bee's guitar build thread

[flatbeek !]

so i had a silly little ambitious idea:

i've been in the market for a new guitar for a while now. nothing's wrong with my current one, love her to death, but i just want another option when writing.

the idea has been in my head for years that i'd love to build a guitar, though i've never known really where to start and always just been aware that it's an insanely precise endeavor (as all musical instrument builds are). i recently got the motivation to try this summer through a twitter mutual. i was given all the resources and places to look for materials, specs, and the like, but i ran into an interesting personal issue.

i've almost exclusively played electric guitar on my 7-string for the past 8-ish years. i much prefer the feeling of my 7-string to any 6-string i play just because i'm used to the extra string being there. there's no scale length difference, nothing that makes it different from any other guitar other than just the extra string. so i've decided--fuck it--i'll just Make That.

i'm no stranger to woodworking, nor to building/repairing instruments, but most woodwork has been practical things or things related to car sound systems and most if not all of my instrument building experience is tied to drums, not guitars. in both mine and my father's experience, any issue we run into with any building or electronic project typically leads us to a random thread on an old forum that tends to be a saving grace when we're in a pinch. i figured i'd take inspiration from these many past experiences and share the journey here so if there's ever anybody who so happens to be making this kind of guitar, they'll find themselves here if in a pinch or in need of inspiration.

this project will likely take a LONG time to finish, as guitar parts are as expensive as guitars themselves at times and money is not something i find myself having an abundance of, but i wanted to begin documenting this tonight so as i continue i can go "that works" or "i completely scrapped that idea and now its so much better" or even just "holy woah look at how far i've come."

 

[flatbeek !]

the DESIGN (non-electronics, visual) :

the trouble i find with a lot of 7-strings on the market these days is that they're typically built/geared towards heavier rock/metal adjacent genres. the extra range the design of the guitars themselves are built for lower tunings and therefore chunkier/heavier tones. however, i often don't make stuff of that persuasion, and find the extra range to be great when tuned up slightly and writing things of more of a pop-punk/midwest emo tone. so before meddling with electronics, picking the pickups, or even doing the research into what the hell a "tonewood" is, i wanted to refine the typically sharp designs of 7-strings i've seen before into something that feels softer while still maintaining the visual weight a 7-string holds.



my plan at some point was to redesign the body shape entirely, but upon thinking about it practically i would only be making it more of a nuisance to play in any way other than standing up (i typically am sitting when recording/playing casually) so i'm basing the body shape largely on an ibanez 7-string design i found (made this mockup in affinity photo) and since this is my first guitar build i'm gonna order the neck pre-made and fit it into this build. a lot of the "horns" i see on 7-strings are sharp, specifically the ones on my current guitar, so i wanted the horns on my build to be rounded out to give it a bit of a softer appearance.
there's a solid chance i'm going to need to measure the specs of pickup and bridge placement given the pre-made neck i'm looking at is built for a scale length of 25" rather than the typical 25 1/2" but that's a later bee issue...


in terms of the color, i want the wood under it to be the highlight of the design, using only stains and a finish to give it color and a bit of gloss.



i've always loved burst/gradient designs on guitars but always felt the ones that looked the best were the ones that were less extreme. i'm thinking i'll do a gray coat as a base and then burst it out into a darker denim blue (these aren't the exact stains i'll use per se, but they serve as a good visual of the colors i'm reaching for). my only concern is the way the wood under it would affect the colors themselves, though i'm not quite sure what wood i'll be getting ahold of for any part of it quite yet.

the woods are still up in the air, i'll have to to a good bit of reasearch into that and the pickups i'll be getting ahold of, but for now the aesthetics of the guitar have been set.

 

[KeplerElectronics]

Heck yeah, I've been wanting to do a guitar build forever, just keep putting it off.

If you need any help with Computer-Aided Design I have a full Fusion 360 license I'd be happy to use to help :)

 

[neudaiz]

oh I’m really hype for this thread- what a cool project!!

 

[flatbeek !]

UPDATE JUN 15:

BITCHES WE GOT A SHAPE LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOO

i mapped out HELLA guide lines in affinity designer and used them to get actual measurements based on the ONLY measurement i knew for sure (the width of the heel of the neck) and then marked them on a bit of wood my dad just had



obvi this is not the final piece of wood that'll be used for the guitar body itself, looking into getting some swamp ash or something nice BUT it's important that we have the shape of the body marked out in template form ahead of time !!



shoutout to papabeek for helping me get this cut out without ruining literally everything i HATE jigsaws i can't wait to just move a piece of wood along the bandsaw when the actual body is being cut out LMFAO

i have a few concerns, namely that fact that, since i'm ordering the neck from Warmoth, i have to just Work With THEIR Specs in terms of scale length and i can't really do too much until then (those things are like 300-400 dollars so if you see me selling things just roll with it jsldkfjlkjsdfklksjdf).

i mean maybe worst of worst cases i just buy a 7-string from someone on like craigslist or facebook marketplace or something and get some of the hardware out of it, but i have No Clue if that'd be smart or would even really save me money ??? no clue BUT so far so good this thing rules and the shape of it (THANKFULLY) is as comfortable as i'd tweaked it to be.

lmk if y'all have any recommendations for woods for the body or where to get things if you know (those who know)