Anyone ever make their own electric guitar?

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Re: Anyone ever make their own electric guitar?

Postby cockroach » Wed Jul 12, 2017 4:12 pm

Nice job Wolfgang!

Mike, if I recall correctly, in the days before the internet, apart from going to a music shop, or obtaining catalogues which included hardware, pickups etc, about the only way you could find out about buying guitar parts was from reading adverts in guitar magazines.

However, there weren't many places you could buy necks and bodies...apart from a very few, like Rockinger in Europe, and firms like Mighty Mite and Schecter in the USA, and perhaps some others elsewhere- probably luthiers who would make you a body or neck etc..

Before that era, it was a challenge getting hold of almost anything...some clever folks even made their own pickups! :) Many home made guitars had home made bridges, nuts, tailpieces, vibrato units and scratchplates etc...but you usually had to buy manufactured machine heads AKA tuners!

Necks and fretboards etc were always an issue...many young chaps sneaked into music shops with hidden pencils and paper, then asked to look at a Fender etc so that they could try to sneakily and cunningly measure or copy information about where frets had to go! Then you needed fretwire!

Pickups were usually the cheap type that were meant for acoustic f-hole cello guitars or round hole acoustic guitars..a good pickup e.g. a USA made DeArmond could cost more than a whole guitar!!
cockroach
 
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Re: Anyone ever make their own electric guitar?

Postby scmitche » Thu Nov 30, 2017 11:56 pm

Yes, in 1987 I saw a fallen sycamore tree being planked following the catastrophic storm and noticed that it was beautifully flamed. I bought two pieces suitable for bodies and had another piece quarter-sawn for the neck. So armed with this nice wood I set about building a Telecaster style guitar but with 2 single coils and a humbucker. I did almost everything myself except the power thicknessing of the body until it came to fretting the neck and decided, because I'd put so much work into it, that I really should pay an expert to finish this part. So off it went to Bill Dinsdale an eminent luthier from Keighley, West Yorkshire who is better known for his excellent acoustic guitars. What came back from him was amazing work and it's remained very stable over the years and still has almost zero fret wear.
I learned on the job as it were and produced a cherry burst cellulose spayed finish, which is only now showing signs of wear and a little checking.
The rest of the parts were sourced from various places, e.g. Touchstone Tonewoods for the ebony fingerboard and body binding, ABE Germany for the pickup surrounds, local music shop for the Grover tuners and the 3D-6 chrome adjustable roller bridge from Schaller.

I look at it now and think that 30 years later I still have a nice playing and sounding instrument but I'm sure I wouldn't have the energy and enthusiasm to start building again even though I am retired and have more time.

I'll try to find a site to store a couple of images and put them on here later.
Regards,
Steve
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Re: Anyone ever make their own electric guitar?

Postby cockroach » Fri Dec 01, 2017 10:08 pm

Thanks Steve!

That sounds really classy! Definitely far from my own crude efforts over the years! :D

These days, I've got a couple of cheap guitar kits- I can just amuse myself slapping 'em together! :D
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