How to Build Electric Guitars The Complete Guide to Building and Setting Up Your Own Custom Guitar

In the past few years the market for electric guitar kits and parts has exploded. For every two enthusiasts, there are four opinions on how properly to fill woodgrain. In this book, Will Kelly cuts through all that noise and shows how, with a little patience and some inexpensive tools, the average person can turn a modest investment into a gig-worthy instrument and perhaps even a lifelong hobby. Kelly presents guitar-building in a progressive fashion, beginning with a simple Stratocaster-style kit with a bolt-on neck and continuing on to a "relic'd" Telecaster-style build, two Gibson-style set-neck models, and a custom double-neck mash-up. Because each build is more involved than the previous, the reader builds on his or her skill set and acquires only the tools necessary for the reader's level of interest. Kelly shows how to apply finishes, choose and install hardware, wire electronics, execute the final assembly, and set up the finished guitar for proper action and intonation.

Will Kelly is a highly respected guitar builder and vintage guitar expert who owns and operates Hard Knocks Guitars in Cary, North Carolina. He is author of the popular monthly Shop of Hard Knocks repair column in Vintage Guitar, a consultant to several manufacturers, and the author of How to Build Electric Guitars (2012) and Electric Guitar Repair (2014), both from Voyageur Press.

A veteran guitar-maker, Will Kelly is also a regular contributor to Vintage Guitar magazine and the owner of Hard Knocks Guitars. He lives in Cary, North Carolina.