need help on buildin a guitar

Nothing beats creating the whole shebang imo, necks are not that difficult to make providing you do the research and have patience, obviously if u have woodwork skills then all the better
you have enough time to make a few guitars in that time frame, just remember to measure twice and cut once

thers loads of sites out ther for making guitars, google is your friend

your best bet is to define your requirements, which will obviously be a part of your project, then research the pros/cons of hardware/construction/design (presuming you will need to do an analysis of the guitar as part of the project marks?)

once you've decided all the necessary from a requirements, functionality & budget (to name a few), your then in a better position to research the project.


there is also a choice of how your going to construct the guitar, choice of woods etc.., thru neck guitars for example are really easy to make and you can still create the rake of say a les paul etc..

if u get the scale and things right the satisfaction of making it all from scratch far exceeds the buying parts issue.
the only things u should buy imo is hardware, everything else should me made by yourself

guys u dont need a ton of tools to make a neck

being a school project we're assuming that he has access to a bandsaw and the other tools necessary, that will be the main tool needed to get the bulk done

then you will need approx basics:
a hand plane (pref small precision one)
a hand saw (tenon)
coping saw (if going for curved headstock)
spokeshave (which will take care of most of the shaping)
router or saw bench (to take out the groove for truss rod)
the odd chisel
a few g-clamps (for gluing fingerboard to neck)
sandpaper
a file for fret wire
a drill for fret side markings and headstock pegs

for the finger board a fret saw (ok now if u wanted to buy a proper one that would cost but there is a way round that as ther is in everything)
when i did my necks i purchased a £1 small saw the type you get in a market on the pound stall, it has a thin enough blade to cut for frets (the only thing you need to do is reset the kerf on the saw with either a saw set or a hammer and plate would also do the trick)
this will make the teeth the overall same thickness as the blade which is an ideal thickness for the fret wire

if you wanted to add the icing on the cake with the fingerboard you could also add the plastic side binding, altho this requires a bit more patience and handy work with the file that work is rewarded by the extra class it gives the fingerboard
obviously if your going for that finish then the main part of the neck will be a few mm wider so the edge of the neck is nicely smoothed with the plastic

i was a bench joiner for 16 years and have the skills for making guitars, the above would be the basics you would need to make a neck, honestly i wouldnt buy a neck at all given the amount of satisfaction it gives you in both knowing that you crafted the neck from scratch and you made it to how you like it.

one of the tricks i found with neck making from scratch (rather than pattern) is to get a rough shape of the neck, get the guitar strung up when its in a state ready to be strung (not lacquered etc.. but in the rough) and get a feel for the neck, you can always take some more off the back of the neck to get it feeling just right and then smooth it all down ready for finishing

here's a few pics of guitars i made quite a few years ago
skull and crossbones in background, this was the last guitar (5th) made bout 9 years ago

recent pic of the gtr now having a cheap floyd rose

3rd guitar bout 10 years ago

if I live long enuff to see retirement, making guitars is going to be one of my hobbies but specialising in offbeat guitars with even more carving and wild/crazy designs

the only problem with making guitars yourself is that you cant really make any money out of it unless you productionise them, the hours that go into making a guitar are never justified by selling for money, theyr almost like family lol

i deffo got points for originality in the skull & crossbones, think carefully about the design, i know when i was at school we spent weeks on designing a project - looking at designs of other guitars etc...
you will probably find that the more wild the design the more enthusiasm there is to see it through hence my on about making it all from scratch, I'm really favouring the thru neck on handmade guitars, it suits carving right up to the back of the neck for even better high fret access at the top of the neck and the whole tone/weight feels good when you get the proportions right, again designing/measuring out is worth spending extra effort on to get a real good feel, this is where copying the overall design aspects of the les paul come into play, the skull & xbones was modelled after my LP for rake, scale etc... its almost identical in that respect, the fretboard however has a more rounder profile and the neck is slimmer than the LP, it feels great

look forward to seeing your design, please post the design you are choosing/creating when you get to that stage