Official Luthiers Forum!

I am wanting to start reading/researching about building a solid body electric guitar. I have really enjoyed building acoustics and will continue, but I think I have been bitten by the electric guitar bug. Hoping some of you electric guys can point me to some good resources/plans etc for electrics. Thanks in advance! TomTom Harbin38852.6181018519

I think Melvyn Hiscock's book (http://www.melvynhiscock.com/Guitars2.html) might be the electric equivalent of Cumpiano. That said, I don't own a copy, so I can't speak to it directly.

Being the impatient person I am, I bought Martin Koch's e-Book "Building Electric Guitars" (http://www.buildyourguitar.com/). It's cool because you can download it as soon as you pay for it!

I can say it was OK. It gave some basic information and was better than going in blind, but I won't praise it much more than that.

If you've built acoustics, the construction of an electric is (IMO) much simpler. The tricky part is the electronics. For one thing, I can't solder my way out of a paper bag. I completely destroyed a couple of potentiometers when I tried to do the wiring myself - I ended up taking the body and the electronics in a bag to the guitar shop and asking the luthier there to wire it up for me.

The best piece of advice I got about building an electric was to acquire the bridge you want to use, then draw out a side-view plan in full scale using the measurements from the actual bridge. In doing so, you can draw the proper angle that the neck needs to be set. Even a strat or tele style bridge will need a slight angle, and something taller like a tune-o-matic will need a significant angle.

Everything else construction-wise is pretty straight-forward.

The Melvyn Hiscock book is pretty much the bible of electric guitar building. It is to electric building what the Cumpiano book is to flat tops. I highly recommend it.

He doesn't have plans in the book though. Depending on what you are looking for there are several plans that are very nice. A guy out of England (sorry I forget his name - but I could get it - they are at home.) is selling plans for tele's and LP's that are fantastic. They leave virtually nothing to the imagination. and the LP plans @ stewmac are very nice too.

What are you thinking of building. Let me know and I might be able to give you some more precise info.

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Tom...I found the following books very helpful:

1) "Make Your Own Electric Guitar" by Melvin Hiscock
2) "Constructing a Solid Body Guitar" by Roger H. Siminoff

Also check out the forums that deal exclusively in electric guitars. And be sure to ask around here. I know for a fact that many of the OLFers have also built some impressive electrics.

Good luck!

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

[QUOTE=ecklesweb] I think Melvyn Hiscock's book (http://www.melvynhiscock.com/Guitars2.html) might be the electric equivalent of Cumpiano. That said, I don't own a copy, so I can't speak to it directly.
[/QUOTE]

That's funny... I was posting nearly the exact same language @ the same time.   

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

DAN Erlewine's video's are great! Especially some of the older ones...how to install a Floyd Rose, How to build a Strat...and all his fretting video's are great.Dave-SKG38852.6682175926

_________________
Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

thanks guys: I will order a book or two and maybe the SM video. I may start out with something like a strat, especially since there is a video on that, then hopefully venture into something a little more custom. I currently play a G & L Comanche and love it, used to have a Les Paul and never really fell in love with it. I'll keep checking back for more posts. tom

Definitely the Hiscock book, I think it's better than the Siminoff which is looking a bit dated nowadays.

Also try http://www.guitarplansunlimited.com/
and
http://www.guitarbuildingtemplates.com/electricguitar.htm

_________________
Pete
http://www.petewoodmanguitars.com

Take your G&L trace it and measure everything. Make your own set of plans. Do several tracings, and start drawing around/within them while keeping the critical locations the same until you come up with your own body style. Be sure that you have your bridge in hand before you start work. Enjoy, and remember half of the fun is getting there.

Al

Just found the Hiscock book on amazon for $15.87 and bought it used, I believe there was another incase someone else wants one. thanks to all! Tom
Meant to say that I have some screaming figured maple that i have had in the shop for about 15 years that is just crying to be a top on a nice guitar, maybe a back and side set when I am brave enough to resaw it. Tom Harbin38852.6970023148

+1 on the Melvyn Hiscock book. Great, great start, top-notch. The planning chapter is the heart of the book, for me, because it's a very well-written outline of what you need to keep in mind when building, and then there are step by step chapters for three types of electric solidbody isntruments.

Beyond that, I reccomend registering at the MIMF and perusing their library, as well as poking around the tutorials on the ProjectGuitar.com main site (some are just Wrongheaded, though) and particularly the forum.

Electrics are a lot of fun.

The Hiscock book is probably the best one out there for construction. As far as wiring is concerned The New Book Of Standard Wiring Diagrams from Stew Mac is a great reference book. Les Schatten lays out the diagrams so that someone with very minimal experience can understand it, I use mine on a regular basis. Other than that I would say the finish is the most difficult part. Usually it's a bit thicker than what you would see on an acoustic and some of the area's that require sanding and buffing tend to be a bit tighter. It's something to think of when designing your own body.