Specs and Constraints of Building This Guitar

Requirements (or specifications) set the goal, and constraints set the course we need to navigate through. Many, fortunately, have gone before me in guitar making and offer a wealth of direction and advice online. All the same, the specifics of an original design may be themselves unique – both to the designer and to the circumstance. I’ll do my best to capture some of those most important specifications and constraints in the making of this guitar in particular.

Specifications:

• Playability, first and foremost: If it can’t ultimately be played, it’s just a wall piece. There’s a lot wrapped up in this category though, including neck/bridge alignment, neck tensioning, string placement, pickup placement below the strings, electronics selection and installation, overall balance and strap mounting points, weight, ergonomics, etc… Every design decision – even aesthetic – first considers the playability of the guitar.
• Originality: I’m taking inspiration from traditional instrument styles and the Les Paul, but this would feel like a wasted effort if I couldn’t make the guitar my own and not quite the same as has been done before. A novel shape is where my design began and what will carry forward throughout. This is especially prevalent in the headstock design, which every luthier creates as their own “fingerprint” – and is also surprisingly hard to do well.
• Subtlety: I don’t want it flashy; I don’t want it to make an entrance. The workmanship should (I hope) be impressive at a closer look, but attention-getting isn’t the point (and would fly in the face of a traditional lutherie aesthetic). At a deeper level, it’s meant to be a worship instrument, which means attention should be directed upward and not to the guitar or its player.
• Show the Grain: I’m using a flamed walnut top that is sold specifically for its unique and organic grain. The flaming should be apparent, not covered with hardware or a pickguard or paint.
• Quality: With as much investment, time, and effort as is going into this project, it should be an instrument I’m proud to own for many years. Little avoidable flaws would undoubtedly bug me if I cut a corner just to get it done. Things like unnecessary gaps, nicks, scrapes, and misalignments should all be properly rectified if they appear,

Constraints:

• Equipment Access: I’m extremely limited in tools at home suited for this kind of work. The vast majority of my project has to be built using campus resources, especially the IdeaForge’s Makerspace. Of course, using someone else’s equipment also means limited ability (I can’t modify any tools to fit my needs) and sharing of time.
• Time: I’m working quickly as is reasonable for a luthier. While a fully functioning guitar is ideal for the design expo, I’m managing expectations that it may not be ready to “sing” in time. Instead, My aim is to have the body and neck finished or ready for finishing. The aesthetic will then be complete, and the electronics can be added later on.
• Alignment: Playability, as above, depends on alignment. The bridge must be perfectly centered downstream of the neck at a distance matching scale length (Gibson scale: 24 3/4″). The pickups must be aligned perfectly along this line drawn from neck to bridge so they’re ultimately positioned correctly beneath the strings. I’m constrained to how well I can align my work in a CNC machine or on a template. This will certainly reflect in quality.
• Skill: I have some woodworking experience, but not extensively so. I’ve also done very little lutherie or fine woodworking. However, even to this point deep in the project, no technique has been beyond the scope of learning through YouTube. It’s very much closed the knowledge gap for what may have otherwise been impossible. Existing skill may be a constraint, but the availability of learning material is certainly not.
• Climate: Colorado is DRY. Wood gets finnicky when it’s introduced to such low humidity, especially when it’s subjected to drying unevenly. The moment I opened my package of wood, it had already began to respond by warping. Mitigating and correcting this warping has taken a significant amount of work time thus far. Though fixed for now, it’s forced me to adjust plans and remove some material. Allowing time for wood to adequately dry must now be part of my considerations going forward, particularly when the neck arrives.