Guitar MX Blog

Have you ever thought of building your own guitar? The September 2007 edition of Acoustic Guitar has a cover story which examines guitar kits. Guitar kits provide an easy way for wannabe luthiers to build their own guitars. These kits come complete with everything you need to build a guitar, except glue, finishes and tools.

But using a guitar kit is not as easy as simply gluing parts together. There is a lot of work involved, and as the Acoustic Guitar article points out, patience and attention to detail are required. The article makes the following recommendations:

• Read (or Watch) and Follow Instructions Carefully: Guitar kits are not “Glue ’n’ Play.” They’re detailed wood projects, and a hasty move can force you into learning repair techniques.

• Be Patient: Craftsmanship and speed rarely go together. Take the time to learn, and then think through, the next step.
• Dry Fit Every Joint: By completely dry-fitting, including all clamping, you will at some point avoid building a critical flaw into the instrument. Avoiding just one of these is worth it—as I learned the hard way!
• Test on Scrap: This should be the home guitar builder’s credo. Whether you are sanding, finishing, cutting, or gluing, you will prevent many headaches by doing a test of at least part of the procedure on scrap wood.
• Get the Right Tool: Working with the proper tool is sometimes extremely important. Learn to listen when your inner voice says, “Don’t do it with this!”
• Humidify: Do all gluing of your kit guitar in a relative humidity of 40 percent to 50 percent. Let it cure there, too. If you must, store it in that humidity and carry it out to work, then return it.

Be sure to check out the Acoustic Guitar article online for more information. Guitar kits can be purchased online at MusiciansFriend.com, and are available for both acoustic and electric guitars. If you decide to take this project on, you can find lots of help on web sites like the Kit Guitar Forum.