Guitar Building Plans

Ultimate Guitar OnLine on Facebook

Have you ever wondered how to build a guitar. Well we have the answer as to how you can make your own guitar.

Here at Ultimate Guitar OnLine we have a great variey of Guitar Building Plans available for your use in pursuing your passion so you CAN build your own guitar.

All of our Guitar Building Plans are drawn full scale. All are drawn on my CAD system and are accurate to within 1/1000". There is meticulous detail on all plans and they can be used to make your templates, guitar forms and pinned up on your wall as a guide for building your guitar. All plans include a top, side and butt view of the guitar.

All parts are dimensioned and different parts are all called out. Fret scale is accurate as indicated on the plans and you can make your fret cutting jig from one of these plans. There will also be neck cross-sections given at several locations so you can make neck-shaping templates.

Also for your convenience, we have added several template layouts to each of the guitar building plans. There are templates for the top layout, which includes brace locations, sound hole and fabrication instruction.

Also there are templates you can use for the bridge layouts for the steel string guitars, and headstock configurations. I would recommend that these plans be reproduced and glue these template layouts over plexiglas or lexan plastic and carefully and accurately cut the templates out for a lifetime luthier's tool.

Brace diagrams are carefully laid out in plan and profile to help you fabricate your top plate braces as accurately as possible. All dimensions are give as well if you wish to transfer the dimensions to the wood.

All Guitar Building Plans are available in either pdf format or printed on standard bond white paper. Plans are $13.49 for the pdf version, but you have to print them at a business that has a large format digital printer, like a blueprinting facility.

I have printed copies of all guitar building plans available for $1.99 for each sheet, in addition to the $13.49 price, which makes it inexpensive enough to order several copies - one for making your forms, one for templates and keeping one for wall display and one for a working copy. Postage and handling are extra.

All guitar building plans can be ordered through our secure server and of course all information will be secure and confidential. Upon ordering you will be given an email for immediate downloading of the plans through a link directly to the ftp server. No special hardware required.

You will have 48 hours to download your digital copies. There are (5) files for each guitar plan all files total about 1.5MB, so download times are very quick, even on a 56K modem. We are sure you will be very pleased with the level of detail and quality of these drawings.

All Guitar Building Plans are clearly dimensioned in both millimeters and inches/fractional inches so you can decide which measure system to choose. If you would prefer to have your plans in decimal inches, drop me an email and I will arrange for that. Just send it to david@ultimate-guitar-online.com and I'll get right back to you.

So if you are interested in how to build a guitar - or how to make your own guitar, pick from one of these finely detailed plans and start building your dream guitar!

These Guitar Building Plans are for a 000 size or otherwise know as a Parlor or Concert Acoustic Guitar. It makes an ideal older child guitar and young teen guitar as the smaller size is easier for them to get a good grasp on the guitar. The tone is not as "fat" as the dreadnought, which is shown on the plan below but it will give a well-balanced sound. This would make a great fingerstyle guitar as well as a flatpick guitar. You can alter the depth slightly to give the treble zones more boost and the de-emphasizing the bass a bit. If you prefer there is a layout for a single cutaway for this guitar too. This plan has a 14 fret neck to the body and 25.4"(645.2mm) scale.

These guitar building plans are very detailed, highest quality PDF's and consist of complete dimensioned plans with bracing plans, sections laterally and longitudinally, detailed bracing layouts and even template diagrams to get you started in making plastic templates for top and back shape, bracing patterns and brace layout and neck and headstock templates. There are (5) large sheets ready to be copied at your local digital printing center.

Guitar Dimensions:
Upper Bout: 275mm
Lower Bout: 361mm
Body Length: 479mm
Depth At Heel: 79mm
Depth At Butt: 105mm
Scale Length: 645.2mm

Sheet 1 - Guitar Plan: Detailed full sized dimensioned plan showing all top bracing, bracing scallops, bridge detail, purfling layout, neck layout with perfectly scaled fret locations, head and tuning machine layouts. Also there is a very detailed specification describing materials, methods of construction and tools required.

Sheet 2 - Guitar Sections: Longitudinal and Latteral Section cuts through the guitar showing internal bracing, lining, side bracing, blocks and neck, included complete dimensions.

Sheet 3 - Guitar Top Bracing Layout: Top and side views of all top braces including dimensions if you need them. The intent is to transfer the brace pro vile to each brace.

Sheet 4 - Guitar Templates: Detailed Top, Neck and Headstock Templates ready for you to transfer to a sheet of plastic for your permanent template collection. Just cut out the template from the sheet of paper and spray adhere to the plastic and cut out on the bandsaw.

Sheet 5 - Guitar Back Plate and Back Plate Bracing Diagrams: Detailed layout of the back outline, including all bracing and blocks required for complete back construction. The Brace layouts include the 4mm arch for the back, which is required for a durable guitar.

The Dreadnought Guitar Building plans are patterned after the Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar popularized by the C.F.Martin company in the 1930's. It is the standard in Bluegrass music, but is used universally in rock, country, folk and much more. It is a big-voiced guitar with a lot of volume potential, depending the the selection of the tonewoods. You can give it warm tones with walnut and maple back and side sets and louder and brighter sounds with Koa and Rosewood. This plan has a 14 fret neck to the body and 25.4"(645.2mm) scale.

Bracing is based on the standard "X" brace pattern with no scalloping. If you decided to scallop the braces, you must "beef-up" the bracing a bit to compensate for diminished strength of the bracing due to the scalloping process. Also try Sitka Spruce or Englemann for the top for a bright more treble tone and one of the cedars  for more bass. This a great guitar and the you will be pleased with the detail and directions given on these plans.

These guitar building plans are very detailed, highest quality PDF's and consist of complete dimensioned plans with bracing plans, sections laterally and longitudinally, detailed bracing layouts and even template diagrams to get you started in making plastic templates for top and back shape, bracing patterns and brace layout and neck and headstock templates. There are (5) large sheets ready to be copied at your local digital printing center.

Guitar Dimensions:
Upper Bout: 293mm
Lower Bout: 396mm
Body Length: 513mm
Depth At Heel: 95mm
Depth At Butt: 121mm
Scale Length: 645.2mm

Sheet 1 - Guitar Plan: Detailed full sized dimensioned plan showing all top bracing, bracing scallops, bridge detail, purfling layout, neck layout with perfectly scaled fret locations, head and tuning machine layouts. Also there is a very detailed specification describing materials, methods of construction and tools required.

Sheet 2 - Guitar Sections: Longitudinal and Latteral Section cuts through the guitar showing internal bracing, lining, side bracing, blocks and neck, included complete dimensions.

Sheet 3 - Guitar Top Bracing Layout: Top and side views of all top braces including dimensions if you need them. The intent is to transfer the brace pro vile to each brace.

Sheet 4 - Guitar Templates: Detailed Top, Neck and Headstock Templates ready for you to transfer to a sheet of plastic for your permanent template collection. Just cut out the template from the sheet of paper and spray adhere to the plastic and cut out on the bandsaw.

Sheet 5 - Guitar Back Plate and Back Plate Bracing Diagrams: Detailed layout of the back outline, including all bracing and blocks required for complete back construction. The Brace layouts include the 4mm arch for the back, which is required for a durable guitar.

The Grand Auditorium or Grand Concert Guitar Building Plans are patterned after the Martin Grand J Series Acoustic Guitar popularized by the C.F.Martin company or the very popular J200 timeless design from the Gibson Co. Is is one of the largest bodied guitars, that is with the most interior volume of any style guitar and is used universally in rock, country, folk and much more. It is a big-voiced guitar with a lot of volume potential, depending the the selection of the tonewoods. You can give it warm tones with walnut and maple back and side sets and louder and brighter sounds with Koa and Rosewood. This plan has a 14 fret neck to the body and 25.4"(645.2mm) scale.

Bracing is based on the standard "X" brace pattern with no scalloping. If you decided to scallop the braces, you must "beef-up" the bracing a bit to compensate for diminished strength of the bracing due to the scalloping process. Also try Sitka Spruce or Englemann for the top for a bright more treble tone and one of the cedars  for more bass. This a great guitar and the you will be pleased with the detail and directions given on these plans.

These guitar building plans are very detailed, highest quality PDF's and consist of complete dimensioned plans with bracing plans, sections laterally and longitudinally, detailed bracing layouts and even template diagrams to get you started in making plastic templates for top and back shape, bracing patterns and brace layout and neck and headstock templates. There are (5) large sheets ready to be copied at your local digital printing center.

Guitar Dimensions:
Upper Bout: 320mm
Lower Bout: 422mm
Body Length: 521mm
Depth At Heel: 107mm
Depth At Butt: 133mm
Scale Length: 645.2mm

Sheet 1 - Guitar Plan: Detailed full sized dimensioned plan showing all top bracing, bracing scallops, bridge detail, purfling layout, neck layout with perfectly scaled fret locations, head and tuning machine layouts. Also there is a very detailed specification describing materials, methods of construction and tools required.

Sheet 2 - Guitar Sections: Longitudinal and Latteral Section cuts through the guitar showing internal bracing, lining, side bracing, blocks and neck, included complete dimensions.

Sheet 3 - Guitar Top Bracing Layout: Top and side views of all top braces including dimensions if you need them. The intent is to transfer the brace provide to each brace.

Sheet 4 - Guitar Templates: Detailed Top, Neck and Headstock Templates ready for you to transfer to a sheet of plastic for your permanent template collection. Just cut out the template from the sheet of paper and spray adhere to the plastic and cut out on the bandsaw.

Sheet 5 - Guitar Back Plate and Back Plate Bracing Diagrams: Detailed layout of the back outline, including all bracing and blocks required for complete back construction. The Brace layouts include the 4mm arch for the back, which is required for a durable guitar.

Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology: by Jonathan Natelson
Build Your Own Acoustic Guitar: by Jonathan Kinkead
A Guitar Maker's Manual by Jim Williams
Art of Tap Tunining How to Build Great Sound into Instruments Book by Roger Simonoff
The Luthier's Handbook: A Guide to Building Great Tone in Acoustic Stringed Instruments by Roger Simonoff

The Grand Auditorium or Grand Concert Guitar Building Plans are patterned after the Martin Grand J Series Acoustic Guitar popularized by the C.F.Martin company, the very popular J200 timeless design from the Gibson Co. and the Taylor Grand Auditorium 12, which is in my opinion, one of the best 12-strings out there.

It is one of the largest bodied guitars, that is with the most interior volume of any style guitar and is used universally in rock, country, folk and much more. It is a big-voiced guitar with a lot of volume potential, depending the the selection of the tonewoods. You can give it warm tones with walnut and maple back and side sets and louder and brighter sounds with Koa and Rosewood. This plan has a 14 fret neck to the body and 25.4"(645.2mm) scale.

Bracing is based on the standard "X" brace pattern with no scalloping. The only 12-string that uses scalloping that I am aware of is the Taylor Leo Kottke model and this utilizes lower tuning to be able to pull it off. Also, try Sitka Spruce or Englemann for the top for a bright more treble tone and one of the cedars for more bass. This a great guitar and the you will be pleased with the detail and directions given on these plans.

These guitar building plans are very detailed, highest quality PDF's and consist of complete dimensioned plans with bracing plans, sections laterally and longitudinally, detailed bracing layouts and even template diagrams to get you started in making plastic templates for top and back shape, bracing patterns and brace layout and neck and headstock templates. There are (5) large sheets ready to be copied at your local digital printing center.

Guitar Dimensions:
Upper Bout: 320mm
Lower Bout: 422mm
Body Length: 521mm
Depth At Heel: 107mm
Depth At Butt: 133mm
Scale Length: 645.2mm

Sheet 1 - Guitar Plan: Detailed full sized dimensioned plan showing all top bracing, bracing scallops, bridge detail, purfling layout, neck layout with perfectly scaled fret locations, head and tuning machine layouts. Also there is a very detailed specification describing materials, methods of construction and tools required.

Sheet 2 - Guitar Sections: Longitudinal and Lateral Section cuts through the guitar showing internal bracing, lining, side bracing, blocks and neck, included complete dimensions.

Sheet 3 - Guitar Top Bracing Layout: Top and side views of all top braces including dimensions if you need them. The intent is to transfer the brace provide to each brace.

Sheet 4 - Guitar Templates: Detailed Top, Neck and Headstock Templates ready for you to transfer to a sheet of plastic for your permanent template collection. Just cut out the template from the sheet of paper and spray adhere to the plastic and cut out on the bandsaw.

Sheet 5 - Guitar Back Plate and Back Plate Bracing Diagrams: Detailed layout of the back outline, including all bracing and blocks required for complete back construction. The Brace layouts include the 4mm arch for the back, which is required for a durable guitar.

These Guitar Building plans are for a standard concert sized classical guitar plan. All dimensions and body shape dimensions match the Jose Ramirez Concert model popularized by Andres Segovia, Christopher Parkening and many other classical musicians. The bracing pattern is a modified fan with a curved main just behind the soundhole. Fan braces are modified slightly to place emphasis on the treble notes. This guitar will give you balanced volume and good control over your bass and treble spectrum. Feel free to play with the bracing placements and experiment as you wish.

These guitar building plans are very detailed, highest quality PDF's and consist of complete dimensioned plans with bracing plans, sections laterally and longitudinally, detailed bracing layouts and even template diagrams to get you started in making plastic templates for top and back shape, bracing patterns and brace layout and neck and headstock templates. There are (4) large sheets ready to be copied at your local digital printing center.

Guitar Dimensions:
Upper Bout: 282mm
Lower Bout: 368.5mm
Body Length: 494mm
Scale Length: 660mm
Body Depth At Heel: 94mm
Body Depth At Butt: 102mm

Sheet 1 - Guitar Plan: Detailed full sized dimensioned plan showing all top bracing, bracing scallops, bridge detail, purfling layout, neck layout with perfectly scaled fret locations, head and tuning machine layouts. Also there is a very detailed specification describing materials, methods of construction and tools required.

Sheet 2 - Guitar Sections: Longitudinal and Latteral Section cuts through the guitar showing internal bracing, lining, side bracing, blocks and neck, included complete dimensions.

Sheet 3 - Guitar Top Bracing Layout: Top and side views of all top braces including dimensions if you need them. The intent is to transfer the brace pro vile to each brace.

Sheet 4 - Guitar Templates: Detailed Top, Neck and Headstock Templates ready for you to transfer to a sheet of plastic for your permanent template collection. Just cut out the template from the sheet of paper and spray adhere to the plastic and cut out on the bandsaw.

Sheet 5 - Guitar Back Plate and Back Plate Bracing Diagrams: Detailed layout of the back outline, including all bracing and blocks required for complete back construction. The Brace layouts include the 2mm arch for the back, which is required for a durable guitar.

 These Guitar Construction Plans are for a classical guitar that has the same body dimensions as the Ramirez plan above, but with a radically different top bracing pattern. The bracing is based on the Schneider/Kasha pattern and will give a very loud volume to the guitar. Have fun with this one. Also try to experiment with different tonewoods for the back, sides and top. Jose Ramirez lines the sides of some of his classical guitars with a thin veneer of Cyprus to give added volume. Varying the thickness of the top and bottom plates can give a variation in tone as well. Some luthier's claim to get improved sound by making the top plate slightly thicker in the center and thinning it out as you reach to outer edges of the guitar.

These plans are very detailed, highest quality PDF's and consist of complete dimensioned plans with bracing plans, sections laterally and longitudinally, detailed bracing layouts and even template diagrams to get you started in making plastic templates for top and back shape, bracing patterns and brace layout and neck and headstock templates. There are (4) large sheets ready to be copied at your local digital printing center.

Guitar Dimensions:
Upper Bout: 282mm
Lower Bout: 368.5mm
Body Length: 494mm
Scale Length: 660mm
Body Depth At Heel: 94mm
Body Depth At Butt: 102mm

Sheet 1 - Guitar Plan: Detailed full sized dimensioned plan showing all top bracing, bracing scallops, bridge detail, purfling layout, neck layout with perfectly scaled fret locations, head and tuning machine layouts. Also there is a very detailed specification describing materials, methods of construction and tools required.

Sheet 2 - Guitar Sections: Longitudinal and Latteral Section cuts through the guitar showing internal bracing, lining, side bracing, blocks and neck, included complete dimensions.

Sheet 3 - Guitar Top Bracing Layout: Top and side views of all top braces including dimensions if you need them. The intent is to transfer the brace pro vile to each brace.

Sheet 4 - Guitar Templates: Detailed Top, Neck and Headstock Templates ready for you to transfer to a sheet of plastic for your permanent template collection. Just cut out the template from the sheet of paper and spray adhere to the plastic and cut out on the bandsaw.

Sheet 5 - Guitar Back Plate and Back Plate Bracing Diagrams: Detailed layout of the back outline, including all bracing and blocks required for complete back construction. The Brace layouts include the 2mm arch for the back, which is required for a durable guitar.

 These Guitar Construction Plans are for a classical guitar that has the same body dimensions as the Ramirez plan in Plan 1 above, but with the Torres traditional top fan bracing pattern. The bracing is based on the bracing pattern that Torres made popular and is probably the most used bracing pattern used in classical guitar construction. Go ahead and experiment with fan brace modifications, such as using wider and shorter braces or as some luthiers do, make the fan braces more of a pentagon cross-section (pointed on the top, center of the fan brace). Some luthier's claim to get improved sound by making the top plate slightly thicker in the center and thinning it out as you reach to outer edges of the guitar.

These plans are very detailed, highest quality PDF's and consist of complete dimensioned plans with bracing plans, sections laterally and longitudinally, detailed bracing layouts and even template diagrams to get you started in making plastic templates for top and back shape, bracing patterns and brace layout and neck and headstock templates. There are (4) large sheets ready to be copied at your local digital printing center.

Guitar Dimensions:
Upper Bout: 282mm
Lower Bout: 368.5mm
Body Length: 494mm
Scale Length: 660mm
Body Depth At Heel: 94mm
Body Depth At Butt: 102mm

Sheet 1 - Guitar Plan: Detailed full sized dimensioned plan showing all top bracing, bracing scallops, bridge detail, purfling layout, neck layout with perfectly scaled fret locations, head and tuning machine layouts. Also there is a very detailed specification describing materials, methods of construction and tools required.

Sheet 2 - Guitar Sections: Longitudinal and Latteral Section cuts through the guitar showing internal bracing, lining, side bracing, blocks and neck, included complete dimensions.

Sheet 3 - Guitar Top Bracing Layout: Top and side views of all top braces including dimensions if you need them. The intent is to transfer the brace pro vile to each brace.

Sheet 4 - Guitar Templates: Detailed Top, Neck and Headstock Templates ready for you to transfer to a sheet of plastic for your permanent template collection. Just cut out the template from the sheet of paper and spray adhere to the plastic and cut out on the bandsaw.

Sheet 5 - Guitar Back Plate and Back Plate Bracing Diagrams: Detailed layout of the back outline, including all bracing and blocks required for complete back construction. The Brace layouts include the 2mm arch for the back, which is required for a durable guitar.

Guitar Makers Workshop by Rik Middleton
Guitar making Tradition and Technology by Jonathan Natelson and William Cumpiano
The Art and Craft of Making a Classical Guitar by Manuel Rodriguez
Classical Guitar Making A Modern Approach to Traditional Design by John S. Bogdanovich
Classic Guitar Construction by Irving Sloan
Classic Guitar Making Arthur E. Overholtzer