Making your own DIY electric guitar is a great way to learn more about this amazing instrument. You’ll save money and even get to completely customize the instrument to your particular needs.
What’s better than that?
Check out some of our favorite electric guitar plans below and before you know it you’ll be strumming Come As You Are on your custom-built electric guitar!
Check out our DIY pedalboard plans to complete your custom setup and our DIY vinyl record storage plans if you’ve got a big vintage music collection you need organizing.
DIY Electric Guitar Plans
1. Barncaster Electric Guitar
I love playing my electric guitar. I like to play it when I am bored in school, or when I am just relaxing at home. It is a great way to express myself and have fun.
I started playing the guitar about six months ago, and it has made a significant difference in my life. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without it. The guitar is so much fun!
2. Electric Guitar Project
I love playing my electric guitar. It gives me an outlet for my creativity and emotions that I don’t have otherwise in my life. It’s a way of expressing myself that doesn’t require words.
3. Make an Electric Guitar
There are many benefits of building your own electric guitar. One of the most obvious is the price. Building your own electric guitar will cost considerably less than buying one from a store.
4. Custom Electric Guitar
Another benefit of constructing your own electric guitar is that you can customize it to suit your needs and preferences, including the shape, size, and color of the body, neck, pickups and more. Finally, you can build an instrument that better suits your skill level as you become more experienced in playing guitar over time.
5. Electric Guitar Pickup
DIY electric guitars are a great way to learn how to play the guitar. They are also cheaper than the traditional electric guitars, which can be an advantage for beginners.
6. Cardboard Electric Guitar
7. Handmade Electric Guitar
8. Scrapwood Electric Guitar
9. Electric Tenor Guitar
10. Miniature Electric Guitar
11. Building an Electric Guitar
Tools and Materials Needed
You must have the following tools and materials to make your project successful.
- Clamps.
- Several pieces of wire.
- Drill press.
- Soldering iron.
- Jig Saw.
- A quality drill.
- Router bits.
- Screws and pickup rings.
Step 1: Designing the Plan
It is important to know several crucial rules before building electric guitars. The most important rule is learning how to design a guitar plan. Make sure you know your preferred scale height or the length from the nut to the board.
It is quite easy to determine the length scale of your electric guitar. You are only required to measure the front part of the nut specifically where it meets the board. This should be done at the center of the neck.
Remember to add 3 inches on the low string and high string. In other words, this is called compensation. It would be better if you have access to a fret calculator. The calculator will help you determine the perfect scale length. It is advisable to purchase a neck that has been pre-made from the manufacturer. A pre-made neck will fit the design.
After getting the neck, you can go ahead and determine the scale length. Before drawing the final template of your project, ensure that you have all the hardware and knobs. With this, you will have an easy time placing everything where you want it. Pre-planning the design concept is an important procedure because it allows you to correct mistakes on paper before getting to the real wood project.
Consider laying out several pieces of poster boards. While some people let their imagination go wild, others prefer going for a traditional design. On this specific project, you can use a PRS body design. Don’t forget that you need to have accurate measurements. For that reason, you should scale up the electric guitar by marking out grid on the picture.
Last but not least, you can project the image in a wall. The poster board should be well traced more so if you are using a projector. However, most people like drawing their template freehand.
Step 2: Routing the Body
At this point, your electric guitar is slowly taking shape. After completing the plan, it’s time to trace it onto a piece of wood. Use a solid and soft piece of wood. It is worth noting that some pieces of wood produces a different tone. However, it’s hard to tell the difference between Mahogany and Crisper. Therefore, there is no need to purchase an expensive wood.
You might want to build your body blank. Get a ¾ inches piece of plywood. The plywood should be cut into a 4 inches by 2 inches board. Cut two rectangular sections that will hold your design. Use a lot of glue to make sure that no spaces are left. Make use of a clamp to ensure that the pieces of wood are held firmly. Allow it to dry thoroughly for two nights.
After that, you will have a quality body blank that is not only rigid but also great to be used for electric guitars. Although you must use a solid color paint after finishing it, it becomes hard to differentiate between the wood and solid wood blank.
Purchase small piece of birch if you want to have a thicker body blank. It is also important to remove any wire in the ¼ piece of plywood prior to gluing them together. In this way, you will never worry about drilling the pieces of wood together.
When it comes to the neck pocket, you can utilize a ¼ inches bit. You are required to determine the thickness of the neck heel to know the deepness you will have to rout. The next thing is measuring the bridge height from the bottom to top section. Lastly, trace a unique pattern of your wish to make the control cavity.
Step 3: Drill Holes
Now that the project is almost halfway, it’s time to drill holes for the control plate and neck. That’s where a handheld drill becomes crucial. Make sure that you have the right hole size from the drill bit. Check the screw thickness and compare it with the threading. Start using a drill bit that make smaller holes than the screw. Move to the next drill if the hole is extremely small.
Always be careful when drilling your holes. The best way to drill holes using a drill bit is to screw with the bit by marking the bit with a tape measure. This will help you avoid going deep.
Step 4: Prepare the Body
If you want to have a solid color finish, you must fill the pores using a wood filler. Wood filler is much better because it dries quickly and is easy to sand. Make diagonal cuts across and against the grain. This is crucial in filling the pores and gaps better. For a flat surface, use a sanding block and 220 grit paper. You are supposed to use your hand to sand the rounded edges.
Step 5: Paint and Polish
To make your electric guitar look attractive and decent, you must paint and polish the outer surface. Avoid mixing the polish with a water base as this can lead to a cracked finish. Water-based paints are expensive and there is no need using them.
The ideal spraying technique is holding the can 8 inches away. You can do it down or left depending on how the nozzle is set. Allow the paint coat to dry for at least 45 minutes. Also, mount the electric guitar body to wooden stick. Once you have finished wet sanding, you are guaranteed of a smooth surface.
Assembly and Wiring
The last thing is putting everything together. In shielding, use shielding paint because it is much easier to use than copper tape. Follow the procedure on your pickups when wiring the electric guitar.
Final Thoughts
Building an electric guitar is not a hard task. First, you must decide on the type of guitar you want to build. In addition, you need to plan your electric guitar depending on the measurements and your preferred size. In this article, we will learn how to build an electric guitar from scratch. Without further ado, let’s get started.
After reading the article on building an electric guitar, you can now build a guitar from scratch. Make sure you have the right tools and materials if you want to have an easy time building your electric guitar.
References
Hi, my name’s Elena Coolidge. I’m a DIY enthusiast who loves building fun woodworking plans. These DIY plans are fun hobby projects for enthusiasts or even more advanced builders that want to build things like bunk beds, end tables or even a duck box!
