Step 1: Cutting the Parts

Each instrument is comprised of four layers:

• The Fretboard.
• The Top
• The Back
• The Headstock

When cutting the Back and the Top, note that there is a groove rastered into each. This groove should go ⅛” to 3/16” into each piece to allow for the sandwiching of the truss rod between the two pieces.

(Note: If you would like to raster an image onto the front of the guitar top, remove that piece from your cutter when it is done, turn it over, and place it back into the space it came out of. This should ensure that it stays properly aligned in your cutter.)

Step 2: Gluing the Body

Insert the truss rod into the slot on the instrument top and place on the table with the bar facing up. Apply wood glue liberally to the slotted side of the instrument back, line it up over the metal bar, press it firmly into place, and clamp.

Apply wood glue liberally to one side of the headstock, press it firmly against the headstock portion of the instrument back, and clamp.

(Note: To ensure proper hole alignment, tuning machines can be inserted into the instrument headstock. Once the wooden pieces are clamped, make sure you remove the tuning machines and wipe them clean.)

After 20 minutes, the wood can be unclamped, though it may take up to 24 hours for it to cure completely.

Remove excess glue from the edges of the instrument and the inside of the holes in the body.

Step 3: Installing Hardware

Place the guitar face down, and line up the tuning machines so that the outer screw hole on the machines is facing the top of the head stock. Mark the holes, remove the tuning machines, and drill small pilot holes to start the screws. Place the machines back in the holes and attach them with screws, tightening the screws on each tuner down evenly.

Turn the guitar face up.

Press the 3D printed nut into the hole just below the headstock and the 3D printed saddle into the hole at the other end of the instrument.

Press the Ferrules in the holes just below the bridge. Holding the instrument on a 45 degree angle, put a drop of super glue touching the ferrules and the guitar body. Be careful not to get glue in the hole of the ferrule. (Note: If glue does dry in the ferrule, carefully drill it out with a small bit.)

Put a bead of superglue on the under sides of the wings on the jack box and press it into place so that the face with the large hole is facing the rear of the instrument.

Step 4: Fretting the Instrument

Take a piece of fret wire and line it up over one of the fret cuts on the fingerboard. With a rubber mallet, strike the fret wire firmly, working from one side of the fingerboard to the other and then back. The spine on the fret wire must be vertically aligned in the cut, otherwise it will not go in.

Cut of the fret wire as close to the fingerboard as possible.

Repeat this process until all of the frets are in place.

File down the ends of the fret wire so that they are smooth and flush with the wood.

Line up the fingerboard on the neck of the instrument, with the furthest apart frets nearest the headstock, glue, and clamp.

Step 5: Soldering and Wiring

Turn the instrument over, and lower the pickup into the instrument body, with the leads facing the rear of the instrument. Attach the pickup with screws, being careful to tighten them just enough to keep the pickup from moving. Over-tightening them can crack the pickup assembly.

Trim the leads so that they meet the leads from the jackbox, and solder the two components together. Pull the two wires apart so that they aren’t touching and tape them in place on the back of the instrument.

Step 6: Stringing and Tuning

Starting with the hole closest to you, feed your smallest gauge string through the ferrule and pull it from the other side until the ball on the string is up against the underside ferrule.

Moving to the next closest string, do the same with the next smallest string, and repeat until all four strings have been fed through..

Starting with either of the outer strings, feed the end of it through the first tuning machine on that side of the instrument. Pull the string tight and line it up in its corresponding bridge and nut grooves. Bring the end of the string back around, and feed it through the hole in the tuning machine again, in the same direction as before. This will prevent the string from slipping. Turn the tuning machine to tighten the string until it stays in the bridge and nut slots. Moving around the headstock of the guitar, repeat this process with each string until all are in place.

Using an electric tuner, tune each string. Normal guitar tuning would be, from high to low, E-B-G-D. This tuning puts a lot of stress on the neck of the instrument, so tuning down a whole step to D-A-F-C is recommended.

Plug it into your amplifier and have fun.