through every process, every little detail .. in your mind, before picking up any wood or tools.
Patience is vital (be prepared to become more patient), as is a certain amount of confidence, but not too much. And always be prepared to have a 'Plan B' for everything. Aim for a 110% result, and if you fall short and only get to 95%, you will have still done extremely well.
AND .... there are some incredible builders here on this forum (I don't include myself in that group) and i suspect all of them would be only too happy to offer help at any stage, all you'd need to do is ask. That's why this place is so great. Never be afraid to ask, no matter how silly you might think your question is. I promise you, you will recieve amazing support here.
These are the books i studied before building my LP-based instrument last year (there's a thread about it in The Vault). Plus many blogs and Youtube vids that i found easily via Google searches. The latter sources were helpful not only for 'what to do and how to do it', but also for 'what not to do' ... learning vicariously through other peoples' mishaps.
Plus ... something i was taught by a very skilled friend who took to building superb guitars .... work through every process, every little detail .. in your mind, before picking up any wood or tools.
Patience is vital (be prepared to become more patient), as is a certain amount of confidence, but not too much. And always be prepared to have a 'Plan B' for everything. Aim for a 110% result, and if you fall short and only get to 95%, you will have still done extremely well.
AND .... there are some incredible builders here on this forum (I don't include myself in that group) and i suspect all of them would be only too happy to offer help at any stage, all you'd need to do is ask. That's why this place is so great. Never be afraid to ask, no matter how silly you might think your question is. I promise you, you will recieve amazing support here.
ItsaBass
New member
Re: good electric guitar building books, videos or websites?
I found that acoustic guitar making books can be very helpful as well, even if all you plan to build are electrics. Actually, I've built two set neck electrics, but have never read an electric guitar building book. I don't think I would recommend the same, as there are things I would have changed looking back (such as not using dovetail neck joints), but neither of the guitars were disasters. It helps to understand the traditional construction methods for the instruments from which electrics evolved. And the books are also very good references and tutorials for more involved woodworking stuff that you don't really get into with electrics. I have three good ones, but I only have one handy. I have to dig them out of a box somewhere to remember the other names names exactly. They are both older books, from the '70's or '80's. Here is the one I have out, which is a newer one:
Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology: A Complete Reference for the Design & Construction of the Steel-String Folk Guitar & the Classical Guitar (Guitar Reference) by Jonathan Natelson and William Cumpiano (Aug 1, 1994)
I found that acoustic guitar making books can be very helpful as well, even if all you plan to build are electrics. Actually, I've built two set neck electrics, but have never read an electric guitar building book. I don't think I would recommend the same, as there are things I would have changed looking back (such as not using dovetail neck joints), but neither of the guitars were disasters. It helps to understand the traditional construction methods for the instruments from which electrics evolved. And the books are also very good references and tutorials for more involved woodworking stuff that you don't really get into with electrics. I have three good ones, but I only have one handy. I have to dig them out of a box somewhere to remember the other names names exactly. They are both older books, from the '70's or '80's. Here is the one I have out, which is a newer one:
Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology: A Complete Reference for the Design & Construction of the Steel-String Folk Guitar & the Classical Guitar (Guitar Reference) by Jonathan Natelson and William Cumpiano (Aug 1, 1994)
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crusty philtrum
Vintageologist
Re: good electric guitar building books, videos or websites?
Here's an Aussie woodworking site i found that has a section for musical instruments with some great build threads and instructional stuff, it helped and inspired me a great deal ...
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f98/
Here's an Aussie woodworking site i found that has a section for musical instruments with some great build threads and instructional stuff, it helped and inspired me a great deal ...
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f98/
Bludave
New member
Re: good electric guitar building books, videos or websites?
I wish you lots of luck in your building. For me.... well I could never get the fretwork right, so I leave it to the pros. I can solder, wire & bolt things together but the fretwork IMHO is really the key to making a great "playing" guitar.
I wish you lots of luck in your building. For me.... well I could never get the fretwork right, so I leave it to the pros. I can solder, wire & bolt things together but the fretwork IMHO is really the key to making a great "playing" guitar.
ItsaBass
New member
Re: good electric guitar building books, videos or websites?
Exactly. I did OK on the first one (playable, at least) insisting on a custom scale (24.5), making it so that I had to everything from scratch. But I decided to go with a pre radiused and slotted fingerboard for the second one (though I put the frets in myself, and leveled and dressed them). Much easier build.
Exactly. I did OK on the first one (playable, at least) insisting on a custom scale (24.5), making it so that I had to everything from scratch. But I decided to go with a pre radiused and slotted fingerboard for the second one (though I put the frets in myself, and leveled and dressed them). Much easier build.
crusty philtrum
Vintageologist
Re: good electric guitar building books, videos or websites?
Absolutely, the neck and frets are going to be the critical thing. I opted to buy a neck and adapt it for my build because the body wood was very special and i couldn't afford to have it turned into a set-neck guitar that played poorly, there was no way i could get another piece of body wood as good as the piece i had.
But for me, i do plan on one day attempting to conquer the 'final frontier' and attempt to build a neck. (a bolt-on neck is probably the ideal type for early attempts, so that if the results aren't so good, you can simply unbolt it without having to damage the body, finish, etc). My thinking would be to build two identical necks at the same time, number them 'one' and 'two', and always performing a process on 'number one' first, so you can improve the process on 'number two'. At the end you'd have two necks, and at least one of them should be reasonable.
Absolutely, the neck and frets are going to be the critical thing. I opted to buy a neck and adapt it for my build because the body wood was very special and i couldn't afford to have it turned into a set-neck guitar that played poorly, there was no way i could get another piece of body wood as good as the piece i had.
But for me, i do plan on one day attempting to conquer the 'final frontier' and attempt to build a neck. (a bolt-on neck is probably the ideal type for early attempts, so that if the results aren't so good, you can simply unbolt it without having to damage the body, finish, etc). My thinking would be to build two identical necks at the same time, number them 'one' and 'two', and always performing a process on 'number one' first, so you can improve the process on 'number two'. At the end you'd have two necks, and at least one of them should be reasonable.
ImmortalSix
John Mayer's Mankini
Re: good electric guitar building books, videos or websites?
The best I've found is TDPRI's "Tele Home Depot," a forum specifically focused on home builds.
Gil Yaron's legendary 1959 Les Paul replica build is there, as well as Scatter Lee's somewhat legendary Televarius build.
Veteran builder Ron Kirn is there and extremely active, along with Colt W. Knight and other up-and-coming builders.
It's the best spot on the net if you are looking to get started building at home.
Definitely not just for Telecasters, either.
I went from having 0 tools and 0 experience to being a nearly competent if not lazy home builder with 100% of my information coming from TDPRI's Tele Home Depot.
Cheers!
The best I've found is TDPRI's "Tele Home Depot," a forum specifically focused on home builds.
Gil Yaron's legendary 1959 Les Paul replica build is there, as well as Scatter Lee's somewhat legendary Televarius build.
Veteran builder Ron Kirn is there and extremely active, along with Colt W. Knight and other up-and-coming builders.
It's the best spot on the net if you are looking to get started building at home.
Definitely not just for Telecasters, either.
I went from having 0 tools and 0 experience to being a nearly competent if not lazy home builder with 100% of my information coming from TDPRI's Tele Home Depot.
Cheers!
