Thread: Solid body electric guitar

G'day.

I'm a member of an Aust & NZ Amp builders group, I've posted your question there to see what I can find out. I know a couple of the members have built their own guitar(s) as well.

You could try this group....
It seems to have lots of members but not much traffic.
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/guitarmakersforum/

I build electric basses. Here's my site:
www.geocities.com/philmailloux

The best online place to learn about building electrics is www.projectguitar.com and its forum.
Carba-tec carries all the proper teaching books on the subject if you want to buy one. The bible of the craft is Melvyn Hiscock's "make your own electric guitar"

Got a response already....try here.

http://warmoth.com/

& another....

http://www.guitarparts.co.nz/

HB I PMd you a response 'cos the guy bags a brand named part & I didn't think I should post it for the world to see.

Try Ormsby guitars over in Perth http://www.ormsbyguitars.com/ They've got everything you're after.

Warmoth has a very good reputation for their pre-built parts. The necks on the guitarparts website look like the chinese cnc-built stuff. It's ok if you want to go this way but the quality might lack.

Perry Ormsby has indeed most important tools and pieces. If you want to build the whole thing yourself, neck and body included then really get a book on the subject and read as much as you can on projectguitar's forum and site. You'll learn a sh*tload.

The best places for all specialized luthier tools, wood and info is:
www.stewmac.com
www.lmii.com

A lot of tools found on perry ormsby's site comes from stewmac. It's your choice wether you want to buy direct from the states or from him and pay a bit of profit to him.

Another response...

Stewart McDonald has a video on how to build a solid body guitar. It is only available in NTSC format (VHS), however. It comes with a blaclkine for a Strat type guitar. The video basically shows complete construction with the exception of using a preslotted fingerboard. http://tinyurl.com/bjtqx

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Just be aware that if you buy stuff from LMI or stewmac, get it shipped out here via USPS and NOT with one of the courier mobs. The couriers cost more and then they charge you a bunch of fees for customs and won't give you your goods til you pay - it's expensive and holds things up. USPS is way cheaper, you don't get slugged with extra fees, and ends up taking about the same time cause your goods don't spend a week sitting in a customs wharehouse. I found out all this the hard way.

And another....

Cliff, plans are OK, but even if you have a particular type of guitar you want to copy, its still widely open to so many choices/options, you can end up with two quite different strats by the time you play with just the wood and pickups, not to mention every other bit,
you have so many choices regarding body-neck type/style, bridge-neck length (fender tend to be shorter than gibson), neck width/string spacing, fret board curve, fret height/width, torsion bar, bridge types (including fixed, tremelo and tuning bridges), pickup types, electric switching options (hundreds), not to mention wood types and the perennial wood tone options, most of these have 2-4 common choices, until you get to pickups, electrics and wood choice, when the options really blossom,
the best place to start is with a couple of books, they are basic, but contain quite a few bits that are not quite so apparent,
Building Electric Guitars, Martin Koch, 2nd ed, 2001 Make your own electric guitar, Melvyn Hiscock, 2nd ed, 1998
because for the work involved, the labour of love, why not custom design it so it suits, that means playing and listening to different guitars (hopefully for a week) taking note of the neck width & curve, neck-bridge length, fret type, pickup type, which means a notebook and a constant amp so that you end up knowing more about the guitar than its look and tone, most of the guitars hanging in a shop have a very standard mid-point setup set for the average person and we all get used to that set and presto thats what we want also, whether its what really suits or not,
it also pays to be careful for the new player, who likes the string spacing bigger and the string height lower to stop string buzzing from weak fingers, but once experienced at the solo string stage the spacing can be narrower and the height higher, ironically to stop string buzzing from strong fingers,
Also, go to [ www.dogpile.com ] and type in [ strat guitar blueprint ] [ strat guitar blue* ] [ strat guitar plan ] [ strat* guitar plan* ] it should cough up something, @#$% google, dogpile is better and been around longer,

Originally Posted by Paul B

Just be aware that if you buy stuff from LMI or stewmac, get it shipped out here via USPS and NOT with one of the courier mobs. The couriers cost more and then they charge you a bunch of fees for customs and won't give you your goods til you pay - it's expensive and holds things up. USPS is way cheaper, you don't get slugged with extra fees, and ends up taking about the same time cause your goods don't spend a week sitting in a customs wharehouse. I found out all this the hard way.

I use Stewmac alot and have never had problems with customs when getting stuff shipped via courier (orders range up to $Aus500 in value). Stewmac currently use DHL and stuff reaches Adelaide within a week of ordering it. You get a DHL tracking number once you place the order so you can log into DHL and see exactly where your order is..really handy.

Cheers Martin

Originally Posted by Phil Mailloux

I build electric basses. Here's my site:
www.geocities.com/philmailloux

Thats a nice looking bass on your avatar Phil. What's the wood?

Cheers Martin

And another response....

www.giletguitars.com.au/luthier.html have books, timber, fretslotting service etc for solid body guitars

Originally Posted by kiwigeo

Thats a nice looking bass on your avatar Phil. What's the wood?

Cheers Martin

That's my 6-string fretless bass that's on my site that you quoted
The whole build from A to Z is there. There's 5 or 6 different woods in there but the top of the body (what you see on the avatar) is Olive.

Originally Posted by Phil Mailloux

Warmoth has a very good reputation for their pre-built parts. The necks on the guitarparts website look like the chinese cnc-built stuff. It's ok if you want to go this way but the quality might lack.

Perry Ormsby has indeed most important tools and pieces. If you want to build the whole thing yourself, neck and body included then really get a book on the subject and read as much as you can on projectguitar's forum and site. You'll learn a sh*tload.

The best places for all specialized luthier tools, wood and info is:
www.stewmac.com
www.lmii.com

A lot of tools found on perry ormsby's site comes from stewmac. It's your choice wether you want to buy direct from the states or from him and pay a bit of profit to him.

Hey Phil, very cool bass. Dont mind slapping my 5-string (havent picked it up for awhile though ). Do you know if Ormsby guitars sell good quality Aniline dye, or somewhere that does? I have been playin' with Dylon fabric dye, but have read that it's not very well recommended, .

Originally Posted by martrix

Hey Phil, very cool bass. Dont mind slapping my 5-string (havent picked it up for awhile though ). Do you know if Ormsby guitars sell good quality Aniline dye, or somewhere that does? I have been playin' with Dylon fabric dye, but have read that it's not very well recommended, .

I don't know. I didn't see any last time I looked on his site. I've only been in Oz 6 months and haven't gotten around to start a new build yet (gotta build a new bench) so i'm really not familliar with the dyes in Australia

I used to buy the stewmac liquid stuff but they won't ship it overseas anymore. I'll probably have to settle with red and black for my next 200 basses or at least until I finish those 2 bottles

In other words, if you find out about good colored dyes that'll mix in nitro cellulose lacquer for toners, I'd love to hear about it.