@@tanet Would be interesting. Certainly if the whole middle section was solid or at least was joined in some places where the tension would be it would not cause an issue. However it is laminated with 3 thick layers of wood so probably will be ok.
This is quite an accomplishment! The extremely clean sound impresses me. And there doesn't seem to be any intonation problems from string length adjustment. And the guitar is beautiful! This is something that can be passed down by the family. Great work! Congratulations!
yeah i was surprised at how good the pickup sounded for 9 bucks. probably would not sound too great with high* distortion but that is still pretty cool.
he said that when he plays with too much pressure the guitar makes a whammy effect so it's a bit hard to play, but this is amazing, I love the guitar, it has such a lovely tone I really like it
@@JogohDLC Yeah, if he'd have made it from solid hardwood, it would have been fine. But I like a guitar that you can use bend expression without a whammy.
@@SailingSoWhat Heavily recommend "Tested: Where Does The Tone Come From In An Electric Guitar?" for people who think the cost of the components is what determines the sound of an electric guitar.
some people go for a pickguard, you opted for the option of completely removing any wood from where the pick would need to be guarded. I guess that's one way to do it lol respect man
Love the look of the guitar. I did something similar to a cheap First Act guitar by using hole saw blades and cutting away as much of the body as I could. Looks and plays great.
only 864 subs? dude i thought I was watching a high production channel with thousands of subs. keep it up, this quality is great. I can see your channel growing fast.
Well Done! Reclaimed wood, reclaimed neck, awesome design , sounds decent...one of a kind...oh boy i like! It's a piece of art ...even if it just hangs on a wall...but it plays, fun build ...Total win! Good Job!
I’m pretty sure that harmony neck is from the 70’s at the earliest, and maybe the 90’s at the latest but most manufacturers didn’t use zero frets after the 70’s/80’s I don’t think
Great video D. It’s so cool to watch you do this. There is something about the pure joy of making your own instrument and then able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.🎸 On a side note, it must be kinda weird strumming over a body cavity that large?
Yeah it is weird! That's what I was going for though. I'll change up the design and make another in the future. It is so fun to make an instrument and then get to play it! Way more fun than building a cutting board and then cooking dinner.
This is for sure the coolest/creative design I've seen in a while (I have had about 6 guitars and basses custom made for me over the years). I would definitely buy one of these.
I can see that this is not the first time you are making something out of wood, but I can also see that you haven't written letters on a paper before. Good job! Keep practising
I am looking to build my own guitar. I have always been a person who likes to make rather than consume, and this is something that I know I will be able to do over time. I plan to make a wooden version as a prototype, then potentially do something like an epoxy pour guitar as well. Future project though.
Yep, this was my question too. I like that this version was done so that we can all learn over time. Hope that Danny posts an update in the next couple years. Subbed just to see if he does! 😀
I don’t know about all that! There are plenty of people on here making much more beautiful instruments than this one! I’m just keeping myself entertained!
this is so cool!! but the action seems very high and it sounds like thats affecting the tone bc you bend the notes sharp just by fretting. I bet it would sound a lot better with a proper setup
Yeah the action is high because the neck joint isn’t supported by much wood. It was mostly a failed experiment! The intonation issues are due to the flex in the body where the neck joint is.
@@medmusic7977 Nah, I don't know about there but here that machinery could be about 200 USD. A drill, a jigsaw and a wood router. You don't need the table version. The drill bits and the router bits, chisel, sandpaper can add up to 100 more if are of quality. Also there was no mention of the fret wire too. But the machinery is NOT that expensive in this build.
@@maniacguitarhero I'm planning on building a similar (but less flashy) guitar, and I'm confident I could do it with my family's tools (electric drill, some old drill bits, chisel and a hand electric saw... maybe I'll need to buy a router and more sandpaper). I get that not everyone has those things, but they're not that uncommon if you ask around, at least in a town.
I agree with you. This is what i said too. What will be a cost for the build are the electronics for it and the neck. It is hard to make it RIGHT yourself. The freta have to have specific distances between them so it is easier to get a ready neck. It is expensive though.
Amazing guitar! Shielding the pickup and control cavities might help with some of that single coil hum but the tone is beautiful! Perfect Blues machine!
Awesome, could've splashed for a nicer pickup though in fairness! The fact you made a nice-playing guitar that looks cool for the money is a lot more impressive, and it could actually sound great with a nice pickup i think!
Yeah, I agree! This was an experiment to see if the body style would actually support the string tension. I will make another one in the future and I'll use better pickups. Maybe I'll spend a whole $40.
Your wish is my command. I bought better pickups and hardware and made a nicer guitar. Here's the video! Let me know what you think! ua-cam.com/video/BpvE8qFAgV4/v-deo.html
Yep! The action is terrible. I didn’t do any setup before the video but also the string tension is a bit too much for the lack of support in the neck joint. This was just a test! Just to see what I could get away with. That’s why I didn’t spend much money. Thanks for watching!
Hi from Germany. Sorry, my english is from google translator. You built an interesting guitar. What particularly strikes me is the lack of a direct connection from the neck pocket to the pickup. By pure theory this should support the vibrations from the neck to the pickup. It would be interesting to hear an A/B comparison with a "normal" guitar with the same sound. I think the sustain could be better if there was a connection. Look at the construction of the Brian May guitar. The Red Special also has large hollow chambers in the blockboard body. However, the neck and the pickups are in an oak block that is embedded in the blockboard.
In a solid body electric that joint is immaterial because the only thing the pickup picks up is the motion of the strings. In another video here on UA-cam you can find a guy who shows that the entire body is unnecessary. Tonewood for solid-body electrics is just marketing hype.
Did you every consider using this sort of guitar build to help people who can't afford guitars? I bet you can even get a local high school with a shop class involved. Any teacher would be thrilled at the idea of sourcing reclaimed wood, teaching students to work with it, and make something that gives back to their community while teaching a skill that could help the next generation become self-employed luthiers or work on guitar building assembly lines after graduation. I say this because there are lots of needy kids and adults out there who want to learn guitar or need replacements for old/lost/stolen guitars. Case in point, I've been disabled since 2003, but I got very sick in late 2018 and have been homebound without any cash income (and very little help) since July 2019. I've been trying to get a donated 24.75" electric guitar from major brands for over two years. Those that responded said they'd normally have loved to help but have been overwhelmed with donation requests since the pandemic started. I learned to play starting in early 2020 on an acoustic that my mom got me before she passed in 2018 (shortly before I got sick). It's a great guitar, but I can't play it for too long with my disabilities. I have chronic pain, muscular weakness, and other issues that would make an electric a much easier and more comfortable experience for me. I never imagined I'd learn to play at all with a brain injury, yet I found a way -- and it's unreal that I've come as far as I have in my own. There's no way I can manage doing bends and other such skills on my acoustic even with the action dropped and the lowest gauge strings recommended by the manufacturer. An electric guitar with extremely playable specs would not only let me play longer but would enable me take my skills to the next level. For me, guitar has become like physical, occupational, cognitive, and recreational therapy -- plus my service dog totally enjoys the live music. Now I'm only one example. There are people who'd love to learn to play for the first time, others who can't play because their guitar broke or they had to sell it, etc. My situation makes me think a lot about the expense of guitars each time I see new releases -- even the cheapest guitars out there are unattainable for many people like me. When I saw your acoustic and electric projects, it made me realize that it doesn't have to be that way. Seeing that a guitar can be made with minimal expense and still look really cool makes me wish that some large brands would do a charity project like this -- but since that's very unlikely, I would love to suggest making some of these for needy people in your own community where it could make a huge difference in people's lives. Perhaps you can even enlist some DIY'ers with the skills and machinery to build guitars like this in various parts of the country or encourage them to also enlist schools with shop classes. You don't have to start a non-profit, but it could really help so many people -- or if you did start a non-profit, imagine the impact it could make. Just some food for thought! Even if you don't take me up on the idea, as I know not everyone has the time, maybe another person will see my post and feel inspired to do something like this! Thanks for listening! I hope to see you make more of these -- they're really cool and play nicely! P.S. Are you happy with the pickups? People get weird about "cheap" pickups. I don't think cheap always means bad. How are the ones you used?
If you go to my channel page on my about me section you will find my email. If you are interested I have a squire strat that I got in a trade that my 4 daughters have played “rockstar” with in my music room for the past 15 almost 16 years. If you are interested,email me your address and I’ll pull the electronics that I know are bad and swap them out and get it shipped to you. Not charity,paying something forward to repay an act of kindness I received when I was in a bad accident in 2019. So if you want it email me and we can work out the details.
Do high schools still have shop class? Guitar building is more time consuming than people think, and requires a unique skill set, and tooling. It's not simple woodworking. The price shown is for parts, and a doner guitar.
The scene when your hand is vacuuming right after Dusty would be a really neat way to do title screens if you could make the font look like the wood chips/dust
Yeah! You can build almost this whole guitar with just a jig saw if you don’t have much else. My jig saw is a black and decker that cost less than $50.
The material was free! I used wood I’d reclaimed from free furniture. It mentions it briefly in the video. But yes, the tools did cost more than thirty dollars!
@@richsackett3423 I haven’t been in any dumpsters yet! Mostly just people giving things away on Craigslist. But I’m not above a bit of dumpster diving!
Oh no, it didn’t stay true right after it was done! You could push it out of tune with the slightest pressure. It wasn’t ever meant to be a Stradivarius. Just an experiment!
Tools only get included in price to the extent that they are consumed during the build. So using a drill adds practically no price because you're only using like a thousandth of its life on the build. But something like sandpaper should be included.
Awesome! From a physical / acoustic perspective, seeing more structural rigidity in the longitudinal direction (from neck to bridge) would aid tuning stability, I assume.
Correction this is a Guitar made with $30 in parts and $1000 worth of labor. Which begs the question why would you use only $30 in parts in a guitar after this much labor?
That’s true! But I enjoyed the labor. Also, I would not charge a $30 to build this for someone else. The reason I didn’t spend more is because I wasn’t sure this design was going to work at all. The lack of support on the neck joint worried me, so I didn’t want to sink a bunch of money into it. I view this guitar as a prototype for another to come in the future!
Your wish is my command. I bought better pickups and hardware and made a nicer guitar. Here's the video! Let me know what you think! ua-cam.com/video/BpvE8qFAgV4/v-deo.html
Yeah! I just thought somebody on UA-cam might leave a comment about using the not right tool for the job and I wanted to point out that I already knew I was doing it wrong!
I get that this is as much a study to prove that a playable guitar can be built for that price, but I'd love to see him use the same template, only with high grade materials.
Yeah but this template really doesn't have the structural integrity to support the string tension. I might try it again someday with a bit more meat on the body. But for now I'm busy making other guitars! Feel free to check out the rest of my channel, plenty of higher quality materials in some of my other builds.
Maybe! I’ll check it out sometime when I’m bored. Im making an ukulele for my daughter right now and she won’t let me work on anything else until it’s done!
Your wish is my command. I bought better pickups and hardware and made a nicer guitar. Here's the video! Let me know what you think! ua-cam.com/video/BpvE8qFAgV4/v-deo.html
Surely this video would be more accurately called: 'How to build a guitar for $30, in 20 hours or so, with thousands of dollars of tools and substantial woodworking experience'?
Interesting - the title says nothing, but I would argue the (intentional) implication is still there, aided by the exclamation mark.@@dannylewisguitars
Can you post the link to all the parts in this video? - Daughter needs to build a working guitar for English class.... These teachers are doing the most...
Here's a link to the pickup I used. It was cheaper when I bought it. What grade is this English class? I'm a teacher and I even teach a guitar class and I wouldn't ever think to ask my students to make a guitar for class. Thats crazy. www.amazon.com/TraderPlus-Pre-wired-6-string-Guitar-Electric/dp/B07795WF99/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2QC258BCG3757&keywords=pre%2Bwired%2Bpickup&qid=1670377802&sprefix=pre%2Bwired%2Bpickup%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-3&th=1
What a great job! Just imagine if you put a little more into a better electronics and hardware! I wish I had the tools to do something like that. With a few modifications you could add a neck pickup, and routing wires on the back of the wood. Very cool!
Now that is what I call a hollowbody guitar!
Made me laugh out loud hahah
Hollowbody AF
I'd love to see how the neck does after 2 years under string tension....
@@tanet Would be interesting. Certainly if the whole middle section was solid or at least was joined in some places where the tension would be it would not cause an issue. However it is laminated with 3 thick layers of wood so probably will be ok.
@@tanet2days😂
I wish to see more of this guitar, it just looks simple and flashy at the same time. Great video!
Thanks!
Guitarist: “check out my hollowbody”
Danny: “hold my beer”
Haha!
I'll drink to that!
Super cool, brother. Digging the really early Fender Esquire influence and then the modern, very non-Fender aesthetic.
Thanks man. Its trippy to play. If you put too much pressure on the neck you get a whammy bar effect. Its not ideal. But it looks cool!
@@dannylewisguitars I noticed that just with the opening riff, sounded like a vibrato, very cool guitar!
This is quite an accomplishment! The extremely clean sound impresses me. And there doesn't seem to be any intonation problems from string length adjustment. And the guitar is beautiful! This is something that can be passed down by the family. Great work! Congratulations!
yeah i was surprised at how good the pickup sounded for 9 bucks. probably would not sound too great with high* distortion but that is still pretty cool.
he said that when he plays with too much pressure the guitar makes a whammy effect so it's a bit hard to play, but this is amazing, I love the guitar, it has such a lovely tone I really like it
@@JogohDLC Yeah, if he'd have made it from solid hardwood, it would have been fine. But I like a guitar that you can use bend expression without a whammy.
@@lukegoffkat sorry sir, what is a whammy?
@@jero2955have you really never heard that term or you just being a dick? If you haven't heard it it means a tremolo but really its a vibrato effect.
That is one of the coolest custom guitar builds I have seen. Good job dude.............
Thank you!
I cannot say it doesn't sound like $30, but I love that it was even possible.
Sounds like a 10$ pickup.
Put a 150$ pickup in there and it probably will sound like a 1000$ guitar.
@@SailingSoWhatit still probably won’t, but yeah it’d improve it considerably
Shove an expensive pickup in there and it'll sound amazing. Guitars aren't all in the sound either. Thing may feel £1000 in the hands.
I doubt it's even the pickups being bad or anything, he just doesn't use the "right" effects for the sound *you* like.
@@SailingSoWhat Heavily recommend "Tested: Where Does The Tone Come From In An Electric Guitar?" for people who think the cost of the components is what determines the sound of an electric guitar.
some people go for a pickguard, you opted for the option of completely removing any wood from where the pick would need to be guarded. I guess that's one way to do it lol respect man
Love the look of the guitar. I did something similar to a cheap First Act guitar by using hole saw blades and cutting away as much of the body as I could. Looks and plays great.
That is super damn cool. Sounds good for what it is,hell I’d pay for that to be built around one of my orphaned fender maple/maple necks 😂
That is awesome! One of the nicest guitars I've ever seen.
Good job 👍
Always need to come back to this guitar every once in awhile so that I can get re-inspired
Come back anytime! Maybe check out my other guitars too!
@dannylewisguitars oh I do!
only 864 subs? dude i thought I was watching a high production channel with thousands of subs. keep it up, this quality is great. I can see your channel growing fast.
Thanks!
Well Done! Reclaimed wood, reclaimed neck, awesome design , sounds decent...one of a kind...oh boy i like! It's a piece of art ...even if it just hangs on a wall...but it plays, fun build ...Total win! Good Job!
Thanks! It plays but it will probably still end up just hanging on the wall!
No shame in that!......Its a good day when you can time in the shop for yourself. Now you got me thinkin'....Thanks
I found that inspiring. I salute you and your accountant at the end.👍😁
This is absolutely awesome! I'd love to see more custom built guitars like this!
You should check out the rest of my videos! I have nothing but custom guitar builds. Like this one: ua-cam.com/video/bXjkmO50csc/v-deo.html
I really like the negative space!! I’d imagine its a comfortable guitar weight-wise
What a very cool looking guitar! Great job! Thank you for sharing this experience with us!
Very cool...and I really like how you filmed this..very relaxing and satisfying to watch👌👍
Thanks! Check out my other videos. Hopefully they’re relaxing too!
I’m pretty sure that harmony neck is from the 70’s at the earliest, and maybe the 90’s at the latest but most manufacturers didn’t use zero frets after the 70’s/80’s I don’t think
That's what I thought! I haven't seen many guitars with zero frets.
@@dannylewisguitars a lot of the old Japanese stuff from the 60’s have zero frets, teisco had a zero fret on almost every model at that time lol
Great video D. It’s so cool to watch you do this. There is something about the pure joy of making your own instrument and then able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.🎸 On a side note, it must be kinda weird strumming over a body cavity that large?
Yeah it is weird! That's what I was going for though. I'll change up the design and make another in the future. It is so fun to make an instrument and then get to play it! Way more fun than building a cutting board and then cooking dinner.
@@dannylewisguitars True. Although for some reason, now I’m hungry. Hey, how about a cutting board in the shape of a guitar 🎸?
@@ckelly5141 maybe a guitar made out of ikea cutting boards.
@@dannylewisguitars Great IKEA-IDEA! 🎸💡
@@dannylewisguitars Ah yes, I can see it now. The Kitchen Blues … 😉 Maybe you’ll have the chops for it right ?
This is for sure the coolest/creative design I've seen in a while (I have had about 6 guitars and basses custom made for me over the years). I would definitely buy one of these.
Thanks! Check out my newest crazy guitar: ua-cam.com/video/puNzoK1qq-A/v-deo.htmlsi=8va-1Gm_VhBsjdZk
Gorgeous! Great job on the build! I loved how the kid listed the costs! :)
Love videos like this. Sometimes one can get too caught up in ‘oh once I have the right tools..’ Use what you got, go build something!
I can see that this is not the first time you are making something out of wood, but I can also see that you haven't written letters on a paper before. Good job! Keep practising
That was a kid writing it tho?
@@minimino9878 bruh
That's a kid writing lmao
Bruh....
Either this guy is joking or he didn’t have enough coffee lol
Cheap or not, I love the style. Great design is free!
I am looking to build my own guitar.
I have always been a person who likes to make rather than consume, and this is something that I know I will be able to do over time.
I plan to make a wooden version as a prototype, then potentially do something like an epoxy pour guitar as well.
Future project though.
Man, you are an artist and a genius in your own right. Nice guitar. $30.00 Well spent.
NIce build ! I'm curious to see how the wood will hold up over time with the strings tension. Keep it up !
I’m also curious about that! That’s why I did this experiment with cheap parts.
Yep, this was my question too. I like that this version was done so that we can all learn over time. Hope that Danny posts an update in the next couple years. Subbed just to see if he does! 😀
@@rodshop5897 I will do my best! Stay tuned!
Telecasters sell for $1200.00 to $3300 ish. So he can make between 40 and 110 tele's before he is losing money ! 🙂😂
You are a genius.... no other words❤
I don’t know about all that! There are plenty of people on here making much more beautiful instruments than this one! I’m just keeping myself entertained!
It might be ‘crazy-looking’ - but it also looks great… and it’s giving me ideas!
this is so cool!! but the action seems very high and it sounds like thats affecting the tone bc you bend the notes sharp just by fretting. I bet it would sound a lot better with a proper setup
Yeah the action is high because the neck joint isn’t supported by much wood. It was mostly a failed experiment! The intonation issues are due to the flex in the body where the neck joint is.
Great stuff👍👍👍Oh I wish one guitar like this your creation...so unique and beautiful, compliments a lots ❤❤❤I love it❤❤❤
That was so cool. Awesome work.
“Guitar Luther makes a playable guitar with the cheapest everything”
Basically!
his work is remarkable and yes beautiful sound and everything is beautiful with David :)
Hey if you liked that one check this one out! ua-cam.com/video/ISftm7SiOes/v-deo.htmlsi=ul7XhKVzBB_06OTH
you forgot the craftmanship : $1000. thats what makes you rich making cheap things look expensive
And $20k machinery
@medmusic7977 exactly what I was thinking
@@medmusic7977 Nah, I don't know about there but here that machinery could be about 200 USD. A drill, a jigsaw and a wood router. You don't need the table version. The drill bits and the router bits, chisel, sandpaper can add up to 100 more if are of quality. Also there was no mention of the fret wire too. But the machinery is NOT that expensive in this build.
@@maniacguitarhero I'm planning on building a similar (but less flashy) guitar, and I'm confident I could do it with my family's tools (electric drill, some old drill bits, chisel and a hand electric saw... maybe I'll need to buy a router and more sandpaper). I get that not everyone has those things, but they're not that uncommon if you ask around, at least in a town.
I agree with you. This is what i said too. What will be a cost for the build are the electronics for it and the neck. It is hard to make it RIGHT yourself. The freta have to have specific distances between them so it is easier to get a ready neck. It is expensive though.
Amazing guitar! Shielding the pickup and control cavities might help with some of that single coil hum but the tone is beautiful! Perfect Blues machine!
I’ve never liked the Telecaster design, but I gotta say that it looks awesome and it sounds incredible. Congratulations!
because we are twisted gibson or ibanez :D
Love this.
I hope to see more in the future.
Subscribe! I’ll post more!
@@dannylewisguitars oh yeah i forgot about it
Danny creative design great skills loved your video. Keep it rockin
oh my golly gosh it looks SO COOL. maybe you could make more and sell them?
Looks pretty good ans sound nice. The redesign of the head stock definitely was an improvement.
Thank you! The headstock had to change. It was too bulky originally.
Finally, a tele that won't break the bank or your back! An accomplishment, something to be proud of!
lol. and how about the tools? Can anybody build it for 30 USD?
Maybe I stole all the tools and they cost me nothing!
@@dannylewisguitars lol. that s it :)
I love it. My biggest care about is a lightweight but resonant guitar.
Very talented hands there, with that ability, who knows what you are capable of
Awesome, could've splashed for a nicer pickup though in fairness! The fact you made a nice-playing guitar that looks cool for the money is a lot more impressive, and it could actually sound great with a nice pickup i think!
Yeah, I agree! This was an experiment to see if the body style would actually support the string tension. I will make another one in the future and I'll use better pickups. Maybe I'll spend a whole $40.
Your wish is my command. I bought better pickups and hardware and made a nicer guitar. Here's the video! Let me know what you think!
ua-cam.com/video/BpvE8qFAgV4/v-deo.html
I was gonna say the same thing. Pretty cool but the 9.99 pickups are pretty bad. I’ve found some online for $40-range that were decent.
Your shop class teacher needs to give you a retroactive A+.
I never had a shop class. Just a dad! And UA-cam!
Seriously good video. I'm excited to see more.
that's quality workmanship. you're quite a craftsman.
Beautifully done, cool design. Sounds great too. Congratulations! subscribed.
damn.... you can drive a bus under that action.... lol
Nice work ! :)
Yep! The action is terrible. I didn’t do any setup before the video but also the string tension is a bit too much for the lack of support in the neck joint. This was just a test! Just to see what I could get away with. That’s why I didn’t spend much money. Thanks for watching!
Super design. Good job 👍🏻
This deserves nice pickups, then a bridge and new neck. Would still be super cheap.
Nice Job! Sounds great
In GMS screen select appes and then select Analog app 1 TE. That worked out for .
* moves left hand forward or backward *
* guitar goes out of tune *
Accurate!
That's awesome! You should be very proud of yourself!
This is awesome and an inspiration.
Awesome! Really great skills man. Wish I could do that.
Thanks! Check this new one out, I like it way better: I made this guitar out of my PANTS!
ua-cam.com/video/bXjkmO50csc/v-deo.html
Hi from Germany. Sorry, my english is from google translator. You built an interesting guitar. What particularly strikes me is the lack of a direct connection from the neck pocket to the pickup. By pure theory this should support the vibrations from the neck to the pickup. It would be interesting to hear an A/B comparison with a "normal" guitar with the same sound. I think the sustain could be better if there was a connection. Look at the construction of the Brian May guitar. The Red Special also has large hollow chambers in the blockboard body. However, the neck and the pickups are in an oak block that is embedded in the blockboard.
your yt name sounds like a soundcloud rapper.
It's still a beefier connection than in a acoustic guitar, so I think probably not a problem.
In a solid body electric that joint is immaterial because the only thing the pickup picks up is the motion of the strings. In another video here on UA-cam you can find a guy who shows that the entire body is unnecessary. Tonewood for solid-body electrics is just marketing hype.
Some things are cooler than a name on the headstock, love it
Did you every consider using this sort of guitar build to help people who can't afford guitars? I bet you can even get a local high school with a shop class involved. Any teacher would be thrilled at the idea of sourcing reclaimed wood, teaching students to work with it, and make something that gives back to their community while teaching a skill that could help the next generation become self-employed luthiers or work on guitar building assembly lines after graduation.
I say this because there are lots of needy kids and adults out there who want to learn guitar or need replacements for old/lost/stolen guitars. Case in point, I've been disabled since 2003, but I got very sick in late 2018 and have been homebound without any cash income (and very little help) since July 2019. I've been trying to get a donated 24.75" electric guitar from major brands for over two years. Those that responded said they'd normally have loved to help but have been overwhelmed with donation requests since the pandemic started. I learned to play starting in early 2020 on an acoustic that my mom got me before she passed in 2018 (shortly before I got sick). It's a great guitar, but I can't play it for too long with my disabilities. I have chronic pain, muscular weakness, and other issues that would make an electric a much easier and more comfortable experience for me. I never imagined I'd learn to play at all with a brain injury, yet I found a way -- and it's unreal that I've come as far as I have in my own. There's no way I can manage doing bends and other such skills on my acoustic even with the action dropped and the lowest gauge strings recommended by the manufacturer. An electric guitar with extremely playable specs would not only let me play longer but would enable me take my skills to the next level. For me, guitar has become like physical, occupational, cognitive, and recreational therapy -- plus my service dog totally enjoys the live music. Now I'm only one example. There are people who'd love to learn to play for the first time, others who can't play because their guitar broke or they had to sell it, etc.
My situation makes me think a lot about the expense of guitars each time I see new releases -- even the cheapest guitars out there are unattainable for many people like me. When I saw your acoustic and electric projects, it made me realize that it doesn't have to be that way.
Seeing that a guitar can be made with minimal expense and still look really cool makes me wish that some large brands would do a charity project like this -- but since that's very unlikely, I would love to suggest making some of these for needy people in your own community where it could make a huge difference in people's lives. Perhaps you can even enlist some DIY'ers with the skills and machinery to build guitars like this in various parts of the country or encourage them to also enlist schools with shop classes. You don't have to start a non-profit, but it could really help so many people -- or if you did start a non-profit, imagine the impact it could make.
Just some food for thought! Even if you don't take me up on the idea, as I know not everyone has the time, maybe another person will see my post and feel inspired to do something like this!
Thanks for listening! I hope to see you make more of these -- they're really cool and play nicely!
P.S. Are you happy with the pickups? People get weird about "cheap" pickups. I don't think cheap always means bad. How are the ones you used?
If you go to my channel page on my about me section you will find my email. If you are interested I have a squire strat that I got in a trade that my 4 daughters have played “rockstar” with in my music room for the past 15 almost 16 years. If you are interested,email me your address and I’ll pull the electronics that I know are bad and swap them out and get it shipped to you. Not charity,paying something forward to repay an act of kindness I received when I was in a bad accident in 2019. So if you want it email me and we can work out the details.
Do high schools still have shop class? Guitar building is more time consuming than people think, and requires a unique skill set, and tooling. It's not simple woodworking. The price shown is for parts, and a doner guitar.
Wish i could do this kind of thing! I struggle to put a shelf up!!
Nice, tasty I'll be watching!
Out side the box.
Thank you!
The scene when your hand is vacuuming right after Dusty would be a really neat way to do title screens if you could make the font look like the wood chips/dust
Dude. That's pretty badass
I need that jig saw!! Great job
Yeah! You can build almost this whole guitar with just a jig saw if you don’t have much else. My jig saw is a black and decker that cost less than $50.
@@dannylewisguitars been looking around for a small CNC but a good jig saw will do the job! Thanks for sharing
Wow! You bought all those shop machines for thirty bucks? Very impressed.
Exactly. Even the material itself would be way higher than $30.
@@Cmiller0086 Shoot, a nice table saw blade by itself is thirty bucks.
The material was free! I used wood I’d reclaimed from free furniture. It mentions it briefly in the video.
But yes, the tools did cost more than thirty dollars!
@@dannylewisguitars If you want to up your alleyway dumpster diving game, get a dog then see who can wear the other out.
@@richsackett3423 I haven’t been in any dumpsters yet! Mostly just people giving things away on Craigslist. But I’m not above a bit of dumpster diving!
everything but the action looks great my dude, well done!
DR Lewis that guitar is sweet! Those shorts are pretty rad too
Thanks so much! I thought it would be cool to have the strings pass over a big empty void.
This is art. It deserves a good pickup.
maybe he's saving that for the Upgrade... Shame it's only single pickup.
I am impressed by your determination and grit. Most would give up or make a mess of it. Enjoyed watching your work this one out.
Awesome innovation and up cycling. Kudos to you!
Thanks!
Nicely done!
Guitar: 10/10
Handwriting: 15/10
still though, you have made my decision to build a guitar final
this is a cool art piece but the guitar in the videos is complete shit
That was great!! Keep making them.
That is cool and very easy to follow if you know how to use these basic woodworking tools
Cool looking, good work, neck will not stay true with string tension long term tho.
Oh no, it didn’t stay true right after it was done! You could push it out of tune with the slightest pressure. It wasn’t ever meant to be a Stradivarius. Just an experiment!
Awesome. By adding tools and machines price to 30$ we get guitars build real price. Also fret wire is not cheap.
Tools only get included in price to the extent that they are consumed during the build. So using a drill adds practically no price because you're only using like a thousandth of its life on the build. But something like sandpaper should be included.
Awesome! From a physical / acoustic perspective, seeing more structural rigidity in the longitudinal direction (from neck to bridge) would aid tuning stability, I assume.
Hi Danny that is awesome ,nice job .
set action and intonation at the bridge, check if neck is straight and add radius to fingerboard unless you like slide. beautiful work!
Very nice. I like this besign.
Man I want a hollow super light guitar so badly. Inspiring build.
Wonderful work.
Thank you, fellow Daniel.
I absolutely LOVE the design! Well done!!!
Cheers and Well Done!
Correction this is a Guitar made with $30 in parts and $1000 worth of labor. Which begs the question why would you use only $30 in parts in a guitar after this much labor?
That’s true! But I enjoyed the labor. Also, I would not charge a $30 to build this for someone else.
The reason I didn’t spend more is because I wasn’t sure this design was going to work at all. The lack of support on the neck joint worried me, so I didn’t want to sink a bunch of money into it. I view this guitar as a prototype for another to come in the future!
@@dannylewisguitars GuitarFetish has necks and hardware reasonably priced and decent quality.
Your wish is my command. I bought better pickups and hardware and made a nicer guitar. Here's the video! Let me know what you think!
ua-cam.com/video/BpvE8qFAgV4/v-deo.html
You might be ruining a chisel but you can always sharpen it up
Yeah! I just thought somebody on UA-cam might leave a comment about using the not right tool for the job and I wanted to point out that I already knew I was doing it wrong!
I get that this is as much a study to prove that a playable guitar can be built for that price, but I'd love to see him use the same template, only with high grade materials.
Yeah but this template really doesn't have the structural integrity to support the string tension. I might try it again someday with a bit more meat on the body. But for now I'm busy making other guitars! Feel free to check out the rest of my channel, plenty of higher quality materials in some of my other builds.
@@dannylewisguitars Would a mod that accommodates a head-to-tail trussrod do it?
Maybe! I’ll check it out sometime when I’m bored. Im making an ukulele for my daughter right now and she won’t let me work on anything else until it’s done!
Pretty cool although that pickup sounds like what it is. I'd like to hear it with a decent pickup.
Same.
Your wish is my command. I bought better pickups and hardware and made a nicer guitar. Here's the video! Let me know what you think!
ua-cam.com/video/BpvE8qFAgV4/v-deo.html
Surely this video would be more accurately called: 'How to build a guitar for $30, in 20 hours or so, with thousands of dollars of tools and substantial woodworking experience'?
The current title says nothing about “how to” it says “I built”.
I did do it! I didn’t say anyone else had to or could or should!
Interesting - the title says nothing, but I would argue the (intentional) implication is still there, aided by the exclamation mark.@@dannylewisguitars
@@Natyelvertonmusictuition Okay!
Maximum respect for the woodworking skills irrespective of the clickbait. Let's face it - we're living in a clickbait world...@@dannylewisguitars
What a beautiful instrument, some fine work! There's nothing quite like a handmade one pickup guitar
thanks!
At least I’ll never forget this. Coolest idea with the strangest looking guitar
beautiful work!
Thanks!
Can you post the link to all the parts in this video? - Daughter needs to build a working guitar for English class.... These teachers are doing the most...
Here's a link to the pickup I used. It was cheaper when I bought it. What grade is this English class? I'm a teacher and I even teach a guitar class and I wouldn't ever think to ask my students to make a guitar for class. Thats crazy.
www.amazon.com/TraderPlus-Pre-wired-6-string-Guitar-Electric/dp/B07795WF99/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2QC258BCG3757&keywords=pre%2Bwired%2Bpickup&qid=1670377802&sprefix=pre%2Bwired%2Bpickup%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-3&th=1
amazing
What a great job! Just imagine if you put a little more into a better electronics and hardware! I wish I had the tools to do something like that. With a few modifications you could add a neck pickup, and routing wires on the back of the wood. Very cool!
Excellent👏🏻💯