Do You Still Buy Guitars?

[!WOOD!!]

This $150 to build a guitar makes me feel bad. I spent nearly $2200 on my first project.

I will send pictures as soon as it comes back from none other than Herc Fede himself.

You are truly a brave man.My first project cost me less than $100.I think if I spent $2200 on any project that it would be my last as my long suffering wife would surely kill me

[Rick500]

That's the first thing I learned about building guitars: It adds up fast!

$70 for tuners, $100 for wood, $40 for a bridge, $120 for pickups, the list goes on...

You know, one of these days I'm going to see how inexpensively I can build one. (But then I'll probably start playing the "it's only $20 more for this and $30 more for that" game... )

[Xanthus]

You know, one of these days I'm going to see how inexpensively I can build one. (But then I'll probably start playing the "it's only $20 more for this and $30 more for that" game... )

hahaha I'm already playing that game. My first build cost almost 800, this new one will be around 700. But really, it was only an extra $20 to get that really nice bridge!!

I've got so much mahogany lying around from making non-traditional/pointy guitars (not to mention I got 2 neck-throughs out of my neck blank) I honestly think I have enough to build a third guitar. I'm just debating on whether or not I can live with the butcher block look. I'm planning for a semi-hollow, so I'll end up capping the top and probably the back anyways.......

And of course, with the money saved on wood, I can get a set of Bareknuckles like I've been wanting to get for a while now! The cycle never ends...

[Rick500]

I'm just debating on whether or not I can live with the butcher block look. I'm planning for a semi-hollow, so I'll end up capping the top and probably the back anyways.......

It's usually my thought that, if there's something design aspect you're not sure you'll like (like your butcher block look), if you don't think you can hide it, play it up instead and see where that takes you.

Sounds like you can pretty effectively hide it with caps, though.

[Xanthus]

So by playing it up you mean I should put veneer in between every piece of my butcher block It'll be cobblestone instead!

My plan for #3 is for a semi-hollow RG, like Stewey built a while ago. I want at least a thinline, since I've been playing so much jazz lately, and I also need a "traditional" guitar shape as well as one with a trem. Because it's a neckthrough with a thick body section (4" across or so), I'll need less wood to flesh out the body shape than normally. I'd put a 1/2" cap on top and carve it down to about 1/4" on the inside before I glue it on.

[Rick500]

So by playing it up you mean I should put veneer in between every piece of my butcher block It'll be cobblestone instead!

Yeah, something like that. Hey, I didn't say it always works.

[Mickguard]

That's the first thing I learned about building guitars: It adds up fast!

One of the ways I keep costs down, sort of, is by gathering hardware way in advance -- mostly when I spot a good deal on ebay. So by the time I get around to building, the cost of parts remains reasonable. And at any rate, because the purchases are spaced out over a pretty long period of time, they don't hurt as much.

Of course, it also means I have a pretty full parts drawer...I probably have enough hardware to complete five guitars or so...

[Mattia]

That's the first thing I learned about building guitars: It adds up fast!

One of the ways I keep costs down, sort of, is by gathering hardware way in advance -- mostly when I spot a good deal on ebay. So by the time I get around to building, the cost of parts remains reasonable. And at any rate, because the purchases are spaced out over a pretty long period of time, they don't hurt as much.

Of course, it also means I have a pretty full parts drawer...I probably have enough hardware to complete five guitars or so...

Indeed. I keep cost down by ordering in multiples of more-than-I-need and the like. I think I have about 12 sets of tuning machines and 15 or so bridges. Ish.