I am doing a reenactment here with these pictures just to give you an idea of the process. Once the drawing was on the wood I took it to a band saw and carefully cut out the shape of the body. If you are doing this for the first time I need to explain a few things to help you from getting into a bad situation. The outside body like the sides are easy to cut, but up around the neck pocket these cuts are harder to make. Nowadays I use 1/4" bandsaw blade because it can get into the area well, make turns and get back out. For the deep cutaways at the neck area make straight cuts in from the outside to different points in the cutaways before making the main cut, so that the blade does not get stuck in the middle and stop.

Once the body was cut out, the edges were rough and I also usually stay on the outside of the body line when cutting because I don't like to make a mistake. I have seen many people that can cut exactly on the line but it is too much of a chance to make a mistake, Anyway no matter how nice a cut you do you still need to clean it up on the belt sander. So take the body to the edge of the belt sander and sand it to the line to final shape the body sides and to get out any lines or imperfections caused by the band saw. Now you have a guitar body.

You will need a router bit with the roller bearing on top, I purchased them from WD back then but today I get them at Woodcraft. The roller bearing is the guide that follows the templates, I used a 1/4" bit that was 1/2" depth to do all the routs. I super glued shims on the bottom of each template that was 1/4" thick because its best to keep the template above the the body so that the first routs are not too deep and the wood will not burn or you could burn out the router. First I did the neck pocket rout from center by laying the template on the drawing on the wood, I used my favorite double stick tape (Japanese brand Nitto tape) to hold the template down, just make sure it does not move. Lower the router in the wood just enough so that the bearing guide rides on the inside of the template and rout away following the template. After the first rout lower the bit and do the second depth rout. Continue until you have the proper depth I used 18.5mm for the neck pocket on this guitar.

After the neck pocket is routed lay the neck in the neck pocket it should fit snug. Check the center line to make sure it is lined up with the rest of the guitars routs. Its good to lay a long ruler down both sides of the neck and draw a line on the body. Hold the ruler against the sides of the neck from around the 15th fret tight against the neck and draw the lines make sure you hold both sides the same. After that find the center of the two lines, this should be the same as the center line you already have. If not try to move the neck in the pocket a little to make the center line up, If the center is off that bad replace the center line with the new center line off the neck.

Lay the humbucking templates over the pickups and rout them as above to the correct depth need for the pickup you are putting in usually around 18mm's deep for the main part of the pickup. For the area that the humbucking screws go in it needs to be deeper so after you make the total rout 18mm. Take the router out and lower the bit you will need around 25mm's depth for the screws so just rout the area for the screws to that depth See Drawing.

Next the tremolo, you will need a template for this. The tremolo I did was recessed in the body so first I drilled the stud insert holes where the bridge post are located. Its just easier to drill on a flat surface then to try to hit center in side a rout. I measure the exact distance from the nut that the instruction stated. Then the width of the studs from center. I use a small center punch to mark the center and use a drill press with the correct drill bit and a piece of masking tape with the exact depth of the hole marked on it. If I did not have a drill press I would first try to find one or if all else fails use a thick piece of scrap wood, Drill through it nice and straight and then put the drill bit through that piece of wood, line up the drill bit to the punched hole in the wood and use the scrap black as a straight guide to drill the hole. Like I said try to find a drill press. Don't put the studs in yet and if for some reason you want to make sure you the bridge lines up, remember that on a fixed bridge you need to install the ground wire from the stud insert before installing the studs. On a tremolo there is no need because you have the claw hook.

After the stud insert holes are in follow your pre drawn rout information and do all the front routs for the tremolo using the template. Flip the guitar over and do the back tremolo routs the same way. Just make sure they line up by always double or triple checking your measurements for the templates off the center line. Nowadays I rout through the body from the front. This is dangerous and you need a long bit but it does help me line everything up on the back.

To rout the control cavity plate check where you want your controls to be and also where your jack is located to make sure you have room. If you have a pre made template that fits use that. If not it is good to make one. I have actually figured out the location of all the pots and switches and drilled the holes through the body so that the templates would line up with enough room for all the components. This is also great for rear mount electronics because the depth that you need to make the control cavity on the back needs to be measured exactly to the correct depth. You don't want to rout through the body and it needs to be deep enough so that the pots fit up through the holes and the shafts have enough room for the nuts and washers. Remember long shaft pots are what you need for rear mount. Pickguards can use either long shaft pots or short shaft pots. If you are going to counter sink the plates so that they don't stick above the surface you will also need templates for that. The depth of the plate rout should be measured by the thickness of the plate routed just that much. Nowadays because of the thickness of paint I do the cavity plate cover routs after finish it makes it clean. Next drill the holes for all the wires from rout to rout. Go to a hardware store and get the 12" long drill bits I use a Big Half Inch" one for the main wire for the humbuckers, drill this one from the neck pocket through the neck pickup to the bridge pickup. Then use a 1/4" to drill from the bridge pickup rout to the control cavity area. I drill two holes one for each pickup wire. Then drill the ground wire from the control cavity to the tremolo cavity, it will be soldiered to the claw hook. If there is no tremolo you will need a long 1/8" bit and tape off the top of the guitar at the bridge stud hole closest to the cavity so that the side of the drill bit does not damage the surface of the guitar and drill slowly on an angle around 15 degrees to get to the control cavity. Careful this is the easiest one to drill through the back of the guitar. My Tele thing has a filled hole in the back from a miss drill.

To do the body round over on the edge I used a hand router and a basic round over bit that I bought at a local hardware store. Basically a 1/2" round over bit, These are easily available from any good hardware store. Make sure it has the roller bearing on the bottom. We also used a router table but I never liked using these because you hold the work, with the hand router I can clamp the body down and use my hands to hold the router, just feels safer. If you are using a 1/2" or 3/4" inch round over bit be careful around the back at the neck pocket because this area should not be too far in or the edge of the neck plate may stick out over the edge. Check this and if necessary use the 1/4" bit just around the location of the neck plate and sand by hand the two round overs smooth together. Now you have a guitar body plain and simple Finally you need to drill the jack hole, use a forstner bit unless you plan on using some kind of big washer to cover the damage by the regular drill bits tear out. If you don't have a forstner bit run the drill backward to start the hole.

Now that this is done you will want comfort cuts on the front and back. Put the neck in the body and hold the guitar like you are going to play it , feel where the sharp edge is for your elbow and the back of the guitar that rests against your body. On the front draw a straight line on an angle and on the back draw a modified radius shape, Use a rasp or a round coarse file to shape it out. I sometimes use a pneumatic drum sander to do this.

Hey your just about done. Use a round block and #120 sand paper to clean up the rasp marks and hand shape the edge to match the rest of the guitar edge round over. You can try to use the hand router with the round over bit but its really hard to hold the router. Sand out the body with #120,#180, #220 and get ready for Paint and Finish

Making a Pickguard