How to Make an Electric Guitar Body
Making your own electric guitar body is not as difficult as you may think. An electric guitar is far less difficult to build than an acoustic guitar. An electric guitar is basically a good piece of wood with good electronics. The shape of the guitar is primarily chosen for aesthetic reasons, and doesn't affect the sound of the guitar. Once you have built the body you can either build your own neck or buy one, decide what style pickups and controls that you want, and put it all together.
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Things You'll Need
- Guitar template
- Electric drill and drill bits
- Ball-bearing-guided router
- Sandpaper
- Safety glasses
- Double-sided tape
Instructions
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Select a guitar template and the wood for your guitar. The most popular wood for electric guitars is soft maple, although other woods can be used. The easiest way to build your own guitar is to buy a guitar template that you can use as a model. This is what professional builders rely on and it will save you a lot of time and trouble. Templates are available for many popular styles of guitars. The template allows you to easily cut cavities for the pickups, volume and tone controls, and the bridge. The template serves as a guide but does not restrict you in terms of the final shape of the guitar.
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Mount the guitar template to the wood with double adhesive tape. Clamp the edges of the wood to a workbench to prevent it from moving.
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Wearing safety glasses, drill the cavities for the pickups, the controls, and the bridge, following the layout of the template. Use a drill to cut out as much as you can. The depth depends upon the hardware that you will be installing. Make sure that the drill bit for the screw holes matches the screws in size. Finish the cavity with a ball-bearing-guided router. The ball bearing allows you to use the edge of the wood as a guide.
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Cut out the shape of the body, using the router. The shape can be altered or customized after it has been cut out from the wood.
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Shape the body with an orbital sander, making it as smooth as possible. Finish sanding by hand. Begin with 80-grit and complete with 150-grit sandpaper. Use a plane to shape the contour for the armrest.
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