EJC Instruments

Both because I work largely from different materials each time, and I’ve yet to make the same instrument twice, every build is a little different - but there are common techniques I use across builds. What’s outlined in this post is the making of a single solid body, 27”scale, 4 string guitar, which was made to someone else’s specs.  you can see and hear the finished product here The Neck.  I always start with the neck. In this case the first step was using a router sled and a plane to grade down and level a piece of mahogany for the fingerboard. This is then slotted for the eventual frets. A very careful job.  The neck blank is then cut, planed and squared. In this case the wood is pitch pine from part of and old bench the the fretboard is resting on. The single most difficult cut in the whole guitar making process is the 13degree angle for the scarf joint. Should the saw wander by more that a mm or so over length of cut you have firewood. This time it came out well and I was able to

25. 5” scale  Set neck  Body pitch pine with a mahogany top. Pine from a Victorian hospital bench, mahogany from a 1910s gramaphone case. Chambered with sound hole.  Neck mahogany from old wardrobe  rosewood board, position markers made from old string ball-ends Staples p90 in neck, regular p90 in bridge, master volume bass and hi cut controls  Tunomatic roller bridge and Bigsby type tremolo arm  bone nut finished in green tinted shellac, and button shellac Rear strap lug made from turntable speed control of gramaphone 

  An older build, originally strung with greek style strings (octave), and re setup for unison strings on the G and D. Body is reclaimed makore, neck reclaimed teak, fingerboard rosewood. Thinline style chambered body. Set neck 25.5” scale Finished in red tinted shellac Wilkinson bridge and tuners Bone nut Fleor Alnico 5 blade pickups Wired with coil split and master vol/tone  Large mustang style knobs

  Body: reclaimed mahogany windowboards Neck: Irish maple  fingerboard: Paduak  Electrics: 2x Epiphone FB pickups, wired with coil split, master volume, hi cut and low cut steel and makore bridge, bone nut wilkinson tuners finished in ruby and red tinted shellac video