BuiLDer’S craic?

I enjoyed the articles on guitar modding and readers’ builds. If you’ve been bitten by the bug, then the next stage is to make one from scratch starting with a block of wood. Here’s a couple I made myself [pictured right] under the expert guidance of Jon Shuker at his workshop in Derbyshire. Both of these guitars have swamp ash bodies, 25-inch scales, stainless frets, Gotoh and Schaller hardware, and Mojo pickups.

If it’s something you’ve been thinking about, then I can highly recommend. Not only will you learn some good theory on manufacture and setup, you will be very pleasantly surprised at how good an instrument you will take home, be it a Strat/Tele format or incorporating your own ideas. Nick Sedgwick, via email Thanks for sharing your builds here, Nick, they look fab. We get so many letters on this subject, it would be great if readers who have built their own guitars wanted to share their tips on completing a successful build. If we get enough we’ll compile them into a special Feedback page. In the meantime, though, we hope you’re thoroughly enjoying playing the fruits of your labours!