Ever make your own guitar?

[soundmasterg]

Anyone try making their own necks from scratch? I want a new rosewood board neck for the spalted one, but Warmoth wants $300 for the one I like.

ken

I've made all of my necks from scratch. Its a learning process, but shaping the neck is my favorite part of making instruments. The latest one I made (the Ric bass copy) is the best neck I've done so far. That was the last time I built an instrument too...circa around 2001. Haven't had time or access to machinery since. That one was also a neck thru which in some ways is easier to do, but in other ways harder.

Greg

[copperheadroads]

Anyone try making their own necks from scratch?
ken

Yes, It's not so difficult once you get into it .
Even though i have not perfected making an exact copy of another neck ...they always feel a little different

[Quarter]

Here is a lap steel I did a while back. I don't wind pickups, but did build the bobbins and neck cover for these 8 string T style pickups. They are A3 and Bryan Gunsher at BG-Pups did the winding.

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And here is another I built the bobbins for.

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[Peter Naglitsch]

Building guitars? Well yeah...

a few maybee.

Number four in there is a spalted maple arched top. A bit more job than you average guitar. I used thin viscosity CA to stabilise the top. Some parts were extremely punky and would crunble if you even looked at it. But with CA it wirked fine. Althou it was even a worse nightmate carving (or more os less exculively sanding) the arch compared to a standard quilted top.

[Peter Naglitsch]

Double post

[David Schwab]

Anyone try making their own necks from scratch? I want a new rosewood board neck for the spalted one, but Warmoth wants $300 for the one I like.

Yes, I make all my necks from scratch.

I don't care for the shape of Warmoth necks.

[David Schwab]

Also, i'm the worst kept secret on the forum.

If it wasn't obvious before you posted your guitar photo, it sure is now!

[jason lollar]

heres a couple

[David King]

I don't actually play one of my own instruments, I can't afford them and I have a perfectly good one someone else made.

Here's my latest 2:

[big_teee]

I don't actually play one of my own instruments, I can't afford them and I have a perfectly good one someone else made.

Here's my latest 2:

I like the bass!
Do you have a picture of it turned over?
Like to see more of the rear tuning keys.
Terry

[Mark Hammer]

Not anywhere nearly as lovely and pro-looking as the examples already shown, I was inspired by Danny Ferrington's one-hour guitar, and the possibilities of applying Danelectro thinking. I also needed something cheap that I wouldn't mind losing or breaking on a family cross-continent trip (though I most certainly would have minded losing the Bigsby). The Epi Coronet in the picture is not made by me, but I did pervert it and make the neck pickup. http://hammer.ampage.org/files/Danotech.pdf

[David Schwab]

I don't actually play one of my own instruments, I can't afford them and I have a perfectly good one someone else made.

That's crazy David!

I started building so I could make a bass the way I wanted, and because I couldn't afford to buy one from someone else. Then I decided to sell some.

I also play an '87 Ibanez SR-558LE, because I like the neck and it was my first 5 string. But I've changed most of the hardware and electronics.

[the great waldo]

Hello Chaps

Here´s my thrupence worth, I hope you like them. I mainly try and do acoustics these days but am snowed under with the bread and butter stuff - !bloody repairs!

Cheers

Andrew

[ken]

That's crazy David!

I started building so I could make a bass the way I wanted, and because I couldn't afford to buy one from someone else. Then I decided to sell some.

I'm really surprised that so many of us like to build guitars too, I always wanted to do it myself since I was about 14 years old.

Yes, I make all my necks from scratch. I don't care for the shape of Warmoth necks

I'm learning how to make my own necks, the fretwork seems the hardest to me to do. I have hand issues so it's very hard for me to find a comfy 'storebought' neck.

I like Jason's hollowbody a lot, if I was building one of those I'd finish it like Quarter's first lapsteel photo and add a Bigsby. Maybe it's the rockabilly in me.
ken

[David Schwab]

I'm really surprised that so many of us like to build guitars too, I always wanted to do it myself since I was about 14 years old.

I built my first guitar, a solid body nylon string electric, using the neck from a broken acoustic, and some pine, when I was 14. I beat Gibson to the Chet Atkins SST by 15 years! It used a couple of Barcus Berry Hot Dot transducers.



One thing of course is when I started designing my bass in the late 80s, it ended up costing me more than buying a boutique bass after I bought a bunch of woodworking machines and tools! But I got to make it exactly the way I wanted.

I'm learning how to make my own necks, the fretwork seems the hardest to me to do. I have hand issues so it's very hard for me to find a comfy 'storebought' neck.

Learn to do fretwork on existing necks. It's not that hard, and it's a good skill to know. Then when you decided to try making a neck from scratch, buy your fingerboard pre-slotted and radiused. That will same you from having to do that, unless of course you like slotting fingerboards. I started out slotting my own using a mitre box jog and templates, but now I just buy them slotted.