Bespoke Guitar
The goal of this project was to choose a project and work on it for the whole semester. I selected to make a guitar because of my personal passion for music and my desire to improve my fabrication skills. I decided to make it a bespoke piece for my Grandfather to challenge myself to blend a functional and complex product with his persona to create a finished piece that deeply resonates with him.
Process
Medium
Pine, Maple, Spray Paint, Electric Guitar Hardware
Size
39in x 13.5in x 1.5in
I began this project by studying and exploring neck ergonomics. The neck shapes I selected are best suited for a person losing dexterity, like my grandfather. The shape of the neck has to provide comfort for the player.
I carved these sample necks with a series of rasps and files. Each neck has a different profile shape that tailors to a unique style and feel when playing.
These are the finished 3 necks for this exploration. I chose the Modern-C shaped neck in the center of the photo as the shape for the final piece, as it limits wrist strain when playing the most, which is something my Grandfather struggles with.
My next step was to conduct an interview with my Grandfather to start thinking of how I can tie his interests and life into the guitar. We talked about his passions, life, and I brainstormed how to apply this information to the guitar.
His biggest passion is cars, so I decided that his 1968 Camaro would serve as the primary inspiration for the guitar. I took the information from the interview and applied it to the guitar. There are visual elements based on the car, and the shape itself references contours of the car as well.
I cut out the shape of the guitar on the bandsaw, sanded the sides, then mapped out the pockets I needed to route away so the electronics would fit.
I used a drill press for the bulk of the routing, then refined the shapes with a chisel to ensure the pickups and other electronics would fit properly.
All of the electronics now fit nicely in the body.
I then began priming the wet sanding the body to prepare it for spray paint.
This is the body being spray painted the same color as my Grandfather’s Camaro.
This is the body painted and I added the “8×20” because it is my Grandfather’s racing number at his local racetrack.
For the neck, I did not have enough time to fabricate a neck from scratch, so I took the neck from I kit I bought that contained all of the hardware and electronics and reshaped it to that Modern-C profile.
Once the carving was complete, I sanded the neck to 800 grit and began finishing with Tru-Oil.
I continued applying layers of finish to the neck until I was happy with the result.
The final step was installing all of the hardware. This included drilling in the pickups, tuning pegs, and lastly, bolting on the neck.