First build questions?

So I am thinking about building my first guitar. I want to make myself a strat. I think it's just gonna be made of birch plywood or something pressed together though, not ready to break the bank yet. Anyways, I was wondering
How expensive builds get?
How hard is it?
Am I in over my head trying this?

If you are like me and have a dad with a shop, or you have a shop at your school, then you shouldn't need much more to get going. A router, a drill press, and any sort of saw that doesn't only cut straight lines are almost essential to this stuff. Then there's the nut files and fretting equipment if you want to do the neck stuff yourself.

With the hardware and wood costs added, you're probably looking at something around $200-400 depending on what you use and if you make the neck yourself (it's cheaper that way).

What tools do you have now? What tools will you need to buy? I would go with solid alder, ash, poplar or pine for the body instead of plywood. It will cost more for quality, void free plywood. Also, you can always buy 3/4" thick pine or poplar boards from home depot & laminate them together. Cheap & easy & probably your best option for your first time. For the neck, Home depot sells 3/4" maple for cheap, so use it for the main portion of the neck & either use another hardwood for the fretboard or resaw another maple board into fretboard blanks. If you go the home depot route for woods, then it'll be pretty cheap for the neck & body. As far as the hardware, stay on the inexpensive side for your first guitar. Don't go throwin' a set of Lollars or Fralins in your first build because it won't be perfect. By doing it this way, you can expect to spend around $200-$300.

Bob

Where can I go for info on building a neck, and Is this a better way then buying one?

Every tutorial you'll ever need for guitar building is right here in this forum. For starters, look through all the challenge builds. Building a neck is a requirement of the challenge. You're gonna have to build some jigs & fixtures too, but again, all that info is available right here. Just use the search function.

Bob

Where can I go for info on building a neck, and Is this a better way then buying one?

Building a neck is certainly more rewarding than buying one. It's way cheaper too.

Bob

Thanks for the help

I have a couple of guitars made from plywood. It was a big thing in the '80's for the cheap manufacturers.

My plywood bodied strat clone weighs more than a Les Paul. My plywood bodied P-bass weighs more than a battleship. They both sound pretty good though.

As I can attest from my recent router table build, its hard to work plywood and get a decently smooth edge on it. It likes to chip.

Find some 8/4 poplar or pine to start with. You'll be glad you did.