Carve my own Strat body?

[cromulent]

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking of carving my own Strat body, but I know nothing.  Do I just get a blank slab from StewMac?  And do I just trace one of my own Strats, or is it best to get a body plan somewhere?  I guess it's important to get the scale length and neck pocket right - anything else I really need to get right?  Sorry in advance for being a noob, and thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

[NedRyerson]

Buy a wood blank (plenty of sources other than SM for a lot less money), and buy a template.  You COULD download a drawing and print it out on paper, but then you'd need a sheet of plywood or MDF to make your template off of that anyway. And if you're going to go that route, might as well just buy a ready-made template for your first go-around.

And you need power tools.  You're not doing this by hand. A router will be your best friend, but you need other tools to help that router out.  A band saw is ideal, but a handheld power jigsaw will do in a pinch.

Also suggest you start with a body style that doesn't have contours.  A Tele, for example.  Get your feet wet and hands dirty on how it feels to churn out a body from blank, and one where mistakes are a little more forgiving.

It's okay to be a noob (no apologies necessary).  We all started somewhere, and quite honestly, I didn't tackle my first body cut until I came here to this forum and read a bunch of old threads from the veterans who've been down this path already (I even posted about my first carve here).  I learned from what they did and got passive advice on the tools necessary to make life easier from threads that are like 5-10 years old.  The wisdom still stands.

Heck, I even bought my templates BECAUSE OF a topic on this forum that mentioned a particular seller who's on eBay and Reverb.  I bought a bunch to stock my workshop, and that led me to making my own MDF templates to step outside of the typical Strat/Tele/Les Paul sphere.

The best thing you can do is to keep asking questions and researching and learning.  The worst thing you can do is think you know everything and just dive in blind.

 

[Seamas]

I'm thinking of carving my own Strat body, but I know nothing.

What is your workshop like and how much of a noob are you to woodworking?
What were you planning to use for carving?

 

[BroccoliRob]

my bro, did u even try typing "cutting a guitar body" into YouTube? do that next time youre having Night Lunch (what we call dinner here in St Louie)

 

[swarfrat]

I do not recommend "carving" a strat body. If you care, make your own design. If you want to make a strat, you should route it from templates

 

[DangerousR6]

Try Electric Herald for prints and plans. Most are in PDF form, lots of designs...

Welcome to the madness and good luck.... :icon_thumright:

 

[Rick]

Carve?  Mmh.  If it were me I’d get one of the warmoth blanks but with the neck, pups, bridge, routes already done and then outline it in the shape I want.  At least you’ll have something playable out of the gate.

 

[teleme01]

Carve?  Mmh.  If it were me I’d get one of the warmoth blanks but with the neck, pups, bridge, routes already done and then outline it in the shape I want.  At least you’ll have something playable out of the gate.

I CONCUR,  although i have some large oaks blown down from a hurricane,  and am thinking of carving something up,  i believe mine will be wall art and not playable,  takes a bit of math to get the bridge in just the right spot to make intonation possible,  thats a real positive to warmoth bodies.

 

[teleme01]

ok,  i chain sawed a hunk out of a log,  hard to cut longways with a chainsaw, but here is a hunk of oak,  probably 45 lbs, 2' x 20 inch by about 4 1/2 inches thick,  big old oak, thats not chatoyance,  its chainsaw marks.

 

[swarfrat]

A planer for that would probably cost a modest car.

 

[cromulent]

ok,  i chain sawed a hunk out of a log,  hard to cut longways with a chainsaw, but here is a hunk of oak,  probably 45 lbs, 2' x 20 inch by about 4 1/2 inches thick,  big old oak, thats not chatoyance,  its chainsaw marks.

This is what I'm talking about!  Could you send me a chunk like that?

 

[Rick]

Beautiful chainsaw marks!

 

[NedRyerson]

My little battery-powered chainsaw would probably just be whimpering and crying in the corner.

 

[BroccoliRob]

A planer for that would probably cost a modest car.

Or an excessively high end gig bag  :laughing7:

 

[swarfrat]

My little battery-powered chainsaw would probably just be whimpering and crying in the corner.

I have a battery powered chainsaw for when I don't want to lug my MS290 off the ground. Whimper is about all they're good for.