Guitar Neck - shaping fretboard

[John Kananis]

I have a cousin who's a very accomplished guitarist. He's played (and continues to) with some pretty large names and venues. He was at the house the other night and asked if I could build him an (electric) guitar. He knows I've not done it before and that i normally build furniture (has a couple of my pieces) but wants something I've done to play. He has a ridiculous collection already and can buy whatever he wants so I wouldn't mind doing this right.

I'm going to do additional due diligence but after thinking on it a little bit, I believe my only real challenge will be shaping the neck (specifically the fretboard) - I don't feel challenged by the back of the neck (I don't think). What makes this especially difficult for me is that I don't play an instrument.

Anything else that may be more challenging than it appears?

He's giving me latitude on materials - his only ask is the shape of the body. And I have time, no hurry.

I'm not taking shortcuts, I'll be doing a ton of research but I consider you folks pretty high up on the value scale so starting the journey here... thanks in advance for your input.

[Warren Lake]

massive info on you tubes showing steps from many top builders.

[John Kananis]

Hi Warren, would you mind naming some of those content creators? I have trouble trusting a lot of those guys.

massive info on you tubes showing steps from many top builders.

[vince mastrosimone]

Guitar building is a complicated task and requires tools and knowledge you don’t have. I have not built a guitar ever but I have watched countless videos of builders. I would venture to say that they’re second guitar is a lot better than their first.

If this is the one and only guitar you plan on building, consider building only the body and leaving all the rest to an experienced builder.

[Warren Lake]

just loading tools to get to the job site no time now. There are tons ill take a look back tonight but take your pick, type in factory tour PRS guitars or Alembic, or acoustic Greenfield maybe Or Martin or I likely book mark some then never get back to them. Same trade but different tools and approaches. Linda Manzer for acoustics customers Pat Methany Paul Simon. Her shop was a block from where I used to live. taylor I think forgot for James Taylor, Taylor guitars david wilcox not sure just what to type and on the way out. Its endless I might be remembering wrong go into the musical instrument section below and look for the David Wilcox thing I posted there the guy that built him that guitar also built for James Taylor

[John Kananis]

Hi Vince, thanks for the input. I'll be doing the whole piece. I don't have the knowledge and that's why I'm doing the research. I enjoy new tools so that's not a big deal either. Finally, if I don't try, I can't fail or succeed so not into the not trying thing but thanks again.

[John Kananis]

Fantastic, thank you Warren!

just loading tools to get to the job site no time now. There are tons ill take a look back tonight but take your pick, type in factory tour PRS guitars or Alembic, or acoustic Greenfield maybe Or Martin or I likely book mark some then never get back to them. Same trade but different tools and approaches. Linda Manzer for acoustics customers Pat Methany Paul Simon. Her shop was a block from where I used to live. taylor I think forgot for James Taylor, Taylor guitars david wilcox not sure just what to type and on the way out. Its endless I might be remembering wrong go into the musical instrument section below and look for the David Wilcox thing I posted there the guy that built him that guitar also built for James Taylor

[lou Brava]

I've had a few custom built instruments made for me & 1 was an electric. I'm not pro player but know what a good instrument is which like most things can be very subjective.
Maybe obvious but find His favorite neck shape & fairly easy to copy that, than wood choice for body neck & fret board should be His call. Than fret materiel nickel, stainless & size again His choice. After neck shape radius of fret board again His choice. Getting the fret board and action to His liking may take a Pro set up nothing really hard about set up but a pro can do it really well pretty quick. Then along with wood type you've got electronics again His choice. A great thing about working for a Pro is he will know what He wants leaving you with a lot less to worry about. Finish can be hard depending on what he wants but a lot of online help there.
Than after all that hopefully you've built a "good one" & not sure what exactly what gives an electric the "mojo" but for me it's feel & tone. I got lucky on mine the Luthier when he was done was super pleased & everyone who's played mine really likes it. Good Luck & you'll have some fun with it I'm sure.

[Prashun Patel]

John, I've built a few electric and acoustic styles in the past 3-4 years. PM me here and I will send you my email; way easier.

#1: Sign up for TDPRI.com TDPRI is to guitar building and playing as SMC is to woodworking. Maybe even more so. They are super friendly, and helpful. You want to go to the Tele Home Depot forum and have a look around.

#2: For a reasonable woodworker with basic stationary tools, a solid body electric is straight forward. You may need to purchase some files and router bits though. Most people are advised to start with a "Telecaster" style, by Fender. There are many free plans for these online (Electric Herald is a great site). What is genius about the Tele is that Fender designed it to be easily mass produced. This means, he took out all the "hard" parts of the production that were characteristic of acoustic construction: The body is solid, there is no break angle between the neck and the body, there is no break angle between the neck and the tuning head.


The most intimidating part of the guitar seems to be the neck for many, but in fact it is straight forward. The problem with a neck is that the fretboard requires radiusing and needs to be cut with a saw that has the proper thickness. So you may find yourself buying an aluminum radius beam and a proper fret slotting saw. These are investments for a single guitar. You can purchase pre-radiused, pre-slotted fretboards from LMII.com or stewmac.com for far less total investment. So you could buy the fretboard and still make the rest of the neck.

If I were you, I'd make your buddy a telecaster with a pre-bought fretboard from LMII in either ebony or rosewood. Maple is a great, stable choice for a neck (use quartersawn if you can).

[Wes Grass]

LMII has a 'Showcase' email list that's worth signing up for just for the beautiful pictures. Tyson Soth, a few months back, my current favorite.

Radiusing a fretboard... a handplane comes to mind ... advantage over a 'radius block', or pre-radiused fretboard being you can do a compound radius, smaller at the nut. Not as common, but maybe something a real pro would appreciate.

[Matt Wolboldt]

The first woodworking project I ever built was an electric guitar. I used the book Make Your Own Electric Guitar & Bass. I had no real woodworking experience (or clamps) and it didn't seem too daunting. I even wound my own humbucking pickups. Creating the fretboard wasn't too bad, I got a fret scale ruler from Stewmac to assist in getting the spacing correct. I don't play the guitar, so I just liked the challenge, but a lesson I learned was not to make the neck too wide.

[John Kananis]

Ok, I'm getting excited now. I'm fine with the handwork - I have a nice collection of shaves, files, rasps, etc and I learned to use hand tools way before ever touching a machine. I'm completely comfortable with any necessary shaping, cutting, etc.

The info provided thus far is kindly appreciated.

[roger wiegand]

On a first instrument you can save a lot of headaches by ordering a slotted, radiused fretboard from Luthier's Mercantile. They deliver a great product made to your specs for a very reasonable price. It's certainly possible to do it yourself, but I'd take advantage of their jigs and machinery to get these operations done with precision.

It makes the project somewhat more complicated, but for me nothing says custom more than a through-neck design. A bolt-on neck always looks like a factory or kit guitar to me. (And I know that many (most) of the greats play bolt-on neck instruments and they probably don't really sound any different.) A laminated neck made with book matched lumber is also incredibly stable.

Shaping the neck is easy and fun. Find out what basic shape your friend likes but then have him hold the neck when it is near done. He'll be able to tell you where it's still too thick and if there's any unevenness. A spokeshave is my go-to tool for the bulk of the shaping. This is not a machine operation, you want to be feeling it constantly as you work. What matters at the end is how it feels, not adherence to some standard.

If you want to look like a genius, take your finished instrument to someone who can do the final setup on a Plek machine. I'm sure a master luthier will do as well or better, but the Plek brings near perfect intonation and fret leveling to mere mortals.

Lindy Fralin is a good source for vintage style pickups. Don't go cheap on the electronics or hardware. There can be a world of difference between a $1 potentiometer and a $4 one. It's worth splurging.

[Richard Coers]

I've made several dulcimers and I just buy a fret board to bypass the fret slot and location problems. I see you can buy just the fret board for less than $15 on-line

[Richard Coers]

Ok, I'm getting excited now. I'm fine with the handwork - I have a nice collection of shaves, files, rasps, etc and I learned to use hand tools way before ever touching a machine. I'm completely comfortable with any necessary shaping, cutting, etc.

The info provided thus far is kindly appreciated.

How do you feel about sawing the kerfs for the frets?