Using a Guitar Template to Build Your First Guitar

I wanted to build an acoustic guitar for the longest time, but was intimidated by the prospect. Although I’ve done plenty of woodworking, the idea of creating the forms for a guitar body and mastering the many different things it took to make a guitar play well intimidated me. I also wanted to learn to play the guitar, but never really found the motivation to do so.

In 2006 I stumbled across the idea of a guitar template. Since then, I’ve built a number of kit guitars. I’ve found that kits are a great entry point into guitar making. They simplify the process, but leave enough woodworking to be done to make me feel like I “voiced” the guitar.

I recently joined forces with the folks at Fine Woodworking Magazine. They were interested in doing an article about building a guitar from a kit, and I was happy to help out. You can check out the article here, and learn more about guitar kits.

By the way, completing my own guitar also became the catalyst for learning to play. I am now, admittedly, a guitar addict. If I don’t play a little every day, I feel like something is missing. But it wasn’t until the instrument I made myself was in my hands that this connection developed. A very cool side affect of making a guitar.

Click here to download the full article.