Mannemarak
a guitar build, toolwise? I want to make my own electric guitar body and then buy a neck etc. But I am not sure what tools in the woodworking genre would be needed.
My woodworking skills are at the novice level and would like to do this as a long term and learning project.
What do you guys recommend is needed power tool wise?
Four4
I'm no expert but a router, drill press, and planer would be a good start toward achieving a decent result. An orbital sander would also make life a bit easier. Probably best to find a friend you can borrow from if you only plan on making one body, unless money is no problem? Are you planning on copying a classic body shape or do you have your own design? Sounds like a fun project, good luck!
Mannemarak
I'll copy a classic body shape first, keep it simple...or relativley more simple. But I always wanted to get into woodworking and I thought it would be nice if I can make my own guitar, sort of anyway.
Routers are not that expensive, depends on the quality also I guess..will go check it out.
Thanks
Werner-Carstens
Hi Mannemarak. If you visit www.stewmac.com you will get a good idea of the kind of tools you will need for the specific parts that make up a playable guitar. You don't have to buy all the tools from them (although you can should you want to) but it will at least give you an idea of the basics. A lot more goes into it than meets the eye.
Gearhead
It depends a bit on the guitar you want to build, please don't try to build an ES335 first. The Tele, Explorer and Flying V are good starting points since you do not need a lot of body contour. Strats are a bit more difficult etc.
Most of the StewMac tools are nice to have if you're in a hurry. Us amateurs can build fine without 80% of that stuff. A router is not indispensable, but very very nice to have if you know how to use it. The template follower, rounding over bit and templates will need to be there with the router. Assuming you go for the aforementioned Tele, you need to plane the slab at some point; buy the slab planed and you do not need a bench planer. Don't worry about orbital sanders, a flat piece of wood with some 60 grit glued to it is more useful. The drill press only comes in if you also have a sanding drum for the side contour; not necessary for Flying V I guess. If you need to glue things (body halves?) together you want glue clamps and a flat bench. Once you get to finishing stage, you are going to have to make the make-or-buy decision. Doing your own finish also requires a lot of tooling and work. Assembly comes down to hand drill, screw drivers and a soldering iron.
