The Guitar Project.pdf

Brian’s Guitar

from Conception to Birth

or How to Build a Guitar in 62 Easy Steps!

Vince Gelezunas

Brian’s Guitar

from Conception to Birth

or How to Build a Guitar

in 62 Easy Steps!

Vince Gelezunas

Brian’s Guitar from Conception to Birth

or How to Build a Guitar in 62 Easy Steps!

Some Background on Me

Finishing

46 Make Finish Samples .................. 47

47 Sand, Sand, Sand .................... 47

48 The Color Coat ....................... 48

49 The Oil Coat ......................... 50

50 The Seal Coats ....................... 50

51 Sand Some More ..................... 52

52 The Shiny Coats ...................... 52

53 Rub Out the Finish .................... 53

54 Wax On, Whack Off ................... 54

55 Tung the Neck ....................... 55

Preparation

The Body

1 Rough-out the Body Panels .............. 4

2 Glue-up the Body Panels ................ 5

3 Install Alignment Dowels ................ 6

4 Make Up the Templates ................. 8

5 Rout the Back Body Panel ............... 9

6 Rout the Front Body Panel .............. 10

7 Cut Out the Body Shape ................ 11

8 Make the Control Cavity Cover........... 12

Electronics & Hardware

56 Shield the Cavity...................... 56

57 Solder Away ......................... 57

58 Install the Hardware ................... 59

59 Dress the Frets ....................... 60

60 Setup the Neck ....................... 62

61 Troubleshoot the Electronics ............ 63

62 The Finishing Touches ................. 63

The Neck

9 Cut the Neck ......................... 14

10 Rout for the Truss Rod ................. 15

11 Cut the Headstock Angle ............... 15

12 Taper the Neck ....................... 16

13 Rough Cut the Neck’s Shape ............ 17

14 Add the Headstock Ears ................ 18

15 Apply the Headstock Veneer ............ 19

16 Cut Out the Headstock ................. 19

17 Clean Up the Truss Rod Access Cavity .... 20

18 Rough-Cut the Fretboard ............... 20

19 Cut the Fret Slots ..................... 21

20 Taper the Fretboard ................... 22

21 Add Some Inlays ..................... 22

22 Glue the Fretboard onto the Neck ........ 24

23 Rough-Sand the Fretboard Radius ........ 25

24 Fine Tune the Fret Slot Depth ........... 25

25 Add the Neck Edge Banding ............ 26

26 Fill Any Gaps Around the Inlays .......... 27

27 Finish-Sand the Fretboard .............. 27

28 Set the Frets ......................... 28

29 Carve the Neck ....................... 29

30 Add the Heel Veneer .................. 31

31 Add the Side Dots..................... 32

32 Drill for the Tuners .................... 33

Final Words

Appendix A - Specifications

Appendix B - Design Considerations

Appendix C - Design Diagrams

Appendix D - Time Sheet

Appendix E - The Portfolio

Hardware and Assembly

33 Drill for the Body Hardware ............. 34

34 Oops! .............................. 36

35 Carve the Top ........................ 38

36 Deepen the Control Cavity .............. 39

37 Scoop Out for the Knobs ............... 40

38 Preinstall the Controls ................. 40

39 Carve the Back ....................... 41

40 Glue in the Neck ...................... 41

41 Glue on the Top Body Panel ............ 42

42 Clean Up and Fill Up .................. 43

43 Preinstall the Strap Locks............... 44

44 Recess the Output Jack Plate ........... 44

45 Make the Truss Rod Cover.............. 45

Some Background on Me

Hi, I’m Vince and I met Brian when we recruited him to join our band,

Idiosyncrasy. The band was a lot of fun and we played a lot of shows, but

as with everything in life: all good things must come to an end. Though the

band stopped playing, Brian and I (and our wives) still hung out together.

I had milked every last drop out of the band experience I could, and I guess

I got out of it what I wanted from playing in bands for about fourteen years.

I was also getting old and basically outgrowing our target demographic.

What young crowd wants to go and see old people on stage? Someone

please tell Mick Jagger that. So I sold off all my band equipment and

bought woodworking equipment. We had recently built a house and were

looking to do a few upgrades ourselves so it made sense. I always had an

interest in woodworking and I took it to the next level by enrolling in classes

at a local vocational school, Ranken Technical College. After a year of

school and a bunch of small projects, I finally got up the courage to attempt one of the most demanding projects

requiring rigid precision, tight joinery, and a combination of just about every woodworking skill imaginable: building

an electric guitar from scratch.

Since I wasn’t playing much guitar anymore, I needed someone to make it for. Brian had asked me a couple of

times to go for it, so I eventually called his bluff and accepted his challenge. The deal was that he would buy the

materials and I would donate my time and cover the cost of any tools needed. Game on!

The following text will probably sound like an instruction manual. While researching this project, I found others’

stories of their build experiences invaluable. It is my intention to post my experience on the internet as well so

someone else can muster the courage to build their own guitar and avoid as many mistakes as possible along the

way. I’ll cover all of the steps I used in making Brian’s guitar, some of the thoughts and considerations involved,

and some things to watch out for. You can bounce back and forth between some of these steps, but there are

times when you will need one thing done before moving on to the next.

Please be advised that I am not a professional luthier. I have some experience in woodworking, but this is my first

guitar project. I may advise something at which a seasoned guitar maker might scoff. But hey, it worked for me.

Use this as only one resource from which to gather information. There are many web sites showing different

techniques and processes. Stewart MacDonald (www.StewMac.com) has many articles of enlightenment as well

as all the specialized tools you’ll need. You Tube (www.YouTube.com) has many videos stepping you through

various tasks. Project Guitar (www.ProjectGuitar.com) has a host of information from tutorials to design ideas and

links to various boutique component suppliers.

There are many steps which lie ahead of you. Don’t try to finish the whole guitar off in one night. Take your time

and think things through before you commit to something. And above all, have fun.

Preparation

You won’t want to attempt to do your own build unless you have some knowledge of how to use woodworking

tools. This project will require a high level of skill, patience, and experience in woodworking. If you’re missing any

of those traits, your build will probably not come out as professional looking as you might expect. I don’t want to

discourage anyone, but this will cost a good sum of money and a large investment of time. If this is your first guitar

build, you obviously won’t know what you’re doing. This dialogue will recount my experience on this particular

guitar. Your experience may vary and difficult situations might arise so you will have to fall back on your

woodworking experience to fill in the gaps. I can’t teach you woodworking here or show you how to use every tool,

but I can outline the steps in making a guitar and throw in a few tips here and there.

If you’re planning on building a guitar to save some money, you’d be in it for the wrong reason. The tab for this

build was over $1,000 in materials alone (see the Specifications listing in Appendix A). This does not count the

cost of the tools used. Building your own guitar is a mark of pride in your craftsmanship and a sense of

accomplishment. You can create your own designs and include the components and details you want. You don’t

have to settle for what’s hanging up in the store.

Before you start whacking away at a pile of wood, you’ll want to get yourself a little prepared and build up a some

confidence. I started off by reading books and scouring the internet to gain as much background knowledge as

I could. Through that research, I developed a checklist of everything Brian would have to consider when writing

the specs for his new instrument, and I put him to work (see the Design Considerations checklist in Appendix B).

While Brian was busy researching and buying parts for his dream machine, I got to work on sorting out the details

of the design. You need to make ALL of your choices up front (notice the bold and all caps). You have to be

VERY thoroughly prepared because once you start cutting and gluing up wood, there’s no going back. It is also

imperative that you purchase everything before you start. You need to have all the parts in your hand so you can

measure all the components and prepare an accurate design based on precise and actual dimensions. Little

things like the height of your bridge or the width of your nut will dramatically effect the way the guitar is put

together. Avoid the temptation to just start cutting wood until you’ve developed a full scale drawing of the guitar.

Brian loves the Paul Reed Smith body style, so we went to Guitar Center

and traced one. Please ask permission first and don’t use indelible ink

which might end up on the guitar or you’ll end up buying that guitar instead

of making one. I took the tracing to the drawing board, laid out a centerline,

and plotted all the points around the body. Fortunately I have AutoCAD at

work so I could transfer everything into the computer and work with more

precision than doing everything with a pencil and a ruler. I input the

dimensions into the computer and refined things up a bit. Though complete

plagiarization is alright here, you should tweak some of the details to make

the design your own (otherwise just buy the PRS). I tweaked the

proportions a little and played around with the headstock design and inlay

patterns. Brian wanted to personalize the electronics package.

While I was busy on the design and layout, Brian was buying stuff like a kid

in a candy store. There are a few local sources for things, but the internet

proved to be the best resource for opening up the most options for all the

products. As Brian received the goods he passed them along to me. I in

turn got out my (metric) ruler and digital calipers to document all the

components and draw them up on the computer. The details of the design

will start to come together as you let the individual components steer you.

To lay out the neck, you need the nut width on one end and the bridge width

on the other. You need to know your scale length and fret spacing (there

are plenty of charts for this on the internet). The bridge height will dictate

how much your neck tilts back from the body. The dimensions of the tuning machines will place some restrictions

on how you lay them out on the headstock. The depth of your electronics will let you know how thick to make the

body and how large the control cavity has to be. You definitely don’t want to find out that you don’t have enough

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