Wouldn’t it be great if we all thought alike? No, it wouldn’t. There’d be no creativity in an otherwise bland world. However, I often times find myself assuming that we all think the same way. For example, when I demonstrate how to carve a guitar neck, I assume viewers will understand the surface where the fretboard will be glued must be absolutely flat. Also, when I provide a tiled plan, I assume the recipients of this plan will have no trouble lining up the pages. But, as I’m beginning to learn, it’s not that cut and dry.

I can tell by the emails I get from eGuitar Plans customers, they are a very intelligent sort of people. Most of the questions I get boil down to lining up tiled printouts and getting the dimensions to jive. I never have a problem with this since I’ve done it a million times. Repetition breeds assumption, I guess.

So what am I getting at here? The need for me to improve my product. Going forward, I plan to add bullseyes or a grid to help line up the printouts. I’ll also number the frets. Finally, I’ll include instructions on how to print the tiled files so they print out at actual size instead of reduced to fit.

One thing I’ve learned by providing my designs to the public is everyone is using different computers and have different levels of experience. Instead of assuming, I have to start anticipating. The cool thing is, the interactive nature of the internet allows you to help me do this. THANKS!

My father once told me, “If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” He was right as all good fathers are and I’ve found this to be especially true when building electric guitars.

Craftsmanship is the key. Unfortunately, a lot of luthiers believe mastery of process take years of experience. However, one can achieve reasonably good craftsmanship on a first build if one adheres to some basic techniques.

Since we tend to judge an electric guitar by its quality of construction and tone, the use of our senses must be properly trained. Of the five senses we were born with, touch, sight and hearing are the most important. After all, when was the last time you sniffed or tasted a guitar? Okay, I know some of you may have done this, but this blog isn’t for you!

While building a guitar, I rely heavily on touch and sight to gauge my progress. I like to use my eyesight and the tips of my fingers to tell me about the surfaces I’m carving. For example, if I’m shaping the contour of a neck, I run two or more of my fingers along the curve to locate problems like sharp edges or lumps. As the contour nears perfection, I’ll hold the neck up to a bright light and move it around so I can watch the transition from light to shadow. If the transition is smooth, I’ve done a good job. But if there are any dips, lumps or sudden jumps in this transition, I know I have more work to do.

When I say “more work to do,” I mean with a fine tooth file or 80-120 grit sand paper. At this stage, I usually go back and forth between my sense of touch and sight to check the progress of my work. I wish there was a precise order to follow here, but there isn’t. Instead, you have to know what to do when you see or feel a problem. Lumps and edges are easy to eliminate. Simply sand or file them down until they blend into the surrounding wood. Low spots or depressions are a bit trickier in that you have to sand the entire surface to eliminate them.

This technique isn’t just for necks. It works great on bodies as well. However it’s important to note that haste will spoil the effort. If you try to work too quickly or become tired from the effort, walk away. Take a break as your sense of touch and sight work best after they’ve had a chance to rest. Every time you take an hour or so break, you’ll discover new problems to address when you start up again. Fortunately, the work gets easier with each new session.

If you’ve ever wondered how much time you should spend sanding and shaping your guitar, don’t worry about it. There is no timeframe here to follow. Let your sense of touch and sight determine this. Once you are certain there are no more problems, you can move on.

As far as your sense of hearing is concerned, that comes at the end when you are finished building the guitar. Of course, you can anticipate the tone by selecting certain types of wood and components, but for the most part, you won’t know for sure until you’ve assembled everything. During the planning phase, I recommend you visit and join some guitar building forums. Ask a lot of questions about the effect of wood and components on tone. There are a lot of these forums out there so I would suggest searching for “electric guitar building forums.”

I like brass. In fact, I like to use bridges made from brass because of the bright tone and superb sustain they’re capable of delivering. But did you know that you can also opt for a brass nut instead of bone or graphite?

I’ve done this on a couple of guitars and found it’s a good alternative especially if I’m trying to emphasize the steel-like twang from my strings. The best way to understand what I mean, you first have to strum an electric guitar with a bone nut. Make sure you do this without plugging into your amp. Then, replace the nut with one made of brass and you’ll instantly hear the difference. The brass nut will produce a noticeably brighter tone that’s similar to a steel acoustic.

Making a brass nut is done in much the same way as a bone nut in that you have to slot the surface with a good set of nut slotting files. My method of using feeler gauge saw blades won’t work since the blades are made from brass as well. You can purchase pre-slotted brass nuts, but make sure the string spacing will work with your design.