Guitar Building

[Okotok]

Just wondering if anyone else here builds guitars? I've been hobby building acoustics for almost 20 years between other woodworking projects. Mostly hand carved archtops but some flat tops and a few ukuleles.

[Dweb]

Not hand made from scratch

But I enjoy building electric guitars from individual parts I've purchased , and then I do all the electronic install and soldering.

[mooseknuckle]

Post.some pics!!

[pikergolf]

^^^^^^^^^ X2 Love to see work like that!

[Dweb]

I'll post some pics of 80s 90s metal shredders that I pieced together and Frankensteined give me a minute

[Okotok]

Post.some pics!!

Here's a few archtops. My wife surprised me by getting a photographer to take pictures of a bunch of my guitars and made me a great album. I had joked about getting a Walmart pic done at one point so the photographer mocked one up as well! The wood for these came from a buddy of mine who has since passed. He would cut and haul big leaf maple, sitka spruce and other woods from the West coast. He would resaw it on his homemade mill and I would process it further after that. I sure miss him.

[Dweb]

Here's a few archtops. My wife surprised me by getting a photographer to take pictures of a bunch of my guitars and made me a great album. I had joked about getting a Walmart pic done at one point so the photographer mocked one up as well! The wood for these came from a buddy of mine who has since passed. He would cut and haul big leaf maple, sitka spruce and other woods from the West coast. He would resaw it on his homemade mill and I would process it further after that. I sure miss him.

Excellent work !!!!!!

[Fish along]

Here's a few archtops. My wife surprised me by getting a photographer to take pictures of a bunch of my guitars and made me a great album. I had joked about getting a Walmart pic done at one point so the photographer mocked one up as well! The wood for these came from a buddy of mine who has since passed. He would cut and haul big leaf maple, sitka spruce and other woods from the West coast. He would resaw it on his homemade mill and I would process it further after that. I sure miss him.

Holy. That is beautiful workmanship .

[Dweb]

No where near as nice as yours lol but I do enjoy tinkering

[Okotok]

No where near as nice as yours lol but I do enjoy tinkering

Cool stuff. Keep building!

[DisplacedCaper]

I’ve built some electrics from the kits (basically rough neck and unfinished rough body’s) sand, stain or paint, assemble, sometimes routing involved. I put some high end pups and pots in a couple. The doubleneck tele has all seymore Duncan’s and a bigsby. The LP has cheap Duncan designed electronics and a knock off bigsby but plays great. The Fb plays great and sounds ok, I have a set of P90’s for it but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
I also built a 3 string cigar box with an axe handle for a neck, a single humbucker and it sounds mean. I can’t find a picture at the moment.
My latest was a wine box with a plexiglass cover over pics of the kids, neck and a piezo pup with built in tuner from a busted old acoustic my buddy had.
I’m also in Okotoks:)
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190118/7485b67d66bc37ac83008b993fc35bbf.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190118/a61953ae326fc1bce0d623650f8b21c5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190118/96def8559ed6b9769254d3ef25e40505.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190118/e3ba8ed6e25273d606f592fc25f93ebd.jpg


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[Dweb]

That red stain on the flame maple wow....

Beautiful finish

[JohninAB]

Very nice work gents.

[Twisted Canuck]

Really like those Oko....and also agree that the red stain on that maple is stupidly pretty DC!

[Okotok]

I’ve built some electrics from the kits (basically rough neck and unfinished rough body’s) sand, stain or paint, assemble, sometimes routing involved. I put some high end pups and pots in a couple. The doubleneck tele has all seymore Duncan’s and a bigsby. The LP has cheap Duncan designed electronics and a knock off bigsby but plays great. The Fb plays great and sounds ok, I have a set of P90’s for it but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
I also built a 3 string cigar box with an axe handle for a neck, a single humbucker and it sounds mean. I can’t find a picture at the moment.
My latest was a wine box with a plexiglass cover over pics of the kids, neck and a piezo pup with built in tuner from a busted old acoustic my buddy had.
I’m also in Okotoks:)


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Very nice! Great to see some other builders here. I moved out of Okotoks a few years ago and in Marda Loop in Calgary now but 14 years there was great. Here's some pics of my current campfire beater. It's an oval hole archtop with X bracing rather than the traditional parallel. The top is cedar I got from a buddy with a shake factory in BC. The back came from my deceased buddy. It's a one piece, from a West Coast, big leaf quilt maple plank. Neck is a 3 piece flame maple with Bolivian rosewood in the center. Fingerboard is African ebony. Headstock overlay is Bolivian rosewood from the same plank as the neck. Bridge is African blackwood. I picked up a bunch of chunks from Leevalley in a sale years ago. Cutting the mother of pearl with a fret saw and inlaying is a bit of a pain but adds a bit of bling. :) Pickup is a K & K hidden inside.

[pikergolf]

Very nice fellows!

[270person]

Looks like some of you boys suffer from the same addiction as my brother. Here's s9me of his gear.

https://kenburtonguitar.com/gear

[DisplacedCaper]

That red stain on the flame maple wow....



Beautiful finish



Thanks Dweb and TC, I’m very pleased how that turned out!
And wow Okotok, I’d love to do one from scratch with some nice woods one of these days, they’re amazing!


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[Okotok]

Looks like some of you boys suffer from the same addiction as my brother. Here's s9me of his gear.

https://kenburtonguitar.com/gear

The link doesn't work for me?

[Twisted Canuck]

Oko....that 'campfire beater'?...

You got skills man.


I had a friend in Winnipeg I worked with 20 years ago, who liked to build guitars. He was a finish carpenter by day, and I helped him demo an older house to renovate. All the doors went (hollow core), and the casings...which were solid mahogany. He saved every last piece, and stacked it up. I saw two guitars he did, using a Gibson D7 design, and he resawed that mahogany for the sides. Steamed them up, and when he was done it was incredible. He made a beautiful guitar, and played even better. Wish I had pictures, but my flip phone didn't have a camera then...:lol:

[DisplacedCaper]

Looks like some of you boys suffer from the same addiction as my brother. Here's s9me of his gear.



https://kenburtonguitar.com/gear



That’s a lot of gear lol. I’ve been thinning the herd the last few years but still end up picking more up. My wife has a lot of patience, but does do a lot of eye rolls


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[Okotok]

Here's one of two bass archtops I built. One for a buddy and one for my musically inclined wife. This is my buddy's. Both made from West Coast big leaf maple backs/necks and sitka spruce tops. Ebony fingerboards. About the biggest guitar possible to play without standing them up. 20" lower bout and a 34" scale. I like doing the side sound holes as it directs sound toward the player as well when in a group. Pickup is a Kent Armstrong floater off the ebony pickguard. You can see how big it is standing beside a regular archtop with 18" bout and an archtop, tenor ukulele in the background on the one pic.

[Okotok]

Oko....that 'campfire beater'?...

You got skills man.


I had a friend in Winnipeg I worked with 20 years ago, who liked to build guitars. He was a finish carpenter by day, and I helped him demo an older house to renovate. All the doors went (hollow core), and the casings...which were solid mahogany. He saved every last piece, and stacked it up. I saw two guitars he did, using a Gibson D7 design, and he resawed that mahogany for the sides. Steamed them up, and when he was done it was incredible. He made a beautiful guitar, and played even better. Wish I had pictures, but my flip phone didn't have a camera then...:lol:

I know where his head is at :) Campfire beater means different things to different people, but I have the resources to fix or refinish at will. Patina is a cool thing though!

[270person]

Here's one of two bass archtops I built. One for a buddy and one for my musically inclined wife. This is my buddy's. Both made from West Coast big leaf maple backs/necks and sitka spruce tops. Ebony fingerboards. About the biggest guitar possible to play without standing them up. 20" lower bout and a 34" scale. I like doing the side sound holes as it directs sound toward the player as well when in a group. Pickup is a Kent Armstrong floater off the ebony pickguard. You can see how big it is standing beside a regular archtop with 18" bout and an archtop, tenor ukulele in the background on the one pic.



Very nice. You've got talent man.

[DisplacedCaper]

Here's one of two bass archtops I built. One for a buddy and one for my musically inclined wife. This is my buddy's. Both made from West Coast big leaf maple backs/necks and sitka spruce tops. Ebony fingerboards. About the biggest guitar possible to play without standing them up. 20" lower bout and a 34" scale. I like doing the side sound holes as it directs sound toward the player as well when in a group. Pickup is a Kent Armstrong floater off the ebony pickguard. You can see how big it is standing beside a regular archtop with 18" bout and an archtop, tenor ukulele in the background on the one pic.



I can’t imagine the hours that went into any of those. They’re works of art, good call on getting a photo shoot for them:)


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[Okotok]

I can’t imagine the hours that went into any of those. They’re works of art, good call on getting a photo shoot for them:)


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Thanks. About 300 hours or so in an archtop and lot's of potential blisters from the hand carving. Those are just phone shots from me though. I'll have to dig up the pro shots from the album sometime and scan them as they're hardcopies.

[Zip]

Awesome....Awesome...love this kinda stuff, Thanks for sharing some of your passion with us...
Zip:)

[double gun]

My father went to the school of the guitar in Vermont in about ‘82 learned from Charles Fox himself. Now 77 he no longer builds - shame he has a lot of exotic wood that’s at least 30 years old that was destined to become instruments. It would be scary to know today’s value...

[Stinky Buffalo]

Unbelievable, guys. Nice work!

[243plus]

Beautiful, beautiful work guys. Have either of you ever tackled gun stocks?

[M.C. Gusto]

Here's a few archtops. My wife surprised me by getting a photographer to take pictures of a bunch of my guitars and made me a great album. I had joked about getting a Walmart pic done at one point so the photographer mocked one up as well! The wood for these came from a buddy of mine who has since passed. He would cut and haul big leaf maple, sitka spruce and other woods from the West coast. He would resaw it on his homemade mill and I would process it further after that. I sure miss him.

HOLY!!!!!!!! You sir can build a guitar.

[wildwoods]

Here's a few archtops. My wife surprised me by getting a photographer to take pictures of a bunch of my guitars and made me a great album. I had joked about getting a Walmart pic done at one point so the photographer mocked one up as well! The wood for these came from a buddy of mine who has since passed. He would cut and haul big leaf maple, sitka spruce and other woods from the West coast. He would resaw it on his homemade mill and I would process it further after that. I sure miss him.

I love how the fret board ends on the middle guitar. Wow.
I bit the bullet and bought a Martin a couple years ago. Amazing what good craftsmanship can do to sound. Now if only I was a better player.... it’s coming though. Slowly

[brslk]

I've never built one before but I do suffer from GAS (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome).
I currently have around nine guitars and am seriously considering building a Telecaster from a kit.

[Okotok]

Beautiful, beautiful work guys. Have either of you ever tackled gun stocks?

Have made a few axe handles and other things but never a gun stock although I do have a gun stock vise I use for guitar building. Great for holding necks.

[Big Grey Wolf]

Worked in Phillipines for couple years and bought very expensive guitar. Liked when shop selling it to me said "very exotic import wood" from Canada."Spruce"

[Okotok]

Worked in Phillipines for couple years and bought very expensive guitar. Liked when shop selling it to me said "very exotic import wood" from Canada."Spruce"

Ha! Yup, coniferous woods (spruce, cedar) make the best acoustic tops and Canada has plenty.

[Red Bullets]

Beautiful guitars. So that leads me to ask Okotok... "How much for one of your labors of love?"

I have been playing for decades and enjoy my Taylor but I'm thinking Okotok's guitars sound just as sweet or better.

I was going to go to the Acoustic Shop in Edmonton and build a guitar there. They offer guitar building courses.

[ceadog]

I used to build drums - lots of finishing advice came from luthiers.

[The Cook]

Just "WOW"

[traderal]

Aahh, nice thread. Love guitars. If I ever win a lottery will fill one room with ones in exotic wood, and another room with crown custom Weatherbys. Nice to see talent at work.

[Okotok]

Beautiful guitars. So that leads me to ask Okotok... "How much for one of your labors of love?"

I have been playing for decades and enjoy my Taylor but I'm thinking Okotok's guitars sound just as sweet or better.

I was going to go to the Acoustic Shop in Edmonton and build a guitar there. They offer guitar building courses.

There's no money in building guitars by hand unless you're one of the few famous luthiers. If you paid yourself $10/hour that means about $1000 to $1500 in labour costs for a flat top and $2500 to $3000 for an archtop. Materials for a flat top are $500 to $600 and up to a thousand or more for an archtop, unless you have good sources of wood and the ability to resaw and process. I build for close friends and family for the price of materials and have a long build list. :)

You can build with cheaper woods for sure. I built a 1918 Martin style guitar for a woodworking 2 x 4 competition. I used one carefully chosen pine 2 x 4 and resawed slices that were then edge joined to make the top, back and sides. I reinforced the neck with 4 hacksaw blades routed and epoxied in on edge. Made the bridge and fretboard out of a chunk of hardwood I acquired at one of LeeValley's end of year sales. Some old tuners from a smashed up guitar I got at a garage sale. About $30 worth of materials. Plays and looks great and I won the competition! :) I'll post a pic if I can find one.

Building your own is not as hard as you think and you can get away with hand tools and home built tools, jigs etc. for the most part. I started with a book by Benedetto on Building your own archtop guitar. I still have that guitar and it turned out well if I do say so myself. Flat tops are considerably less work as you don't have the top and back to carve as on an archtop. The neck is the most work on any guitar. I slot my own boards for frets, radius and taper them etc. but it's easy to buy a pre-slotted board, just much more expensive. Carving the neck is actually fun IMO.

My first bending pipes, which I still use consist of a piece of 3" pipe squeezed into a teardrop shape with a 300 watt lightbulb inside for heat and a dimmer for control. My smaller one for doing cutaways is a 1 1/2" pipe with a halogen bulb and dimmer. I've since graduated to a sidebender I built that uses a silicone blanket and custom forms for each style I build, but still use the pipes for touch ups and one offs.

I've made a lot of my own tools. I never took any courses as the internet is a treasure trove of information on how to do it. A course would give you a jump start for sure but isn't necessary.

Stewart MacDonald and Luthiers Mercantile are two great places to get parts and hardware. LeeValley and Blackforest are both carrying a lot more parts and woods now as well. Just do it if you like woodworking and playing. It's addictive.

[Okotok]

Here's a couple of pictures of the guitar I built from a pine 2 x 4. I found a pretty clear one at Home Depot. The dark wood is from a board I picked up at a LeeValley sale. Rosewood I think? Had enough wood left from the 8' 2"x 4" to make the stand too!

[Wolftrapper]

Incredible work. Very impressive.

[Okotok]

Incredible work. Very impressive.

Thanks Wolf. Fred Eaglesmith was all over the 2" x 4" one a few years ago when I showed it to him at a show.

[Okotok]

Some pics of my first guitar built almost 20 years ago using Benedetto's book and wood from the West coast harvested by my friend along with parts and pieces from online suppliers (fretboard, tuners, tailpiece cable, fretwire and mother of pearl). It's named after my wife, hence the letters on the headstock.

[Okotok]

I was also pretty proud of this bridge I made out of African blackwood for my blue guitar. It has a sliding wedge to adjust the action rather than the thumbwheels used on most archtop bridges.

[sillyak]

That's some very impressive work!!!

[DisplacedCaper]

Beautiful, beautiful work guys. Have either of you ever tackled gun stocks?



I haven’t, but I have two old 22’s every now and then I get the urge to refinish them.


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[Big Grey Wolf]

Okotok, very nice woodwork, you are a true wood artist!