Thread by @daisyowl, here's my current guitar build, i'll keep it all in this threadfirst [...]

here's my current guitar build, i'll keep it all in this thread

first step was to design it in CAD software (onshape). I modelled it in 3d to work out all the details. it's a vaguely jbass / pbass design, but on a 36" scale length instead of the normal 34" (longer strings)

the only direct output from this to the building process, for me, is the 1:1 scale printed outlines of the body, neck, and neck pocket (where they attach). in the future I want to do CNC stuff but I'm not ready for that yet.

i spray glued the paper templates to MDF (cheap, workable, strong enough to guide a router bit against), rough them out on a bandsaw, and use various sanders / hand sanding to get them right up to the lines in the design.

for the neck, i only printed the headstock and pocket shape, and laid out the long part by hand with a straight edge and ruler, because that is more accurate than taping together printer paper. i also used some router tricks and a straight edge to get the lines perfect

next i transfer the neck layout to a nice flat cherry board, route a channel for a truss rod (a metal rod that makes the neck's curve adjustable), use a bandsaw to get close to the outline, then use a ball bearing router bit against the template to get the smooth final outline

its worth taking time and getting the rough cut as close to the outline as possible, so the router bit has less material to chomp on. otherwise it makes a bigger mess, is more likely to tear out chunks of wood, and is more likely to violently throw your guitar across the workshop

the basic process is identical for the body, except on a larger piece of wood. then I use roundover bit(s) to give a consistent radius to the top and bottom edges, and use a rasp/file to take out a smooth chunk where the guitar rests against your torso

instead of trusting myself to perfectly cut a matching inverse template for the neck pocket, i lay the neck template on the body, and used two sided tape to put some scrap wood perfectly flush to it on all sides, then removed the neck and routed out the location for the pocket

unfortunately i didn't take pictures of that whole process. also: I haven't taken the pocket to the full depth, i'll wait until the last minute and just use the existing pocket as a guide to make deeper with a router

i've also held off on the pickup cavities, tuner holes, and other operations until the parts arrive, so I can confirm exact real dimensions (i designed the guitar around specific parts but im overly cautious about their exact dimensions)

next is the fingerboard:

i use a caliper and a ruler to mark out the fret positions based on calculated values for a 36" scale length. the caliper is super accurate but i need the ruler to mark out some arbitrary whole number lengths to reference. the caliper is too short alone

the key thing is to not measure from one fret to another, otherwise your error compounds and you have zero chance of having good intonation (tuning when holding strings against frets)

then i use a really janky little jig i made to hand saw along those lines. I haven't gone to fill depth yet, but ill use the sawed channels to guide deeper cuts later once i've given the fretboard the right radius

next, i tape the fretboard to the neck, carefully positioning and alinging it, then use a template router bit to transfer the neck shape to the fretboard. i haven't glued yet because i need to route a truss rod access hole and take it off again

it's looking a little more like a guitar. you are probably starting to see that building a neck from scratch is significantly more work than the body

FYI if you're making a custom guitar in a more pragmatic way, buying a premade neck is a great option. making your own neck, however, lets you do fun things like unusual scale lengths / fanned frets / etc.

oh, the woods:

- body is a basswood blank (rectangle) i bought online, specifically for guitars, $45
- neck is a cherry board from a woodworking shop. not a typical neck wood but pretty reasonable. ~$15
- fingerboard is walnut which is an unusual choice, but still hard. ~$15

it's really easy to find guitar body and neck blanks but the selection for basses seemed quite limited / expensive, which is why i did the neck with less specialized woods. given that this is my first bass build and thus highly likely to go wrong

Next I need to route a little channel for the spoke truss rod, which I make a quick template and dirty template for

I put the truss rod in with a little silicone caulk to keep it from rattling, and then mask off, glue up, and then attach the fretboard permanently with every clamp I own, seemingly

Ideally the truss rod would be about an inch longer to match my longer scale length but I think this will work out fine

next is the manual process of shaping the neck. i carefully put down some lines that define the shape of the curve (1st fret, 12th fret, center line, neck and heel transitions

i really roughly and carefully use a bandsaw to take out the profile, to save time in the next step, which is using this vicious looking tool called a shinto rasp to take the thickness down to the line

the task now is to get a smooth curve to the back of the neck, which i do by faceting the neck in two well defined passes. honestly it's just subdivision modelling for wood. i included a drawing showing the basic idea. The goal is to get close as facets and then smooth it out

here's the two passes i do: a big facet and then two smaller facets on each side

once that's sort of in place, it's time to hand carve the transitions at the neck and heel. it's the same process but sort of fudging it so it flares away from the fingerboard and ends on the boundaries i've chosen

my quitting point today: the neck is shaped. this is the most difficult and time consuming part of the process imo, it was about 4 hours of work. it's still got some router burns i need to clean up, and the headstock needs shaping and holes for the tuning machines.

next i'm taking some material off the top of the headstock and making the curve up to the fretboard. i mark out the transitions and depths in pencil, drill the tuner holes, use a router bit to roughly remove the flat section up to where it'll curve

then i stick the headstock to a square piece of scrap, and use this spindle sander to make the curve. i designed the radius of this in CAD to match the radius of this sanding wheel for convenience. then I scrape and sand the headstock top to get it nice and smooth

I mark and drill the bridge and neck screws+ferrules

Then I pop in the neck and push the screws into the wood by hand, to make imprints. This is more accurate than trying to measure again on the neck side. Then I drill the neck holes and attach it

At this point I throw on the bride and tuners to see how everything’s looking and...... I accidentally ordered a set of tuners for 2 left 2 right headstocks. Now I gotta wait for a new set of tuners to ship. And I have this goofy ass headstock in the meantime...

i gave the fingerboard a radius with a 12" sanding block, then put in the side dot markers. (drill holes, superglue, stick clay dot in)

i was careless and put the 12th fret double dot markers on the 10th fret. i'll fix that soon when more dot markers arrive

i think i'm gonna drill out the misplaced markers, fill with some walnut sawdust (same as fretboard), superglue, and sand flush. I tried it on some scrap and while it's not 100% invisible, i think it's the only practical fix without replacing the fingerboard or scrapping the neck

also worth mentioning: while radiusing the fingerboard i put noticable dip in the board (~0.5mm), and had to carefully sand and and re-radius. I also messed up a fret and had to fill it and re-saw it straight. it bugs me when people post DIY stuff and omit all the fuck ups lol

i drilled out and filled the bad side dots with sawdust from a scrap piece, and superglue. it came out darker tho... so if this doesn't even out a little when oiled up i'll have to try something else. or try to ignore it lol

i think if i made little solid plugs of walnut and glued them in the color difference wouldn't be as strong, idk

Starting to skip the minutia because this isn’t a tutorial and there are too many little things to be done: I installed fret markers, frets, and gave the neck its first coat of tung oil. The difference in color is wild

Back to work, laid out the electronics cavities, made a huge mess routing, soldered the only joint this requires (solderless electronics rules)

Latest Threads Unrolled: