Custom Electric Guitar

If you have ever dreamed about designing and owning your own Custom Electric Guitar, uniquely crafted to your exact specifications, then this is the lens for you!

Because, if you've been playing the guitar for any length of time, you'll know that every guitar has it's own feel and tone.

There's a world of difference between a Strat and a Rickenbacker, or between a Telecaster and an Ibanez.

Sure, the stock models are classic, iconic instruments in their own right, endorsed by the fact that they have stood the test of time, but they weren't designed specifically with you in mind!

Let's say you own a Gibson Les Paul, but want to emulate the crazy divebomb effects of Joe Satriani. Or you feel comfortable with a lightweight Strat, but you want a meatier sound. What can you do?

Well, you could either modify your off-the-shelf model, or you could have your own custom electric guitar made for you.

So what is the difference between a standard and custom guitar?

One important difference is in the attention to detail, and the expertise of the luthier who makes them.

See, an individual maker can spend the time to perfectly craft each guitar. In fact, single guitar can take several months to go from concept to reality. Large manufacturers, on the other hand, cannot afford such luxury. Major guitar makers, such as Fender, rely on assembly line robots to churn out many thousands of instruments every month (although there is always the Fender Custom Guitar Shop...which I'll explore in detail in another post!)

And there's always a chance that even a quality manufacturer can produce a dud every once in a while. Indeed, I owned a Strat once where the neck cracked after just a couple of weeks of light play...not good!

Another difference is that, unlike if you were to buy one of the many Guitar Kits on the market, when you are designing your custom electric guitar, you have total control over the timbers and accessories.

Many people think that the choice of pickups will have the biggest influence on how your guitar sounds and, of course, pickups are a major factor. But that doesn't tell the whole story. The overall tone of your guitar is defined by the complete package.

Naturally, the actual sound produced by an electric guitar is made by the strings, the way they vibrate. These vibrations are converted into an electric signal by the pickups, and output to an amplifier.

Because of this, the timber you choose will have a huge effect on the sound of your instrument.

At this stage, if you're about to build or buy your own custom electric guitar, you need to realize how some of the more common timbers will shape it's sound. There are many woods used in guitar making, including several exotic types. For now, I'll run through some of the most common ones:

Ash - This hardwood is typically used in Fender Strat bodies. The density of the wood produces a bright, ringing tone, with a nice sustain.

Mahogany - Mahogany is softer than ash, and is widely employed by Gibson to produce a warm, mellow tone. A fine piece of mahogany is a beautiful brown color, often with lovely markings.

Alder - Normally used in cheaper guitars, chiefly due to it's abundance. It is still perfectly acceptable for use in a custom guitar, and is very similar in tonality to ash.

When it comes to guitar necks, the most common timbers used are:

Maple - Maple is a heavy wood, which carries vibration extremely well. This quality helps to produce a particularly clean top end sound. Flame maple has exquisite markings, making it among the the most sought after neck timber today.

Rosewood - often used in fretboards, rosewood is a hardwood which varies from a light, chocolate brown, all the way to almost ebony black. It's a smooth hardwood which produces nice trebles. A guitar made with a mahogany body will typically also have a rosewood fingerboard. The nice midtones of the body complement the treble of the rosewood.

So you can see, when designing your own custom guitar, your choice of timber will very much define the tone. It's not a case of picking any old piece of wood. A professional luthier will advise you, of course.

The next stage in our journey is going to be pickups...

So, stop by again soon, and together we'll continue in the quest to owning your dream custom electric guitar.