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Guitar Building Philosophy…
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Guitar Building Philosophy…
Hey everyone, I had a question on guitar building and overcoming something of a mental hurdle that I have. Quite awhile back I had access to a CNC machine and routed some Stratocaster bodies which you can see in the pictures. I was mostly pleased with how these turned out, but there are a couple of issues. On the cherry bodied guitar, the seam is off center and I had some blowout at the upper horn location, which caused me to try and cut/reglue a piece there which turned out rather poorly (I could redo this). The cherry body with maple stringers is alright, but to me the maple was not oriented in an aesthetically pleasing fashion. There is also the extra material around the neck pocket which would need to be addressed on both of them, but that’s not so much of an issue.
Here’s basically my problem. I’ve been loothing for about 18 years or so, and my initial plan was to build guitars exclusively. This plan changed and I now repair guitars full time. Part of the reason for this was I feel like if I made a guitar that wasn’t perfect, or had defects such as the bodies of these two guitars do, then it’s not worth it to proceed with completing them, because I’d be left spending a lot of time and money only to end up with something that was not sellable. I’ve built about 6 guitars in my life to this point, I think all but one are either in pieces or I scrapped. I suppose my question is where do you stand on this? Are either one of these bodies worth completing? I’m also someone who doesn’t want or need any more guitars, and so if I did complete one or both of these, they’d be taking up space and I wouldn’t know what to do with them. I wouldn’t feel that they’re worthy enough to sell, even if there was an offer. Any thoughts here? Thanks!
-David
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8 Replies
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I have been / am in your position, and let me say this…just scrap the bodies, or use them for practice finishing. But certainly, I wouldn’t build them out as full guitars.
My rationale on this has evolved as I’ve realized that once I make a mistake that I consider fatal, I’ll just half-ass the remainder of the project. In your case, you had some blowout, and then you cut/glued a piece in that wasn’t so great, so now you’re two negatives in. Since it’s not a client project, you don’t have to continue torturing yourself (especially since it’s cherry/maple, not something crazy exotic)
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I appreciate the response and the perspective, thank you! I am curious, since I’m a rather inexperienced builder, I’m torn between being a perfectionist, versus seeing a project through and cracking eggs regardless of the mistakes. The concern for me is starting a project, messing up at a certain point, and going back to the beginning endlessly. This is a tough question but is there a point at which one should feel confident in being able to build a guitar from start to finish without any errors? If so, what is that point?
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That’s definitely one of the “pro” points for finishing each build, making sure that you get practice in all areas. That’s one of the reasons I suggested keeping the build around to practice finishing.
But as for “when do you stop making mistakes?”, I don’t know. I still make plenty each build (I’m getting close to 15 started, fewer completed), I just try not to make the same ones over and over.
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I struggle with seeing the forest for the trees myself. I think a few things about this topic. One is “happy accidents” aka bob ross. Shift your perspective and perhaps your design is telling you to see another facet you have not explored. Being rigid in your expectations can stifle your creativity and momentum. Two is that you will certainly always make mistakes, the goal is to see them as opportunities to make new mistakes. Craftsmen are not commonly known for the best of their skills: hiding mistakes. The last is the simple fact that if only guitars were sold with no ‘mistakes’ in the wake, we would be inundated with a lot more fancy firewood…point being, sometimes these struggles at surface are just process in the end. You are building, and that is what matters most…I have a sign on my bench I made that says “ keep tryying “ spelled wrong on purpose to remind me of this…
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That’s a great point about the “happy accidents”, though I’ve never really managed to pull one of those off 🤣
> The cherry body with maple stringers is alright, but to me the maple was not oriented in an aesthetically pleasing fashion.
I missed this in the original post. Since there’s nothing wrong with this body, except that you wish the wood was different, maybe keep going with this one? If you really don’t like it, you could always paint it a solid color. But you can get to that point after you’ve done all your fabrication. If you mess up on that build, then nothing lost. But if you SUCCEED, I bet it will feel really good.
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Yup, in this case I would make sure to tenon the horn mishap ( strap vs. weight can make it vulnerable ) . I agree with paint but also consider veneering at this point as well…natural face/painted body? Inlay can also be your friend. Bondo and epoxy can too in a pinch if you are painting. I don’t think either of these are lost causes just not what you expected or what you ordered… it’s still plausibly guitar meat even if it’s “grade D but edible”.
feel bad about selling at full price? You probably have friends who would jump at the chance for a prototype.
I’ve made some hot garbage other people were stoked about…I just made sure my name wasn’t on it! 🤣 plausible deniability and all that.
But man, what would Leo Fenders’ hot garbage go for? Or did they just toss it all like the other things they could have auctioned at Christie’s?
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(Deleted, messed up the nesting of comments)
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FWIW i have been building for around 15 years, been making full guitars for about 11. over 200 guitars out there with my name on them &………
are they all 100% perfect? NO!
would i sell something that doesnt play well & will bite me in the ass later…NO
Am i my worse enemy when it comes to quality control? YES!
This is all that matters.
Just do the best you can & the more you do it the better you get. never turn your head when meeting other people in the business as this is & always will be a learning process. you will never be perfect.
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