Starting out in guitar building - There will be questions!

SteveF · July 2023

I'm also hoping that the shop vac and dust trap might help a little bit

Kalimna · July 2023

I see you're in Paisley. Im not *too* far down the road in Deanston, just north of Stirling. You are very welcome to pop along and have a nosey/hands on with the gear I've got that I use for homebuilds. I started with a Bailey's course, and a great experience it was, but I would recommend something like the O'Brien online courses if you want to learn to do it yourself. At Bailey's, there was less time for the 'why' and the 'how', and more akin to 'do it this way'.

Adam

SteveF · July 2023

Thank you Adam, very kind. I will check those O'Brien courses out and I have already sent an email to Bailey's although I got a reply initially and nothing since.

SteveF · July 2023

Wow, the O'Brien ones (now LuthierieAcademy) look like they are very comprehensive. I will have a look at the sample lessons. The build an electric course is ~$250 but to be fair it's 14 and a half hours of video so actually seems pretty reasonable.

Kalimna · July 2023

SteveF said:

Wow, the O'Brien ones (now LuthierieAcademy) look like they are very comprehensive. I will have a look at the sample lessons. The build an electric course is ~$250 but to be fair it's 14 and a half hours of video so actually seems pretty reasonable.

I have the electric, archtop and classical courses. They are excellent resources, and well worth the cost.
The other thing i would absolutely recommend are books by Melvyn Hiscock, and Cumpiano/Natelson. The Cumpiano is acoustic based, but the info is absolutely applicable to electrics and the writing style is a rare treat.

SteveF · July 2023

I have the newer edition of Melvyn Hiscok's book. I will check out the others

SteveF · July 2023

Well, this is all very exciting - this stuff just arrived. Hard to believe all this will become a guitar (hopefully)

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/1337e477408c04c93341083822e577bbbf94de56db87eb5494

I went pretty cheap for this first build - I fully accept that I may duff up a blank or two so I went with poplar/tulipwood for the body and a plain maple neck with rosewood board (I do have a pre-slotted board too in case my initial attempt fails, but figured I would have a go) I'm not worried about the grain etc on the body blank - it's going to be painted.

I also picked these up on eBay. They seemed to be the most comprehensive templates I could see on there, marked with centrelines etc. Hopefully they should work ok. My first task will be making some copies of the templates. That should help me get comfortable with the saw and router etc.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/f110b227bba0a76749ea1a058b3231f839cdb3614b39dd6d0a

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/6feb35d2e27d060cd70984d31de9599358325ec308542237dc

My first observation is that the slot on the template for the truss rod seems to be approximately 350mm long. Most of the rods I can see for electric online are around 440/460mm. I haven't bought one yet as I wasn't sure which I needed. Am I to assume that the slot in the template provides the end of the slot and you would extend it one way or another depending whether you want the adjustment at head or heel and. based on what length your particular rod is?

TTony · July 2023

SteveF said:

Thank you Adam, very kind. I will check those O'Brien courses out and I have already sent an email to Bailey's although I got a reply initially and nothing since.

Carol’s been away. Back now, she’ll get to you (admin isn’t a great strength!

Curious that the truss rod slot is so short. It has to extend to either the headstock or the heel. Try asking the seller?

SteveF · July 2023

Yeah she did say in her email that things had been a little ad hoc recently - I'm in no rush

I did assume that was the case with the truss rod. I can only assume it's to give the option to do either. I think I will be planning on doing a headstock adjustment. I will send the seller a message and see what they say

SteveF · July 2023

Makes sense to me:

Morning Steve, The truss rod access on these templates for vintage style one way rods fitted into one piece maple necks mounted from the back of the neck (Skunk stripe), most Fender truss rods these days are two way rods mounted underneath the fretboard. Here’s a very useful link www.youtube.com/live/pjcjeMmRxNE?feature=share

WezV · July 2023

the simplest way to do a truss rod is to route an appropriate flat bottomed channel for a 2-way rod into the blank before cutting anything out. you can use the edge of the blank as a guide for the router if everything is square.

the traditional fender rod needs a curved channel and drilling for access with special jigs. Its a shorter back route because the ends are done with the drilling jig I think the Hiscock book covers one way of doing this on the tele style build, but it is unnecessary if going with a separate board and modern 2-way rod

SteveF · July 2023

Thanks Wes, that agrees with what I have picked up from various sources and is how I am going to approach it I think.

HilditchGuitars · July 2023

As stated already, that's designed for a skunk stripe. But @WezV is bang on with his advice od using the edge of the blank as guide for routing the slot, exactly how I do mine. I'd recommend Touchstone Tonewoods for your truss rod if you haven't already got one, and go for a 2 way adjustable. Should fit nicely in the channel made by a 1/4" straight bit, at a depth of 9mm.

Don't try to take too much off in one pass with the router, I've seen some people going for huge passes and ending up with nasty tear out routers biting and doing what they want. Quick way to ruin a piece. Best to draw your outline on your wood and cut as close to the line as you can and then take small nibbles with the router. Never more than half the diameter of the bit if you can help it. I fancy doing a video on the subject on my YT at some point, unless one already exists.
And use masking tape and superglue to stick your templates down - Piece of tape on the template and the body (other template if you make more) and glue them together. Works a treat and simple to remove when you're done.

And remember that centre line. If you can keep it accurate it makes lining things up much easier.

Sorry for the essay, just catching up lol

HilditchGuitars · July 2023

Here's a terrible video of me doing this a few years ago

SteveF · July 2023

Thanks for all the really useful advice guys!

GSPBASSES · July 2023

I purchased this last year, it's really good for cutting Trust Rod channels, either straight flat or curved either way Gibson or fender style. Bit expensive, but it does do a really good job.

SteveF · July 2023

That looks nifty! Maybe one for the future if I am going to be making more necks

I hadn't heard of them before. I like the look of their fretboard slotting jig too.

TTony · July 2023

Look for Bagpress fret slotting jig on eBay.

(Made in UK, eBay is his sales channel)

SteveF · July 2023

Got my parts all ordered now I think.

Gone fairly conservative for the first build. Hardware mostly from Northwest Guitars, with some Nitro ordered from @SteveRobinson and a fortyniner/honky tonk angel pickup set from @OilCityPickups. I've also got fretwire and MOP dots from David Dyke. Only other thing was a control plate with slanted switch from (I think) axesrus.

I also plumped for the O'Brien electric guitar course to give me a detailed process to follow (thanks for the recommendation @Kalimna ). Watching through it ahead of getting started but it seems well presented and very detailed.

SteveF · July 2023

TTony said:

Look for Bagpress fret slotting jig on eBay.

(Made in UK, eBay is his sales channel)

That's interesting Tony - just watching Mark Bailey's demo of it at the moment.

Howdy, Stranger!

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Starting out in guitar building - There will be questions!

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