Shaping a guitar from a pre routed body blank

tabano

I am considering buying a pre routed ( pickups, neck heel and controls cavity) body blank from guitar build so I can shape it like I want, basically like a MM axis, has anyone done this at home with basically no tools other than a humble jig saw and a couple of clamps?
any info/ advise much appreciated!

crunchman

tabano said:

I am considering buying a pre routed ( pickups, neck heel and controls cavity) body blank from guitar build so I can shape it like I want, basically like a MM axis, has anyone done this at home with basically no tools other than a humble jig saw and a couple of clamps?
any info/ advise much appreciated!

It can be done, but it will be a lot of work.  A jigsaw won't cut exactly square on something as thick as a body blank,  You would probably want to cut 3mm (or more) outside the line of the shape you want, and then sand it back somehow - which would be a huge amount of work without a powered spindle sander.

Funkfingers

For ease of reckoning, let’s assume that the Guitarbuild partially routed body blank costs one hundred Pounds.

Unless you are starting your own workshop, the purchase costs of the proper tools to complete the job will be prohibitive. 

In some areas, there used to be community-organised, well-equipped and supervised workshops that an individual could rent for a limited duration. Maybe, there still is one in your area?

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Unless it is a matter of pride that you should shape the project guitar body yourself, it would probably be more cost-effective to order from Warmoth or @GSPBASSES ;

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Any costs beyond £400 and you might as well buy a pre-owned Sterling By Musicman Axis.

poopot

It’s be a lot of work going it your way tbh and you may end up with a big lump of firewood!...

ideally you want to make a decent template from mdf, rough cut the body to shape with your jigsaw (a band saw would be better) and then router the final shape with a follower bit or ideally on a pin router... then lots and lots of sanding to get the machine marks out.

but... if you already have the means of making a template and routing etc you may as well buy a slab of wood and make the whole thing from scratch!...the neck pocket and pickups routes are arguably easier to do than shape the body!

WezV

its totally possible to do it all with simple hand tools - but also a complete ball ache

I cut my first body by hand with a coping saw.  I wouldn't do it again.   Never tried a jigsaw, but some do manage it this way.  You can drill relief holes around the outline to make it easier if you do this.  



i wouldn't recommend it, but I wouldn't say you can't do it

Sassafras

Make yourself a Bo Diddley style guitar.
Much easier, you could do that with a timber saw.

SteveRobinson

Not owning a band saw I usually rough out using a jigsaw then trim to size using a router and an MDF template the shape of the body.

Routers are cheap these days.

Kalimna

An alternative to using sanding blocks etc. would be to use a coarse then fine rasp - will quickly remove waste material, and can significantly reduce the amount of final sanding to be done.

adam

tabano

All right!!
Thanks a lot for your opinions and advise guys,
I guess I was daydreaming that it should be an easy task..
if those music mans wouldn’t have that narrow nut I would contemplate one for sure  (or a Wolfgang) I just love those body shapes..

tabano

I think at this point all I have left is to custom order a body and neck if I want that guitar with a wider neck...

Funkfingers

tabano said:

musicman … narrow nut … 

The John Petrucci models have a wider nut and string spacing - even the cheaper Sterling By Musicman variants.

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I have an SBM AX40. If I stare at the nut and cogitate on the theoretical ramifications of the string spacing, it bothers me enormously. If I just pickup up that guitar and play it, it hardly bothers me at all. 

In some respects, when combined with the asymmetric neck shape, the narrower-than-Fender spacing makes perfect sense.

tabano

Funkfingers said:

tabano said:

musicman … narrow nut … 

The John Petrucci models have a wider nut and string spacing - even the cheaper Sterling By Musicman variants.

•

I have an SBM AX40. If I stare at the nut and cogitate on the theoretical ramifications of the string spacing, it bothers me enormously. If I just pickup up that guitar and play it, it hardly bothers me at all. 

In some respects, when combined with the asymmetric neck shape, the narrower-than-Fender spacing makes perfect sense.

Yes,I know many are fine with that nut 
and I wish I was one..
I tried a MM axis usa and I found myself struggling a bit to fret certain things,
I don’t know if I could get used to it..

GSPBASSES

I have one in stock is only part built see photos below. Not quite as the normal ones as it's fully chambered with an F hole, basically built like a thin line Telecaster. It's not been routed for pickups or bridge yet, so I can be routed as you like or you can if you like. You will also see from the photo it has a carved Quilted Maple cap. 

tabano

GSPBASSES said:

I have one in stock is only part built see photos below. Not quite as the normal ones as it's fully chambered with an F hole, basically built like a thin line Telecaster. It's not been routed for pickups or bridge yet, so I can be routed as you like or you can if you like. You will also see from the photo it has a carved Quilted Maple cap. 

That is beautiful! indeed,
I am after a solid body though,
but knowing that you make them is great,!
if you still make them I most likely be in touch very soon with a few questions if that’s ok with you?

markblack

This guy cuts this with a jigsaw if that helps.

TTony

I'd probably be a little more positive than some of the other replies here.

Yes, you *can* spend a fortune on tools to make guitars.  And if you're making a few guitars, or making them to sell, it certainly makes sense to get those tools - they'll save you a lot of time and potentially achieve a better finish.

*But* you can also shape a guitar body with very few, and inexpensive, tools as a one-off.

You'll need;

• a piece of mdf, 12mm min
• transfer the position of the neck cavity and pickup cavities from the blank to the mdf
• a pencil (!) to draw the body shape you want onto the mdf, using the cavity positions as your guide
• a mask to put on before you do the next step ...
• rough cut out the mdf with your jigsaw (it should manage 12mm without a problem) but use a new blade anyway
• sand the  rough cut mdf until you get the shape you want - this  is important because this is the shape you'll eventually cut from your body blank.  Get this bit right!
• position the mdf onto the body blank, and clamp it in place, making sure that the cavity positions line up correctly.
  
• draw round the outline of the mdf onto the blank
• back to the jigsaw, cut round the outline - cut as close the line as you can, without cutting over the line.  Keep in mind that the blade might not stay vertical!
• put the mdf template back onto the body
• now you need a router and a template following bit - that'll cost you <£100, or a couple of beers if  a mate can lend you one
• take this bit slow - use the router to follow the template and cut the more accurate body shape, ie cleaning up the jigsaw cut
• don't try to cut it all in one pass  - going slower here will definitely produce a better result.  As a guide, cut perhaps 1-2mm of width and no more than 5mm of depth from the rough-cut body outline
• eventually, you'll have a body outline in your blank that matches your mdf template
• sand the cut edge until the router cutter marks are all gone.
• if you want  to carry on, use a rasp (and a lot more sandpaper) to cut the belly carve in the back
• use a roundover bit in your router to knock off the sharp edges on the front and back of the blank

It's not particularly hard to do.  With those tools - jigsaw and router - you'll do it within a couple of hours.  Add a couple more hours to do the belly carve and sanding.

Someone else will now come along and fill in the bits I've missed in the above step-by-step!

When you realise how much fun, and how satisfying, it all is, then you can spend a load more money on a load more tools because you'll want to build a load more

tabano

TTony said:

I'd probably be a little more positive than some of the other replies here.

Yes, you *can* spend a fortune on tools to make guitars.  And if you're making a few guitars, or making them to sell, it certainly makes sense to get those tools - they'll save you a lot of time and potentially achieve a better finish.

*But* you can also shape a guitar body with very few, and inexpensive, tools as a one-off.

You'll need;

• a piece of mdf, 12mm min
• transfer the position of the neck cavity and pickup cavities from the blank to the mdf
• a pencil (!) to draw the body shape you want onto the mdf, using the cavity positions as your guide
• a mask to put on before you do the next step ...
• rough cut out the mdf with your jigsaw (it should manage 12mm without a problem) but use a new blade anyway
• sand the  rough cut mdf until you get the shape you want - this  is important because this is the shape you'll eventually cut from your body blank.  Get this bit right!
• position the mdf onto the body blank, and clamp it in place, making sure that the cavity positions line up correctly.
  
• draw round the outline of the mdf onto the blank
• back to the jigsaw, cut round the outline - cut as close the line as you can, without cutting over the line.  Keep in mind that the blade might not stay vertical!
• put the mdf template back onto the body
• now you need a router and a template following bit - that'll cost you <£100, or a couple of beers if  a mate can lend you one
• take this bit slow - use the router to follow the template and cut the more accurate body shape, ie cleaning up the jigsaw cut
• don't try to cut it all in one pass  - going slower here will definitely produce a better result.  As a guide, cut perhaps 1-2mm of width and no more than 5mm of depth from the rough-cut body outline
• eventually, you'll have a body outline in your blank that matches your mdf template
• sand the cut edge until the router cutter marks are all gone.
• if you want  to carry on, use a rasp (and a lot more sandpaper) to cut the belly carve in the back
• use a roundover bit in your router to knock off the sharp edges on the front and back of the blank

It's not particularly hard to do.  With those tools - jigsaw and router - you'll do it within a couple of hours.  Add a couple more hours to do the belly carve and sanding.

Someone else will now come along and fill in the bits I've missed in the above step-by-step!

When you realise how much fun, and how satisfying, it all is, then you can spend a load more money on a load more tools because you'll want to build a load more

Thanks a lot for the detailed brake down,
this is more or less what I thought I would need to do but I was not  counting with  the router bit,
I am looking at all options and if I decide to go the self built route this will be a one off guitar ( mm.. I think.. ) but I get the feeling that after  taking everything into account it will be more expensive built it than having the body ordered,..

crunchman

tabano said:

Thanks a lot for the detailed brake down,
this is more or less what I thought I would need to do but I was not  counting with  the router bit,
I am looking at all options and if I decide to go the self built route this will be a one off guitar ( mm.. I think.. ) but I get the feeling that after  taking everything into account it will be more expensive built it than having the body ordered,..

If you do go down the path of buying a router, then you can route the pickup and neck cavities yourself.  A blank without those cavities routed should be cheaper than the ones you are looking at, and might contribute to the cost of the router and bits.

It does depend whether you then go on to use it to make more things, but it is quite fun to build your own stuff.