What electric guitars have you built because you couldn't buy it?

[Matthew Lau]

Hey MIMF solid-body people,

I'm usually an acoustic guy, but recently fell in love with a Telecaster.
I can (finally) afford a Telecaster without thinking about it too much, but can't find a lightweight one that I like.
So I plan to build a feather-weight Tele, and a featherweight Les Paul in Port Orford Cedar.

Have you guys found guitars that you built because i'ts not possible to buy one?
What was it?

-Matt

Ps. I have some Wilde Bill telecaster pickups I'm thinking of using. I'm not sure what your thoughts are on those...

[Matthew Lau]

Oh, and I'd also appreciate it if you could recommend what NOT to do.

[Freeman Keller]

I had an interesting experience a couple of years ago. I am fairly active on another guitar discussion forum and had posted a few build threads. I got a PM from a forumite who asked if I would be interested in building him a guitar. I asked what he wanted, he said he had been trying to buy a left handed ES-335 but couldn't find one, would I consider building him one? I thought about it, we worked out a deal, money appeared in my Paypal account and I built a guitar that I couldn't play to test

We had a lot of exchange about the neck profile and color and I inlayed his band's logo in the pickguard



Oh, yeah, the kicker - he lives in Vienna Austria, I live in the US of A. I had to figure out how to ship it internationally - all came out fine and he has sent me several clips of him playing gigs around Europe. Only on the internet....


I also had a friend approach me about building an "acoustic guitar that looks like an ES-175" (sorry, this one isn't really an electric). I did, with some special inlay and a few special touches, at the last minute I buried a K&K sound board transducer - he may never plug it in but the pup is there if he decides to



Other than that I mostly build acoustics and the occassional tele or LP

[Freeman Keller]

Oh, and I'd also appreciate it if you could recommend what NOT to do.

OK, you want to build a light weight tele and les paul. One thing to consider on the lester (you could also do it on the tele but it would be a ton of work) is to chamber it. Here is a chambered LP about ready to get its top - chambering saves several pounds over all



However it will also affect the sound. I've built two LP's with identical body, neck, pickups, etc - one is chambered and the top cap is spanish cedar, the other is solid and the top is maple - they have distinctly different sound. Which one is "better" is a matter of taste



As far as the tele - again, you can chamber them (Fender did this with some) but frankly I think a tele is the most basic of all electric guitars and should be made out of one single hunk of not necessarily great wood - I'm partial to old barn wood. Cheap and dirty is where its at

[Gordon Bellerose]

This is the very first guitar I built. I was really Jonesing for a cherry burst, but couldn't afford a Fender.
I didn't realize how much work I set myself up for when I started the finish. Now, I've done a few bursts, and rather like them.

The wood under the stain is a really light piece of ash, with a muted grain.
It is a two piece body also.

Here is another. This one os a heavy piece with a very pronounced grain.
I like this one myself, as the balance is great, NO neck dive.

[Barry Daniels]

Nice work, Gordon and Freeman! Love the bursts.

[Rodger Knox]

A Flying V, many years ago.
http://www.mimf.com/old-lib/knox_flyingv.htm
Sorry about the photos, that was pre-digital.

[Freeman Keller]

Mathew, one suggestion I would make is to get good plans for anything you want to build. At one time there was a very good D sized pdf that you could download from the Tele Discussion forum TDPRI.com but the last time I tried I got an error message. I do have that file on my computer and since it is in the public domain I would be happy to e-mail it to you (you need to send me your e-mail address via a PM).

I also have plans for the thin line tele (Fenders version of the chambered one) but frankly I don't think they are very good (and they are not public domain so you'll need to seek them out and pay for them).

Stewart McDonald had very good plans for a Les Paul but I'm not sure they are still available. I see others on line but don't have any experience. Get the SM one if you can find it.

When you get your plans get several copies printed (Kinkos or any engineering/architect firm) - you'll cut them up to make various routing templates. I also recommend Melvyn Hiscock's book on building your own electric guitar - pay special attention to his section on geometry. While you can work from dimensional specifications of bridges, pickups, etc I think it is a good idea to have the actual hardware in hand while you are doing your build.

Tele geometry is dead simple and if you get it wrong you can just throw a shim in the neck pocket. A Lester is quite a bit more complex - the combination of neck angle and carved top and set neck makes it very important to get the geometry just right or you won't have enough adjustment in your bridge. I keep checking and double checking that right up to the point where I glue the neck to the body and I worry about it until its strung up.

When you get ready to build and have any questions I've got lots of photos of both tele's and LP's - let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

[Dan Smith]

I wanted a RR offset-V. The stock colors are boring.

[Dan Smith]

I can make "copies" that are half the price, better quality, and with exotic materials.
I donate all of my builds. The joy of giving is a rush.
It's also cool to experiment with different pickup configurations, weight relief, neck profiles, etc.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Some gorgeous guitars there Dan!
What kind of wood is on the top of that Tele?

[Dan Smith]

Some gorgeous guitars there Dan!
What kind of wood is on the top of that Tele?

Thanks Gordon!
The top is a Bubinga veneer.
Dan

[Edgar Jessop]

I had accumulated some extra parts so to get rid of them I decided that I needed a korina wood chambered flat top LP Special replica with a Bigsby, three pickups with a master volume and two tone controls, and a 5-way switch.

[Beate Ritzert]

With 15 i could not afford any electric guitar, so i built my Flying V (and modified it a few times through the years):



Ten Years later i could not afford an archtop and did that one:

[Randolph Rhett]

I don't know about couldn't, but wouldn't. Won't. Haven't bought a guitar in 15 years.

A "Tele" with a beautiful Biltoff CC in the neck.

[Matthew Lau]

Hey Lester,

Even your glue-up pictures are tasteful and artistic!

Personally, I think of Barn wood and other old growth stuff as desireable.
I plan to build a Strat/Tele hybrid with old-growth Port Orford Cedar.
It won't be symmetrical. I'm just putting together woods from my workshop.
But it's exactly what I want, but can't buy.

While I think it should be too hard to make, nobody is selling it to my knowledge!

[Matthew Lau]

I don't know about couldn't, but wouldn't. Won't. Haven't bought a guitar in 15 years.

A "Tele" with a beautiful Biltoff CC in the neck.

IMG_4313.jpg

IMG_4315.jpg

Hey Randolph,

If my builds turn out as nice as yours, there'd be no point in going to the store.

Your guitar looks FAAAAAAAR better than anything from Fender's custom shop.
Excellent job on the bookmatch and everything else.

What bridge did you use? Is it a Gotoh?

[Randolph Rhett]

I don't know about couldn't, but wouldn't. Won't. Haven't bought a guitar in 15 years.

A "Tele" with a beautiful Biltoff CC in the neck.

IMG_4313.jpg

IMG_4315.jpg

Hey Randolph,

If my builds turn out as nice as yours, there'd be no point in going to the store.

Your guitar looks FAAAAAAAR better than anything from Fender's custom shop.
Excellent job on the bookmatch and everything else.

What bridge did you use? Is it a Gotoh?

I ended up using individual string bridges because I HAD to have spacing wider than standard Fender. HAD to.

In what world would I actually have noticed the difference between the Gotoh 2 1/8 and the 2 3/16 I wanted? Never. But you know how it is, you get these ideas in your head about what you want. In any case, if I wanted stock Fender dimensions I would have bought a Squire! Still the individual string bridges were a PITA to make sure they lined up and spaced properly.

[Robert Smallwood]

What got me into this whole pursuit was a photo of the CS 356 - a scaled down ES335 - much more user friendly - well with kids mortgage etc etc I didn't contemplate buying one so decided to have a go at building it. Warts and all I was thrilled with the result and brought it in well under $800.00. ( Not counting tools lol )

Now I need to make slightly wider necks to accommodate arthritic fingers...

[Matthew Lau]

I just wanted to thank everyone on this thread.

It's been years since I've considered building a guitar, but the recent shutdowns have made me dust off the idea.
I may laminate a nice figured Port Orford cedar body, print out some plans (Thanks, Jamie!), and figure out some hardware.

Will probably post in a different thread.
I'm thinking of making a Franken-Tele-Strat possible Travel guitar.