Homemade Headless Electric Guitars
- 1). Measure your hardware and parts carefully. You'll need to cut holes for the guitar's bridge, pots, dials and pickups. You should be as precise as possible when cutting holes in the body blank, so that you don't waste material.
- 2). Cut the guitar body from a blank. You can order body blanks online, or you can buy them from a luthier, a craftsman who makes stringed instruments. Some blanks come with holes already cut, but since you're making a headless electric guitar with a less common bridge, cut the holes yourself.
- 3). Plot the placement of the tuning mechanism, pickups and neck. The tuning mechanism functions the way a bridge on a regular guitar would and sits in the same position on the body. The body blank will probably come with a neck cavity, but if not, you can rout a cavity yourself. The tuning mechanism, pickups and neck should all be aligned with each other and positioned central to the guitar body.
- 4). Make cavities for the electrics and hardware. You'll need to make homes for the volume controls, pickups, bridge and input socket. Remember that the bridge on a headless electric guitar comes with a built-in tuning device, so you won't have typical dimensions.
- 5). Wire in the electrics. Follow the schematic that came with the pickups precisely. If you did not get a schematic with your pick ups, you can find them online.
- 6). Customize the neck. If you've ordered a regular neck, saw off the head approximately two centimeters above where the nut will lie and file it to a smooth finish. Use a drill and a tempered edge nut file to create slots for the ball ends of the strings.
- 7). Glue the neck to the head using high-quality wood glue, preferably one made from polyvinyl acetate. Ensure that the neck lies completely flush to the body joint and that no air bubbles are caught in the gap.
- 8). Fix the bridge into its cavity. Remember that this bridge also contains the tuning mechanism so ensure that the tuning mechanism is easily accessible for the player.
- 9). Smooth off the body and neck, apply a primer and then paint to your preference. Apply a high quality varnish once the paint is dry.
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