Hi /diy/,
This is my first post, so please forgive me for the mass amounts of autism.
I'm looking for a new couple of projects and want to give creating musical instruments. Thinking maybe a cello or guitar, something that will take time, but also be badass. Not looking for professional, just good enough for me. Also, wtf is sound/tone board? I've been doing some research and am lost.
Does anyone have any experience in building instruments? Or any plans they'd be willing to share?
Thanks /diy/
Can't really help you OP but I bought a really cheap electric body and neck online and am stoked about putting it all together. Need to install frets, enlarge a neck pocket, and drill passageways inside the body.
Im making a cigar box electric ukelele. Which aside from the neck is pretty straight forward
>>910257
http://woodgears.ca/ukulele/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLSnvVtM4lBIXzkp-7ouf6NVfS7fOLGfuN&v=mGeM0lTmjac
Jouhikko on the way. Going slow cuz broke as fuck. Gonna have three strings, played with a bow, and you finger the strings without a fretboard
>>910257
Luthier here. Start with a kit for your first project. How are your woodworking skills? Making a cello or anything with a carved top is not the way to go for a first project. If you're an experienced woodworker, I'd say get one of the Martin kits. They include everything you need. If you don't have much woodworking experience go with a partscaster or cigar box guitar.
>>910257
OP you could try something like this. I love how it sounds like a steelpan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dgsTWMV_iA
On a semi-related note. Does anyone know what to do with the ends of the strings at the headstock? Pic related. That shit is fucking dangerous. Sometimes I leave my guitar on my bed, and if I'm not careful I accidentally bump into the headstock, drawing tiny drops of blood because the ends are fucking sharp. I once tried bending them, essentially turning them into little hooks and it prevents the strings from cutting you but they get stuck in everything.
>>910486
Pic related then bend upward and clip flush with post.
OP here. I am a very experienced woodworker, so working with a carved top won't be a problem. I want to avoid buying a kit. Putting the time and hard work into turning bare supplies into a work of art is why I do it. But in no way am I insinuating that those who do buy a kit are not woodworkers, it's just not my style. I will check out the website though! Thanks!
I used to build acoustics all the time, then real world/work took over. Check out the kits offered from stewmac or LMII.com.
Fucking great hobby, good luck anon.
Fuck me, just actually read past first post. Buy raw materials from LMII, and get to it.
>>910486
OP again - Normally I just use a wire cutter to cut them very, very short. As long as you have them threaded around 4-6 times, you'll have plenty of strings for tuning. If you don't own wire cutters, you could use the tiny wire cutter on a needle nose pliers.
Pic related: wire cutters I use
>>910491
>>910516
No, bro. I mean after you wind the string and cut the excess, there is a little bit of string sticking out. This bit of string is really rigid, because of its length. And so I've pierced my skin (and indeed, flesh) several times with them, specially the high E string.
I guess I could cut them really, really short.
>>910595
Loop the string end back through the same end of the hole it pops out from, pull it tight-ish but not too tight, and clip it from the other side. The pokey end will remain inside the machine head and all that will be left out is a small loop of string. This is a trick banjo players use for their 5th string.
>>910257
I'm a professionnal violin maker i can sure give some help but first you need to know what you want to do.
>>910486
into locking tuners
>>910897
OP here - Thanks for the response. Pretty awesome that you do this for a living, thanks for giving me a little of your time.
Right now I'm just looking for a few pdfs or images with dimensions for violin, viola, cello. The plan is to then make a frame that I could use for constructing one of them, but right now I can't find measurements or schematics to save my sorry ass. Can you help me out here?
Thanks again.
>>910926
Locking tuners don't alleviate the problem of pokey ends. The only solution is to loop the string end back through and nip it or get new machine heads where you thread the string down through the tuning post.
>>910257
i can talk about it since my dad has been building electric guitars all my life and I'm building an acoustic myself right now. I just radiused one of the fingerboards today actually.
soundboard is the top of the guitar basically. usually spruce. I would actually suggest doing background reading about how guitars and other stringed instruments work first and reading or watching videos of building. You're in a better boat if you have done woodworking prior but I don't consider it a mandatory thing. I would suggest you need extremely high attention to detail though. To make a good instrument takes some knowledge of techniques, materials, and I think a certain amount of intuition to make it really a fine instrument.
This was interesting from a planning point of view.
http://acousticguitarbuild.blogspot.ca/
I would say a violin is a harder instrument to make well just based on reading. The soundboard thicknesses are apparently critical there as they vary, whereas guitar is more or less uniform.
>>910486
you could go buy electrical shrink tube just over the size of the strings, then bring a hot soldering iron next to them to shrink and then snip above the end of the string ends.
>>911183
or else put a little glue or something on a q-tip and just dab it over the end and let try. I did that with clear nail polish on my acoustic now that I think about it.
>>911183
I thought about explaining how to build but I've got to explain, I designed my guitar from scratch, I researched the hardware, I selected certain woods based on acoustic and structural properties, I've built it with hand tools that I bought as I needed them, I've made adjustments to design based on exhaustive research, I've adjusted my approach based on some trial and error and had to think up ingenious ways to precisely do work you can easily do in a shop with all the right machines in my living room. There is so much I'd have to explain I probably couldn't adequately explain it in 30 pages. I really think you might be in the best shape to order a kit from a store like Stewart MacDonald and go from there.
I'll give you a small example of how fucked up things could get without the proper knowledge. You'll have a scale length to choose. You have to now cut slots into the fingerboard to the correct fractional increments or else each one that is off will be either sharp or flat. Now if you do not set the saddle at the exact right spot you will have much the same problem but on all notes on that string. Saddle placement is going to be slightly dependent on the exact gauge of string you use as well since the mass will dictate how much you need to compensate the saddle by shaving it back (or placing it more forward for that matter). If you just go by theoretical distances you should use on a saddle you would be out because it needs to change a little to compensate for the different masses of the strings themselves or if you use a measurement based on one gauge and use another it will be out. I mean there is so much little stuff to be aware of and then you need to precisely execute it as well.
>>910486
Just loop them up like a fag like me.
>>910257
Start with a dulcimer. It's rather easy and fuck up proof if you have a beginner knowledge of woodworking and some basic tools. Plenty of guides out there snd not a high material cost
hopefully the last parts of my project will arive today.
>>910257
>not professional
>just good enough
Why bother if you're going to half arse something? You could buy a cheap Chinese import for less than the time and material it'll cost that will be 'good enough'. Granted it won't have the same effect as making something for yourself but I can't get my head around why you'd just scrape something by when you could learn a good skill by doing something right.
>>910257
Track down the book 'Foxfire 3'. It contains an article on building banjos and dulcimers.
Professional luthier here. What tools do you have and how good are you with them? Making instruments requires a TON of 100% accurate measurements. If you're a hair off it can create some gnarly issues, so be prepared for that possibility.
That being said, they say the difference between a hobbyist and a woodworker is how you fix mistakes. It works the same in luthiery. Don't just scrap something because you made a booboo.
Basically, take the extra time to plan out and draw every detail of your build prior at full scale before even thinking of buying wood. Pay attention and make sure you get your scale length, bridge/saddle placement, neck break angle,, frets, pickups(or sound hole), etc etc placed exactly where they need to be. From there you can figure out the wood you need and how best to approach the goal. From there its all attention to detail man.
If you're doing acoustic, make sure you plan your bracing - just copy someone like Martin so you don't go right ahead and over engineer it for no reason.
Check out O'Brien guitars, sully guitars and crimson guitars on yt. There are a ton more too worth checking out but I can't think of them off hand desu.
Keep us updated on here or e mail me tehgyb at the yahoos. I love watching other peoples builds.
Here are specs for the quatuor and more.
http://www.alangoldblatt.com/specs.html
>>912627
Not op, but I'm interested in building an explorer neck through with a 28" scale, any advice. I've made cabinets before and worked for a finish carpenter for 3 years so I know since wood working.
What are your guys thoughts on this, for a neck through guitar
So the home depot by my house sells 1x3 planks of maple and walnut, already planed and uniform.
What if I triple the thickness making a nominal 2 1/2 by 2 1/4 of either type of wood, theme line them up so 2 1/4 piece of walnut, 2 1/4 piece of maple, 2 1/4 piece of walnut, neck blank, walnut, maple, walnut.
The neck blank will be single, maple, walnut, maple
This gives me a 15 and 3/4" wide blank
To make sure that they square up nicely, due to the fact that each wing will have 9 pieces, and o over engineer it a little bit because I have no idea how well this will actually work, I'll use a machined flat aluminum bench top to make sure the top faces are flush with each other. I'll clamp them together, check to make sure they're as close to perfect as I can get, then I'll drill holes starting from the inside edge ending about halfway into the outer most piece. Test fit some hard wood dowels, and proceed to glue them together. I'll do this for both wings. At this point it'll just become a straightforward build.
I know I can buy a blank, I just want to see if it's possible to build a nice guitar with wood purchased from home depot. With the exception of maybe the fret board. How doomed for failure am I?
