Building Your Dream Guitar

Creating An Affordable Custom Guitar
By John LeVan

Players ask me all time, “How much to build me a custom guitar?” Well, that’s a loaded question with a price tag that could rival the national debt! The answer depends on what you want. Even a simple “kit” guitar can be assembled and customized to be the best thing you’ve ever played. In other words, you don’t have to take out another mortgage to get a great custom guitar.

Last month my friend Eric Conn from Independent Mastering stopped by the shop to inquire about having a Tele® built. What made the process seamless is he knew what he wanted, why he wanted and a solid budget in mind. Another factor that helped us expedite the project was using a pre-finished body & neck, great hardware and excellent pickups. Once we settled on all of the options, here is what we decided to use.

KNOWING THE RIGHT MATERIALS AND WHY!

This is the first (and most important) part of the process to creating a custom guitar. This first step will help you budget for what you want and why you want it. Here is what Eric decided to use components from All Parts®:

1. Body; Alder with a Tele® shape, solid black.
2. Neck; Pre-finished (satin) with a maple fretboard (compound radius 7 ¼ – 9 ¾) two way trussrod, tall stainless steel frets with black dots.
3. Pickups; Seymour Duncan® 5/2 Tele®, neck & bridge pickups.
4. Electronics; 250 KΩ CTS pots, 3-way Switchcraft® selector switch & jack, cloth wire and a .047 µƭ capacitor.
5. Hardware; Gotoh® tuners (16:1 ratio), 6-saddle bridge, standard control plate, roller string trees, black metal knobs, black pickgaurd, Electro-Socket® jack, chrome neck plate (with serial number) and screws, chrome pickgaurd screws, string ferrules and strap buttons.

THE BODY:

Eric chose black, pre-finished Alder for his Tele®. Alder is a very consistent, medium weight wood. Many guitar builders (like me) use it because it’s easy to work with and sounds great without feeling like your wearing a boat anchor on stage.

The most affordable bodies are the traditional shapes; Strat®, Tele®, etc. I asked Eric why he chose a Tele® style body. He said “I’ve always thought it was a great looking guitar, I just love the shape of it”.   Weight is an important factor too. Most players prefer a lighter body that has great sustain. Heavy bodies tend to sound too bright and can be uncomfortable to play.

THE NECK:

The neck is a very important part of your guitar. There are several important things to think about. For Eric, it came down to the availability and ascetics. We used an all maple neck with a compound radius (7 ¼ – 9 ¾), with a satin finish, two-way (dual action) trussrod and Jescar® stainless steel frets.

Maple tends to have more snap to it. It gives the guitar more upper-mids and clarity. A compound radius refers to how round the fretboard is from the 1^st fret (7 ¼”) to the last fret (9 ¾”). At the first fret, the fretboard is rounder for playing chords, at the last frets, the fretboard is flatter to make it easier to bend the string and still have low action.  The Satin finish gives the neck a smooth feel.

A two-way (dual action) trussrod simply means that the rod(s) inside the neck are adjustable in both directions. One-way (single action) rods can only force the neck in one direction. This is fine until the neck develops a back-bow or an excessive fore-bow that can’t be adjusted. At that point, you have to spend a lot of cash to correct it. Two-way rods are always the best way to go.

The benefit of using stainless steel is how long they last. Practically forever! Stainless is very hard to work with, expensive and destructive to your tools, but you won’t ever have to replace them. I use stainless on most of my guitars, I love it!

PICKUPS:

These days we have more choices in pickups than ever. Most manufacturers offer the option of vintage style, high output or even active pickups for any style guitar. I suggest that you do a lot of research on the various tonal properties before you make a purchase. Most manufacturers have tone charts to help guide your decision making. Also keep in mind that the same pickup may sound a little different in each guitar.

Eric decided to go with Seymour Duncan’s® 5/2 Tele® pickups. I have to say, I absolutely love these pickups! They are completely different from anything I’ve ever used. The secret is in the magnets. Most pickups have either Alnico II (warmer) magnets or Alnico V (brighter) magnets. Alnico II sound great for treble strings, but muddy for the bass strings. Alnico V is great on the bass strings, but way too bright and harsh on the treble strings. So the brilliant minds at Seymour Duncan came up with the 5/2 pickup. They used Alnico II (warmer) magnet for the treble strings, and Alnico V (brighter) for the bass strings. The result is a well balanced pickup with a huge, dynamic tone. These are also available in a Strat® style pickup too!

ELECTRONICS:

Pots, switches, jacks, etc

For the volume & tone we used standard CTS 250KΩ pots. Since the pickups were single coils, 250KΩ have a warmer tone (which complemented the rest of the guitar).

Volume and tone pots are available in different impedances. Impedance is resistance measured in Ohms. A 250KΩ (250,000 Ohm) pot typically produces a warmer tone with less treble. A 500KΩ has a brighter tone. Single coil pickups generally sound better with 250KΩ pots; Humbuckers tend to sound good with 500KΩ pots.

The 3-way selector switch and output jack I used is made by Switchcraft®, they make excellent parts that are very dependable.

The cloth wire goes back to the vintage days. I like it because it’s heavier than the plastic coated wire. The .047 µƭ capacitor gives the tone control a broader range of tones.

HARDWARE:

There’s no substitute for great hardware. We used Gotoh® tuners with a 16:1 turning ratio, in other words, it takes 16 turns of button for the post (where the string attaches) to make one revolution. This makes tuning the guitar easier. We also selected a 6-saddle bridge for more accurate intonation. Then I added a set of roller string trees, black metal knobs and a black pickgaurd. To avoid the chronic loose jack problems that typically plague Telecasters®, we used an Electro-Socket® jack. Next, chrome control plate, neck plate (with serial number) and screws, chrome pickgaurd screws, string ferrules and strap buttons.

THE FINAL SETUP:

I asked Eric, “What was the biggest surprise about building this guitar”, he replied “How much work the neck needed. That was my biggest surprise”. One of the most overlooked procedures when building a guitar is the frets. Even a new neck, will need a fret level and re-crowning because the frets are usually a little uneven. To correct it, I placed the neck into a jig and sanded the frets until they were even with each other, then reshaped each fret to put a perfect crown (point of contact) on the top. Since the neck had stainless steel frets, this took a long time to do, but was worth the extra effort. Next I installed the bridge and then lined up the neck to make sure the alignment was correct. Before installing the neck, I had to remove the excess finish inside of the neck pocket. Once the neck pocket was clean, I installed the neck. From there, I installed the tuners began carving the string nut (out of bone), and added the rest of the hardware and electronics. From there, I restrung it with D’addario EXL110 Strings, and then completed the setup by adjusting the action & intonation to match Eric’s playing style.

When you step back and look at all of the little parts of the project, its incredible how much time and detail goes into building a guitar.

I asked Eric a few more questions when everything was completed and he had time to play his new guitar for a few weeks. Here are some of his answers:

Q: “What do you like about the pickups you chose?”

A: “The thing I like the most about those two pickups is that they sound great together, especially in the middle position, I really like the blend”.

Q: “What do you not like about the guitar?”

A: “I have to tune it quite often, but when it’s in tune, it plays very well in tune – I think the weather has been a factor”.

Q: “What are the most valuable things you’ve gained from this experience?”

A: “My vocabulary and the inner workings of an electric guitar – how sounds are enhanced by each part. I really like fact that I had a part in creating it. [It’s my own design”.]

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!

When building a guitar, there are always unexpected challenges that arise. For this guitar I had to resolve several unforeseen issues.

1. Frets: I had to be leveled and re-crowned, then I had file the fret ends to make them smooth.
2. The neck pocket on the body: I removed the excess finish to ensure a clean tight fit for the neck. Believe it or not, this will affect the tone & sustain.
3. The neck angle: The angle of the neck had to change so that the action could be set at the proper height for Eric’s playing style. I did this using a mahogany shim that fit into the neck pocket with a slight angle on it. It made all the difference in the playability and sustain of the guitar.
4. These issues were relatively minor compared to other challenges I’ve faced when building a custom guitar. So before you jump in, look for these issues and expect the unexpected.

So how much will it cost to build your own custom guitar like Eric’s? With the right tools and experience around $600 to $1,200 to do it yourself. The labor to pay someone like me to do it will run you about $500 to $850. Compare the time and cost to buying an American guitar off the shelf at a local music store, then upgrading the electronics, hardware, nut and setup. For a lot less you can have an American made, custom guitar designed by you.

For more info; check out my best selling book on guitar repair!

If you have any questions about this, or any of my other articles, feel free to e-mail me at guitarservices@aol.com. Be sure to visit us on the web at www.guitarservices.com

copyright©2010 John M. LeVan all rights reserved

John LeVan

The Guitar Services Workshop

www.guitarservices.com