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Hello my name is David I am 16 and wanting to build a guitar. Now, I'm not the best player but I still want to build one. I am good at building this. I am a bowyer which means I build my own longbows. I have a bunch of osage orange at my disposal which is not fit for bows so I thought it would make a good guitar neck. I was thinking WRC for the top and bottom, with a nice mixture of heart and sapwood. I'm not sure what to use for the side.

Can someone point me in the dirrection of where I can get ahold of a template or something? I really don't know what I am doing.

I was in the buildalong section and that helped a ton.

Oh and I have a bandsaw, drillpress, lave(sp?) and tons of handtools.

Hi David,

Well WRC is fine for the top but I would reconsider using a hardwood like mahogany for back and sides. I can't remember the density of Osage but it would make a pretty neck without a doubt.

The OLF (this forum) retails my plans at http://www.stewmac.com they are called the OLF plans there is an OM, SJ (small jumbo) and MJ (medium jumbo) available. and purchase of these plans support this forum. The SJ is the most popular of the three sets but they all make great instruments And myself and the rest of us here at the OLF are always available to technical advise and inspiration.

I have to say though WRC for a first time top is difficult to work with due to its ease in denting. Spruce like Sitka, Adi or Lutz would really be a better choice the first time out the gate.

the density of osage is over .80 so its heavy and hard as a rock.
I will check into other woods, I think I could handle WRC but I want to to turn out nice.

How would hard maple work for a bottom?

Rock Maple? is this to be an electric or acoustic? If acoustic I would suggest Big Leaf over Rock maple.

yes rock maple, and I would like to make an acoustic.

The park that Ireally don't get is the neck and how to put the frets in.

thnaks for all your help.

Hi David,

while this is by no means the most authoritative and complete guide to uilding a guitar, it can give you a basic idea about the steps involved (including fretting).

http://acousticguitarbuild.blogspot.com/

best, Christian

OK before you get too far into picking materials pick up a couple of books on building acoustic guitars Kinkead’s Build your own acoustic, GAL's Big Red book and Cumpiano's Tradition and Technology are all pretty much prerequisites to learning to build. All the info needed to succeed on a first build can be found in all three. There are many others available as well. Pre serviced Kits are available that still leave all the joinery up to you. And if you think you would like to go that rout the first time out then visit with John at Bluescreek guitars for the best kits out there. John is a sponsor here and a link is at the top middle of each page on this forum. John also offer great help online, by phone or email plus forms, bendingmachines and just about anything you could ever need. He a pretty nice guy as well.

Pardon me for saying so but I can tell by your comments you really need to do some research prior to jumping head long in. It will pay off in the long run. You going to invest between $300-600 in material and hardware and probably 100 hours or more in your first build the investment in time researching will pay off great dividends.

Thanks, and your correct I really need to do some research. I would make sure I had an understanding of how its done before I did it.

I awas hoping to make a simple, but nice looking guitar with out a bunch of purfling because I am not sure if I would be able to do that and the cost. I am on a budget

purfling is $10 at the most and really nothing in the scheme of things it is the what and whys that make how an acoustic works that are the details tht can not be by passed. It is always a good thing to follow proven plans with out experimentation to achive a well playing properly funcioning and sweet sonding guitar. That intails no added appointments. Most plan sets including mine do not even referance apointments at all most plan set give only the structural bones of a guitar

ok I'll stick to the game plan. If I bought wood bindings,kerfing, and purfling would I need heat to bend those?

you will need to bend the wood binding but both the kerfed lining and the purfling should be able to be bent to the shape without the use of heat. the only time you would have to bend the purfling would be if you were doing purfling on the side of the guitar. If the kerfed lining that you use is prone to breaking you can soak it in hot water briefly to loosen it up and help it bend to the shape of the guitar.

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P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

Disclaimer: this is paul's son so don't hold him responsible for any advice given (if it is bad), I just forgot to sign onto my account on his computer.

The tutorial section is also really helpful a lot of the tutorials have pictures and give you a great example of how things should look. Along with all current tutorials here is a link to all the archived ones.

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10117&t=17905

I still reference this often.

_________________
P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

Here is a link to many suggested books on guitar building

http://liutaiomottola.com/books.htm

Thanks for all the help you guys. I am going to hold off building for now and get more experience on other things. UNtil then I'll get some books and materials.

Good for you! Building your first guitar is a wonderful milestone.

My suggestion is to get Jonoathan Kinkead's book - it's a great reference for building your first guitar.

A lot of good advice on what research to do here, but I think it's really important to be willing to dive in and go for it. If your expectations are to learn a lot, be really proud of completing a first guitar, make a million mistakes and have a consuming desire to build a better one on your second go around, you'll be in great shape.

Go for it!!

wow - I must be a natural. I think I only made a thousand mistakes on my first one