# Building a Custom Electric Guitar 101



## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

First off, sorry Mods if I have started this in the wrong forum. I am sure you can move it to the appropriate forum if need be. 

I promised Bill and a few others a build thread for some of my guitar work, so here it is. I am going to work my way from scratch to finished product. Anyone who has questions, feel free to ask. It will probably take about 2 weeks to get the bulk of the build done and document it. Finish will take longer with curing times in the wet cool environment here in West Virginia. 

Step 1 - Blank paper and basic drawing equipment








Step 2 - Centerline








Step 3 - Decide how big of a guitar blank your equipment can accomodate. I am working with 5 3/4" resaw capacity and a 13" planer. 








Step 4 - If you are a good artist, you can free hand draw a body, if you are good with drafting tools you can draft a body, if you have an idea in your head, just go for it. Pencil erases.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

As you can tell, my first attempt at drawing a guitar body free hand was completely awful. Let's just refine this a little. 








Still not right...








Better, but I cant seem to get the lower bout to look right, but I like the top bout curves. I am just going to make a symetrical body shape, then add a cut away from that. 








Basically what I am doing here is cutting the paper to a more workable size. Folding it in half along the centerline, and taping it to the window so I can trace the other half.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Now adding a cut away. A cut away allows the player to reach the lower frets without bending their fore arm around the guitar body, plus, they look cool. 
























Okay, I like that. I am going to roll with that. 

* Important note - There is no need to worry about having perfectly flowing lines at this stage of the game. I will fix that later. I have what is called essential tremors, so my hands shake too badly to draw perfectly smooth flowing lines. But, I can fix it later using powertools!!!


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Step 5 - Cut away excess drawing paper, so you can glue it some 1/4" (3/16") hardboard. Be careful with your cutting utensils, and don't get in a hurry or you have to tape corners back on. :huh:








Now its down to the workshop. 








Step 6 - Glue paper to hardboard. Its good to wipe off the surface of the hardboard so you get good adhesion. I like using cheap 1$ walmart rubbing alcohol for these tasks. 
















Step 7 - trim to fit 
Table Saw 
















Bandsaw
















Scroll Saw 









Looking more like a guitar...


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Here is where I get rid of all those ugly squiggles and make a sleek, sexy guitar body outline. My weapon of choice, the Mighty Rigid Oscillating Spindle/Belt Sander. 








I don't want to sound like Norm Abrham or your highschool shop teacher or the guy at the gun range, but after years of not protecting my hearing around strip mine equipment, firearms, and power tools, my ears hurt...So...I wear these now. 








Convex corners are done with the belt sanding attachment to preven spindle indentations. Those are a $%^&* to get out after you have routed your body with an indented template. 








Concave corners with the spindles 








Then I hold the template up to the light to see if I have any bumbies or indentations. 








Close but needs some more work. 
After I get it as close as possible with the sander, I grab an old fashioned sanding block and refine all the edges. 








Now inspect the egdes for uninterupted sanding marks. alternating sanding marks indicate bumps and indentations. 

__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Transfer template to paper. 
















Extend centerline for neck








Determine bridge location








Mark Bridge location on paper with a straight line.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

This particular guitar will have a 25" scale, so from bridge to nut will be 25 inches. After the guitar is setup to play in tune, the bridge will be intonated to allow for different string diameter. Basically, slanting the final position. 

I use a Stew Mac fret gauge to lay out my neck scales. 









Most electric guitars have between 21-24 frets. I am choosing to put 22 frets on this guitar. 









I have to calculate how wide I want my nut, and decide what type of string spacing I want at the bridge. Then lightly pencil where the low E string would fall. This takes some math and geometry. 









Using this approximation, I can now determine where the neck should fall. My calculations will allow the two outside strings to have 1/16" clearence from the edge to maximize playing comfort.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)




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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Now I can round out the corners of the neck for ease of routing and visual appeal. Keep in mind that most pattern following bits are 1/2" or larger, so you want to be able to route the cavity where the neck goes. I choose 1/2" because that is what my bit is. 









Then clean up the line behind the neck. 

















I can use a little bit more geometry and my stencil to make a clean headstock shape. 








I like the overall layout so far.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

At this point, I don't want to draw anymore on the paper. I am going to take it Staples and have 3 copies made. I will save one copy back to have a record incase I loose or damage my templates. I will use the others to make my body templates. I am leaving the body free of pickup routes, so I can add different pickup configurations to later guitars using this same outline. 








Staples only charges a few dollars per copy. 

Then I add humbucker pickup routes to the guitar drawing. I like humbucker design with a 3 on side headstock design. I like single coil pickup designs with 6 on a side headstock design.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I'll make the templates tonight or tomorrow, and post some more pictures.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

....mistake...........................................................................................................................


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Save the pieces!*



Colt W. Knight said:


> ....mistake...........................................................................................................................


Nice job on this thread Colt. Thanks! Who knew there was so much involved and this is a solid body. Can't imagine an acoustic build. I have a few guitars myself and enjoy them all. Martin D18 would be a favorite. Also a steel.... an acoustic on Steriods....:laughing: bill


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I am constantly trying new stuff when I am building. 

When I went to glue the blueprint to the hard board, I took my scalpel and cut the outer perimeter of the body. Then I sprayed glue on the hard board, let it absorb, sprayed some more, then sprayed the paper and stuck it on. My hope is that now the paper wont peel up on my oscillating spindle sander. 









Then I carefully cut around the edges with a band saw. 

















Then, being even more careful, I sanded to the perimeter with the oscillating spindle sander, and touched it up with the sanding block as I did before. 
It came out beautifully.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

* Interesting note - when using an oscillating spindle sander to sand exact lines like this, you want to use it very similiar to a router. Work with the rotation of the spindle and belt in order to maintain the best control. Take for example the large convexly curved portion on this template. I will make a practice swing to make sure my fingers or belly don't get in the way while sanding it in one big swoop. If you stop, get caught, or slow down you will leave a flat spot.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Next I trace my master template onto another sheet of hardboard and rough cut it to shape on the bandsaw. I then fix it to the master template with two side tape. 









Then I sand as close to the master template as I have nerve to do. I don't want to nick or mess up this template. 









Then using a flush trim bit, I make an exact copy of the master template.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I have been busy this week, but I hope to get even more done this upcoming week.


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

This is a very enjoyable post with great info. Thanks for going the extra mile to record this and I look forward to watching futher progress on your guitar. Nice shop by the way.


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## bb71 (Jan 23, 2010)

Great thread! Excellent photos. Thanks very much for putting the effort into this. I really want to build a guitar but just haven't been able to get it going yet. This thread will be very helpful. THANKS!!!

Brad


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## wolfmanyoda (Apr 10, 2009)

Man, this thread rocks!:thumbsup: (Someone had to say it)


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I appreciate all the feed back guys. I am about to hop in the pickup and drive out to the middle of now where West "by God" Virgina and pickup some more lumber for my guitar builds. I'll post pictures tonight after I get the wood and finish my templates.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

woodnthings said:


> Nice job on this thread Colt. Thanks! Who knew there was so much involved and this is a solid body. Can't imagine an acoustic build. I have a few guitars myself and enjoy them all. Martin D18 would be a favorite. Also a steel.... an acoustic on Steriods....:laughing: bill


 
If I can get caught up on these 12 electrics I am in the process of building, I will try to document an acoustic build. 

Martin does make a fine guitar, I have one myself. It is 18 years old, and sounds like thunder cracking when you hammer that low E string.


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## Ed'sGarage (Aug 16, 2007)

*Guitars*

What a Great Thread - Thanks Colt for putting in all the work necessary to post all the steps in this post! :thumbsup:


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I was able to go score some excellent wood today. I bought a bunch of random size figured maple, some mantle size Walnut, and a few pieces of cherry and walnut board type lumber. All for 120$. I am pretty happy. One mantle Walnut piece was 2 3/4" x 11.5" x 13.5'. Another was 3"x11.5"x 3.5'. The figured maple was all different shapes and sizes and is probably 3A stuff. Its kind of dark though, so I am going to have to bleach it in order to use it. Any suggestions on bleaching/whitening maple?


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Then I go through all the standard dimensioning procedures for getting all this stuff square and ready to go.

Cross cut on the RAS









Rough plane to find cracks, splits, and knots. Of course, you also get a better view of the log this way to see what is the better parts to loose. 

















Then cut to size on the table saw. 









Initially, I left these pieces 11.5" wide, and ripped some 2" pieces to glue on in order to get my full 13" width. However, the boards were too warped, and I had to rip my two big pieces to 6.75", joint them flat, and glue them together. Which sucks, because I already cut one whole piece into 2 inch strips to join along the 11.5" blanks. Oh well, live and learn right?


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I think the blank came out well.









In the spirit of trying new things, I am going to try this trick I saw in a wood working magazine. 

They said to put some blue painters tape along the glue joint, so clean up is easier and quicker. Sounds like a good idea to me. I just slapped the tape on there, and trimmed with my pocket knife. 

















*Interesting note - This is also the first time I have used Tite bond glue for guitar work, I have always used Elmers. Elmers has traditionally been cheaper here locally, so I have always just used that. So far, I haven't seen a lick of difference.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Colt, I wish I could see these pictures... there are pictures, right? I had a thread about 3 guitars I was building a while back. I actually just finished one of them recently and one is still being "reworked". I didn't like the fret wires and it still needs a final finish and electronics design before it's playable. 
Here's the thread. http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/couple-works-progress-11625/

I'll be interested to check this thread out again later to see what I'm missing now. Thanks Colt.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Yes, there are lots of pictures. 


Looks like you had a lot of fun making your guitars, and that is what its all about. By the way, your daughter looks lovely with her daddy built guitar.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Went down to the shop this morning, to check on my glued up guitar blank. 
The blue tape worked well.









I then dimensioned the lumber properly using the table saw and planer. 









I am pretty happy with just how well this glue joint came out. I think I am in love with my new Grizzly 8" jointer.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Then I need to sketch the shape onto the blank. 









Cut to about an 1/8" of the line with the bandsaw. 









Then sand extremely carefully with the spindle sander. When I route the outer perimeter, I want to route as least material as possible to prevent tearout. 










Before I route the perimeter of this body. I am going to make another template. I don't want to screw up my template with the paper glued on it, this is what I am going to draw on to locate pickups, selector switches and pickguards. 


















While they are attached I am going to drill two indexing holes, to line up future templates. That way if the perimeter shrinks or swells, I still have two points of line up to go off of. This is important when I go to route the neck pocket. These will basically be pilot holes for the bridge. 










Then I use double side tape to mount the new template to the body blank, and route the perimeter, very carefully, taking shallow passes. 










Routing didn't go as planned, I got some tearout. Damn, Damn, Double Damn. It happens, luckily its in a spot where it will conceal nicely. 










Using Elmers, wood filler as both a hole filler and grain filler on the side, I cover the whole guitar side with it. 









Ill be playing this fill by the book. Apply, scrape off extra. Let sit 24 hours, and reapply until the fill is sufficient. 

While that is drying, I am going to try grain filling the back, to see how its going to look. 

Normally I would sand to 320 before grain filling, but since I have to wait on the sides, I am going to jump ahead of myself. 

I am mixing 4 parts lacquer thinner with 1 part behlens grain filler, and since it is off natural color, I am going to add some dark walnut stain. 

















Pour it on the guitar, wipe off the excess, and let dry. 

















One way, I am going to help conceal the tear out is by adding a tappered strip of flame maple down the back, something like this.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

While, I am waiting on that, I need to go ahead and make my neck template. 

Same proceduer. Cut a piece of 1/4" hardboard to rough shape. Spray with spray glue, let sit a little bit, then coat again, then spray the back of the paper, and apply to the hard board. Like before, I am going to take a scalpel, and cut the excess paper away before glueing. It works better with the spindle sander that way. 

Cut with a band saw









Sand to the line on short edges and convex radii using the oscillating belt sander. 









Then I go over to the drill press and use a forstner bit to cut the concave radii. I used 5/8" for the headstock curves. 










I am not going to drill out the big warlock hooks on the top of the headstock, that would just make flimsy corners for the router. I am just going to drill a small locator pilot hole. I will let the forstner bit do this part. 


















Now for the sides of the fretboard. I have never been able to sand a perfectly straight line this long, eventhough I have tried. So I just take a piece of oak, joint a flat edge, and mount it to the template using double side tape, and route the flat edge with my pattern bit. 



















Like all the other templates, I will make a copy for future reference/mistakes, and place it in my sock drawer with all my other master templates.

*Interesting note - Select a spray glue that will not bleed through paper. if you use a wet spray glue, it will bleed through the paper, and when you flatten it out on the hard board, it will skew and bend. So always check your straight edges with a rule or something straight to make sure they are correct.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

While I am waiting for my body to dry, I am going to go ahead and spray the jewelry box I am making for my girlfriend. 


























I am using Bullseye Amber brushing shellac thinned 50/50 with denatured alcohol.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Now to start work on the top. 
I picked up one of the flame pieces I bought a few days ago. 








It is horribly warped, I am going to rip it, joint it, and plane it. 








Before planing, I wipe it all over with either mineral spirits or alcohol, and run it through the planer at an angle to prevent tearing the figure as much as possible.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

My buddy is 12 5/8" wide, so I need my book match pieces to be at least 6 5/16" wide, problem is my band saw only resaws 5 7/8". Hmmmm.... Modification time.

















Well that got me 6 1/4" inches. I can work with that. 

















Planed it again, came out pretty well. Now I am going to join it using the tape like before.


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## Jason (Mar 30, 2010)

Supremely Awesome is how I would rate this thread. My nephew is an avid electric guitar player and this thread gives me the confidence to try building one for him. Looking forward to subsequent updates. Thanks for doing this Colt.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Jason said:


> Supremely Awesome is how I would rate this thread. My nephew is an avid electric guitar player and this thread gives me the confidence to try building one for him. Looking forward to subsequent updates. Thanks for doing this Colt.


Glad I have inspired some people to try a build of their own. 

When building electric guitars its always best to decide what kind of pickups and bridge you want. Bridges have different string spacing, and pickups have different pole spacings to accomodate different string spacing. Typically, Humbuckers are arranged for Gibson scale (24.75") and string spacing, while Single coils are setup for Fender scale(25.5") and string spacing. 

Also, the type of bridge will dictate what neck angle you need, if any. most Gibson style bridges which setup on two post are designed to accomodate a slanted neck( ussually 3 degrees) and Fender style bridges which sit flat against the body don't require any neck angle at all. 

The rest will fall into place.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Colt, I noticed in one of your posts that you went to WV to get some wood. Where are you located, if you don't mind my asking.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Here is the flame maple I glued up. It is probably 3A figure, but is really dark and blotchy. I am going to try and bleach it into a usable top for the guitar. If not, I will leave this a solid walnut body. 









While that is bleaching, I am going to draw out my pickguard, control cavity routes, pickup routes, and etc on the original template. 









Then I went to staples and had a few copies made. That way, I can make the pickguard from a copy, and take the original and carve out all the body routes. 








The two copies cost .37$ well worth not having to draw all this out again seperately. 


Like before, the pickguard was drawn in numerous trial and error steps like the body. One key factor in creating a pickguard is accurately following the contours of the body. If you do not, the pickguard will look off, and we are trying to create a sleek sexy custom guitar, not something that looks like a highschool kid carved it out in the garage for extra credit (which I did by the way). 

Anyway, same steps apply, Rough cut with the bandsaw, spindle sander, edge sand with a sanding block. Like I did with the neck, I am going to use a forstner bit to accurately cut the concave radii in the pickguard. 


























Like the neck, I route all the straight lines using a straight edge attached with double side tape and a pattern following bit. 










As with every other template, I make a working template out of 3/4 MDF


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

That turned out well. 










I know it seems like I am putting in a lot of effort making templates, but the end result is well worth the effort. Plus, it saves you a ton of time sanding the 7/4 hardwood stock. 

In the future, if your guitar breaks, you can quickly build replacement parts, or if a friend admires the design, you have it already to go. 

I am especially taking extra care with my templates because I intend to make several guitars with this general shape, but with different bridge and pickup configurations.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Colt this statement through me a little*

Quote: 
Like before, the pickguard was drawn in numerous trial and error steps like the body. One key factor in creating a pickguard is accurately following the contours of the body. If you do not, the pickguard will look off, and we are trying to create a sleek sexy custom guitar, not something that looks like a highschool kid carved it out in the garage for extra credit* (which I did by the way). *
Curious, just what is your age? :blink: bill


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

frankp said:


> Colt, I noticed in one of your posts that you went to WV to get some wood. Where are you located, if you don't mind my asking.


I live in South Charleston, West Virginia. A local retired furniture maker, well semi local, that I know mills and dries lumber on this old farm out past Sissonsville, WV. You have to cross a few rickety old bridge, and drive through a creek to get to the old barn he stores his lumber in. Always an adventure.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

woodnthings said:


> Quote:
> Like before, the pickguard was drawn in numerous trial and error steps like the body. One key factor in creating a pickguard is accurately following the contours of the body. If you do not, the pickguard will look off, and we are trying to create a sleek sexy custom guitar, not something that looks like a highschool kid carved it out in the garage for extra credit* (which I did by the way). *
> Curious, just what is your age? :blink: bill


A little background info 

I am 26 years old, I grew up in Southern West Virginia and went to college at the University of Kentucky, and Graduate School in Wyoming. I work in the strip mine industry to pay my way through college, and I got into building guitars as a hobby. Everyone liked my guitars, so I decided I would make a go at selling them to some professional players. 

In highschool I built a homemade banjo for extra credit in Physics and as a class project for pottery. I threw the banjo pot from clay, and made the neck from a board from our family horse stable. I guess that is where this whole mess started for me.


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## Nate1778 (Mar 10, 2008)

Colt W. Knight said:


> I grew up in Southern West Virginia and went to college at the University of Kentucky





So were you torn in the elite 8 game...........:furious:


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Nate1778 said:


> So were you torn in the elite 8 game...........:furious:


I wanted WVU to take an ass whipping. I have no affinity towards WVU. Now I have to listien to myt Kentucky buddies cry, and my West Virginia buddies gloat. Grrr..... Lexington was always extremely lively during basketball season. 

I guess I will stay busy in the shop to take my mind off it.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Alright, back to work...

I am going to take my original paper template, and cut out the pickup routes and control cavity routes. 

















I shaped this template like all the others, but the working template will be 3/4" mdf instead of 1/4" to help facilitate pickup and control cavity routing. 

Then I started working on bleaching the Maple top again. 

I started with something like this...









After numerous applications of bleach, I got something like this...









Then, I sanded it back, and began bleaching again. I took a sock, soaked it in bleach. Wiped the top, and set it in the sun to dry. I did this about 6-7 more times, and ended up with something like this...









As they say in East Kentucky, More Better.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I miss placed my camera, so pardon the blackberry photos. 

To make the neck cavity routing template is pretty simple. 

First, draw a centerline on the hardboard.
Second, trace the outline of the entire body and first pickup route on the hardboard. 
Third, extend the upper half of the template into a square so the router has something to ride on. 
Fourth, accurately draw out the proper neck angle. I take measurements from the paper template and lay them out on the hardboard. This is crucial, so double, triple, and quadruple check. 
*once you have it laid out, lay the neck template up against the hardboard and make sure it fits tight. You don't want any slop or it will look badly, and you don't want it to be to tight because it won't fit.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Here is what it looks like when it is done. Like all other templates, it has the two indexing holes to make it easier to line up. 









I screwed the pooch on this template, I am going to have to make another one...:sad:. Luckily it won't take long because the rest of it is correct except the one corner, so I will be able to route the hole thing with the pattern bit except for the one corner. 









I also screwed up on the maple cap. I left it out in the sun too long and it bowed. I could wait until tomorrow, wet the back side and let the sun warp it back into the correct shape, but I am impatient. So I soaked it in mineral spirits and pressed it. I use small strips between the table and weights so the air can get to it. It should be flat by morning. Working with flame maple is tough, it is constantly wanting to shift, bow, warp, wrinkly, and tear out on the planer and jointer.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Colt, now that I've seen the pictures, I'll say this is a great tutorial. Perhaps the most thorough one I've seen on electric guitar building (and I've looked at a lot.) Well done.

I didn't make any templates for the guitars I've built so far. I don't suspect anyone will want exact duplicates (and I'm not likely to be selling to anyone, especially pros, any time soon) so I didn't go to the extra effort. I might next time though as it will help prevent a lot of the mistakes I made on the ones I've done so far.


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## wolfmanyoda (Apr 10, 2009)

Colt, I am thoroughly enjoying this. I have an uncle who worked at Gibson for many years when I was a kid. I never got to go down for a tour but I did get my first guitar from him.
Thank you.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Frank, aside from the repeatabillity factor of templates, template will save you a lot of time sanding, especially the edges. Let the router do the hardwork. Like I said before, it is much easier to sand the hardboard into a nice flowing shape than the 1 3/4" hardwood. Plus, you make your design mistakes on 4$ hardboard, and not your expensive tonewood. 

Wolfman, I would love to take a tour of Gibson. I bet that place is amazing. I have taken a tour of First Quality Music in Louisville, Kentucky. They make Gibson's banjo parts. Then they ship them to Nashville to be put together and finished. Bill Sullivan, who also makes his own line of Banjos, showed me the wood he sent to Gibson, then he showed me the wood he kept for his banjos. He did quite a bit of cherry picking.


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## thekctermite (Dec 23, 2007)

Colt you're a talented guy and you're being very generous in showing folks how you make an electric guitar. I'm drooling over that maple.

I've never played a guitar in my life but building one looks like fun. If I built one I'd have no way to know if it was worthy! :no:

Might I suggest something on your template routing? I see you're using a carbide top bearing bit with two carbide edges. Those are prone to tearout and definitely aren't very forgiving in figured wood with wonky grain. I invested in a solid carbide spiral upcut bit with a top bearing and have been shocked at what a difference it makes. I think it was well over $50 if my memory serves me. They take shear cuts and that makes a big difference. Just a thought!


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Colt, I totally agree that templates would be a good idea, even for a one-off guitar. I just didn't want to spend the extra time as I was trying to build two guitars in spare time while my daughter was home for summer. Templates, as you've shown, take some time to do properly... and we were sort of "winging it" on top of that. We sketched our designs right on the body blanks and went to town with the bandsaw. Didn't really require too much sanding, though probably more than if we had used a router. Cutting close to the neck (all have been through necks) would have probably been easier with a router as well. The bout areas around the neck were the only difficult spots with the bandsaw, because we couldn't rotate a full 360 degrees due to the neck being in the way. Of course we could have avoided that by making some good templates and doing it before gluing the body wings to the necks.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

thekctermite said:


> Colt you're a talented guy and you're being very generous in showing folks how you make an electric guitar. I'm drooling over that maple.
> 
> I've never played a guitar in my life but building one looks like fun. If I built one I'd have no way to know if it was worthy! :no:
> 
> Might I suggest something on your template routing? I see you're using a carbide top bearing bit with two carbide edges. Those are prone to tearout and definitely aren't very forgiving in figured wood with wonky grain. I invested in a solid carbide spiral upcut bit with a top bearing and have been shocked at what a difference it makes. I think it was well over $50 if my memory serves me. They take shear cuts and that makes a big difference. Just a thought!


I have been looking for one of those. Do you ha e a link?


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Spiral upcut*

Wouldn't a top bearing defeat the purpose somewhat?
http://www.ptreeusa.com/freud_flush_sprial_bits.htm
This one is a spiral flush trim with a bottom bearing.
You may have some trouble finding one with enough depth of cut for your purposes???
http://www.mcfeelys.com/product/SU7...d-Carbide-Upshear-Spiral-Cut-Freud-Router-Bit
Ptree is a good source to deal with FYI, :thumbsup: bill


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Yikes, 127$. ill put that on the list of stuff to buy when I have some more income. 

On the guitar forum, there is some debate as to which spiral bit to use, either the upcut or down cut. What do use each for in their ideal application?


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Anyhow, I got some more done on this guitar. I took a break yesterday, a freind came over, and later that evening I went to the Hank Williams Jr. Rowdy Friends Tour concert. 
Here the maple cap is being glued on the walnut body. 








Then I used my pattern following bit to trim the maple cap flush with the walnut body. 








Here you can see where I got in a hurry and forgot to put softeners on my clamps. 
















There are basically two ways to deal with this problem. 
1. Sand the dimples out. 
2. Wipe the dimples with a damp paper towel. Lay the damp paper towel over the spot, and take a clothes iron and work it over the dimple. This will raise the grain up to the level of the rest of the body. 
I chose to sand these dimples out for a couple reason. My body is a hair to thick for my taste, so the extra sanding will help me get my desired thickness. Also, I can take this oppurtunity to go ahead and finish sand the body, so it is ready to accept sanding sealer, grain filler, and clear coat. 
I spent a good chunk of the morning sanding this body. I start with 60, 100, 150, and 220. I like using a 1/4 sheet sander for this application. When using these 1/4 sheet sanders you don't want to apply any pressure to the sanders. I know it makes the material go away faster, but it also gouges and grooves the body. Just let the weight of the sander do the work, it will actually save you work in the long run when you don't have to fix swirlies, rounded edges, and a wavy surface. The idea is to remove all scractches, gouges, uneveness and everything with 60 grit. Then the 100 grit gets rid of all the swirlies, and sanding scratches of the 60, the 150 gets rid of most of the scracthes and all swirlies, and the 220 makes a nice smooth even surface. 
















Then I mask off the walnut so I can accentuate the grain of the figured maple. Masking the body helps prevent scratches, and keep the tinted shellac off the body. 








Here is my spray gun rig. 1 part amber shellac, 1 part denatured alcohol, 3 drops of red transtint dye to add a orangish aged tint. Plain amber shellac is ugly to my taste. 








One coat








Two coats. 








Three coats. 








Ill let this dry for a few hours, and lightly sand it back. What I hope to accomplish is that the flame will absorb more of the shellac and tint, so as I sand the parallel grain back the flame will pop out more. You can do this with stain and dye, but I am going to try it with this thinned shellac because I like the color. If it doesn't work the way I want, I am going to order some amber trans tint dye and do it. I want all the flame showing as possible. 
I also glued up another walnut body blank this morning. This one is a three piece blank.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*If you are REALLY serious about building guitars...*



Colt W. Knight said:


> Yikes, 127$. ill put that on the list of stuff to buy when I have some more income.
> 
> On the guitar forum, there is some debate as to which spiral bit to use, either the upcut or down cut. What do use each for in their ideal application?


Not that you aren't :laughing:...maybe you should consider a shaper?
The Grizzly 3 Hp was $925.00 a while back. I have 2 of them...long story short... added to "cart" button 2x....ooops!
Here's some You tube videos just FYI:



  bill

Also check this out!


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I need a new bandsaw, jointer and drum sander before I get anything else. 

the list never dwindles. The more you get, the more you realize you need.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Sanded the finish back, and the figure shows up better now. You can see in the photo all that well, but take my word for it. 









Now that it is sanded smooth, I am going to reapply the shellac mixture. This time, I am going to add two more drops of red tint. 
Im going to take longer between light coats, and let this dry over night. 

























Look at that beautiful figure. 



























While that is drying, I went ahead, and started making another body blank and figured top.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I was motivated this afternoon, and got some more done. 

I glued up another walnut/flame maple body blank. This time, I am glueing it together first, then cutting the shape. 









While that is glueing up, I grabbed the body I shellaced today, and grain filled the back the side using the same mixture as I did before. 

I like my grain filler a little runny when it has stain in it, that way the stain really penetrates the wood better. 

Pour it on thick. 









Rub it in. 









When it starts getting pasty, I squegee it off 









After it dries, you will start seeing a film develop over the grain filled areas. When that film is a uniform color across the surface take a clean rag and buff the surface clean. 









Then I line up and double side tape my working pickup and cavity routing template to the body. 









I don't want the router to hog out these cavities, so I take a forstner bit to remove the bulk of the material. 

My pickup cavities are going to be a generic 9/16" because I haven't selected the pickups yet. If you route pickup cavities too deep, you will get acoustical reverberation giving the pickup a microphonic quality, echoe, or hollow tone. This isn't always the case, but I have seen it happen before. The control cavity will be 1 1/2" deep for a couple reasons. 1 1/2" will facilitate the use of any guitar electronics such as switches and potenometers. It also reduces weight in the guitar. 

Weight is a big concern whenever I build an electric guitar. A heavy guitar will weigh on your shoulder if you are playing a long gig, like a 2 hour bar gig. Heavy guitars are hard on your shoulder, and can be detrimental to your back if you sling one around long enough. In my opinion, a guitar under 6 lbs is super light, under 7 is light, 7-8.5 is normal, and anything heavier than 9 lbs is just plain heavy. My personal guitars are no heavier than 7 pounds. To stay in that range, you ussually want a body that weighs under 5 pounds. Under 3 1/2 lbs is actually too light because the neck becomes a counter balance and pulls the neck down, called neck dive. 

One thing you can do to a body to shave weight when using heavy woods is chamber the body. I was going to chamber this body, but it really isn't as heavy as I thought, so I left it alone. I current trend among guitar builders, especially telecaster style builders is to make Pine bodied guitars. Pine is very light and resonant in a electric guitar. Most people think pine, and they think cheap junk wood. But in reality, certain types of pine make very good tone woods.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I felt motivated this afternoon, and got quite a bit done. 

I glued up another maple capped walnut body blank. This time I am glueing the pieces together before I cut the basic body shape. 









I grain filled the back and sides of my body. 

First I poor the grain filler on the body. 









Then I rub it in with my fingers till the texture becomes pasty. 









Once pasty, I squegee off the excess. 









Then I let it sit until it develops a film over the entire surface. At that point, I buff it with a clean rag. 

















Then I carefully positioned and taped the pickup and control cavity route template. 









Now, I don't want to hog out all the material in the cavities with a router because that would be dangerous, hard on the bit, and create chatter, burns, and tears in the wood. So... I am going to remove the bulk of the material with a forstner bit, and go ahead and drill the two index holes in the body. 

















I am going to use my new Bosch plunge router and a flush trim bit to route out these cavities. You don't need a plunge router, but it makes it nicer and safter. 


















I am routing the pickup cavities a generic 9/16" because I haven't decided which pickups I am using yet. I don't want to route these cavities too deep because it will cause acoustical reverberation making the pickups microphonic which causes the tone to echoe, sound hollow, amplify tapping sounds, and etc. This isn't always the case, but I have seen it happen. 

The control cavity is going to be 1 1/2" deep for a few reasons. That depth will accomodate any guitar electronics and allow for wires. It will also help cut weight down a little on the body. Anotherway to cut back on weight is to chamber the body. 

Weight is a big concern to me when building and electric guitar. Heavy guitars will hurt your shoulder and back if you have to play with them standing up for extended periods, this is especially true for gigging musicians. 

I personally like guitars 7 lbs or less. Under 6 is really light, 7-8 is comfortable, and anything over 8 is heavy, and 9 is a boat anchor. Heavier guitars sustain better, so there is some compromise here. Basically, I like to keep my bodies under 5 pounds. That keeps me in that light weight range. Bodies under 3.5lbs actually become neck heavy and want to "neck dive". 

A current trend among builders is to use lightweight pine in building electric guitars, Most peoplw think of pine as a cheap junk wood, but quality pine with the right grain pattern makes a good tone wood. My personal telecaster is made of pine. great guitar.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I got a little bit of router bit chatter in the control cavity. I didn't support the edge of the template with enough tape, and the corner flexed down causing the router bit to slightly tilt. This ate into my template and left a rough edge on the cavity. Its a simple fix, I just taped on a straight edge and routed the cavity a bit wider. 
















*Important note. You want to route in multiple shallow passes. Don't try to remove all the material at once or in big hunks. Bad things will happen!

I can only route so deep using the template and my router bit. So once I get as deep as possible using the template, I carefully remove the template and use the top of the route the pattern for my flush trim bit. 










Here it is with the pickguard template laid on top.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

edit.........................................................multiple post


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## jacobsk (Jan 19, 2010)

you've done an absolutly wonderful job walking us through your project so far!

might I recommend you reward yourself by formalizing your information - and selling it on ebay?

you may be able to market a .pdf for a step by step instructable on building your own electric guitar!

keep up the good work, and thanks! for the awesome writeup :icon_smile:


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Haven't posted in a few days because of the Easter Holiday. Had to spend time with my family, girlfriend, and get some things done around the house. 

The coal mine explosion has everyone in Southern West Virginia pretty upset. I myself used to work for that company in the same area as that mine exploded. Really hits close to home, and one of my friend's cousin is one of the four still missing in the mine. Really makes you count your blessings. 


I did get a little done. I got another body ready, and did some neck making experimentation. 

This particular body is going to have one of those chameleon effects. Stained the raw body with some really red shellac. Sanded back to really expose the grain, then shot several coats of blue tinted lacquer sanding sealer. 










The body will have another layer of red and blue transparent lacquer to really give it a purple chameleon color. Hope it works. 

Then I selected some walnut for the neck. I wanted straight grain and uniform color. 









Then cross cut it to length. 









Planed it to 3/4". 


















Then ripped it to width. 









Now for the tough part. Slicing a section off and glueing it on to creat an angled headstock. There are numerous ways to do this, numerous books with different techniques, and different theories on how this should be done. 

1. Most high end acoustics will have a one piece neck, the neck is simply cut with the right angle. This takes a lot more wood, and produces a lot more waste. I am not really into that. 
2. Big name companies will use fingerjoints to join the neck and peghead. I don't have the sophisticated equipment to do this. 
3. So...I am just going to slice a section off and glue it on. Most guitars use the Gibson standard of 13 degrees. Gibson has over a 100 years of research and development, trial and error, and math to support there use of 13 degrees. Basically, I am not going to try and reinvent the wheel. I am going to shoot for,you guessed it, 13 degrees. 

I cut the fret board section of the neck with a 60 degree angle. The max angle my miter gauge will allow. This will give me the largest surface area to apply glue. 









Then I cut the peghead side to 47 degrees. 









Then I dry fit and look at my angles. 









It is actually 14.5 degrees. Close enough for me. 

Then I glue it up. Clamping this SOB is going to suck. I hope I get it right on the first attempt. 









I am using the fence of my table saw, my mag feather board, and angled clamping block, and a bar clamp to glue this in place.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

My neighbor dropped by yesterday and gave me some of his old wood working equipment. Among this stuff was some 90 degree clamps, a table saw taper jig, and a Number 5 smoothing plane. It doesn't have a namebrand. It just has a number 5 on the casting infront of the iron, and a made in India behind the iron under the angle block. Can anyone identify it for me? 

It doesn't seem to be a high quality plane. The blade was dull, the bottom and sides were rusty, and the bottom wasn't very flat at all. 

I took it apart, leveled the sides and bottom with my 6" belt sander and Diasharp sharpening stones. Then honed the iron to a razor edge, and spent about an hour tuning it in. Its about as easy to tune as a banjo in high humidity, but once I got it pretty close it started cutting pretty well.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*You Tube guitar Videos*

Colt this may be of interest to you ...lots of jigs and ideas for making guitars here. FYI bill


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

That machine is one of Grizzly's 10-16" fingerboard radiusing machine, about 1000$. While it is handy, it is simply not economical for a small scale builder considering I can do the same thing with a router or sanding block.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Colt,

Looks like that purple experiment is going to work out pretty well. I like the blue layered over the red like that. You're doing a great job of making it look easy.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Well Frank, I tihnk the purple is actually coming along nicely. I shot a few coats of red tinted Nitrocellulose lacquer, and got a nice purply hue. 








You can kinda see the chameleon effect in the photos. 


Anyway, my initial neck glue up didn't work worth a damn. I did the 240 lbs ColtPound test where I hold the neck flat on a table and put all my weight on the angled headstock. It snapped right off, and I scraped my knuckle. Needless to say, I had to re evaluate my whole cutting and glueing setup. 

I found two major problems with my initial setup. 

1. Cutting the angles. For one, my blade wasn't perfectly 90 degrees, and my miter gauge needed adjustment so it held the work piece at 90 degrees from the table. 
2. My clamping setup totally failed. So I recut the neck and setup another glueing jig. 

90 now









Looking better on the dry fit

















Now to setup a glueing jig. 

















This setup produced very nice results. 


I took my hand plane and leveled out the headstock.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Then I routed the channel for the truss rod. 

*Truss rods serve two purposes. *

1. They add strength to the neck. 
2. They can bow the neck one way or the other in order to correct warping or to give the strings lower action so it plays better. 

If you had a perfectly straight neck, the string height would have to be higher at the lower frets in order for the strings to clear the frets as you note up and down the neck. Putting a slightly upwards bow(relief) in the neck actually brings the lower frets closer to the strings, and the middle frets slightly lower allowing the strings to clear all frets while noting up and down the neck. This also provides a lower action. Classical guitars have traditionally not had any truss rods because they use Gut/nylon strings which do not put a lot of force on the neck causing it bow like steel strings, the strings are easy to fret because they are so soft and stretchy. However, classical guitars ussually have strips of ebony inlaid under the fret board to create a lamination preventing moisture and etc. from warping the neck. When Martin started building steel string guitars, they had to invent new ways to brace the sound board and deal with the effect of the much stronger steel strings. Initially they added extra bracing on the sound boards in key areas to maximize strength and tone. Then they started inlay a steel rod in the neck to prevent the strings from bowing the neck. Eventually someone came out with the idea to make an adjustable rod in the neck. The first truss rods were just long bolts running the length of the neck and would only correct an up bow(the force applied by the strings). Later two way truss rods were invented and corrected bow in both directions. 

Now a days you have the option of installing single or double action trussrods. DA rods add weight, but they are easier to install. SA rods are cheap and light weight. So you really have to decide what you want. I will show you how to install both types before this thread is completed. 

My truss rod route will be 1/4" wide and 7/16" deep. 

I simply use my plunge router with a piece of wood as an edge guide to achieve this. 









































I slipped a little on my first blank. Future necks I am going to add more structure to my jigs to prevent slippage.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I am almost at a stopping point with this particular guitar until I get some hardware. As soon as the owner of this guitar sends me his deposit, I am going to make a large order from my supplier, then I can get back to busy on this guitar. That is why I have been dragging this thread out, I haven't had my hardware. 

But I have been working on some other projects.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*End grain to end grain...*

Will not hold under the tension of the neck bolt and strings. All my guitars run a single piece for the neck, rosewood, maple and mahogany.
A butt joint of end grain is just not a structural joint. I know you are trying to save and not waste material, but I don't think this is the place to compromise. You can get 2 necks from one piece if you locate the bend at either end on a slightly longer blank. It will require a bandsaw however. If you can get this joint to work I'll be very surprised and... who knows what may happen over time including a hard knock from a fall or bump. I wouldn't trust it myself. JMO. :smile: bill


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

woodnthings said:


> Will not hold under the tension of the neck bolt and strings. All my guitars run a single piece for the neck, rosewood, maple and mahogany.
> A butt joint of end grain is just not a structural joint. I know you are trying to save and not waste material, but I don't think this is the place to compromise. You can get 2 necks from one piece if you locate the bend at either end on a slightly longer blank. It will require a bandsaw however. If you can get this joint to work I'll be very surprised and... who knows what may happen over time including a hard knock from a fall or bump. I wouldn't trust it myself. JMO. :smile: bill


 *Insert Foot In Mouth* 

Thanks WoodsNThings for talking some sense into me. 

I just went down to the shop and Pete Townsend'ed my two glued up neck blanks. 

I know I have seen similiar joints on Gibbys and Taylors, but where? 

I was about to come back up to the house and check the internet when I decided to get the protractor out and figure this geometry the right way. 

Then it hit me, but I have to make a fancy jig for to do it. Oh well, I got time and a lot of Walnut.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)




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## LeifH (Apr 10, 2010)

Colt W. Knight said:


>


I was thinking you should do it this way as soon as I saw your first headstock joint.

Your second attempt with the scarf joint that you have now, is how Godin does it.

They did a segment on "How It's Made" up here on Discovery Channel Canada. :thumbsup:


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Yes its a much better joint now. This my first attempt at making a two piece angled headstock. In the past I've always made one piece necks.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Colt, that new joint will definitely work better. The purple is definitely looking good. I'll have to show my daughter... maybe next time we make one we'll do something more like that.


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## thekctermite (Dec 23, 2007)

I know nothing about guitars but I keep coming back to this thread with a fair degree of fascination. Cool stuff. Do you have a website where we can see some of your finished stuff? The suspense to see these things done is killing me.

I'm liking that new neck joint a lot better Colt. :yes:


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

thekctermite said:


> I know nothing about guitars but I keep coming back to this thread with a fair degree of fascination. Cool stuff. Do you have a website where we can see some of your finished stuff? The suspense to see these things done is killing me.
> 
> I'm liking that new neck joint a lot better Colt. :yes:


 
Sorry I am at a dead stop right now with my build. I do enjoy posting pictures as I go. I need to place a fairly large hardware order, and I am waiting for a few deposits to come in before I do. I can save a lot ordering in bulk. 

This series of 12 guitars I am building is going to be for a website I am going to get started. I regret not fully photographing and cataloging previous builds. So sorry about the lack of completed pictures. Check back in the next week or so, that is when a lot of stuff is going to be happening. 

Regards, Colt


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Colt, no apologies necessary. This has been a great thread so far and I'm sure it will continue as such. You starting an online version of your luthier business with the website? Seems like a great way to try and broaden your customer base.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Well, someone asked to see some complete builds, so here are my first two attempts at building a guitar. They are not technically finished at the stage in the photos, but they are close enough. 

This is my personal guitar. I call it a pinecaster. It is a one piece yellow pine body, Hard Rock Maple neck, hand wound pickups, and Wilkinson hardware, cloth wiring, and Nitrocellulose Lacquer Finish. 


















































The second guitar I built was the Ducks Unlimited Caster, a guitar I built for to donate to my local DU chapter for their annual fundrasing banquet. 

It has Acrlyic lacquer finish, Southern Pine body, Premanufactured maple neck that I reshaped, GFS pickups, Winchester shell knobs, Wilkinson hardware.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I kinda jumped the gun and started working on the neck a little more before I have the truss rod. I just estimated its location. 

I setup my routing jig again, this time more stable. 









Started routing in several shallow passes. 









I wanted to see how well the new glue joint is doing, so I decided the rip the neck off the table from its double sided duck tape by pulling it up by the very end of the headstock. 









The tape bond was so strong, it actually ripped apart the lamination on the baltic birch plywood. I think this means that this glue joint is plenty strong. 









After jointing the neck blank sides square, one side was about 1/32" of inch narrow. To fix this, I glued on a matching grain block of walnut. I am sure it will get sanded away, but It will aid in the routing process. 










Then you guys no the deal. I trace the outline of the neck on the blank. Cut with a bandsaw, sand to the lines with the spindle sander, fix the template to the neck with double side tape, and route with a flush trim bit since the template has to be on the bottom on this one. 



































Looking good, but too Gibsonish. 









I am going with the initial plane to make some hooks. 




















Sometimes it may look like I am using unsafe procedures, but that is just for the pictures. I always wear my safety gear, and route, cut and sand with safety in the front of my mind. Besides, unsafe procedures are a sure fire way to ruin this wood I have spent so much time shaping.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

here is the glue up photo I missed


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## trident98 (Mar 7, 2009)

Nice build. Good pics. A very good book for buiding an electric is "Build Your Own Electirc Guitar" by Martin Oakham. I'm not related or tied into the author but just like you I did alot of research before starting out. I got it at my local library and then purchased it. It even has a full size drawing. What I liked best was the technical help. I thought of this while reading about your first neck joint. Glad you changed it. I'm starting another build soon with a solid walnut body, maple neck with either rosewood or bloodwood for the fretboart. You are so right about making good templates first. I know it's boring but so much easier to use on the next build. I also spent alot of time at guitar center with my camera and note book.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Okay guys, sorry for the hiatus. I went ahead and ordered a few parts and supplies so I could get a little more work done. I think I am going to give up on the original buyer and keep this guitar for myself. 

Anyway, Here is the neck with the hotrod two way truss rod placed in the truss rod slot. 









Okay, I have two problems with this truss rod. First its sits a little far back, easy fix. Second, my supplier either sent me the wrong truss rod or I ordered the wrong truss rod. This rod adjusts using a 1/4" nut, not the allen key nut I though I ordered. 









1. I am going to add a little walnut block toward the back of the channel in order to bring the rod up to the proper location. 








2. I am going to take my dremel with a 3/8" sanding barrel and route out the channel on the end so that you can fit a nut driver in there. 

















Alright, those two issues are adressed. Now I need to install the truss rod. I put some silcon around both ends and in the middle. This keeps the truss rod from rattling. I do not want glue in the channel. Someday, someone might have to repair or replace the truss rod.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

There we go. 









Now on to slotting the fret board. 

First I have to dimension the fretboard and make sure its proper size and straight. I my table saw and jointer for this process. Sorry no pictures, camera battery died. 

Then on to the fret slotting. I have a pretty nifty miter box and japanese pull saw specifically desgned for slotting fret boards. The blade kerf is the exact size of the fret tang, and the fret board is double side taped to a template. The template has index marks at the precise location frets should be. This saves a lot of time not having to do all the math and layout work on the fret board. 









There we go


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

This is the really nerve wrecking part. Glueing the fret board on. You have to glue and clamp the fret board on perfectly center or all the hard work youve done to this point on the neck is worthless. I typically glue the fret board on first, then shape the neck, then fret the neck. That way, I don't have to go through this process. However, that is not possible in my fretting box with an angled headstock. 

First. Apply a thin strip of blue tape to prevent glue from getting in with the truss rod. 









Second. Apply glue, and clean all excess. I don't want to spend half a day cleaning up dry glue goobers. then remove tape. 











Then I accurately clamp the fret board onto the neck. As any of you have glued and clamped anything know, that slippery glue likes to move the two pieces all around. So its a fairly drawn out process of tensioning clamps strategically and double checking after each turn of the clamp. 









I want this to be RIGHT, so I double check with my digital calipers. 









That went well









Now I am giong to trim the excess with a bandsaw, then route it flush. 









As I was routing the last inch of ebony, the router grabbed a chunk and threw it across the room. WELL HELL! 









Luckily I found it, and was able to glue it back in without a trace.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

The next step is radiusing the fret board. Most stringed instrument have a radiused fretboard. This allows for the curvature of your fingers and difference in your finger lengths. 

In all reality, most Fender style guitars have a 9.5" radius. Most Gibson Style Guitars have 12" radius, and most acoustics have a 16" radius. Vintage fenders have a 7.25" radius, and alot of custom guitars haved a compound radius that starts at 10" and goes to 16". Of course there is lot more variation than that, but that is basically the synopsis. 

There are few ways to do this. 

1. setup a nice router jig. This is really handy if you make a lot of necks that are identical. Too much trouble if you are mixing it up. 
2. buy the Grizzly fret board radiusing machine. Its a a belt sander with a pendulum. 
3. use spoke shaves and carving tools. 
4. Use a sanding block. This is the least expensive and probably the easiest besides the machine. 

I use the sanding block, 9.5" radius. \








I just use some spray adhesive to glue some 100 grit paper on there. I use different grits for different woods. 100 grit works great on ebony. 

I secure the neck to my work table, and start sanding using long, flowing strokes. 








The whole time I am keeping even pressure and stying lined up. I watch the sanding dust to make sure I am sanding evenly.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I am saving all the ebony dust. Its great to mix with glue and put around inlays and stuff.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Now its time to put binding on the body. 
I bought a special router bit, that excepts different size bearings for different size binding. This router bit is much, much easier than the old way of doing this with a mortise block and chisels. 









A quick pass around the body. 









Then I tape the binding in place and let it sit for a few days so that plastic will start taking shape. This helps the glueing process. 









I went down to my local hobby store and bought some CA glue for the binding. This stuff is specially formulated be a little thicker than normal and specifically for hardwood to plastic binding. 









I don't intend to take pictures of this process for obvious reasons. I don't want super glue on my camera and this stuff sets up so quick, I don't have time to fool with it. 

Here's how it works. 

I put a nice layer of glue in the binding channel, and tape the binding in tight. I start on the end and work my way around. 

I wear latex gloves when I do this. This glue is the real deal. You can literally glue your fingers together. unlike super glue you buy at big box stores. This stuff doesn't let your skin go. 










Here was what I was talkinga about 

















After the glue dries I take the tape off.









The CA glue actually swells the binding, so I need to scrap it flush. Most people use a razor blade. I use my razor sharp pocket knife. 









I intend to sand this body and refinish it, so I don't mind scraping some of the shellac off. YOu can do this without harming the finish. You just have to be more careful. I only finished it first because I was curious about the color. And I wanted to protect the wood. 









The top binding is black. It will look amazing with the black pickguard. 

I recieved a cream binding by mistake with my order, and I am thinking about using it on the bottom of this guitar. Do you guys think it will look alright, or do you think I should order some more black?


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

While I am waiting for more parts, I am going to go ahead and make a peghead veneer to hide that ugly headstock joint. 

I searched through all my walnut to find a colorful or figured piece of walnut.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Well hell, its mostly quarter sawn or very nice flat sawn stuff. I bet thats the first time youve heard someone bitch about having nice straight grain walnut stock isnt it. Oh well, I picked up this little scrap. Its straight grain, but its got a little color to it, almost like rosewood. 

























My bandsaw guides have about had it. I really need to upgrade, but carter guides, new blades, and a riser block kit for my bandsaw would be over 300$. I can't see investing that in my CM bandsaw that I paid 150$ for back in highschool. I am just going to wait till I can upgrade to a better saw like a Grizzly 17" or Rikon deluxe. So I am going to just plane this down to a veneer. 

















I always wondered how thin my planer would go, and I guess I know now, a tenth of an inch. 










Thats what I got on this guitar to this point.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Colt, for what it's worth, I don't think the back needs a binding at all, black or cream. I'm a fan of no-binding teles more than those with bindings, but everyone has an opinion...


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Frank, I too don't like binding on a tele, but this particular guitar needs some bottom binding to hide the routing boo boo on the body.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Colt, what's up with this guitar? This is one of the best build threads I've ever seen and I've looked at a bunch on guitar forums. You can't leave us hanging like this. 









.


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## DFRESH (Oct 22, 2010)

Colt,
I am fairly new to this forum and found this thread. It is amazing, great detail. Is the rest of the build located somewhere else? I would love to see the rest of it come together. Excellent work,
Doug


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## Rick C. (Dec 17, 2008)

Colt, this is such a great thread it left me drooling for more. I have 2 acoustics, a 1963 Yamaha 12 string, and a cheapie 6 string. Both right handers, I'm a lefty.Both were given to me and this was inspiring me to get 'em turned the correct way and learn to play before I grow up


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## FiveOneSix (Sep 26, 2009)

*sooooo...*

any updates?

COLT - you gotta use cauls with those poopie HF blue clamps. those plastic pads leave some kind of oil or something when clamped down. my MDF sanding table has all that crap on the corners. also, the clamping surface is not aways square on these. i went to buy 20...only got 7 cause most of them were so out of square...but ya get what ya pay for!!!
guitar looks great... :thumbsup: ...fill us in!!!


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

cool project! give a 1/2" spiral carbide upcut template bit a try when the time comes to replace the straight cutter, they're unreal.


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## FiveOneSix (Sep 26, 2009)

*grrrrrr...*

COOOOMMEE OOOONNNN!!!!! we're dying here!!!


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## TankMan (Jun 30, 2011)

REALLY!!??? All of this and he doesn't finish!? Talk about a cliff-hanger! Is he going to do a pay per view site or something, lol  

This is a great build and I'm glad I found it. Thanks to the OP!


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## tito5 (Apr 5, 2011)

jsut fyi.....he has not posted since September 2010....but if you are on fb you could probably get a hold of him at knight guitars or colt w night. 
if you really wanted to see if he would finish this build


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## TankMan (Jun 30, 2011)

*Shades of a Gov project*

Well, this doesn't look good. From all appearances it looks like the OP works for the government. You may ask "Why do you say or think this?" First: Well he started an incredibly complex project for his skill set (age wise)
2 - He drew in the crowd with all his pretty pictures and kept people busy talking about this and kept their "eyes off the real news"
3 - He left the project just before completion
4 - Won't answer any posts about why the project isn't completed.
Yup sounds like a government project. 

(#2 is for any conspiracy theory buffs out there. Add this one, lol:thumbsup:)

J/K everyone - It is still great work and I'm going to try to track down pics and I'll post them if I find them.


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## nmssis (Sep 4, 2015)

hey everyone, a new guy here with novice questions...just diving into these things, so I've come to dip into the pool of knowledge and experience.

two questions:

1) Kiln drying will remove the moisture in the cells so that finishing treatment can be absorbed...but will it also prevent the wood (reg sawn) itself from warping and twisting?

2) when building either a solid or semi-hollow bodies and necks is it a must that quarter sawn woods must be used?

Thanks in advance!


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