How to Build Your Own Guitar


While the vast majority of musicians will be perfectly content with a store-bought guitar, there are also a good number who will prefer to build their own guitar. The reasons for making this choice are varied, but it is said that once a guitarist starts to build their first guitar, they will probably continue doing so, or at least having all sorts of ideas on how to do it better the next time. Luckily, there are a lot of options available for those who want to become amateur luthiers, whether they only want to build one custom guitar or a whole fleet of them.

The most important things you will need if you want to build your own guitar are money and time. Generally speaking, just the tools needed for a project such as this will cost more than most standard store-bought guitars, and that doesn't even get into the parts or raw materials needed. Building your own guitar is certainly a large commitment of monetary resources. It is also a significant commitment of time, as guitars will not simply build themselves. Although building a guitar is the sort of project that could be done during the evenings and on the weekends, such a project will consume quite a bit of free time, and not everyone has the luxury of a lot of free time.

Assuming that you have the time and money to build your own guitar, the first choice that you need to make is whether you will be making an acoustic or an electric guitar. This decision may be based in part upon your skill with wiring, as electric guitars will require some knowledge of this subject. The rest of this decision is based largely on which instrument you prefer. Both projects have levels of complexity, and some people may be more electronically inclined, but already existing skills should only be a part of the decision making process. Before you are done making your first guitar, you will be sure to have learned plenty of new skills.

Once the decision on type of guitar has been made, you need to decide if you plan to purchase pre-made pieces or construct everything on your own. Obviously, the first of these choices is considerably easier, as master craftsmen will have made everything to the specifications necessary to build a guitar. Nonetheless, some guitarists will prefer to have constructed the majority of, if not all of, the pieces they intend to use for their guitar. Those who make the majority of their own pieces will get to make more decisions on what their guitar will look and sound like, while those who rely on pre-made pieces will find that some decisions have already been made for them.

For those who choose to buy pre-made pieces, there are a large number of sites on the internet where these pieces can be purchased, and plenty of paper catalogs available as well. At this point, it is mostly a matter of choosing the pieces you want, making sure they will all fit together appropriately, and buying the pieces. Then, of course, comes the lengthy process of putting the pieces together. For the far more ambitious, who choose to build everything from scratch, there is still the necessity of buying the supplies from which to then construct guitar elements. While both routes will require the guitarist to buy or have access to a wide array of tools, those who build the guitar parts themselves will certainly need even more tools to complete their project.

Luckily for the ambitious guitar maker, there have been a number of books written on the subject of building your own guitar, and there are sites and forums on the internet that grant additional information. The most commonly recommended book is Melvyn Hiscock's book, Make Your Own Electric Guitar. For those interested in building an acoustic guitar, Hiscock's book will be of less use, but there are comparable books geared towards acoustic guitar construction. Books and internet resources will cover the topic far more thoroughly than an article of this scope can do.

Of course, all of this does beg the question: why would a person want to build their own guitar? Aside from the obvious benefit of being able to customize nearly every little detail to your exact preferences, it is very impressive to be able to tell someone "I made it" when they ask you where you got your guitar. You will also gain a great deal of knowledge about how your guitar works, as you see, first hand, all of the details that go into the construction of a guitar. Although it is not very likely that someone would get rich making custom guitars out of their home workshop, all guitar makers have to get their start somewhere. So while building your own guitar is a major project, requiring money for tools and pieces, and time for the actual construction, there are some guitarists who find it worthwhile.





Additional Resources:

While the entirety of the Build Your Guitar site is useful for those wishing to build a guitar, the page entitled "Is guitar making worth the trouble?" is of particular use for someone considering this project.

The "Planning" section of Making Guitars: Tips, Tricks, Resources and Personal Projects is a good checklist for tools and other supplies necessary to begin a project of this scope.

Single Coil is a useful site for those planning to build an electric guitar, and seems to have a large base of knowledgable forum users.