Does it cost more, less or the same to build a guitar as it would be to purchase one of similar quality?
What is cheaper, palces like Warmoth or ebay?
I've been thinking about a build (don't expect a thread anytime soon, I am still in the thinking stage).
I have also thought about designing my own guitar body. I have access to people and supplies.
My wife has a fine arts degree - she could help design it.
My uncle has had a wood working shop for 30 yrs - he could cut and finish it.
My dad used to build electronics - he could do the wiring etc.

Any thoughts on how much this endevour wuold cost me? i know its all subjective to the parts used. Just give me a ballpark figure.

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You could do very well with a $700 budget for parts. Then again a used MAI Fender Strat costs about the same.

Several years ago I put one together from parts for about $560. I still have it and play it everyday.

Hello Yoda: well... the sky's the limit with these things, so it entirely depends how much you choose to spend. If you're talking about assembling from parts, you can buy cheap-ish bodies, necks and hardware from places such as Ebay and assemble a guitar for the price of a MIM Strat or even a top end Squier, if you really shop carefully. Or you can order from nice custom makers like Warmoth and spend thousands if you prefer.

If you want to genuinely build from scratch then the price of timber can vary remarkably. You could easily use wood from your local timber supplier (carefully chosen) and make a body and neck for as little as $50. Or you could buy fabulous figured maple that has been air seasoned for years and spend two, three or four hundred dollars just on the front of a body.

Far as parts are concerned, there is nowhere you as an individual can buy bridges, tuners and such for anything like the tiny prices paid by the big makers. For instance, Fender will buy their Am Std bridge in bulk for a handful of dollars a piece: that same item will cost you over $100 on the open market.

(Funny story: Forum user Nikininja and I spent an evening with Trev Wilkinson, who spent several years working side by side with Leo Fender in the 1970s. Wilkinson told us that as that decade progressed and CBS did everything they could to cut costs in the guitar company Leo had sold to them they reached the point they were buying their Strat bridges for $1.29 a pop. Something to bear in mind as we watch the price of "vintage" '70s Fender guitars start to rise...)

Again, finishing is quite expensive. You'll likely spend $50 or more on lacquer for a Strat body and neck. Naturally, the big makers can do the same job for pennies.

And none of that factors in the time you spend making an instrument.

Anyhow. Just for illustration, I am currently building what I would modestly describe as a high quality Strat-type guitar for a guy. We're using very nice timber (plenty of figured maple and some fine ebony), which has probably cost about $250. Off the top of my head I should think the hardware runs to something like another $250 plus around $150 for pickups. And another $50 for finishing. No cost for labour, which I'm doing for the love of the task. So about $700, give or take, for a finished instrument.

Naturally, I'd like to think it will compare with an upper end factory Strat or even a Custom Shop one. You'd need to ask the end-user if he agrees...

Any of that focus your thoughts for you?

Cheers - C

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Thanks for the info guys. It seems that a build is more a labour of love than just a guitar purchase. I think what I'd ultimately like to do is design the body and purchase a neck. I have no woodworking skills. The only things that I have ever built are a deck and a fence and my cuts are a little off. I would turn over the woodworking to someone with a little more experience than me! If this project even gets off the ground, I think it will take a while. Maybe I'll take a tour of the 'bay and see what it has to offer and go from there.

Thanks!!

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I am a seasoned veteran of the woodworking business, been at it doing custom furniture and woodworking since I started my shop in 1973. I have built guitar bodies in the past and I have been happy with the results. I have always bought the necks. Back in the old days I could buy cheap Fender guitars for $60-$100 and use the necks and some of the hardware, then scrap what I didn't want or need. Those days are gone, sadly.

My most ambitious project was a solid ash body for a double-neck guitar - Fender Strat on the top and a Fender Tele on the bottom. I had the body pretty much ready for finishing and had two necks waiting, but I ended up moving to Texas for two years to run a business for my father and by the time I got back my life had moved on. My son has all the parts and pieces and says that he will, by God, put them all together one day.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

If you're more into quality of tone instead of collectibility, building from parts is the way to go. I always wanted to mix up a Fender Jazz Bass. Japanese Ash Body(better pickup routing), Dimarzio pickups, American Jazz Bass neck(or Mexican), real 60'-70's nickle bridge.

You could just buy a body, then reshape it to your preference. This will make it easier to fit a neck, I'd imagine.

Warmoth or Ebay? How about used Warmoth parts from Ebay?