Guitar Building Guide. Learn to make your own guitar using kits.
Stringed instruments such as guitar are very popular and so the demand for Guitar Technicians is always high. Most also are on the lookout for a niche hobby that involves some form of artistry.
If you are looking for such opportunities, Guitar Building could be the thing for you.
Why Build a Guitar?
If you have been playing the guitar for some time, or have been associated with music for some time, then you may have wondered at times if “It was possible to make a guitar on your own”.
A logical question to ask is whether it really make sense to spend so much on the tools, when you can buy a guitar for that much (or even cheaper)?
That may seem like a valid question from a beginner, but the fact is that guitar is a hugely popular instrument. And if you also include similar stringed instruments, the number of instruments that gets produced every year is mind-boggling.
So here are some reasons why the guitar building business exists:
- Thousands of similar stringed instruments gets sold every year and so Guitar Techs are always in demand
- Famous guitar players want their instruments to reflect their personalities
- You can produce unique, beautiful, and great sounding guitars for a fraction of the cost, if you learn the skills
- This is a niche hobby that very few take up
- Instrument making and lutherie is a traditional art form that involves artistry, craftsmanship, & technology and pure mystery
Guitars are popular instruments and if you consider other similar stringed instruments, the potential from a business perspective can also be immense. And that is why so many people learn about guitar building. You can obviously learn through trial and error, and use guitar building kits in case you want to build one on your own.
You may also choose to learn it at a school.
What is luthier / Lute?
This is one term that you will come across quite often, so it makes sense to know what it means.
Lute refers to any plucked string instrument with a neck (fretted or unfretted) and a deep round back.
A luthier is someone who designs, repairs, maintains & constructs string instruments. In several countries, luthiers also make other bow stringed instrument such as violin (in which cases the services of a bow maker or archetier may also be required).
What Skills Do I Need?
You will need some wood working skills to carve out guitars. You also need specific tools but maybe not all those fancy stuff that most guitar manufacturers have.
There is so much information and tool kits available that it is possible to learn it on your own without having to visit a workshop. There are many who have learnt this art and operate from their home, using the kitchen or their garage as the workshop.
Checkout this useful video to see how to build a custom guitar.
Guitar Building: Books and Courses
In case you want to self-learn, a good thing to do is to invest in this book “Guitarmaking” by William Cumpiano. If you are keen to know more about this topic, this book will point you in the right directions.
When you are beginning you are totally clueless, and you can really save yourself a lot of time and effort if you have someone who could provide useful information and point you in the right directions.
This book does that for you. And it is written for the absolute beginner and assuming that you have access to minimum set of tools, though it tells you what your guitar building kit should look like.
In case you want to quicken the learning route, and are aiming to work for some big guitar manufacturers, and learn more about the business, a Guitar Building Course can be a good option. These courses can vary from short workshops focusing only on certain aspects, or it can be a full-fledged guitar building program.
Joining a Guitar Building School is the best way to equip yourself with skills that will help you professionally design, build, maintain or repair electric as well as acoustic guitars.
Whom Is It For?
- Are you more interested in the business aspect of music, and especially guitars?
- Are you more inclined towards technical jobs?
- Do you already own a music shop and want to expand your horizons
- Are you a full time musician and exploring another skill that will also provide your with another source of stream?
Learning on your own, even though not impossible, can take a long time. A school, on the other hand, offers a much more structured course and teaches you several business related aspects as well.
Here are some of the courses available, and you get to learn these topics under the close supervision of professional luthiers:
- Instrument Design & Fabrication
- Fretwork & Setup
- Instrument Repair
- Electronics
- Finish Work
- Instrument Performance
One need: hands on experience to learn the craft well. These schools have facilities with all the tools and accessories that you need to build high-quality instruments. And almost all of these programs require you to design and builds a custom acoustic, electric or bass guitar (which you can use for your personal use).
Here are some approx. figures:
- A one-day general course will cost you around $350
- A four-week course where students build a steel-string acoustic guitar from scratch, will cost you around $4,000
- The one-year program that teaches you the tricks of the trade will cost you around $35,000
Guitar building is a niche hobby and involves lot of artistic work. Besides, with experience, you can make truly unique and beautiful looking & sounding guitars, for a fraction of the cost of a factory production guitar.
DIY Guitar Building Kits: Build Your Own Guitar
Guitar building Kits: Want to make your own guitar, its easier than you think. These guitar kits are a cost effective way to build a custom, one of a kind instrument with your very own hands.
Here, we take a look at a wide variety of DIY (do-it-yourself) guitar kits that include all the necessary parts to completely build a guitar with the exception of glues and finishing materials.
Everything is pre-drilled, all you have to do is put it all together.
Building your very own personalized guitar has never been this easy, thanks to DIY (Do-It-Yourself) guitar kits. Here we look at what the market considers to be the best of them, covering a good variety of guitar shapes and styles.
These DIY guitar kits are affordable, and you don’t have to craft body parts from wooden tables and planks – just order a guitar kit online, and assemble and customize as per your taste. Its easy and fun to build!
Though, there are several guitar schools that offer building and repairing courses, it could get expensive, unless you have a clear idea of why you want to do it. The other option is to self-learn, in case you have the inclination and willingness to try out new things.
There are many who also want to try building their own guitar, and this being a fairly growing niche/hobby, guitar kits are available that lets you build a custom, one of a kind instrument with your own hands.
Guitar kits are a cost effective way to build a guitar. It gives you all the information and tools necessary to build a custom, one of a kind instrument.
This task involves wood working skills, and then there are several steps that you need to complete, so it can be time consuming. So you need to be patient, especially if you are doing this for the first time, and focus on finishing all the tasks; of-course you’ll be happy with the results.
These guitar building kits provide you with all the information in the form of books / DVDs, and also provides the basic tools that you need to carry out these tasks.
There are many who think that a guitar is carved from one solid piece of wood. For most, it doesn’t matter as long as they get to play it. But then, if you are looking for a niche hobby or for opportunities to find work in the music instrument building industry, knowing about guitar building is the way to go. Though there are various ways to learn it, you can attempt doing it on your own using Guitar Building Kits.
Best Guitar Kits to build your own personalised guitar
If you a hobby woodworker and want to assemble your own guitar, you can buy an unfinished Electric/Acoustic Guitar Kit to build your own personalized instrument; these come with all the parts that you need to assemble the guitar and apply the finish as per your taste.
Besides the various parts, these come with all the electronics (comes pre-soldered) and the frets (these are pre-set). So you just need to sand, finish and assemble the guitar.
You can customise the body, neck and finish, you can install high-end pickups, tuners and bridges to create your dream guitar.
Video Review of an Electric Guitar Kit:
Usually custom-made guitars are quite expensive, but building one using a guitar kit is really a cost-effective way to make your own “Custom” guitar. If the usual off-the-shelf guitars don’t fancy you anymore, or you want to learn about the guitar building process, order one of these kit guitars today.
You need basic woodworking knowledge, paint skills, basic DIY skills, and the inclination to turn these kits into personalized instruments.
The Best Electric Guitar Reviews
Remember that you really don’t have to go this route, especially if you’re a beginner, unless you just want to have some fun. You can always start with a Yamaha/Ibanez/Fender, and modify it a bit to suit your playing style; it will also turn out cheaper.
But if you want to have some fun, enjoy woodworking, want some peculiar finish, then you can definitely go ahead with an Electric Guitar Kit.
High School Students Learn Guitar Building for Physics Class
High school students are learning guitar building as part of their Physics class. Their physics teacher feels that physics and engineering are pretty integral when it comes to building guitars. Read more here.
From every fret on the neck to the body, the guitars the students built were completely accurate. Each student paid $275 for the electric guitar materials and spent 40 hours creating the instrument (a valuable lesson learned).
Final Thoughts
There are many who still feel that guitars, especially the acoustic ones, are made from one solid piece of wood. However, the point is not to prove them wrong; the fact is that this can be an interesting hobby, and the skills can even be used to make good money considering the demand for guitars. In case you are genuinely interesting in exploring this opportunity, a Guitar Building Course can be a good option to get started with.
If you’re really serious about learning guitar building, its best to do it at a place that teaches the best practices and use industry-standard equipment to design and build them. So whether you want to work for a guitar manufacturer, or work as a guitar tech, or design and build your own instruments, a guitar building school may a good place to get yourself trained in Guitar Building, design and maintenance.
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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