Considering Making A Guitar

[DAS]

Yeah, that's pretty well it. I have the experience working with wood to be able to carve out a body and a neck no problem. As well as access to all the equipment I would need. My only problem will be the wiring system I build into it I'll need some input on. Right now this idea is on the drawing board and I'm going to do some designing and pricing to see if I want to put in the time and money to complete the project. Do you want to help? Here's what I'm looking at now.

A custom design for the body and headstock.

What kind of wood to use for the body. (Probably will go with mahogany)

What kind of wood to use for the neck, fretboard and headstock.

What kind of pickups to install. (I might borrow my Flying V's pickups to make sure everything works good before installing expensive ones)

What kind of tuning keys, rhythm/treble switch, tone/volume knobs, bridge ext to install.

A pick guard design. (I'll probably cut one from diamond plate just because it would look so cool)

A custom paint job. Maybe something simple but maybe something complex such as Page's Dragon Tele (I know an amazing artist if I can produce a design I want)

I'm going to try and get an idea of the total cost of the project before I pull the trigger on it. I need info on some of these things first. I have dissected the guts of my brother's broken Telecaster and it didn't look terribly complicated. I just am not an expert on the equipment. I have been researching woods right now and pickups. I assume the pegs and knobs and such won't make much of a difference and shouldn't cost a great deal anyways. Also, has anyone attempted something like this (or know someone who has) and how did it turn out if so.

So if you have any recommendations on material to use, the best equipment to install for a project like this, a custom guitar design or paint job or anything throw them out there. If I'm liking what I see in terms of price and how I think the end result will turn out I'm going for it. Don't bite your nails though since it will probably take a few months before the whole thing is done. Or I might just lose interest. But it's been in my head awhile so I thought I'd put it out there and get some opinions.

[zeptastic]

I know im only 14 but my dad makes guitars and i know a bit. Um...what sound u want will determine the type of wood. A les paul uses a mahogany body with a mahogany set neck. A tele can use either ash or alder. I think mahogany body and neck is best. Headstock mahogony too. Gibson i think puts some kindof thing on it to make it black but u can get it in all sorts of colors. Rosewood fretboards are always god but u cpuld always get some fancy wood. Theres a site that sells all sorts of fretboard wood and they say the tone eacb one gives. Pickups...do u want humbuckers or singles? I kinda like dimarzio humbuckers...but the sound u want depends a lot on that. And i also think grover tuners are nice, i actually put some on my strat. Wiring wise, push pull knobs are my fav. A cool thing would be to wire it like the jimmy page #2. There are some diagrams online.

[Glyn]

I recently rebuilt my first guitar. It's a cheap Yamaha Strat knockoff. I completely stripped it down, gave it a metal flake blue paint job and completely new electronics. The only part I am not so happy with is the sound of the pickups. I bought Fender TexMex, a cheaper version of the Texas Special, I knew what they were going to sound like (sort of) but so far I am unimpressed. The only way I can explain it is that to me they sound too squawky.

Paint, sandpaper, pickups, three knobs (2xtone, 1x volume <- this one is a push-pull that activates the bridge pickup), a Fender knob set (covers), a new pickup switch, new pickups, a pick guard, wire, output jack, and new screws cost me about $150. The paint was $70 (not included).

As for your questions, do you want a tremolo? If so do you want a locking tremolo? That will dictate what bridge and nut you need. The type of knobs you get will be controlled by the pickups you want. This is a totally cool project, I am looking forward to any progress or updates.

----------------------edit------------------

I made a mistake in my numbers. I have corrected above

[DAS]

I know im only 14 but my dad makes guitars and i know a bit. Um...what sound u want will determine the type of wood. A les paul uses a mahogany body with a mahogany set neck. A tele can use either ash or alder. I think mahogany body and neck is best. Headstock mahogony too. Gibson i think puts some kindof thing on it to make it black but u can get it in all sorts of colors. Rosewood fretboards are always god but u cpuld always get some fancy wood. Theres a site that sells all sorts of fretboard wood and they say the tone eacb one gives. Pickups...do u want humbuckers or singles? I kinda like dimarzio humbuckers...but the sound u want depends a lot on that. And i also think grover tuners are nice, i actually put some on my strat. Wiring wise, push pull knobs are my fav. A cool thing would be to wire it like the jimmy page #2. There are some diagrams online.

I was thinking mahogany because Les Pauls are THE guitar in my book. I've admired them for years and got one recently and it plays like a miracle with strings.

For pickups I'm thinking humbuckers. I like both the look and the sound compared to singles. I was checking out some online and they could get a little pricy. I really don't want to skimp on the sound system if I put the time, effort and money into constructing a custom body. That's one of the things I really wanted some input on. My wallet wants cheap but my ears want good. I'm not sure which ones will give me the most bang for my buck since I don't have a lot of experience tinkering with the hardware. I've actually see a website that shows you how to build your own singles but I'm leery of trying that.

I will definitely do a push pull knob.

Thanks for the site suggestions. I'll look them up.

[DAS]

I recently rebuilt my first guitar. It's a cheap Yamaha Strat knockoff. I completely stripped it down, gave it a metal flake blue paint job and completely new electronics. The only part I am not so happy with is the sound of the pickups. I bought Fender TexMex, a cheaper version of the Texas Special, I knew what they were going to sound like (sort of) but so far I am unimpressed. The only way I can explain it is that to me they sound too squawky.

Paint, sandpaper, pickups, three knobs (2xtone, 1x volume <- this one is a push-pull that activates the bridge pickup), a Fender knob set (covers), a new pickup switch, new pickups, a pick guard, wire, output jack, and new screws cost me about $150. The paint was $70 so....more like $80 just for the electronics.

As for your questions, do you want a tremolo? If so do you want a locking tremolo? That will dictate what bridge and nut you need. The type of knobs you get will be controlled by the pickups you want. This is a totally cool project, I am looking forward to any progress or updates.

The Tex Mex's are one of the sets I priced and they didn't look like what I was looking for. I'm glad you gave an opinion on them.

Your prices are pretty helpful. I think my electronics will be a bit more because I will probably go with something more expensive than the Tex Mexs but it won't be a crazy amount more so I get a good idea here. Thanks.

Wasn't planning on a tremolo at this point. May change my mind down the line but I doubt it.

Don't hold your breath on the project. I plan to give updates if I get it moving in the next few weeks but I'm not going to rush anything. I'm feeling pretty encouraged at this point. Thanks for the input.

[Glyn]

I just realized that the $150 was not with the paint. So $150 for the electronics. My paint was so expensive because it was a custom mixed pearl paint made specificly for Chevrolet.

The pickups sound good...just not for Zeppelin. If I could play some Stevie Ray Vaughan though....they'd probably be perfect.

No breath holding here. It took me a month just to decide what kind of knobs I wanted

[Z-o-S-o]

As a paintjob it would be cool to imitate not the Dragon Tele but the Black Dragon suit.

Imagine: a black guitar with yellow/red/orange dragons. I think that would be awesome.

[DAS]

That's kind of a cool idea. I might see what my artist can do. I actually have this idea I'm thinking about for a paint shell. Something that covers the body that can be removed so I can change the look at will without having to paint and repaint it. I could actually see if I could create one for one of my existing guitars though it would be easier if I was designing a body for the purpose of accommodating a removable shell. That's just an idea on the drawing board right now and it might be a little over complicating things for a first attempt. If I go with that design there will definitely be at least one Zeppelin paint job.

[zeptastic]

Oh by the way, there are many different things a push pull knob can do. On my les paul we built them so each pickup can switch from a series to parallel circuit. But i think coil tapping is a good way to go, jimmy used coil tapping it splits your humbuckers. There are also battery operated units that are push pull operated some of them can act like a whole effects system on your guitar or a distortion knob. But you have to find a place for your battery, i have one hidden under my strat pickguard. But its a really good addition, one in particular called the bcu unit. If possible, go with one.