I love building guitars! Join me as I build original design electric guitars and share my guitar building tips and tricks. On this channel you will get full guitar building series and detailed 'How To' videos describing the step by step process for some of the trickiest parts of building guitars.
My guitar builds cover everything from designing, wood choices, shaping guitar necks & bodies, installing truss rods, neck carving, guitar fretting, guitar binding, installing guitar pickups & electronics, guitar set ups, dyeing and colouring, finishing & polishing guitars.
I build original and reimagined versions of classic guitars. Everything I make is for sale and I also like to make videos of my guitar builds to show customers how their instruments are made. Its also a great way of making friends within the guitar building community! I've also entered the Great Guitar build off for 2021 & 2022 as a bit of fun and to help share what I've learned.
This type of brilliancy should not be allowed on RU-vid. What are you trying to do…get people to make accurate covers that actually fit on the FIRST try? 😅
I like the way you have your shop organized! Shows you have attention to detail. It really helps to have a “systematic” method for this task. It takes the guesswork out for us beginners and provides a good starting point. Thanks for sharing this with us!
I’m making my second neck using this video as a guide for carving. At 8:44 I used a spoke shave instead of a razor blade and it worked efficiently and effectively to make the facets nice and flat.
@@TornelliGuitars In another video you made regarding this lacquer, temperature and humidity were mentioned as something that can affect the finish. What kind of weather conditions are optimal to be applying the finish?
@@jaspersimkins1784 sorry I missed this question. Generally I haven’t had any problems if I’m applying it on a day where it’s above 15 Celsius and it’s not overcast or raining. We do get some really humid days here in summer but I’m not particularly scientific about it. If it feels humid outside I avoid finishing. That’s probably really unhelpful but I don’t have much more precise info I’m afraid. I hope that helps a bit 👍
@@flyawayhorses hi Rob, thanks for the kind comment. Yes the melamine can be used over stain but I wouldn’t advise using over paint, it is unlikely to be compatible. I’ve used both water based and solvent based stains and found that it works best over water based, I did see some slight lifting of the colour when using solvent stains. I’d use a cellulose sealer over the stain before applying the melamine for best results. I hope that helps 👍
@@TornelliGuitars Much thanks! A couple of years ago I refinished an old dining table made of solid mahogany with stuff called Circa 1850. It came out really well in spite of my inexperience, and I'm thinking of using it on a Epiphone body someone did a horrible paint job on. I'm pretty sure it isn't mahogany, so I'll try a test patch before I dive into it. Anyway, thanks!
Just curious of the acetone, what type of acetone do you use? I work at a Buildersware and we also sell the CureIt acetone, I assume it might be the wrong one as it is very strong or tooo strong for guitar binding... What type of acetone do I need to get?
@@HENNINGRAS hi Hening, I just bought a can at the local hardware store that was labelled pure acetone, I’m not sure what type it is. I’ve used a few and they all seem to work the same, I haven’t noticed a difference. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.
@@HENNINGRAS Hi Hening, I use the fret jig from TLC guitar goods in the Netherlands. Yes it has a depth stop and you can just buy the insert for whatever scale length you want. I bought a couple. The inserts have the fret increments cut into them and slot into a pin in the jig so it’s perfect each time. On the jig itself you set the depth stop. I hope that helps.
Mightily impressed by the high gloss finish you achieve with the melamine laqueur. My question is I am making a classical guitar and would like a similar finish. I have pore filled the rosewood with clear filler but was concerned that the cellulose sanding sealer and laqueur would likely bleed the rosewood colour into the white purfling. Is there a solution for this?
@@gordonmacgregor7762 yes I see your problem and I’ve also just started binding with wood so I’ve encountered bleeding onto flamed maple binding. The solution I’ve found is that the cellulose sealer I use is also available in a spray can so a couple of light mist coats is sufficient to stop the bleed, then I can brush on more if required without issues, but if I start by brushing then I get bleed. I hope that helps.
To clarify my earlier question; when measuring your mid point on the sides of the neck do you measure from face of the fretboard or from where the fretboard/binding meets the neck?
@@lucky-productions hi, sorry I didn’t pick up your earlier question. Yes go from the face of the fretboard, i.e include the fretboard in your measurement. I hope that helps. 👍
Only just found your channel and am enjoying watching from the earliest videos.The content is perfect and your guitars look and sound beautiful. It's particularly interesting to see you work without a band saw and table router, which I don't have space or budget for. I spent a week at Crimson building a Tele and am hoping I have just enough equipment to build a Tele-inspired guitar at home.I think I'll be rewartching your videos a few times as I go 😊
@@jeremyanson8795 that’s great to hear and thanks for the support. I’ve had a bandsaw and router table and let them go because I prefer using the other tools. 😂👍
As a near novice guitar builder, I really appreciate the advice and being able to see the build process using affordable tools. The guitar is stunning too!
What a satisfying video (apart of course from the heartbreaking water damage on the olive tele body…😖😖 - would have been great to see that instrument under finish!) Really useful to hear your dimensioning for the neck/fretboard - I was wondering how you catered for not having a headstock break angle! Cheers 😊🥰🥰🍷🍷🎸🎸
I stumbled across your channel a couple of weeks ago (your reimagined Les Paul…!) What a relaxed, good-humoured and informative presentation style you embody and what elegant stylish instruments you create! Thanks for your video output, I most certainly will be watching! 🍷🍷🥰🥰🎸🎸
I have carved quite a few necks and yesterday I gave your facet method a try....brilliant. Takes a bit longer but the result was so worth it. Thank you for sharing this.
Hi, just recently discovered your channel and enjoying it immensely. Beautiful guitar - I love the rosewood/olive wood combo. Your video narration is brilliant...you missed your calling...you should be also narrating BBC documentaries 😊
Absolutely love everything you’ve done so far Gio ❤️ The fret board, body shape, body carving & can’t wait till see colour on the guitar 🧐❤️ I’m a big Slash fan, what are the specs on his Les Paul? Ratio Frets Pick ups Neck radius’s Humbuckers positions?
I'm gonna be "that guy", so sorry in advance. Scale legth does not have the affect on sound that you think it does. There is a reason that the bass instruments like a Bass, double Bass, extended range guitars, etc, have longer scale lengths. The reason 24.25 scale sounds warmer compared to a 25.5 scale is purely to do with relative hand placement - the equivalent to picking either nearer the centre of the neck or nearer the pickups. A shorter scale will have the passive effect of your hand naturally being closer to the neck - thus a warmer tone. There is nothing inherantly "warmer" about a shorter scale. Correctly learning differnt picking hand placement will yeald any tone you wish to achieve. Bang on about the pick up placement though.
Thank you for the kind comment. Yes it works fine over the stain. I’ve used water soluble aniline dye and water based stains with no issues. I haven’t tried solvent based stains. I use a cellulose sanding sealer (also from chestnut) to seal the stain before applying melamine. I hope that helps. 👍
Finally manage ti watch the video! Super nice design. It really look like a les Paul, but with a modern spin. Love It! Also very interesting discussion overall!
I always end up with a little too much on the shoulders. I am gonna try your method of sanding straight down and see if that helps on the current neck I am building.
I'm not into the music field actually but I got stuck to your explanatory video here as you talk and work as if it's the most natural thing you could possibly do; you make every step looking like smooth and easy when it's the opposit. Wow, astonished !!!!
