First homemade guitar

[naturalborn]

I've modified a lot of guitars but never built one before, so I built this:



27 fret in 24 3/4 inche scale with killswitch etc basswood body. I think it came out pretty well. Its not working yet but thanks to the guys on here it will be wired up perfect I'm sure (cheers guys!)

[cynical1]

Newey would love the color...

Just out of curiosity, how did you cut the fret grooves? Maybe it's just the picture, but a few of them look slightly erratic...

[jcgss77]

I definitely like fresh body shapes. Got a shot of the headstock?

[naturalborn]

Its a bit of an old picture, I fixed the frets up a little since but the 26th fret is very wonky. I had to extend the fretboard and a crack occurred there so I just shoved in the crack. I don't really mind if the last 3 frets are wonky/out of position as the 27th is far too small for me anyway. I used a handsaw to cut the grooves then hammered them in with a block of wood. Not all perfect but they work ok, least the first 23.




theres the headstock, nothing special. Theres a couple cracks in the paint on there that happened during clearcoating but not very noticable.

[newey]

Newey would love the color...

I do.

Pumpkin, I'm a big fan!

[wolf]

naturalborn
Incredible!
That is really building a guitar from scratch.
Usually, someone just gets a chunk of wood and puts a neck on it. (which come to think of it, is also tough to do.)
Good work.

[Yew]

I really Like the Barb on the point of the bottom of the picture, Really agressive..

Heres the Biggie though, how does it play?

[naturalborn]

Ty for nice words. It plays much nicer than I thought it would be. The neck is a bit chunky but the action is very low so its not impeding. The frets are jumbo still just not very tall. I don't usually go for 'spikey' guitars but its very practical.

I normally go for the 25'5 inch scale but the 24 3/4 inch scale provides less string tension so its very loose feeling more like a Les paul which makes bends pretty effortless. The fret spacing is smaller too so for 3 note per spring runs you can get some rather big stretches going. Makes some the jazzier chords a bit easier too.

[jcgss77]

I have respect for building from scratch. How did you work the neck, and what wood is it? How did you install the truss rod, what kind did you use? Why don't you just give us a Guitar Center spec list on it?

[naturalborn]

Okie dokie, my apologies I'm used to shorthand.

Full Specs:

Neck: 2 piece Maple
Scale: 24.75 inch
Neck joint: bolt on
Fingerboard: Rosewood (stained black)
Frets: 27 jumbo
Body: basswood
Pickups: Neck - generic rail single coil (possibly artec)
Bridge - KA Motherbucker
Wiring: 5 way switch + 2 way toggle switch
(In the process of setting up)
(theres a topic in electronics board on that)
Extras: Killswitch
Bridge: its a cheapo floyd rose copy I took from a cheap guitar but keeps tune very well, its very sturdy.

The neck isn't from scratch, I got hold of a very cheap neck and very heavily modified it. I filled the old fretboard in with wood filler, levelled it out (it was in an awful state) and extended the board with a small piece of rosewood to fit on the 27th fret. It was originally a 25'5 inch neck. I worked out and measured out the new fret positions and cut slots with a handsaw then hammered the frets in. I also reshaped the back of it with some sanding, shaving and a rasp so its pretty smooth.

For the headstock I just sanded the original down to streamline it and painted it. I was originally going to do the neck from scratch but it costs more to buy the maple than it does to buy a neck, that and I didn't want to drill for the truss rod. I'm not sure what rod is in there.

The body is entirely from scratch. I was tempted to use mahogany but basswood is far cheaper and easier to prepare, plus I prefer lighter woods anyhow, they just cut through the mix that lit bit nicer.

I wanted to make it as budget as possible, so the whole thing cost about 200 dollars.

[wolf]

Funny thing about basswood, outside of building guitars, it doesn't get used for much else. How often do you hear "I was going to have my kitchen floor done in maple, ash or oak but I finally settled on basswood".

[naturalborn]

its used for furniture sometimes.

I uploaded a better picture

[jcgss77]

"I was going to have my kitchen floor done in maple, ash or oak but I finally settled on basswood".

THAT was very funny! I don't EVER hear that at Lowe's.

My son's guitar is that same exact orange color, too. (Did I already say that?)

Also, does the fretboard stay pretty oily with it stained, or do you oil it? Did the stain dry it out?

[naturalborn]

It is a pretty damn awesome orange, its an underrated color for a guitar.

that is a stain but its very very very durable stain. You can't buy anything blacker. I got it semi-gloss so it hasn't dried out or anything. It just feels like a normal rosewood fretboard.

[candyflipper7]

Niiice Keep up the great work. Love the Color also.