Svens Loose StringBuilding Electric Guitars and Basses

If you intend to build your own guitar or bass there are certain tools you will have to acquire or at least acquire the use of. There are five main basic types of tools you will need to build an electric guitar or bass. These are:

• Sawing Tools
• Sanding Tools
• Shaping Tools
• Gauging Tools
• Clamping Tools

Sawing Tools

Sawing tools will be essential for the body, neck and head of your instrument. All cutting can be done with a hand saw however, this takes alot of patience and skill and can be quite difficult. A cutting tool that is well worth investing in is a table top band saw. These saws can be mounted on your work bench and cut in straight lines and can also cut curved intricate shapes. This is a tool nearly all luthiers I have encountered use for cutting out the body.

Sanding Tools

Sanding tools can be as simple as a wooden off cut and a sheet of sand paper. That is basically all you will need. This method will take some time and patience will be required but if you are on a tight budget this is the way for you. If on the other hand you can afford some new equipment then an electric sander and a drum sander will save you massive amounts of time and sweat!

Shaping Tools

Shaping tools consist of chisels scrapers and planes. There are electric versions of all these tools but in my opinion doing this work by hand is half the reason for building a guitar yourself. Completing the shaping of the various parts of the guitar by hand gives you more control for precise and detailed carving of the body.

Gauging Tools

For certain parts of the guitar (such as the neck pocket, the pocket for the electrics and the pickup slots) some sort of gauging tool or bit for an electric drill is essential. The ideal tool for these jobs is a router with a plunge router bit but these pockets can also be made by drilling holes and then cleaning up the remaining material in the pocket with a chisel.

Clamping Tools

At one stage or another you will need to be able to clamp two pieces of wood together. It cannot be avoided when you build a guitar. There are many different types of clamps available but so far the main ones I use are C-clamps, frame clamps, bar clamps, spring clamps and finally a bench vise is a must have!

The tools listed above along with smaller everyday tools like screwdrivers etc. are all you should need to build a guitar. If you cannot get hold of any of the tools above you can always go to a local joiner and ask them to do the cutting or gluing up for you. This usually is not a problem and is relatively inexpensive.