Part 2: How I make a guitar
Cut out the body from a block.
Rout out any body cavities before the neck is attached.
Cut out the pick-up plate.
Fit the pick-up plate to the neck and measure / mark pick-up and component locations.
Clamp the neck to the body.
After the neck is attached to the body, radius the fret board with
an abrasive contour tool... really, this is how I do it.
Grind out the rough body shape with a carbide power tool.
After the power tool comes a series of rasps and files to achieve the final body shape.
Contour the neck with rasps and files.
Look ma, no CNC machine. This is why it is called hand-made.
More filing.
The sanding starts with a power tool...
and finishes by hand.
You might want to grab a sandwich, this takes a while.
The fretting process starts by pre-curving the fret wire.
Fret segments are pressed in place where the special tool fits...
and hammered in where it doesn't.
Hand File the fret ends.
Filing a bevel on the fret ends.
De-burring the fret ends.
Dressing the frets gets rid of any sharp edges.
Oil it.
Paint any electronics cavity with conductive shielding paint...
including the pick-up plate.
Wire it.
Install all components and hardware.
File the nut, make many adjustments to set up the strings.
Tune it and get the intonation right.
Take it for a test drive.