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Guitar building tips

Wood

Wood for a solid-body guitar
Wood for an acoustic guitar
Drying of wood

Layout

Calculating fret distances

Determining the fingerboard shape ...
... with a pencil
... with a calculator

Copying a guitar body
Fingerboard radius calculations
Straight string line

Tips that make building easier

Use a zero-fret
Use an U-channel trussrod

Bridge placement

How to place the bridge ...
... on an electric guitar
... on an acoustic guitar

Neck angle

Determining the neck angle ...
... of an electric guitar
... of an acoustic guitar

Glue

Hide glue

Finishing

Danish Oil
Applying wax
Varnish
Cleaning brushes
French polishing

Tools & Jigs

Japanese tools
Useful vise
Making a radius-sanding block
Making a neck support caul
Scarf joint smoothing jig

Electric guitar building

Humbucker
Humbucker pickup cavity
Setting an accurate routing depth
Humbucker serial/parallel switch
Soldering
Examining a humbucker:
Determining...
... the coil leads
... coil polarity
... magnetic polarity
Routing for a Strat-style tremolo

Acoustic guitar building

Make a flat top
Bolt the neck on
Save precious wood
Use a building form
Use paper clips
Modern lining clamps
Bending the sides ...
... by hand
... by using an apparatus
Installing a resonator guitar soundwell

Other tips

Brand mark your work

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