Lessons learned in my first week trying to build guitars

[Chistopher]

2" is the ideal thickness for the body blank. Any thicker than that is unnecessary.

Respect goes a long way buying wood at a lumber mill

A two piece body is cheaper to make than a three piece body because a 8 foot board that is 6" wide can make one guitar, but an 8 foot board that is 8" wide can make two. You waste a lot less with an 8" board

The biggest thing you are looking for in a board at a lumber mill for a guitar (as opposed to normal use) is the grain pattern and the depth

A jointer is not a planer

Duplicate your templates

HyperTough does not belong in your tool box

Technique is no replacement for planning

Wax your power tools if they need them

A hand planer has to be setup in a very specific way to be useful

You make a square board by jointing an edge, using a table saw to square the other edge, and then planing both faces. I already knew this, but I didn't fully appreciate it until now. From my mathematical days, I find it neat that you have to do a "proof" before you assume a board to be square, flat, or parallel.

If you f**k up a Telecaster it's not problem turning it into a cutting board.

Nothing wrong with failure if you don't get hurt.


This being said, I have not managed to produce a single viable guitar body yet, but I strive off of iterated failure.

 

[uOpt]

Every power tool use you walk away from is a good use.

 

[AdrianSD]

If you f**k up a Telecaster it's not problem turning it into a cutting board.

I thought the Telecaster IS a cutting board that can sometimes be repurposed as a string instrument

 

[Coma]

I thought the Telecaster IS a cutting board that can sometimes be repurposed as a string instrument

That is my understanding as well.

 

[jeremy]

you can make some fine music on a cutting board apparently

 

[blakejcan]

prob easier to buy a body blank that is already planed to the right dimensions

 

[jeremy]

i find making a body a lot easier than making a neck, but having the right tools makes all the difference

 

[ehdwuld]

Necks do seem to be where the work is

One misplaced fret or crooked something
Makes the whole thing trash

It probably isn't as bad once you have made a few

But same goes with everything

 

[Chistopher]

prob easier to buy a body blank that is already planed to the right dimensions

I have two of those on hand, but I don't want to waste nice wood in the learning process

 

[blakejcan]

most of this stuff comes down to not just practice but having the right tools

 

[Chistopher]

Yeah, it's better to get the right tools than try to skill your way into the wrong tool working.

As an extreme example, you can perfectly plane a board with a flat head if you are good enough. Does not make it practical or worth your time to do so.

 

[blakejcan]

Orpheo has done all of this stuff. I make guitars too. Give a shout if you need some help.

Some tools you can get away w/o having. Some really make your life so much easier.

 

[GuitarStv]

I thought the Telecaster IS a cutting board that can sometimes be repurposed as a string instrument

A telecaster is a cutting board that someone fucked up.

 

[Chistopher]

It's a crazy cycle. Mess up a Tele bad enough, it becomes a cutting board. Mess that up bad enough, it becomes a Tele again

 

[Coma]

It's a crazy cycle. Mess up a Tele bad enough, it becomes a cutting board. Mess that up bad enough, it becomes a Tele again

Mess it up further, et voila, pedal board. Then back to cutting board. Then back to Tele, but now it's "Roadworn Vintage Reissue"

 

[GuitarStv]

Keep messing it up and you're left with some nice ash toothpicks.

 

[Chistopher]

Also another lesson. My last name is intellectual property of Gibson. There is precident that I could defend my usage of it in court, but I cannot likely afford the court case

 

[blakejcan]

good ole Christopher Firebird over here

 

[ehdwuld]

Thats why I use a random string letters
Ehdwuld

 

[Chistopher]

I appreciate the range in guitar building. Here is the beginning of a series on a man building a guitar with hand tools. Here is a CNC machine for $3000 that can build a guitar and neck with minimal oversight.

I guess theres no wrong way of doing this