Tell me it's a bad idea

stickyfiddle

ICBM said:

... 
There lies the road to ruin.

True, but it's an enjoyable journey

GoldenEraGuitars

www said:

Fuengi said:

If you're doing it because you want a guitar it's a terrible idea. 

Why so?

Because apparently your first build will never be “good enough”. 

But.... tis a guitar, a partcaster. Guess what? You can still change the bits you don’t like. 

www

GoldenEraGuitars said:

www said:

Fuengi said:

If you're doing it because you want a guitar it's a terrible idea. 

Why so?

Because apparently your first build will never be “good enough”. 

But.... tis a guitar, a partcaster. Guess what? You can still change the bits you don’t like. 

Lol - I never find anything "good enough"! My last one won't be right, let alone my first 

paulnb57

ICBM said:

It's a bad idea, because you'll build a guitar, which won't be perfect because that's the way of guitars (even if they are), and you won't be able to sell it because 1) home-build partscasters are worth nothing on the open market, and 2) you will be emotionally attached to it because *it's the first guitar you ever built for yourself*.

So you will then build another one, which will be better but still not perfect (even if it is), 1 will still apply, and 2 will still apply even if slightly less. So you will then build another one. And another. Before long you will have a house full of partscasters, no space, no money, and you will need a shed at the bottom of the garden to put them all (and yourself, once the divorce papers come through) in.

There lies the road to ruin.

Theres a lot of truth here! Been there except for the shed/no money/divorce bit......it is seriously addictive and the next one is ALWAYS better, except it isn't always....Ive put qualitly parts together and built some horrors, fine guitars but just not right, but the joy is you can pull em apart and recycle the parts into something else, start simple, with parts you can guarantee will fit together...and however good a partscater is, it will never be worth as much as you spent if you want to sell...

GoldenEraGuitars

www said:

GoldenEraGuitars said:

www said:

Fuengi said:

If you're doing it because you want a guitar it's a terrible idea. 

Why so?

Because apparently your first build will never be “good enough”. 

But.... tis a guitar, a partcaster. Guess what? You can still change the bits you don’t like. 

Lol - I never find anything "good enough"! My last one won't be right, let alone my first 

And so you’ll keep learning and developing your craft. Maybe I’m seeing it all through rose tinted glasses... but we build plenty of guitars here and the quality is down to persistence and down right stubbornness. 

Make sure your body looks good, psychologically it’ll make you want to play it. Make sure the neck feels right, that’s the important bit. Everything else is easy to change.

Funkfingers

www said: 

Why so?

The knowledge gained by self-assembling an electric guitar would probably have resulted in better component choices at the beginning of the process.

Fuengi

www said:

Fuengi said:

If you're doing it because you want a guitar it's a terrible idea. 

Why so?

I priced up a Mustang build, north of £600 for a finished body and neck. Then I'd still need pickups, bridge, trem, tuners, switches... I was looking at £1k.

Bought a used Fender Modern Player for about a third of that instead which is put together far better than I ever could. 

poopot

Buy a body and neck from a decent builder and you will be fine.

talk to @GoldenEraGuitars if you want a finished body and neck. He’ll deffo be able to help you out.

be aware tho’ that it’s not always just a case of bolting bits together... sometimes issues crop up that you may not be aware of until you’ve tried to live with the guitar for a bit.

For example:

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/156382/fixing-a-favourite-pic-heavy

Danielsguitars

The most important part of a scratch build is the neck, that's where my time goes, it depends on your goals

Using a 2 way truss rod and a fretboard is easier to deal with, also you can buy pre slotted boards, learning how to use a radius block properly whilst keeping it flat takes time to learn and sanding beams are easier but you still need to keep checking the radius

A mostly hand tools approach is the way to start because nothing will fuck up your work quicker than a power tool