Buy a body or DIY it

I'm currently looking at doing my second build, and I'm a bit keen to do a better finish than my first. This means paying a little more attention to the router (less freehanding, more templating) and my sealers, lacquers etc.

I'm tossing up whether to build a body out of Tasmanian Oak (or Victorian Ash depending on where you live). This will cost me around $40AUS from Bunnings (assuming they have the right size timber), plus time in doing the templates, cutting, routing, sanding.

Or

I can get a precut body from an Australian supplier on eBay for around $90AUS, but it's 'basswood'. For an Ash (what Americans would call Ash) I'm looking at $200AUS.:shock:

I'm leaning towards the Tassie Oak one, not because it's cheaper, but because I think I'd feel better about having made it. It's more mine than if I'd bought a body already routed. However, I don't feel like that about necks. I've got two on the way, both two piece maple, one from China for $54 inclusing postage, and one from Australia, about $110 including postage.

The other option is to get something like an SX tele, which you can buy in the US for $99 (which is $133 Aus). Buying it in Australia, however, means handing over the equivalent of $222US. So as far as being cheaper, it's not much, and you don't have the attachment that you get from DIY.

Why would you choose a premade body over doing one yourself?

If you have the tools, time, and wherewithall, definitely make your own body. It won't be any cheaper, but the experience you gain, and the tools will be re-usable. Make your accurate templates, and copy them, and then practice first on scrap construction lumber to get the feel of all these things. That's what I am doing (painstakingly slow, BTW), but I am learning a ton of things. And I am not ruining great wood - YET.


Q: Where did you find a neck for $54AUS? That really cheap. Do they have any more?

Q: Where did you find a neck for $54AUS? That really cheap. Do they have any more?

I'll admit it was from a not-as-dodgy-as-some-I-have-seen ebay mob from China. I hesitated and hesitated, and watched the feedback go up by a few each day, and read all the feedback comments, and thought, at worst, I'm down 50 bucks, at best, cheap maple necks. It will probably turn out to be some extremely fragile thing with more twists than Chubby Checker, but you live to learn.:confused:

It was from a mob called Feng-Music, and here's a picture

http://tinyurl.com/qzcxrh

Thanks for that link. I just lost my job last Friday, so I won't be buying anything until I get gainfully employed. In fact, I may be selling off my collection of 10 vintage Fenders and Gibsons, and Martins to keep a roof over our heads. I amy post on the Classifieds, here, and Ebay to off this stuff and raise cash to keep the bank of my back. It's all material cr_p anyhow. I will keep one amp, and my cheap Squire Honey Blonde Tele, so I can at least cry really loud.

I'm currently looking at doing my second build, and I'm a bit keen to do a better finish than my first. This means paying a little more attention to the router (less freehanding, more templating) and my sealers, lacquers etc.

I'm tossing up whether to build a body out of Tasmanian Oak (or Victorian Ash depending on where you live). This will cost me around $40AUS from Bunnings (assuming they have the right size timber), plus time in doing the templates, cutting, routing, sanding.

Or

I can get a precut body from an Australian supplier on eBay for around $90AUS, but it's 'basswood'. For an Ash (what Americans would call Ash) I'm looking at $200AUS.:shock:

I'm leaning towards the Tassie Oak one, not because it's cheaper, but because I think I'd feel better about having made it. It's more mine than if I'd bought a body already routed. However, I don't feel like that about necks. I've got two on the way, both two piece maple, one from China for $54 inclusing postage, and one from Australia, about $110 including postage.

The other option is to get something like an SX tele, which you can buy in the US for $99 (which is $133 Aus). Buying it in Australia, however, means handing over the equivalent of $222US. So as far as being cheaper, it's not much, and you don't have the attachment that you get from DIY.

Why would you choose a premade body over doing one yourself?

I make my own because I can get the wood for free. You live in Kendenup, therfore you must know some farmers in the area who have some dead trees that have been down for a while. I would see what pale timbers you can find that someone was about to use for firewood and plane some down yourself. All you need is a saw, a router and 2 straight pieces of steel or timber. I am going to make a marri guitar when I next get down to Albany and visit my folks and also one from yate. I want to give wandoo a crack as well. I have heard wandoo is excellent for acoustic guitars. My first guitar is Jarrah because I had some lying around which was left over from when my house was built 4 years ago. Just think a little laterally rather than hand over your money to a very large company.

Why would you choose a premade body over doing one yourself?

I think the only times I would do that is if it was a particuarly special-looking body, or if I was looking for a pre-painted body on the cheap as I have no experience and very little space for spraying finishes. (I'm a bare wood and oil finish lover)

There would be very few suppliers I'd want to buy bodies from, not necessarily because the quality is poor, but because they may not match up with the neck and other hardware that I want to use. For example, I prefer to get a nice tight fitting neck pocket mysef rather than run the risk of have a sloppy looking gap around the edges.
Of course if the neck and body are from the same supplier, or all are Fender licensed then there probably won't be an issue, but since you're necks are coming from different places I'd choose to do the body myself.

I am going to make a marri guitar when I next get down to Albany and visit my folks and also one from yate. I want to give wandoo a crack as well. I have heard wandoo is excellent for acoustic guitars. My first guitar is Jarrah because I had some lying around which was left over from when my house was built 4 years ago. Just think a little laterally rather than hand over your money to a very large company.

Wandoo would look very nice. How did the jarrah one turn out? I looked about the WWW for anything on Jarrah guitar bodies, and most of the results gave the impression that it was a fairly 'dead tone' wood, and while looking nice, really didn't do much for the sound. Do you notice this much when compared to other wood types in a solid body guitar?

I find it hard, every guitar has a different sound. Is one better than the other? Not necessarily, you just need to find a use for that sound. And I doubt I would make the same pickup configuration in the same body wood to test it out anyway.

So how did it turn out guityak?

Brendo - my local Bunnings has 42mm Tas Oak (seems it's only called Vic Ash in the Domayne EXPENSIVE! junk mail) by something like 135mm wide - so a two or three piece body would be easy 'n cheap-ish.

The stuff looks a dead ringer for mahogany IMO - and needs filling like mahogany - but with a black filler and a red tint in the clear ... lovely!

That said - it's heavy. Very heavy. Although, it comes from such a massive tree that the weight difference between two planks is HUGE. I always go through the entire stack, pull the whole lot out (the staff don't seem to care) and make two big piles in the aisle - one with straight, light lengths and one with my rejects. You can often find nice flamed pieces if it's your lucky day. Folks at Bunnings don't realise flamed could sell for more. FOOLS!

A light piece of Tas Oak (http://www.worldagroforestry.org/Sea/Products/AFDbases/wd/asps/DisplayDetail.asp?SpecID=1428) (click for density variation, 500=perfect) is like a moderate weight Swamp Ash or Alder. A heavy piece ... you don't wanna go there. Way harder than sugar maple.

42mm is bang on vintage-correct thickness. 44.5mm is 1.75".

If you are tooled up, why not? For all the reasons you gave.

I'll admit it was from a not-as-dodgy-as-some-I-have-seen ebay mob from China. I hesitated and hesitated, and watched the feedback go up by a few each day, and read all the feedback comments, and thought, at worst, I'm down 50 bucks, at best, cheap maple necks.]

I'd be interested to hear how your Chinese neck works out... they are on eBay here, too. They start bids at $0.99 with $39.99 shipping... I'm tempted!

Jim

I'd be interested to hear how your Chinese neck works out... they are on eBay here, too. They start bids at $0.99 with $39.99 shipping... I'm tempted!

Jim


My Chinese neck (it's all Chin's...get it...hmm) works out by looking at the TV then looking at the computer screen, then back again :wink:

I'll let all y'all know what it's like when it arrives, but please bear in mind that I am a bit of a novice at looking critically at guitar items.

Brendo, I have a number of strat , tele and paddle style EDEN necks I bought some time ago - all brand new. I started to make my own necks and these are just sitting here unused. Drop me a PM if you are interested..

Wandoo would look very nice. How did the jarrah one turn out? I looked about the WWW for anything on Jarrah guitar bodies, and most of the results gave the impression that it was a fairly 'dead tone' wood, and while looking nice, really didn't do much for the sound. Do you notice this much when compared to other wood types in a solid body guitar?

I find it hard, every guitar has a different sound. Is one better than the other? Not necessarily, you just need to find a use for that sound. And I doubt I would make the same pickup configuration in the same body wood to test it out anyway.

So how did it turn out guityak?

If you look at my build thread http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/159339-4-new-builds-including-teakaster.html you will see the progress on the jarrah one. I am still trying to get the finish done on it. I am up to about 6 or 7 coats of clear.

I have also spoken with a luthier from Margaret river and he spoke highly of Wandoo and quite positively about jarrah. I think jarrah has some nice tonal qualities. Take a few pieces and clunk them against various objects and you will pick up the resonance in the timber. Compare that with a piece of pine and you will see a big difference.

I think I will be able to speak with more authority on the subject later in the year when I have got a few builds finished. I intend to make at least 4 jarrah guitars and a couple of sheoak ones. A mate of mine has some wandoo as well.

Jarrah! I've seen a piece of Jarrah sink. Seriously - it went straight to the bottom. :shock::grin: Wandoo is even heavier, heavier than Ebony.

You must have some muscles, my friend! :mrgreen:

I've got the jarrah one on hold for now. I've scouted around the old man's shed and found a few likely looking pieces, but nothing that really jumps and says 'Pick Me!'. I have seen some lovely lighter pieces around, but not in Dad's shed, nor already cut in Bunnings. It's all the really dark and really heavy stuff. I did find a nice fingerboard sized one though, which I've sliced in half to make two fingerboards out of, but not just now.

I found a 150mm x 45mm x 2100mm piece of Tassie Oak in the local builders timber store. This should get me two bodies if I cut it into 5, and split one of those down the guts. And it was only $31. So now it's back to template making and all the boring bits that make your body actually look decent in the end!

I would build my own; I have been working on two finished one Tele Swamp Ash.

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk237/ramseypete/Relic4.jpg

Building your own guitar is a lot of like cooking your own dinner, it just comes out the way you like it. Having other people cook your food at a restaurant just never comes out to your liking no matter what, but then again I was a Chef for over 20 years..:grin:

Mgdesigns,

Sorry about your job loss man, I have been in your shoes in the past, selling all my stuff to get gas and rent to find work.. Good luck and Good bless.. What I have in my collection is cash for my wife if anything happens to me.

[QUOTE=guityak;1854246]If you look at my build thread http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/159339-4-new-builds-including-teakaster.html you will see the progress on the jarrah one. I am still trying to get the finish done on it. I am up to about 6 or 7 coats of clear. QUOTE]

It is certainly coming along nicely. I look forward to the end product. Aren't the bits in between tedious? I couldn't wait on my first build. Once I had the parts and knew they would fit ok (which I found out later they didn't) I just wanted to get it strung and plugged in as soon as possible. Wiped the pine over with baltic stain, gave it an hour, slathered it with some sealer stuff that I'm not sure what it was meant to do, and then two quick sprays with a lacquer in a can. Bang, rustic looking guitar (that's what I tell myself. Lazy finish guitar my wife tells me).

Building your own guitar is a lot of like cooking your own dinner, it just comes out the way you like it.

My food never comes out quite the way I planned when I cook, and that analogy could forever stop me from building my own guitar. :wink:

My food never comes out quite the way I planned when I cook, and that analogy could forever stop me from building my own guitar. :wink:


The analogy does not work for me, either. I love Chinese food.

But you ain't gonna see me buying any stuff, dodgy or otherwise, from China.

Jarrah! I've seen a piece of Jarrah sink. Seriously - it went straight to the bottom. :shock::grin: Wandoo is even heavier, heavier than Ebony.

You must have some muscles, my friend! :mrgreen:

It is funny you say that as I am going to use some Yate (Eucalyptus Cornuta) for a build as well and I quote, "It is one of the hardest and strongest timbers in the world." :shock: I just can't find actual data on the density for it. But the stories my Dad tells me about trying to push them over with a bulldozer makes the quote above sound very accurate.

I've got the jarrah one on hold for now. I've scouted around the old man's shed and found a few likely looking pieces, but nothing that really jumps and says 'Pick Me!'. I have seen some lovely lighter pieces around, but not in Dad's shed, nor already cut in Bunnings. It's all the really dark and really heavy stuff. I did find a nice fingerboard sized one though, which I've sliced in half to make two fingerboards out of, but not just now.

I found a 150mm x 45mm x 2100mm piece of Tassie Oak in the local builders timber store. This should get me two bodies if I cut it into 5, and split one of those down the guts. And it was only $31. So now it's back to template making and all the boring bits that make your body actually look decent in the end!

Now that is more like it. Almost as cheap as my free bits.:grin:

Guityak, do you just build them to see what they look like when they're finished? I mean, is it more of a woodworking project than a guitar building project? Or are you keeping them all to play or passing them on to friends or selling them? You seem to have a lot of plans for what wood you are going to use, where I'm looking more at what components I can put into the wood to make it different to the ones I've got (and I've got four now, after having 15 years of one. Damn you TDPRI)

Guityak, do you just build them to see what they look like when they're finished? I mean, is it more of a woodworking project than a guitar building project? Or are you keeping them all to play or passing them on to friends or selling them? You seem to have a lot of plans for what wood you are going to use, where I'm looking more at what components I can put into the wood to make it different to the ones I've got (and I've got four now, after having 15 years of one. Damn you TDPRI)


I am building them for a few reasons:
1 - I have started, am addicted and can't stop.
2 - I want see see what different timbers that I can get from the farm look like, but more importantly sound like when turned into guitars.
3 - If I can make a guitar out of a West Aussie timber that looks fantastic sounds awesome and is initially unique. Then I shall replicate that many times over for anyone who wants one.
4 - I can build a better guitar, for less money and exactly how I want it. If you mention the word custom to a music store the price goes up instantly by several thousand dollars.
5 - I can build a guitar that no one else has.
6 - When I have too many hanging on the wall in my music room I may have to sell some.
7 - In an ideal setting I would love this to become a self funded hobby. I sell a few here or there that people like which provides me with the funds to make some more.
8 - I have 4 brothers who all play guitar some of their wives do as well. So to make some cool instruments for them out of timber off the property we grew up on has some sentimentality attached to it as well.

Finally and most importantly of all - I love music, listening to it, performing it, creating it and recording it. It is a core part of who I am. What better way to express that passion than to make the instruments that I play. I guess that is the ultimate experience of creative expression.

I see it as follows: in general, if there is something I can do better or more accurately than a builder, then I do it. If the builder can produce a more correct or better quality part than anything I will reasonably be able to produce, then I outsource.

Just like I buy factory-made tuners instead of mining ore, refining metal, then smelting or forging the refined metal into parts. A set of Schaller "F tuners" costs USD 45.

Brendo, I have a number of strat , tele and paddle style EDEN necks I bought some time ago - all brand new. I started to make my own necks and these are just sitting here unused. Drop me a PM if you are interested..

hi fletch! is that EDEN tele neck maple fretboard? is it any good?
how much are they?
cheers

I'd build my own body- I did on my first build - T downs has a nice tele blueprint on here ( had our Electrical engineering guru enlarge to full size at work...) then made a plexiglas template by using 3m super 77 adhesive an gluing the blueprint UNDER the plexiglas, and dremeled out the pup and tone control routes, finishing them by hand ( make another , for the outside of the body, and you're all set) I use a template router bit , anchor the body down , by using an oversize piece of plexiglas ( on the pup route , and tone control template ) this allows the neck pocket, pup routes, and tone control cavity to be in line- ( i use 8 3" decking screws placed around the perimeter of the template , then screw down into the workbench top- did this on the strat and on the esquire that I'm building) BTW- experiment with different wood choices- the strat/ hamiltone that I built was out of flame/ quilt maple ( solid, not veneer, 1 7/8 thick ) and Is about as heavy as a good sg.