New To Guitar Building

Guitar Building Tip #1 – Where to start?

derek zoolanderGuitar building books:
There is plenty of available online information regarding building and assembling guitars… actually there is almost too much. It’s easy to get lost collecting and reading through multiple websites, watching YouTube videos and scanning blogs. It can definitely lead to an overwhelming waste of time. Let me offer some guidance…

For electric guitar building – I highly recommend these two books: Melvyn Hiscock’s Make Your Own Electric Guitar and Martin Koch’s Building Electric Guitars. Why? All the steps are clearly laid out clearly with in-depth detail. Martin Koch’s book even covers semi-hollow builds… bonus!
For acoustic guitar building – I’d suggest my personal favourite construction bookguitarmaking trad and tech Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology by Jonathan D. Solomon and William Cumpiano. It is a complete overview of classical and steel string building. If I reference a book, it is this one. Many of my clients have found it to be very helpful.
Other guitar building books – I don’t feel you could go wrong with most books written by Irving Sloane. If you have the cash and want something more advanced like learning pattern bracing I’d suggest Ervin Somogyi’s Making a Responsive Guitar.
Kits
If you’re totally new to woodworking or need to work on fine motor skills then assembling a kit is a fantastic way to start. They allow you to familiarize yourself with guitar components and how the parts all fit together. There are kits available for both electric and acoustic guitars. Let me give you a few suggestions…

Electric Guitar kits:

There are several different companies selling guitar kits.
I have heard that ######occasionally requires extra time and work to get the alignment correct. I’d suggest keeping that in mind if putting more effort into correcting the alignment and intonation is not what you’re looking for at this stage.
For American made, I’d suggest ######## Their parts are professional grade with more options for wood, scale lengths, and custom specifications…it can get pricey though.
Acoustic Guitar kits:

Acoustic guitar kits are available at Luthier’s Mercantile International (LMII), Stewart Macdonald, and Blues Creek Guitars.
I’ve had clients and friends build a few guitars from each of these dealers and the results were great. They also include instruction videos to guide you through the assembly process. Gotta get that neck angle right!
Guitar BoxRemember, kits are for a complete beginner. Although I have just given a handful of suggestions for guitar starter kits, I have always felt that the best way to make a guitar is to get your hands dirty and start from scratch. Which brings us to… registering in a course?! There are a few great schools in North America but few locally in Vancouver. I offer a number of workshops and guitar building courses year round, both electric and acoustic. If you’re interested check out my Guitar Building Course page.

I hope my first Tip blog was helpful! Please feel free to respond with questions. Next week get ready for the Luthier’s insider on guitar suppliers and tool tips.

Meredith Coloma

Posted on February 13, 2015Author admin