Building your own guitar sounds like a dream project until you start pricing parts and tools. Then the real question hits: can you actually pull this off?
The honest answer depends on the path you take. Snapping together a kit with a finished neck is one thing, and shaping a body and wiring the electronics from raw wood is another entirely.
This article gives a straight read on how hard a guitar build really is. We help you match the project to your skills before you spend a cent.
Some builds suit a patient first-timer, while others will test a seasoned woodworker. First, it helps to know why you’d take this on at all.
Why Build a Guitar?
Before starting with this guitar building project, you need to have a solid grasp of your reasons for making a DIY guitar attempt. These will influence how you’ll tackle the challenges throughout the process.
Building your own guitars is super rewarding, whether you start with an electric or a nice acoustic guitar. You may even want to start with a cigar box guitar.
You Have No Access to a Guitar Nearby
Many will say that there’s no point to building a guitar because you can always buy one from a store. While it’s true that this is a simple matter for a lot of people, there may be instances when there’s no access to the fine instrument at all.
Perhaps a person is living in a remote area like a farm or a mountainous region. Stores are far away but wood is plenty.
Others may not have the funds to purchase a nice guitar so they’d like to try making one instead.
You Want to Test Your Woodworking Skills
For those who consider themselves experienced woodworkers or a guitar builder, building a guitar, or even guitar body templates, is a test of their skills and know-how. It’s an interesting challenge that’ll require a lot of finesse since guitars need to be assembled precisely to provide a pleasing sound.
It isn’t just about cutting, drilling, joining, and curving. You’ve to do all of these at a high level with an uncompromising attention to detail.
If you can somehow turn your vision into reality, then it’s a truly proud moment that you can savor with every strum. Be ready to see some calluses!
Maybe even build a hard case to go along with it.
You Want to Customize Your Own Guitar
Perhaps you already own several guitars including Strats, a Fender Telecaster, and Les Pauls, but are never fully satisfied with any of them. Buying a good brand doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have an ideal experience.
The guitar may feel too big, too heavy, or too unwieldy. It may feel uncomfortable to use after a long practice session.
It may be too loud or too soft, too short or too long, too tinny or too strong, too plain or too gaudy. If you want something that fits all of your personal preferences, then you need to build your own.
What You Need for the Project
Guitar makers use a lot of tools to build fast with high quality. You don’t need to mimic a professional shop but you may want to get a few key pieces.
For example, it’d make your life easier if you had an electric drill with the right bits and a sanding disk. You should also have a jigsaw, clamps, a soldering iron, and a plunge router.
Optional tools include a belt sander, a Dremel tool, a drill press, and an orbital sander. You can always borrow these from friends or relatives.
As for the materials, when you build an electric guitar you could opt for premade parts, pickups, and electronics whenever possible, since these will simplify the project immensely. The neck, for instance, is actually difficult to build from scratch if you’re going to include all of the contours that make it playable.
You can use birch plywood for the body or any tonewood that you’ve around. If you’re making an electric guitar, then you need to purchase the parts for the electronics and solder them together.
This can be a challenge for many.
Tips for Building Your Own Guitar
Set Your Expectations
The success or failure of your guitar construction project will depend on your personal expectations. Will you be happy with something that simply resembles a guitar and provides decent sound?
Or do you want something that rivals the commercially available products with their exquisite finishes and impressive tones? Perhaps you lie somewhere in between?
You alone know the true extent of your current skills so you can gauge your own capabilities. First attempts are often riddled with mistakes and that’s okay.
You can always build another one to make improvements.
Get Decent Tools
It’s hard to make a guitar if you want something with high quality. Putting the pieces together can be tricky, with misalignments and other errors being common.
You’ll have better outcomes if you’ve good tools to use. Ask friends for help if you lack anything.
Perhaps they might even lend you their shop for the weekend to make this happen. Of course, you should get familiar with using these tools to optimize their utility.
Ask the Experts
As a first-time builder, no matter how well you study the process, you’re likely to encounter roadblocks once you begin building a guitar. You’ll realize how hard things actually are and appreciate the skills of professional builders even more.
Sometimes you’ll be stuck because you can’t figure out how to make something work the way that you want it to. When this happens, don’t be afraid to ask the experts.
Seek out forums with DIY musicians and get their input.
Start With a Kit
If this is your first time building a guitar, then consider using guitar kits rather than making one from scratch. Or even just starting with a guitar body template.
It’ll make your life easier in many ways. You won’t have to look for materials since everything you need is already in the kit.
Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to what’s in the package. If there’s something you don’t like, then you can simply replace it with a better alternative.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to build a guitar?
It varies widely. A guitar kit with premade parts can come together over a few weekends, especially once the finish has time to cure.
Building from scratch, with a hand-shaped neck and wired electronics, can take many weeks or even months depending on your skills, your tools, and how much time you can commit.
Is it cheaper to build your own guitar?
Not always. A basic kit can be cheaper than a comparable store-bought guitar, but once you factor in quality tools, premium tonewoods, hardware, and pickups, a from-scratch build can cost as much as buying one.
The real payoff is the experience, the customization, and the satisfaction of playing an instrument you made yourself.
Should a beginner build a guitar from a kit or from scratch?
A beginner is almost always better off starting with a kit. Kits remove the hardest steps, like sourcing materials and shaping the neck, so you can focus on assembly, wiring, and finishing.
Once you have a build or two behind you, you can take on more from scratch and tackle the trickier parts with confidence.
Final Thoughts
Guitar-making is a noble profession performed by talented craftsmen. Their creations are worth paying good money for.
However, there’s nothing preventing ordinary people from making their own attempts. Those with experience in woodworking may find the process enjoyable.
It can be hard to get everything just right but it’s all worth the effort in the end if you can make sweet music.
