Picciuto Guitar Body
Project by
David Picciuto
Published On
July 20, 2015
General Information
Make your own guitar using parts from a cheap Epiphone Les Paul. The Epiphone only costs around $130 brand new and is cheaper than buying all the parts separate. I'll be saving the neck, electronics and hardware from the cheap guitar and using them on this custom body.
Open in Easel®
Overview Video
Overview video of all the steps.
Gutting the Sacrificial Guitar
I'm using a brand new Epiphone Les Paul with P90 pick up for this build. I'll be using the neck, electronics and hardware.
Mill Up Your Lumber
I'm using some 2" thick ash for this guitar.
Glue-up
It may be difficult to find ash wide enough so you'll likely need to to glue up two pieces. Once the glue dries plane it down to 1 5/8" thick.
Clamp Down the Material
When carving material this hard and thick it's necessary to screw down the material right to the waste board.
Neck Pocket
Cut out the neck pocket. You'll want to be sure the neck fits snugly into the body. One of the things that separate a cheap guitar from a well made one is how this fits.
Pickup Pockets and Control Cavity
Next carve out the pickup pockets and control cavity.
Carve the Outer Shape
And finally carve out the body shape.
Round Over Edges
Next round over all the edges with a 1/4" round over bit in your router.
Arm Contour
Next I use an angle grinder to carve out the arm contour and belly cut. You may need to reference a Fender Strat.
Drill Neck Holes
Next you'll want to drill the holes for attaching the neck.
Carving the Pick Guard
Now you can carve the pick guard on the X-Carve.
Add the Guitar Bridge
Now its a matter of drilling holes for the tailpiece and bridge. I bought a higher quality bridge than the one that came with the Epiphone. Bridge placement is dependent upon the scale length and fret count of your neck.
Attach the Pick Guard
Now it's time to drill the holes for the volume, tone and pickup switch into the the pickguard and attach it to the guitar.
I'm curious about what bit, speeds and depth etc, you used and how long did it take to do the routing and perimeter.
Greg Wallace · July 29, 2015
PS: just watched the video and got my answers. Any reason not to route the perimeter (2 sided) other than time?
Greg Wallace · July 29, 2015
Which spindle do you have? I have been having issues getting my spindle to handle federates that fast, even when the depth per pass is set that low.. Yours looks different than my stock spindle!
Ryan Parish · August 02, 2015
Hi Ryan, in the video I'm using an older "quiet cut" spindle. Since I've made this guitar I've upgraded to the Dewalt and it cuts like a dream. I highly suggest getting the Dewalt router and mount.
David Picciuto · August 02, 2015
David, Excellent project and set of instructions. I wonder, in step 12, how did you get that square piece to line up with your machine axes and origin? Thanks, Steve
Steve Hartig · August 07, 2015
Hi, I was hoping top use your plans as a shortcut to designing my own body shape. I wanted to "borrow" your neck groove and body cut measurements. Is there a way to download the svg file for editing? Thanks, Justin
Justin Webb · September 03, 2015
I was considering this project but didn't like the idea of cannibalizing another guitar. So I found that if you search for "guitar neck" on amazon there are plenty of options. This way you don't end up with a bunch of unused parts around and you can get a nice quality end result.
Bill Chapman · April 08, 2016
Hi David, love the design for the guitar, by chance do you have .svg files you can upload for me to use with VCarve, as i have had to setup my X-Carve using VCarve offline.
Fergal P Flynn · April 25, 2017
Very good work. Congrt's
Antonio Estevens · August 31, 2017
What size x-carve did you use. I'm looking at purchasing one to do guitars and other items, but can't decide between the 750mm and 1100mm
Kevin Craig · December 11, 2017
This was cut on the 1000mm size rails.
David Picciuto · December 11, 2017
Have you carved necks with your X-Carve? Im looking to buy one but want to make necks as well.
Sean Craig · June 21, 2018
New in CNC world and build guitars, just want to optimize my projects with CNC. For such Guitar projects, the templates are always in autocad (dxf) file format. What is the easier Software to use for such projects, drawing software to machine software.
Giorgio Domenici · September 20, 2018
I though that a CNC machine was supposed to relieve you of doing lots of manual stuff. You ended up doing things that could very very easily have been programmed and therefore been very accurate!
Richard Newell · September 26, 2018
Do you have the drawing for the pickguard?
andrew jerman · November 02, 2018
I would also like the cut file for the pick guard. Where can I find it? Thanks!
April Pritchett · March 17, 2019
David, started with your design and made this with resin/glitter inlays.
christopher cook · March 25, 2019
what size bit did you use for this please?
ITHAMAR GEFFRARD · March 31, 2019
This is wicked!! Do you have the pick guard program loaded?
Jason MacFarlane · October 04, 2019
Do you have the pick guard file uploaded?
David Heard · October 06, 2019
As for the Pickguard I think you could just copy the guitar outline itself and open another working window in the project and use that for the outline for guard. May take some time but it is possible. My plan is to use this guitar project but change the body design some to suit my taste. Good Luck!
Steven Kibler · January 13, 2020
could you provide file for pick guard
STEPHEN BALL · February 05, 2023