Designing A Custom Electric Guitar

After they have been playing for a while, most electric guitar players start thinking about the next step instrument wise – a custom electric guitar.  In fact, for many, owning a custom electric guitar is the mark of the true professional.

For each individual guitarist, this naturally takes on a meaning of its own, from a neck that more comfortably fits your hand all the way to a completely custom electric guitar as special as those in Billy Gibbon’s collection.  This wide range of options can be very confusing, so perhaps a quick look at the subject would be in order.

Custom Electric Guitar Design Options

The range of choices is even more varied than the people looking for them, so it can help to narrow down the choices before getting into designing your custom electric guitar.  Let’s start with what you have now.  If you want a custom, then there must be some features of your current guitar that you might like to see improved.

Is the neck too long, or too short? Are the pickups in the way of your comfortable strum?  It could be that the frets bother you. Changing any of these can fine-tune your playing experience and help you be more comfortable each time you pick your custom electric guitar up.

Don’t just concentrate on the negatives of your current setup.  Look to the positives as well.  If something is particularly comfortable, or even just familiar about your old guitar, measure it, and it can help plan the placement on your new rig.  You have been playing it for a while, after all, so there must be some good there, don’t lose it reaching for the new thing.

Making Your Statement

When you have looked at the various options, this is the point where you take what you have learned so far and devise a rough plan for your new custom electric guitar.  Now you can step it up to the next level, and start thinking about materials and finishes such as things like weight and colors that you like.  But, if you are really ready to make a statement, look to things that have meaning for you.

Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top has an extensive collection of guitars, including the one he had made from the roof boards of Muddy Water’s shack.  So just let your imagination run wild as there really is no limit to a custom electric guitar, but your own imagination.