Electric Guitar Specifications

This is a "top-down checklist" for the assembly of a solid-body electric guitar. It can help you to build a guitar with specific sound and playability characteristics. Please read licence and the contribution guidelines before contributing.

Table of Contents

• Sound and Playability Influencing Factors

• Guitar Necks

  • Neck Profile
  • Neck Nut Width and Nut Slot Spacing
  • Neck Heel Width and Mounting
  • Fretboard’s Radius
  • Fret Sizes
  • Common Neck Head Shapes
  • Tuner Holes

• Guitar Bodies

  • Body Shapes
  • Bridge And Pickup Routing Overview
  • Flat Mount Strat Routing
  • Flat Mount Tele Routing
  • Flat Mount Schaller Routing
  • Tremolo Routing
  • Tune-O-Matic Gibson Style Routing
  • Other Rare Bridge Variants
  • Pickup Routing

• Tuning Machines

• Bridges

• Hardware Parts Checklist

• Electronics

  • Pickup Properties
  • Sound Control with Switches
  • Potentiometer and Capacitor Values
  • Volume and Tone Potentiometer Options
  • Potentiometer Knob Styles
  • Electronics Wiring Schemas
  • Active Pickups Electronic

• Strings

• Scale Length

• Woods

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Sound and Playability Influencing Factors

Component | Sound* | Playability* ------------|---------------------|--------------- Guitar Neck | + | ++++ Guitar Body | + | ++++ Guitar Electronics | +++ | - Strings | ++ | ++ Scale Length | + | + Woods (Body, Neck and Fretboard) | + | + |

*influence ( "-" stands for little, "++++" stands for very strong)

For example, for building a solid-body 'jazz-sounding' guitar you have to choose (top down by importance):

• vintage or jazz pickup with convenient po­ten­tiomet­er and capacitor values
• flatwound strings
• massive neck, hollow body with wood such as mahagony
• shorter scale length

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Guitar Necks

Neck thickness, neck width, neck contour and fret wire size affect playability and are a matter of personal taste. Important for good playability is balanced interaction of these components. Thicker neck often creates warmer tone.

usacustomguitars.com/necks - many neck shape and thickness combinations
musikraft.com - additional information for understanding of neck features.

Neck Profile

Neck Profile is the combination of contour (C, U, V , asymmetrc) and thickness (.0750" - 1")

Contour | Thickness | Warmoth* | Fender* | Gibson*
------------|-------------|---------------|---------------------------|-------------- D | thin | Wizard | D Shape |
C | thin/medium | Standard Thin | C Shape (AM Std) | Traditional C C | medium | 59 Roundback | Deep C | Round C (1959 LP)
U | thick | Fatback | U Shape (Vintage Tele) | V | thick | Boatneck | V Shape (Vintage 52 Tele) |
asymmetrisch| medium | Wolfgang | Modern C |

*warmoth - Warmoth Neck Profiles
*fender - see "NECK SHAPE" Filter
*gibson forum - Gibson Neck Profiles

Neck Nut Width and Nut Slot Spacing

Category | Neck Nut Width | e1/E6 -----------------------|--------------------| ----------- Many Fenders from Japan| 41 mm (1-5/8") | approx. 34 mm Standard | 42,9 mm (1-11/16") | approx. 35 mm Acoustic analog | 44,5 mm (1-3/4") | 35 mm till 37,5 mm Superwide (Warmoth) | 48 mm (1-7/8") | approx. 40 mm

The real e1 to E6 string spread can be controlled not only through nut width, but also by slot spread in the nut. For example, 44.5 mm wide nut can have e1 to E6 distance between 35 and 37.5 mm.

Category | String spacing | e1/E6 | e1 to edge | Neck nut width
---------------------|----------------|--------------|----------- |----------------- Narrow string spread | 7 mm | 35 mm | 4.75 mm | 44,5 mm (1-3/4") Medium string spread | 7.3 mm | 36.5 mm | 4 mm | 44,5 mm (1-3/4") Wide string spread | 7.5 mm | 37.5 mm | 3.5 mm | 44,5 mm (1-3/4")

graphtech - sizing guide and pre-slotted nuts

Neck Heel Width and Mounting

Most guitar parts manufacturer adopted Fender's® neck heel and neck pocket dimensions:

• 56 mm (2-3/16") - Width
• 76 mm (3") - Length
• 16 mm (5/8") - Pocket Depth

These dimensions are not a standard. Only careful measurement ensures that your parts will be compatible.

Strat necks have a rounded base to their heel and Tele necks have a squared-off base to their heel, which makes it difficult to interchange the two types of necks across various bodies.

Standard Fender heel mounting is done with 4-Bolt Holes - 1/8" (3mm) diameter (spread of 2" x 1-1/2").

Fretboard's Radius

Smaller radius means a more rounded shape.

• 7-1/4" - "Vintage" Fender®
• 9-1/2" - "Modern" Fender®
• 10" - Gibson®/PRS®
• 12" - Ibanez®
• 16" - Jackson®
• compound (10" - 16") - Warmoth® and others

youtube.com - understring radius gauges - video demonstration of three different gauges used for guitar setup and fretwork: standard, notched and understring.

Fret Sizes

Title | Width | Height | Example -------------|---------|-----------| ----------- Small | narrow | low | vintage Fender Me­di­um | narrow | high | many Martins Medium Jumbo | wide | low | many Gibsons Jum­bo | wide | high | moderne Fender High Jum­bo | wide | very high | many Ibanez

lutherie.net - provides an excellent manufacturer/sizes overview.

Common Neck Head Shapes

• 6L - Fender Style - left in line
• 6R - for left-handed
• 3L/3R - "Gobson Stype"
• 4L/2R - "Musicman Style"

Tuner Holes

• approx. 8,7mm (11/32") - "Vintage Fender Style"
• approx. 10mm (25/64" = 9,9mm) - "Sperzel Style",
• approx. 10mm (13/32" = 10,3mm) - "Planet Waves Style"
• approx. 10mm on top and 8,7mm bottom - "Schaller/Grover/Gotoh Slyle"

Small holes can be enlarged with a sunk. Big holes can be retrofited by adapter bushings.

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Guitar Bodies

The sound of electric guitar depends mainly on the vibration behavior of the string itself and the reproduction characteristics of the pickup. The vibration behavior of the string depends (very little) on wood. The body itself is very thick compared to the neck, that is why the body wood type and form have very limited influence on the sound of electric guitar.

music.stackexchange.com - how much does electric guitar's body physics affect the tone and playability.

Body Shapes

The shape of an electric guitar can historically be divided into the following categories:

• ST (Strat)
• T (Tele)
• Single Cut (LP)
• Double Cut (SG)
• Hollowbody
• Other Forms

Bridge And Pickup Routing Overview

• Flat Mount Hardtail (Strat/Tele/Schaller)
• Tremolo (Strat)
• Tune-O-Matic (Gison)
• Other (Jazzmaster®, Jaguar®, Bigsby®, Kahler®, Line 6, etc)

Picture left to right:

• American Standard Tremolo Routing and Single Coil Strat Pickup,
• Vintage Telcaster Routing and Single Coil Tele Pickup,
• Tune-O-Matic Style Routing and Habucker Pickup

callahamguitar.com - technical specifications of some coustom parts.

Flat Mount Strat Routing

               Strat Vintage, Narrow & Standard                   
Sites holes    ...o.o.o.o.o.o...      
Bridge holes   ..o.....o.....o..     

Model | E/e | Sites holes Ø | Sites holes distance | Bridge hole Ø | Bridge holes distance --------------------|------------------|-------------------|------------------|----------------|------------------- Strat Vintage | 57 mm (2 1/4") | 3.18 mm (0.125") | 10.5 mm (0.413") | 3 mm (1/8") | 21 mm (.827") Strat Vintage Narrow| 54 mm (2 1/8") | 4.78 mm (0.188") | 10.5 mm (0.413") | 3 mm (1/8") | 21 mm (.827") S