The 5 Big Mistakes Guitar Builders Make
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ธ.ค. 2022
- If you can avoid these 5 guitar-building mistakes, you'll be more likely to achieve success with your project. If you would like to help support my channel and get something cool in return, please consider the following:
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Thanks for the video! A couple more to add based on my experience... 1 - don't assume your first scratch-built guitar is going to be a home run - especially if you're self taught. It's okay to make mistakes and it's also okay to spend a couple months on a build that goes nowhere. It's all part of the learning process. Sometimes it's worth finishing a build even though it's not "perfect" and moving on to the next one. 2 - don't assume something is ruined if things go sideways. Take it as an opportunity to learn how to fix it. The best builders know how to fix the eff-ups or imperfections as they go. 3 - don't give yourself a strict timeline. It's easy to get bummed that it's taking too long or you have to redo something. Rushing a build is only going to lead to problems.
Man, Ive been building since I was 15 and that was a loooong time ago! These steps are pure gold and they make me smile. Totally agree and many I learned the hard way!! I like to make neck throughs mostly these days as basses are my reputation and having a written list is mandatory as you get one shot. Its like a recipe when baking a cake, you stop, think and then do. For me its like a manta, it helps me reduce errors and avoid waste. I also really appreciate the process more. One small tip I'd add...keep your workspace clean as you work. Minimal tools on the work surface, tidy as you go. The amount of time you move that instrument around and it hits a stray chisel, sits on a piece of carve out and gets a dent is often. By stopping to clean and limit your workflow means you re-focus..this for me saves time and builds a much better guitar/lute etc.
I have good woodworking experience and so the woodworking aspect of it came natural - but the ORDER of the process , i spent about 2 weeks on that trying to find the best order - not everyone will have the same order and everytime you shift the order, you improve something and compromise on another , so you really need to find an order that works for you - i got a diary and documented the order and WHY i want that order and how it will benefit me down the line.
With regards to testing , ive cut about 8 fretboard out of cheap hardwood before i went ahead with my richlite board , but by that time the process was so well refined that it went really well. Having a bit of cheap hardwood on hand is great for testing
I wish I’d seen this 3 weeks ago, it would’ve saved me some headaches. Good list. I’m taking notes
I've made peace with the fact that mistakes will happen, sometimes due to lack of planning, sometimes due to lack thinking, sometimes due to lack of skill. Fixing those mistakes are part of the fun!
I don’t think stupidity is ever fun.
😅 Chris that came out harsh… fixing mistakes AND not making them again is part of the learning process. Also hobbyists vs. builders who are business owners have different goals. Planning and continuing to optimize said planning is key. For my own builds I made peace with the mistakes I made because I was using the experience to learn… the mistakes happening gave me heartburn. Fixing them and getting decent results was good learning experiences and it made me happy that I was able to still come up with something beautiful and usable. That being said, I wouldn’t sell any of my project guitars because they simply don’t meet a certain standard that my (future) customers would expect. Mistakes might mean sinking hundreds of dollars down the drain or a lackluster reputation
@@ZL1LoVeR Replying to comments is not his strong suit. Just browse this comment section for other replies.
Great video! Reminds me of many of the things I have taught for many years. 1. NEVER practice on your finish project. 2. Always Think-Know -Do in that order. First thing I always here after a mistake is, "I thought". 3. Be where you are. If your mind is some place else, bad things WILL happen. Most of the things you spoke about fall in to the preparation area. Yes, Success is a planned thing. One thing I felt you left out is, especially when crafting something, draw your own plan. So many questions will arise when you draw it out yourself. I also agree with Chris. A great craftsman is not judged by the perfect things, but by how you recover from, or blend in those mistakes. When your project is finished, look in the small corners. Can you do it better next time?
Pickups are a nightmare because one pickup in one guitar might not sound great but in another guitar it does. I think this is one reason why you'll see people hating on a certain pickup and others loving it. For example, I had Gibson Classic 57s in a Les Paul. I thought I hated them but it was the dark and bassy nature of the guitar that caused the 57s to not sound great. I put them in an SG style guitar and they were perfect. I had Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers in a Heritage guitar. They were OK but in the Gibson they were much better. Classic 57s in the Heritage were also great. Like the SG the Heritage was brighter. This is just with differences in PAF pickups never mind other types.
As for building guitars. I think an important thing is that when you encounter a problem or issue that needs solved, just stop for a while to give yourself time to figure it out. Take things slowly.
My father was an expert wood carver and reproduction antique furniture builder. He always taught me the importance of a trial run when crafting. Even then he would say, "one won't see perfection until your 3rd build." Cheers.
Thank you Sir. Each of these videos are highly informative and educational.
Sound advice, Chris. Many thanks.
Really great advice all around!
I really love your take on things, I almost always agree with you and if I disagree its just a matter of preference probably. Always a lot of value to be had in your content, thanks for posting!
Thanks, excellent points.
Very helpful video ... thank you!
Excellent informative video!!
Thank you very much for these tips. I am assembling the necessary tools, wood and parts for my first guitar build. I have subscribed and will definitely be back.
Great video. I'm smiling because I didn't make any of them (yet).
Mistake #6: Underestimating powertools and the dangers thereof.
I was just discussing that with a friend! Thank you :)
Really sage advice...... I'm in the middle of a jass build.....and have some issues! Took notes for next time!
Thanks for the video. I know very few luthiers who complete the fretboard first, however your point about making a list of operations is a good one. The biggest mistake I see when I go to guitar shows and see new builders' axes, is simply that they haven't thoroughly gone over well designed and manufactured guitars to really understand the shape and dimensions of a functional, ergonomic and good looking instrument. The other mistake I see a lot is where there's a mix of underworked and overworked finishing. For example, overworked fretboard and headstock edges, but underworked fret ends, and wet sanding/polishing.
I agree with fretboards mostly complete before gluing on the neck. In part. My fret jig assumes its a fretboard blank and wouldn't work if already on the neck. It still has complications when referencing the location of the fretboard for scale length and getting it dead center. I'm now moving to adding extra width to the fretboard blank to allow for deeper fret slot cutting and easy binding before it even gets on the neck. But I think radiusing is much easier when the board is on the neck and the neck is clamped down to the table and I have the ability to make sure my angles and height are going to work with the bridge.
Any process is going to be subject to what tools you have and what works best for you. I've certainly made fret board mistakes.
Might you have a video on how you glue a completed fret board to a shaped neck? I'm curious about your process.
th-cam.com/video/rCVDTG8FOc8/w-d-xo.html
@@HighlineGuitars Excellent. That's what I was thinking of doing. Mine will have the frets on so I'll mill fret slots in the 7.25 radius top jig to hold the frets.
Regarding pickups… the same pickup in two different guitars will sound different. The strings also matter.
As a busy repair shop I’ve swapped lots of pickups between guitars. The same pickup might sound great on one guitar and bad in the next. I had one client bring in four different guitars to switch the pickups between the guitars. The differences were not subtle!
Regarding control the compartment. Also think about control layout. I like to place the knobs I’m going to use in the position I want them to see how they feel ergonomically.
I put the same pickups in five different guitars once. They all sounded exactly the same.
@@HighlineGuitars So you’re saying all your guitars sound the same unplugged? You can put the same humbucker in a Strat, LP, and SG, and they won’t sound the same.
@@DavidRavenMoon I don't care how they sound unplugged. What proof do you have that they will all sound different? I suspect none.
@@HighlineGuitars pickups just reproduce how the unplugged guitar sounds. I’ve been doing this over 40 years, and pickups about 20. But believe what you wish.
@@DavidRavenMoon I believe your claims have no factual basis.
One more mistake to avoid: For those builders who build guitars of their own original design, make sure before you start that a commercially available off-the-shelf case exists that the guitar will fit. Unless you want to risk finding out that you have to have a custom case made at significant expense or you have to build a case from scratch yourself. More than a few builders have had this unpleasant surprise after the guitar was completed.
Another very good video Chris. "I realise these five mistakes are really just common sense". Actually, common sense isn't nearly as common as we'd all like it to be.
The most important tip is to use effective breathing PPE, especially during the sanding process and especially with hardwoods. It took only one listen to a person with pulmonary fibrosis struggle for his breaths to convince me.
Thank you for the knowledge but I'll take my chances, I can say after carving one neck I made it turned into a rainbow and removing the truss rod was not fun and the fretboard was no longer usable or the frets 😭😭😭
6 P's: Propper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. (not mine, I borrowed it from an American car series, westcoast customs, but it goes well with your advice)
Does anyone have any tips for cleaning inside an f hole of a semi-hollow? there is a bunch of dried glue and sawdust in the one i got... I'd like to remove it but I'm not sure which products would work best 🤔
Re: audio samples. The sound also depends on exactly where between bridge and neck the pickup is positioned.
And that position relates to where you press the stings down to the frets.
I couldn't agree more about audio samples and that doesn't just apply to building guitars. There is absolutely no substitute for being in the room. Recording and then reproducing any audio introduces way too many variables. I have friends who buy pedals or amps because of a TH-cam video audio sample and they are almost always disappointed.
Hi, very interested and surprised carbon fibre maybe used inside a guitar neck. In the world of table tennis , carbon fibre is used inside bats to often remove vibration. Which wouldn't be desirable in a guitar.
Carbon fiber is an engineered material. It can be engineered to enhance or reduce vibration. The most responsive guitars on the planet are made entirely of carbon fiber.
Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) from WAYNES WORLD.
Awesome video Chris! For the published measurements of reputable hardware like Hipshot or Gotoh, would you have to remeasure the item if you’re already reusing a successful template from previous builds? I don’t imagine those measurements would change or would be imprecise for any reason
The specs for the Hipshot B 5-string bass bridge are wrong in their drawings (screw hole location), dont ask me how I found out. (hopefully they have fixed it by now). That is an excellent point Chris made on that one, now I dont trust anyone lol.
@@m7bassworks613 thanks for sharing that example! Did the actual measurements change? As in, did you have to change distance from the first bass your built to the next even though the model is the same?
A lot can change when a company switches manufacturers.
@@ZL1LoVeR yeah once I got the "real" bridge in hand, I measured the actual screw holes and updated my own drawings. They have been right ever since :). Their original drawing had symmetrical holes from center line, but the actual was not (or vice versa, I cant remember now)
@@HighlineGuitars I didn’t think of that either, you’re right many of the big names are likely outsourcing the fabrication
Excuse me, could i please inquire as to the arm attachment for dust collection of your cnc? Thank you for all the wonderful advice btw
What about it?
@@HighlineGuitars is it a piece that came with the cnc or did you build it? Where is it from?
@@CoeurDuPetitPrince It came with the X-Carve Pro.
Step one =life
I considered just giving this a like, but then I decided to also add a comment for good health.
Let me save you some heartache. Do not paint if it’s too hot outside, it won’t dry right and you’ll be crying. Paint in moderate temperatures, and allow time for curing between coats.
I know this is off topic but what do you say to people that say tonewood is a scam and doesn't affect tone.
I can confirm using a maple spacer instead of plastic in a PAF will reduce the high frequencies so why don't these people listen to the experts? Beats me?
I can confirm the exact opposite. Prove me wrong without relying on your opinion.
@@HighlineGuitars Do you mean that maple spacers have more treble than plastic? I can only tell you about what I have found with my pickups. It's possible I'm using a totally different wind pattern, tension and these are unwaxxed PAF replicas. I'm sure the effect is different in different models.
@@HighlineGuitars I guess my point was that minor changes to a resonant part of a pickup (so, the whole pickup) will change the tone so I'd assume that changing the body or neck material will also change the tone. Guitar builders seem to agree on this, at least the builders I deal with. I've found my roasted maple neck has more treble and clarity than the original yet a lot of guitarists tell me I'm crazy or biased...I just find it odd that it's so divisive, I thought it was just science.
@@murrayguitarpickups9545 I totally believe in science. However, it's not science until it's reviewed, accepted, and published. An opinion isn't science.
@@HighlineGuitars What results have you got by experimenting with bobbin and spacer material ? I work from home, I'm certainly not in the science community but my ears hear more treble in plastic bobbins and spacers instead of the vintage stuff so I use the vintage parts for my vintage pickups and my customers seem happy, so for me ....science schmience! I couldn't care less what the text books say
Mistake #1…. Getting married 😵🤷♂️🤦♂️🤘
For me anyway lol (1st & 2nd) 3rd times the charm?
😄
Don’t feed the femanazi government protection scam.
Why would someone do that to themselves more than once?
Radius your fretboard after being glued to the neck. If not you have built a Gibson fretboard, ie roller coaster....
If you screw up the radius, you've lost the neck AND the fretboard. And the truss rod. And anything else that's part of the neck.
@@HighlineGuitars Good enough for PRS, Fujigen, Suhr, Maton etc. I use a plek eveyday scanning guitars, if your fretboard isn't straight it doesn't matter about the rest of the guitar. Seen Fender Masterbuilt and Gibson Murphy Labs with uneven shocking fretboards. Lazy way is to put jumbo frets on and hide the issue..
@@5150TJT Whatever you say Russianbot.
these aren't guitar building mistakes, these are woodworker mistakes...aside from mistake #4...I thank you and liked, but this was honestly useless to me.
Maybe you'll like today's video better: th-cam.com/video/u2KdYm-E25Y/w-d-xo.html
@@HighlineGuitars will check it out. I meant literally what I said, I enjoyed the video, but it was worthless to me :)
@@nowherebrain That's okay. Brussels sprouts are worthless to me, but I'll still eat them.