DIY Guitar AND DIY Pickups

[ForHerDeadEyes]

I suck at doing stuff.. but it's so fucking fun to do your own stuff..
So..
I've been wanting to make my own guitar and pickups for a while now..

I was thinking of ordering a DIY humbucker kit from stewmac..
Sending a kit to Sweden wasn't as expensive as I would've thought..
But I'm thinking of using a couple of old humbuckers I have from my first guitar..
Rewinding them and switching out the magnets for new good ones..

About the guitar, my options..
I found a cheap-ass guitarkit for 60€.. building it from scratch..
Or a complete guitar for 40€ (new price 200€), it's used and got some dings..
But I'm planning to customize the whole thing.. so..
The complete guitar I have to get tomorrow if I want it/you think that's a good idea..

Your thought's?
The good, the bad and the ugly?
Bring on the flames!

 

[dissident]

Build an electric guitar it's not that difficult, I've build 2 solidbodies just with a drill, a router and a jig saw...It's a beautiful experience, good luck!

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

Build an electric guitar it's not that difficult, I've build 2 solidbodies just with a drill, a router and a jig saw...It's a beautiful experience, good luck!

Thanks!
My biggest concern is getting every measurement and distance right.. :S
That's why I'm considering getting that cheap ass guitar used (although it's 200€ new) guitar and hack that one up into some custom shit..
And wire my own pickups to put in.. :S
Maybe make the pickups totally from scratch..

 

[FIXXXER]

the only real difficult thing is slicing a fretboard correctly so you should buy a CNC pre sliced one.
everything else is possible with the right tools. as written by dissident, you'll need a drill, a router, a saw and a lot of sandpaper!

cheers
S.

 

[dissident]

The rule #1: measure twice (or ten times ), cut once
But I think that starting with a "simple" customization could be simpler and propaedeutic for a next build from scratch

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

Thanks for the replies and advice, guys!
Maybe I should see what I can do with the used guitar I can get tomorrow for cheap!
Any tips on cavity filler?
It's a strat-modell and I'll need to fill some holes!

 

[dissident]

How big?

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

How big?

Pretty big I guess.. :/
Buying special woodfiller would be too expensive, I imagine..
It has a trem, and I'll lock that, so the hole the backplate covers, will be filled..
So will the front, I won't use the pickguard.. (probably not)
I do however need to cut and sand away a lot of wood, so I'm thinking of mixing the leftovers with some wooden glue, and filling in the gaps..
Bad idea?
I have no idea how it will sound though..

Unless I buy woodfiller and put in some bigger pieces of wood first.. then fill in the gaps..

 

[Lasse Lammert]

so you're taking shit quality ingredients and are expecting the outcome to be anything better than shit?
won't work like that I think

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

Here's the guitar in question. that I can get for 40€.. I'll get it tomorrow..

Another question besides the hole filling..
I was thinking about sanding down the neck, only the backside.. Any dangers to that? Don't want to disturb the strenght or the trussrod..

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

so you're taking shit quality ingredients and are expecting the outcome to be anything better than shit?
won't work like that I think

Haha, that was the response I was expecting..
I do mean that nicely..
It's good getting advices!

I don't expect it to be supwer awesome..
But I'd rather try to start cooking doing a burger, instead of trying to make a beef wellington out of endangered white tiger, with a passionfruit suffle for dessert..

I mean.. I'm not rich.. au contraire..
But 40€ for a whole guitar that's worth 200€.. if I fuck up.. I can at least make some money back selling the spare parts..

If you have any tips or advice for what do do with the ingredients I'm getting, please do tell!

 

[dissident]

so you're taking shit quality ingredients and are expecting the outcome to be anything better than shit?
won't work like that I think

Ahah it's true, but it's also a useful experience, imho

Unless I buy woodfiller and put in some bigger pieces of wood first.. then fill in the gaps..

I would go this way

Another question besides the hole filling..
I was thinking about sanding down the neck, only the backside.. Any dangers to that? Don't want to disturb the strenght or the trussrod..

Just be careful, I wouldn't sand away the wood, just the finish

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

I've picked up the guitar and ordered strong magnet rods.. I think they'll fit perfectly in the slots of the pickup..
Didn't find the woodfilling crap.. we'll see what I'll do with the cavitys.. :/

Now to picture the design.. hmm..

 

[dissident]

This is my DIY (except the fretboard) guitar:

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

This is my DIY (except the fretboard) guitar:

Whow.. looks sweet, dude.. :O
Nice job..!

I've just started scraping of the plastic shit finish on the guitar I bought..
40€ was totally worth it.. new it's 200€.. and it looks (looked) brand new.. still got plasticprotection on knobs, tuners, pickupguard etc..
And I got a really nice softcase and a tuner and shit..
So yeah..
Now to destroy the guitar..

Your design inspired me to think of making the edges like yours..
On friday the magnets arrive and I'll be able to make pickups..
I'm going for a weird design.. :S

 

[dissident]

Can't wait to see it!

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

So I was thinking of design of the guitar and the pickups..
I already have standard pups.. sooo.. why not make something different..
So I have some ideas.. whaddya think?

1. To put a round pickup in the middle, between two humbuckers, making it tiltable (sp?) so I can get different nuansces.
2. Just using a single humbucker but making it movable, like it could slide back and forth.. so I can move it to the neck or the bridge or anywhere in between..
3. Same idea as 2, but instead using two humbuckers in standard position and putting a third one above the strings, in a pickup cover.. and making it slide..
4. And this ones a bit crazy.. Making the strings magnetic and wire the copper around them.. like an oval ring..

And.. nr 5..
I found this by googling for different pickup designs..
And.. lolwut?
http://www.pauls3dsystems.com/3Dxy/index.php/en/demos.html

I guess this has to be a stereo output.. :S
It was sort of the idea I had with making a pickup above the strings as well as below it.. so you'll get as much energy as possible..
But making it a xy configuration might be easier.. :O

Sorry for my shitty english..
If you understood what I meant.. do tell me what you guys think!

 

[dissident]

The #2 is quite simple to realize..I'd start from this one..

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

The #2 is quite simple to realize..I'd start from this one..

Haha, yeah.. I dismantled the guitar and it's freaking me out a bit..
Everything seems so easy in your head..

Tried to take the paint/finish off by hand.. fuck me.. impossible..
Gonna buy a hotairgun (would strip the paint in a few minutes) or an electric-sander (the latter could also help me shape the guitar)

Maybe slideable humbucker would be the easiest to do.. or maybe two single coils that can slide together and become a humbucker..
Don't know what the downside would be..
Still..
It's a big project for me.. :S

And Dissident: what did you paint your guitar with? cellulosa?

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

Haven't stopped.. just out of funds at the moment..

I've finished the design of the guitar and the design that's going on it..
Just have to saw and sand and crap..

Yesterday I picked apart my first baby.. everything except the fretboard..
Raised the nut with part of a "credit" card..
Removed all the slugs and the magnet, from the bridge pickup and put in the neodyium magnets.. fits perfectly, although they're maybe 1-2 mm longer.. so I had to raise the bobbins with some parts of the credit card.. unfortunatly they moved a bit..
I connected the pickup directly to the output and played some riffs in reaper..
It was a cool sound.. but pretty weak.. and veeery thin..
But it was very djent like..
The sound got better when I pushed the pickup.. but.. I couldn't record like that..
Also, I think it's not a good idea to use 12 rare earth magnets..
It'll probably be better to use 6 (or 3 of the bigger ones I have) and 6 slugs..

I might get some cheap ass pickups and just remake them with the stronger magnets..
But like I said.. 12 was overkill..
The magnetic field was so strong that I could wave a piece of metal high above it and got a tremolo effect

Next week I'll hopefully start painting the one I'm making from scratch.. if everything goes as it should.. :S