- •PREPARATION
- •General introduction
- •Parts of an electric guitar
- •String frequencies
- •Guitar classics
- •Wood
- •Wood for solid-body guitars
- •Sound characteristics
- •Buying wood
- •Drying wood
- •Hardware
- •Tuners
- •Nuts
- •Bolt-on neck hardware
- •Pickguards
- •Fretwire
- •Bridges
- •Tremolos
- •Other hardware parts needed
- •Strings
- •Guitar electronics
- •Pickups
- •Making your own pickups
- •Magnets
- •Pickup bobbins
- •Wire
- •Strat-style singlecoil bobbin flanges
- •Dimensions of a typical Humbucker
- •Pickup covers
- •Winding pickups
- •Potting pickups
- •Passive circuits
- •Classic circuits
- •Active electronics
- •Shielding
- •Designing the Guitar
- •Scale length
- •Calculating fret distances
- •Laying out the guitar
- •Design options
- •Truss rods
- •Non-adjustable truss rods
- •Adjustable truss rods
- •Some effects on sound
- •Sustain
- •Design examples
- •Making templates
- •Workshop
- •Tools
- •Power tools
- •Plunge router
- •Router bits
- •Planes
- •Scrapers
- •Sawing tools
- •Sanding tools
- •Japanese Tools
- •Sharpening
- •Alternatives for sharpening
- •Safety
- •BUILDING
- •Making the body
- •Making a solid body
- •Preparing the body blank
- •Gluing up the body blank
- •Cutting out the body
- •Smoothing the body side
- •Sanding the body
- •Rounding off the edges
- •Making a hollow body
- •Hollowing out the body
- •Making the top
- •Gluing on the top
- •Binding
- •Making a semi-acoustic body
- •Bending the sides
- •Gluing the sides to the block
- •Making the lining
- •Gluing on the lining
- •Gluing on the top and back
- •Routing the binding rabbet
- •Making f-holes
- •Making the neck pocket
- •Making the neck
- •Making a glued-on peghead
- •Preparing the neck blank
- •Options for making a angled-back head
- •Making Trussrods
- •Making a one-way twin-rod system
- •Making a compression truss rod
- •Making the trussrod channel
- •Cutting a straight truss rod channel
- •Making a curved truss rod channel
- •Making the access cavity
- •Gluing up a heel
- •Fitting the truss rod
- •Fitting a truss rod into a one-piece neck
- •Fitting a two-way twin truss rod
- •Fitting the truss rod cover strip
- •Making the peghead
- •Gluing on the peghead veneer
- •Sawing out the peghead shape
- •Fitting a peghead inlay
- •Making the fingerboard
- •Marking the fret positions
- •Making the fret slots
- •Gluing on the fingerboard
- •Routing the neck shape
- •Drilling the tuner holes
- •Shaping a Fender-style peghead
- •Fitting fingerboard dots
- •Fitting side dot markers
- •Radiusing the fingerboard
- •Installing the frets
- •Bending fretwire
- •Fretting
- •Shaping the neck
- •Fitting the neck
- •Routing the neck pocket
- •Mounting an angled-back neck
- •Bolting on the neck
- •Positioning the bridge
- •Fitting a tremolo
- •Making the body cavities
- •Routing the pickup cavities
- •Routing the control cavity
- •Assembling the guitar
- •Mounting the hardware
- •Wiring the electronics
- •Shielding the electronics
- •Preparing for finishing
- •Repairing dents
- •Finish-sanding
- •Staining
- •Filling the grain
- •Finishing
- •Applying oil
- •Applying wax
- •Shellac
- •Synthetic finishing materials
- •Coloring clear finishes
- •Using a brush
- •Varnish
- •Wiped-on varnish
- •My favorate finishing choice
- •Spray finishing
- •Using spray cans
- •Using a spray gun
- •Sanding the finish
- •Several weeks later
- •Polishing the finish
- •Fret dressing
- •Stringing the guitar
- •Tuning
- •Adjusting the neck relief
- •Setting the string height at the nut
- •Setting the action
- •Adjusting the pickup height
- •Setting the intonation
- •Your self-made guitar
- •Straight-through neck
- •Making a neck-through headless bass
- •A VISIT TO ...
- •Steve Jarman guitars
- •Sadowsky guitars
- •PRS guitars
- •Literature
- •Suppliers
- •Suppliers mentioned in the book
- •Additional instruction materials
- •Acknowledgements
Literature
ELECTRIC GUITAR BUILDING
Melvyn Hiscock, Make Your Own Electric Guitar, NBS Publications, 2nd Edition 1998
Roger Siminoff, Constructing a Solid-Body Guitar, Hal Leonhard,1986 Bill Foley, Build Your Own Electric Guitar, GVM Publishing, 1986
Dan Erlewine, Making a Solidbody Electric Guitar, 120 min VHS videocassette (NTSC format) + full-size blueprint, Stewart-MacDonald, 1985
ACOUSTIC GUITAR BUILDING
William R. Cumpiano, Jonathan D. Natelson, Guitarmaking: Tradition And Technology, A Complete Reference for the Design and Construction of the Steel-String Folk Guitar and the Classical Guitar, Chronicle Books, 1985
Jim Williams, A Guitar Maker's Manual, Hal Leonhard, 1986
David Roussel Young, The Steel String Guitar: Construction & Repair, The Bold Strummer, 1987 Irving Sloane, Steel-String Guitar Construction, The Bold Strummer, 1990
Irving Sloane, Classic Guitar Construction, Stirling Publishing Co., 1989
George Buchanan, Making Stringed Instruments - A Workshop Guide, Sterling, 1990
ARCHTOP GUITAR BUILDING
Robert Benedetto, Making an Archtop Guitar, Limelite Press, 1994
Robert Benedetto, Achtop Guitar - Design & Construction, Five VHS videocassettes, overall length 9 hours and 32 minutes, (NTSC format) Benedetto, 1996
FRETWORK
Stewart-MacDonald Shopguide Series, Dan Erlewine, Fretwork - Step by Step, Stewart-MacDonald, 1994
Dan Erlewine, Don’t Fret - Complete professional fretting methods, 120 min VHS videocassette (NTSC format), Stewart-MacDonald, 1993
INLAY WORK
James E. Patterson, Pearl Inlay, An Instruction Manual for Inlaying Abalone And Mother of Pearl, Stewart-MacDonald, 1991
Larry Robinson, The Art of Inlay, Miller Freeman Books, 1994
Don McRostie, Pearl Inlay Techniques, 60 min VHS videocassette (NTSC format), Stewart-MacDonald
FINISHING
Stewart-MacDonald Shopguide Series, Dan Erlewine, Don McRostie, Guitar Finishing - Step by Step, Stewart-Mac- Donald, 1998
Dan Erlewine, Don McRostie, Spray Finishing Basics, 90 min VHS videocassette (NTSC format), Stewart-MacDonald, 1999
Dan Erlewine, Don McRostie, Sunburst Finishing, 50 min VHS videocassette (NTSC format), Stewart-MacDonald, 1999
Bob Flexner, Understanding Woodfinishing, Rodale Press, 1994 Jeff Jewitt, Hand-Applied Finishes, The Taunton Press, 1997
Jeff Jewitt, Hand-Applied Finishes: Applying Top Coats, 40 min VHS videocassette (NTSC format), The Taunton Press, 1997
Andy Charron, Spray Finishing, The Taunton Press, 1996 Andy Charron, Water Based Finishes,The Taunton Press, 1999
Derrick Crump, The Complete Guide to Wood Finishes, Quarto Publishing, GB, 1992
SETUP
Hideo Kamimoto, Electric Guitar Setup, Amsco Publications, 1994
Harvey Citron, Basic Guitar Setup and Repair, 90 min VHS videocassette (NTSC or PAL), Homespun Tapes, 1984, P.O.Box 694 Woodstock NY 12498-0694, USA
GUITAR ELECTRONICS
Donald Brosnac, Guitar Electronics for Musicians, Amsco Publications, 1983 Adrian Legg, Customizing Your Electric Guitar, Amsco Publications, 1991
Dan Erlewine, Guitar Electronics & Hot Rod Techniques, 60 min VHS videocassette (NTSC format), Stewart-Mac- Donald
PICKUP WINDING
Jason Lollar, Basic Pickup Winding And Complete Guide to Making Your Own Pickup Winder, Lollar Publications, 3th Edition 2001, www.lollarguitars.com
Erno Zwaan, Animal Magnetism For Musicians, EZ TECH, NL, 1988
GUITAR REPAIR
Dan Erlewine, GuitarPlayer Repair Guide, How to Set Up, Maintain, and Repair Electrics and Acoustics, Miller Freeman Books, 1994
Hideo Kamimoto, Complete Guitar Repair, Oak Publication, 1978 Peter J. Fillet, Do It Yourself - Guitar Repair, Amsco Publications, 1984
Don E.Teeter, The Acoustic Guitar - Adjustment, Care, Maintenance, and Repair, University of Oklahoma Press, 1975
ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
Tony Bacon, The Ultimate Guitar Book, Dorling Kindersley, 1991
Ferrington Guitars, Callaway Editions, 1992
Musical Instruments, Dorling Kindersley, 1989
Microsoft MultiMedia CD-ROM: Musical Instruments
WOODWORKING
Bruce Hoadley, Understanding Wood, The Taunton Press, 1980
Albert Jackson, David Day, Collins Complete Woodworker's Manual, William Collins Sons & Co., GB, 1989 Tage Frid, Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking: Book 1: Joinery, The Taunton Press, 1979
Tage Frid, Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking: Shaping, Veneering, Finishing, The Taunton Press, 1981
Mario Rodriguez, Handplanes in the Woodshop, 45 min VHS videocassette (NTSC format),The Taunton Press, 1996 Nick Engler, Using the Bandsaw, Techniques for better Woodworking, Rodale Press, 1992
Patrick Spielman, The New Router Handbook and Router Jigs & Techniques, Sterling Publishing, 1993,1988 Ian Kirby, The Accurate Router, Cambion Press, 1998
William Tandy Young, The Glue Book, Taunton Press, 1998
Sandor Nagyszalanczy, The Wood Sanding Book, Taunton Press, 1997
Toshio Odate, Japanese Woodworking Tools: Their Tradition, Spirit and Use, The Taunton Press, 1984
Leonhard Lee, Sharpening, Taunton Press, 1997
WORKSHOP
Scott Landis, The Workshop Book, The Taunton Press, 1991
Scott Landis, The Workbench Book, The Taunton Press, 1987
Sandor Nagyszalanczy, Woodshop Dust Control, The Taunton Press, 1996
Sandor Nagyszalanczy, Woodshop Jigs & Fixtures, The Taunton Press, 1994
WOODWORKING MAGAZINES
Fine Woodworking, Taunton Press, US
American Woodworker, Readers Digest, US
Good Woodworking, Future Publishing, GB
WEB FORUMS rec.music.makers.builders www.mimf.com
LUTHIERS-ORGANISATIONS
Two American associations that hold sessions and workshops. For an annual member fee you'll get a magazine four times a year which is full of interesting and inspiring articles written by members.
Guild of American Lutheries (GAL), 8222 S. Park Ave., Tacoma, WA 98408, USA, www.luth.org
Association of Stringed Instruments Artisans (ASIA), 14 S.Broad St., Nazareth, PA 18064, USA, www.guitarmaker.org