The Custom Electric Guitar Blog

Hi all,

I’ve just happened upon a great custom guitar making video series by the folks at New Hampshire based luthiers King Blossom Guitars, which I thought you’d enjoy.

I love it when respected and skillful guys like these share their tips and tricks with the world…

Here’s a brief synopsis of each video:

Electric Guitar Making Episode 1, Resawing Part 1

Jeff (our host) takes a beautiful piece of Eastern Maple, and demonstrates resawing it using a bandsaw to ‘bookmatch’ the timber. This results in two pieces of body wood, which will have a mirror grain when glued together to make the guitar body.  He even has enough maple left over to make two tops/backs. Look out for some good advice at the end about airing the resawn timber…

Electric Guitar Making Episode 1, Resawing Part 2

Jeff takes the remaining thin strip of maple, and overcomes a potential problem - the wood has bent out of shape during the first cut. We also learn the best type of bandsaw blade for cutting such thin timber. Jeff ends up with two lovely maple backs…

Electric Guitar Making Episode 2, Gluing The Top

It’s now several weeks later, and the resawn Eastern Maple has dried out enough to be glued. Jeff checks the boards out for watermarks, stains and cracks, before tracing out the top shapes. We then find out how Jeff uses a jointer to make the timber edges perfectly straight and flat. Once this is done, the two pieces are glued together to form an incredibly resilient top…

Electric Guitar Making Episode 3, Gluing The Body

Now’s time to glue the bookmatched top and back to the body timber. First the core body wood is sanded down to the correct thickness, the center lines are marked out, and the pieces are glued into position. Jeff shares some nice little tips to stop the pieces sliding around when they go into the clamps to set, and how to keep the thin back piece absolutely flush to the main body timber… 

Electric Guitar Making Episode 4, Making A Chambered Body

In this episode, Jeff demonstrates how he uses a pre-made template and different router bits to make a chambered mahogany guitar body shape. After screwing the template to the body blank, Jeff carves out the chambers (and gets totally covered in sawdust). It’s very interesting to note the before and after sound of the timber - a reminder that every manipulation of a piece of wood during the guitar building process will have an effect on the resulting tone of your guitar…

Electric Guitar Making - Fretwork Part 1

Jeff takes a fretted guitar neck, and shows us how to use a wet-stone to level the frets. We also learn how to bring the fret-ends flat with the neck inlay. Jeff’s hint: Don’t rush! Also, how to adjust the trussrod to get the perfect action…think you need a perfectly striaght neck? Not necessarily… 

Electric Guitar Making - Fretwork Part 2

Now the frets are even, Jeff uses a fret-file to add a curved crown, and once again files the fret ends to round them off, and give them a smooth edge. And some great advice on how to take a poorly finshed neck and turn it into a highly playable one…

Electric Guitar Making - Fretwork Part 3

Don’t be afraid to tweak your trussrod! The weather might’ve changed…you might’ve put different gauge strings on your guitar. These things will make a difference to your action. There’s a fine line between a perfect action and string buzz, so make regular trussrod adjustments to keep your action A1. Jeff then polishes the frets on his fretted neck to ensure a nice smooth playing experience, and shares his favorite neck finish…

 Well, there you have it! I hope you enjoyed the videos, and I’m sure you agree that Jeff knows a thing or two about custom guitar making.

Jeff and the rest of the guys at King Blossom Guitars have recorded a whole bunch of other videos, and even have their own YouTube channel, and MySpace page (with some pretty slick tunes).

Why not check them out?

Thanks, as always, for reading.  

Technorati Tags: Custom Guitar Videos, King Blossom Guitars, Making A Guitar Body, Making A Guitar Neck

Happy Birthday to Gibson’s most famous guitar!

The Les Paul has been an icon for guitar players the world over and for 50 years.

It’s been played by music legends for half a century. The Les Paul is a true musical hero…

Playability, beauty, and its distinctive tone have made the Les Paul a go-to guitar for maestros like Slash, Jeff Beck…don’t get me started.

Of course, Gibson are releasing an anniversary edition - The 50th Anniversary 1959 Les Paul Standard. Only 500 of these beauties will be released and they will only be available in the classic colours of Heritage Cherry Burst and Heritage Dark Burst.

These babies - made by the Gibson Custom shop - are as close as it’s possible to get to the original models, which can ony be a good thing.

And like all the great collector items of the world, each one comes with it’s own certificate of authenticity and a custom care kit.

Although Gibson have released many great guitars over the years and all are held as being the best of the best, this one is sure to be on anyone’s must-have list, if for nothing more than to symbolize the 50 years of great Gibson guitars and the status of those who will own and play upon the 50th Anniversary 1959 Les Paul Standard.

I’ll update this post when I see the specs…

Thanks for reading.

Technorati Tags: Gibson Custom Guitar

Who says guitarists have no idea about interior design?

Not Fender’s Jason Krzmarzick, that’s for sure, because he’s designed just about the coolest coffee table on the planet!

This beauty is a modeled on a classic Strat headstock, and would surely grace any guitar players den.

It’s made from sturdy MDF, and exquisitely finished…I’ve already asked for one for my next birthday!

It’s not what you’d call cheap, coming in at $249.99, but it looks like it’ll last a lifetime.

Here’s what existing buyers are saying about the Fender coffee table:

I owned one of the older Tele tables, which was great. But the Stratocaster table is great because it’s a bit bigger. This thing is heavy-duty! Totally solid, and the legs have a retro vibe. Great for the “Dude Den”!

A great addition to my home studio, and a great birthday present, thanks to my wife and kids! Clean look, understated and unique. The legs are sleek but very sturdy and have a balance adjustment with smooth feet that won’t damage the floor, great design.

No living room with a guitar in it should be without this table. It is so cool!

This is a perfect piece for the music room. Or any part of the home or office. I love it.

…Easy to see why I’m sold, hey?

Check it out for yourself: Fender Stratocaster Coffee Table

Thanks for reading.

Technorati Tags: Fender, Fender Custom Coffee Table

One month ago today, a lady called Colleen laid down a challenge to me and some friends of mine. I won’t tell you what it involved - since it had nothing to do with guitars - but suffice it to say it was going to be a tough gig.

And to begin with, it was tough. But as some of my buddies fell by the wayside, many of us just kept on going. Sure, the challenge forced us out of our comfort zones, took us in directions we’d never explored before, and - at times - stretched our resolve to the limit.

But along the way, something wonderful happened. We started seeing results. And the more effort we made, the better those results became. Everyone involved agreed - the challenge had became…fun.

And yesterday, we finished. We achieved our goals. We beat the challenge.

And I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve grown as a person because of the experience.

Now, I’m sure you’re thinking, 

Gee, that’s great, Steve. But…so what, dude?

What are you telling me for?

 Well, I’d like to set you a challenge. If you’ve been thinking about making your own guitar - or even customizing an existing one - but for whatever reason have put the idea to one side…

…Just do it!

Sure, it might be a big commitment. Yes, it’ll be hard going at the start.

But day by day, as you see the fruits of your labor taking shape right in front of your eyes, you’ll realize that you can achieve anything you put your mind to.

Make a plan, set your self some goals and milestones - and stick to them. If you need advice, drop me a line. And when you’re done, send me a picture.

…Just do it.

Good luck, and thanks for reading.

Technorati Tags: custom guitar, Make Your Own Guitar

Making your own custom guitar is a challenging, yet also incredibly rewarding experience. Many first-time luthiers or hobbyist guitar makers like to cut their chops by building a clone of their favorite axe - a Strat, Les Paul, PRS, or even the Brian May Red Special.

Problem is, how do you make your guitar look like their guitar?

Sure, you have pictures, and you’ve got the dimensions from the manufacturer, but making sure you end up with an exact replica can still be a major stumbling block.

Fortunately, there is a way to take all the guesswork out of making a perfect replica guitar, and save you countless hours of effort. Introducing…

…Luthier templates!

Guitar templates are thin, shaped pieces of ultra-durable wood, measured precisely against real guitars. You simply overlay the template onto your base wood and cut and carve around it.

The best guitar templates are made using computer aided design software, and laser-cut to ensure sub-millimeter accuracy.

Typical kits include templates for every guitar part which requires cutting, drilling or routing, for example:

• Body tracing templates
• Neck tracing templates with standard tuner holes
• Front pickup routing,  routing for the bridge, holes for control pots, holes for pickup selector switch
• Rear cavity routing, rear control cover, and rear cover recess routing
• Neck profile templates
• Inlay set templates, shims for angle reference and routing neck tenon cavity
• Truss rod access cavity template, and truss rod cove

Can you see how a comprehensive template will save you a lot of time and effort?

Here’s a video from Frank Pope, demonstrating the use of templates in guitar construction:

To find out more, you can visit this Guitar Build Templates site.

Also, you can see someone using a template kit to make a replica Stratocaster from scratch here!

Thanks for reading.

Technorati Tags: Custom Electric Guitar, Guitar Templates, Luthier Templates