How I build a guitar neck using hand tools only - GGBO 2021 - Part 1
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- Опубліковано 19 кві 2021
- In this first episode of my Great Guitar Build Off 2021 entry, I’m rough building the neck. That means everything is dimensioned and ready for glueing. I prefer to finish the neck at a later stage, once the body is close to finished.
The entire process took roughly 21 hours, completed in the evenings over 2 weeks.
The first step is always to square up the material. For this build I have a nice yet somewhat cross-grained piece of maple. Once it’s straight I mark out the scarf joint, and cut a knife wall for accuracy.
I cut the scarf joint with my Japanese saw. It’s a tricky cut because of the angle, but as always with hand tools take it slow and let the tool do the work. I had a bit of cleaning up to do, but nothing too bad.
Next I cut the headstock to thickness. It’s the perfect opportunity to do it before anything is glued up and you can still clamp it properly. Afterwards it’s back to my trusty handplanes to get everything square and straight.
Before glueing the joint, I drill and insert some guide pins. These stop the pieces from slipping and save you from having to correct all the hard work you just did getting everything square and straight. A final little bonus is using the headstock offcut as a clamping caul, since it’s the perfect angle!
The next part is probably the one that gets me the most questions: cutting the truss rod channel. I started with my plough plane, but the cross-grained wood was a nightmare to work with. In the end I had to go back to my chisel for depth, with a bit of clean-up with my router plane.
Finally I drill the truss rod access hole. The hole is at an awkward angle, but starting with the drill straight before dropping it down slowly does the trick.
Once the truss rod cavity is in place, the neck can be dimensioned. The long rip cuts down the length of the neck took about 30 minutes each. I then planed the sides to final dimension with my number 6 handplane.
Next up, I start with the fretboard. First I marked a center line that was running slightly skew across the board, but in line with the grain. After tracing the neck dimensions onto the back, I used masking tape to mark the width. It’s much easier to see than pencil.
Radiusing the fretboard was done with planes initially, followed by sanding. A lot of sanding.
I cut the fret slots with a handy jig. While not cheap, it’s a huge time saver as well as being accurate. The entire fretboard was done in less than 15 minutes.
When the fret slots are in place, I can drill guide pins. These are essential to my process, since the fretboard gets taken off multiple times over the next few steps.
I prefer the “invisible binding” look where you bind the fretboard in the same wood. To do this, I mark the neck dimensions and plane the neck to size. Then, I cut roughly 2mm from the masking tape before planing to this new, narrower dimension. These 2mm are where the binding will go.
For the binding, I’m using offcuts from earlier. Before glueing them on though, I take the last opportunity to make sure the fret slot depth is where it should be.
After glueing the binding, I plane the neck to dimension once again. I also need to re-sand the radius to make sure it’s all perfect. It’s a convoluted process, but the result is great so I’m sticking with it.
The last thing to do before starting on the body, is cutting and planing the headstock wings. I use wings because of all the planing I do along the neck. If the headstock was there through all the previous steps, it would just be in the way.
Stay tuned for the body build!
Timestamps:
0:18 - Squaring the neck blank
0:55 - Marking and cutting the scarf joint
2:12 - Thicknessing the headstock
3:15 - Scarf joint glue-up
4:30 - Truss rod channel
7:50 - Cutting the neck
9:09 - Cutting the fretboard
9:50 - Trimming the fretboard
10:40 - Radiusing the fretboard
11:43 - Cutting fret slots with a miter jig
13:09 - Drilling fretboard guide pins
13:42 - Dimensioning the fretboard
14:45 - Making binding out of wenge
18:00 - Trimming back the binding to final dimension
19:55 - Final touches on the fretboard
20:40 - Cutting headstock wings
21:55 - Final reveal
If you have any question about the process, the press itself or the materials used, please leave a comment. Also please add any suggestions on improvements or better workflows!
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#greatguitarbuildoff2021#ggbo2021 #handtoolsonly
Turn on subtitles (closed captioning) for info on the process!
Yes! Now that's just proper good relaxation, no noisy tools, no dust, just a sharp blade and mind. That's the essence of it! Good luck, I can't wait to see it all together.
Thank you!
It's nice to see people with this kind of ability, it reminds me of when I was 13 years old.. when I first learned to make guitar with conventional tools... amazing..Good Job Sir...👍👍👍
Just beautiful, no electric noise, the sound of the various planes almost hypnotic. Superb craftsmanship, made regardless of time and effort. I could watch this all day long.
Thank you very much!
This takes building to another level in my eyes , this is a masterpiece sir 👍
Thank you! Not sure about masterpiece, but I'm very pleased with how it turned out.
I've never seen anyone attach binding that way, that is genius!!
Thank you! It's really the only way I could figure out how to do it without a router.
Hats off to you, that's excellent. Especially when we're talking about binding to hide the tang ends. All by hand.
Thanks! I could save myself a lot of time by not doing the binding, but I enjoy the process and those small details feel worth investing on.
Great work! looking forward to this one 👍
Thank you!
Beautiful work and to watch 🙂
Thank you so much 😀
Awesome stuff. Very enjoyable to watch!
Thank you Chris.
This is exactly what I've been looking for. Can't wait for what's next.
Thank you! The body edit is taking a long time because it's a lot of footage and my work is interfering, but it will be finished in the next few weeks.
Great job and great video!
Thank you!
Nice! Looking forward to seeing the progression of this build :)
Thanks! The body will be done soon.
This is excellent
Thank you!
How cool is this. That’s some skill set you have there, most impressive.
Thank you.
I really enjoyed the video, great skill with hand tools.
Thank you!
Amazing technique and very accurate rip cuts with a ryoba! Genius!
Thank you! I found it easier to steer with the back edge of the saw, which is why I start the cuts at the far end then work towards myself.
Took a bit of practise though!
I really like seeing the process using only hand tools very impressive!
Thank you! I know it's also inefficient, but it relaxes me. And I still have all my fingers!
Señor es usted un maestro.Felicidades por su trabajo y muchas gracias.
That's worth paying for, hand made takes skill and experience.
Thank you
Mad respect!
Thank you!
Hands down! Great respect! you really built that off from scratch.. Good job man! You earned not just my admiration, but also my sub.. Cheers!
Thank you! I'm working on the body edit at the moment so stay tuned!
@@HandToolBuilds Definitely! Can't wait to see it
That was amazing! Wish to see a whole acoustic guitar build with only handtools 😊
The acoustic build video will drop in a few weeks, once the finish is cured and the edit is completed. 😁
@@HandToolBuilds wow great! Looking forward!
best thing ive ever seen
Thank you
Next of my project is that.
This deserves more views
Thank you!
For lack of a band saw, I do quite a few Ryoba rip cuts as well, and yours look way better than mine. I think I really need to get a straight blade haha.
Also, I feel your pain on sanding the radius. On my guitar (not Ggbo) I cut a few slots angled and had to fill them with super glue and dirt again. I believe I ended up sanding that radius at least 3 times.
Awesome job until here!
Thanks! I practiced quite a bit with the saw, but it helps to not force it. As soon as I put too much pressure on the blade, I get punished. Every time!
Thank you for these videos. I've been watching and referencing your other videos as well. I'm building a neck through guitar, but still using many of the techniques you use. I'm radiusing my fretboard now. When you use your planes to initially radius them, do you have a certain measurement you are working to, following the center line with the edge of your plane, or are you just eyeballing it to get close? Again love the videos. Keep em comin' man.
I'm basically just eyeballing and measuring constantly with the radius gauges. I thought I had gotten close, but there was still a LOT more sanding than I would have liked.
@@HandToolBuilds Thanks man. I appreciate it. Looking forward to the next video.
I really enjoyed this video thank you for letting us share your time. May I ask what length is the head plate and what angle is the scarth joint and what is the overall neck length please. 🙏
The headplate is between 13 and 14cm in length, scarf joint around 11 degrees, and the scale length is 25,5". Hope that helps.
Thank you for that I appreciate it
Love your channel. I hope I can start making my own guitars using hand tools in the future. Is there any chance you'll build a fender style guitar?
I do have some design ideas that go in that direction, but don't expect a Strat or Tele from me any time soon.
Great work and video editing!
Just one question: why did you cut the headstock wings and then glue them back?
Looking forward to see the progress...
Thank you! With the wings out of the way, it's much easier working with planes to get everything straight.
@@HandToolBuilds Sure, I didn't think about that! Hand tools only builds require a different way of thinking... Thanks for the explanation!
Amazing build, great to watch with a hand tools only build! Just wondered what headstock angle you use?
That's a very good question, to which I don't actually have a very good answer. I transferred a headstock angle off another guitar, which I think it around 12 degrees.
Thanks, currently building my first angled headstock neck and there are lots of different angles used in various guitars not sure of the benefits to different angles
@@davidlane7479 I try not to overanalyze or overthink things. Just copy from a guitar you like and go with it! Good luck!
Nice job .i build all my necks using only hand tools as well .
It's relaxing and a challenge at the same time! I love it
Awesome!!! What is the angle that your are using for joint cut?? Thanks!!
I copied the angle from my Ibanez SZ-series, so I don't have an exact measurement, but it's around 12-13 degrees.
I wish I could get my bench plane to shave that easily. What was the brand of chisels you used?
If it's not taking a shaving easily, it may not be sharp enough. Or the cuts are too heavy. Experiment until it's better! My chisels are a Narex set. They're excellent value for money.
Did you buy the fret scale template or build one yourself? I was making mine out of Harbor Freight Rulers, but they are only 2" wide. I would like to find a wider ruler that fills up the width of my Fret Sawing Jig, but do not feel like spending $50-75 per ruler. Maybe I should just pull the trigger... LOL
I bought mine along with the miter box because I wanted to make sure everything is precise.
at 17:15, why do you add those sides to the fretboard only to plane it down again?
That's my way of making fretboard binding from the same material. By first making the fretboard narrower than it should be by 2mm each side, then adding the strips and planing everything back down to where it should be, the fret slots are hidden on the side of the neck. It's purely cosmetic.
@@HandToolBuilds I see. It's a wooden binding. Very interesting and incredibly nice looking. Will that effect the ease of a refret down the road?
@@joeferris5086 Not significantly, one would just have to nip the fret tangs, but that's a fairly standard procedure.
By the way, what are the handplanes you are using? Are those number 4 and number 6?
Yes, those two are used most of the time. The number 4 sometimes has a rounded blade in it to act as a scrub plane.
@@HandToolBuilds do you think that I could make do with a jack plane only? With different blades for different tasks?
@@xenobarbital you can do with a jack plane with the standard blade easily. I only have lots of planes because I like collecting them.
Maybe someone can explain this to me? I watched both of Hand Tool Builds neck videos, and they always cut the headstock so narrow and then have to glue on extra blocks again to fill it out. Why not just do the long, neck cut all the way to the nut and then make a 90 degree cut toward the nut to leave a large paddle? I was confused by this...
It's not unusual to glue on headstock wings for extra width. In my case, I glue them on afterwards so I can use my hand planes all the way along the neck. It'll be very difficult getting the sides straight otherwise.
@@HandToolBuilds Gotcha! Thanks
how do you work on a flimsy workbench?
Very carefully! 😂
The workbench is actually solid enough, the camera makes it seem much worse than it really is.
@@HandToolBuilds when you plan, the workbench is shaking🙃🙃🙃🙂
Fretboard wood???
I used wenge on that one.
so the narrow margin is basically something really creative that one im a million people will fancy .... Guitar making is a hobby for boomers, and not a feasible profit generating business. If im wrong please explain in detail how one can learn you techniques, and generate profit consistently without going bankrupt. I dont believe its possible. Please explain
For me, guitar building is just a hobby. As a hobby I expect to spend money on it, not generate income from it. I do it for enjoyment and the inner peace it brings me, which is worth the time and money investment.
ok, well if you build custom guitars you cant buy in a shop what lets guess 100hr build time? so since you cant compete with factory for for mid low price, it has to be upper mid price. At that price and higher, customers are super stiff about buying from you , vs an established brand or custom shop. i built a 5k dollar guitar, i cant even get 1200 for it, cause im unknown, and have no reputation. I think the margins are super narrow, that just considering even a little for the labor is too much, The market is completely flooded not just with quality guitars, but with custom guitar makers and shops. I see a flood of old guitar players, getting into luthiery. I know of one custom shop , has great stuff all competitively priced, had guitars on reverb for over 10 yrs no sales. I thought i could get sales, cause I made an insanely cool logo and image etc. That didnt help either. Again the margin is so narrow. But with time you cant profit. Unless you consider something 2 dollars an hr profit.
In my experience, small businesses often fail because of a lack of sales and marketing, not because of the quality of their product. Unfortunately the guitar market is highly saturated with quality instruments by well known makers, which makes it very difficult for new builders to make a living from it.
There's no secret sauce for success, at least not that I know of.
I feel like being a successful luthier isn't much different than being a successful guitar player. It's 10% talent, and 90% who you know. There are thousands of really, really talented players out there who will never get a 'shot' because the market is so saturated. For me, as a lifelong amateur player and a new luthier, if I could get someone to cover materials with a little margin for tool investment, I'd be happy. I'm never going to quit my day job to do it. But for now, I'm happy to make them for myself and my family and friends. If you really want to make a go at it, you need to get it in the hands of someone who can get the word out--which probably means giving a few away. See if you can find well established session players in Nashville that would be willing to try it out (as a promotional endorsement, or at least as a long-term loan). Get them talking about it to other musicians. Start by making them to order. A good player will be willing to wait 6 months for a handmade instrument. You may also get some valuable feedback about what features players like and what you could improve.
While I admire the accuracy of your hands, the inefficiency of your process also leaves me dumbstruck, starting with why you chopped off the sides of your headstock in the first place.
That's a very fair point! My process can be streamlined a LOT! To be honest, if I wanted to be efficient I would be using bandsaws, routers and other power tools. I enjoy the process as much as the final product, so I just do what feels natural and right. Every build does get more efficient though.
In my case for the headstock however, it's actually better to cut the wings off and glue them back on. Since I'm doing multiple passes along the neck with handplanes to trim the neck, the fretboard and the binding, it's much easier having the wings out of the way.
@@HandToolBuilds yes I can tell you love to plane. my hands would never hold up to the abuse. I even have a power planer.