The electric guitar manufacturing process consists of three main steps: selection of the raw materials, the design phase, and production. How a guitar is made influences its sound and its performance as well as its appearance.
You need an expert wood manufacturer to ensure top-quality products. Let’s discuss the topic in the following article.
Electric guitar manufacturing process: the characteristics of an expert wood maker
Top-quality electric guitars are made of wood. Specifically, woods used to build guitars are known as tonewoods, as they have a particular tone and are used to achieve specific sound qualities.
How do you ensure perfect electric guitar bodies and necks?
The first step is selection of the raw materials
The most common woods for electric guitar bodies are:
- Maple
- Rosewood
- Ebony
- Mahogany
- Alder
- Ash
- Basswood
These wood essences have different qualities that influence the type of sound produced as well as the aesthetics of the guitar.
The wood manufacturer must have a deep knowledge of wood to select the right logs, which determines the quality of the final product. It must ensure strict quality control over the raw material, checking each piece manually and individually to find any possible imperfection. Imperfect logs must be discarded, but this doesn’t mean they are thrown away. A sustainable company reuses scraps to create other wooden items or fuel heating systems.
Once selected, wooden logs must be prepared. They must be exposed to the air for two or three months to follow the natural drying process of timber. This step is critical to maintain wood density and avoid breakage.
An experienced wood manufacturing company has specific in-house drying chambers with heating, spray, dehumidification, and air circulation systems that are adjusted according to the starting moisture content and the type of wood to treat. Managing the drying process internally rather than outsourcing it brings an essential advantage in quality and longevity of the final product.
Thanks to a correct drying process, the ratio between volume and weight can be stable, which is crucial to avoid discrepancies and damage.
Managing wood is not like plastic. Wood is a natural material that moves constantly and has specific tolerances, i.e., specific dimensional data properly calculated during project development, considering the natural variations of the material, which can have a significant effect on the precision and functionality of the final object.
Wood must be prepared with the right technologies and tools to ensure durability and top performance.
The second phase is codesign
Codesign means exploiting the competency and knowledge of your partner to develop your project. The right supplier is ready to listen to your and your clients’ requests, giving advice and trying to solve any possible issue.
Finding a manufacturer in your own country can be a great advantage to avoid problems of communication and possible delays.
An experienced partner will be able to provide physical samples of the electric guitar body to let you evaluate if it corresponds to your customers’ ideas and requirements and make modifications if needed.
It is important that your client has a precise idea of the final product before production to avoid unforeseen problems and unexpected costs.
For many players, the electric guitar is an important item, and besides being functional, it must adapt to their physical and aesthetic requirements.
Sometimes, it means creating difficult and unconventional shapes and designs and finding solutions to meet demanding requests.
A quality electric guitar manufacturing process also includes customization of the object according to clients’ requirements.
During the design phase, you should also consider the finishing options available and the possibility to brand the guitar, which is important for any player. Laser technology lets clients have their logo (white label) and some deco and grip on the wooden surface.
Many companies still use pyrography or hot moulding on wood, while the most innovative companies have anthropomorph laser robots to create even the most complex designs.
A U.S. or European multinational manufacturing company can rely on decades of strong relationships and collaboration with the world’s leading producers of wood finishing materials, e.g., oils, paints, lacquers, and resins, so that it can offer a wide range of finish options, giving advice about the best to use.
The final step is production
Being extremely complex as discussed before, the electric guitar manufacturing process requires dedicated production lines to ensure maximum precision, compliance with the highest standards, and flexibility.
Being flexible means producing electric guitar bodies and necks in small lots and applying the desired finish on demand depending on the market trend and clients’ preferences, with a greater chance of success.
Considering the problems of global mobility, distance, and lengthy delivery times we are facing due to the long tail of the Covid-19 emergency, finding a manufacturer that can provide on-demand and flexible solutions is fundamental.
Receiving wooden guitars on time lets your clients start selling them as planned and recovering their investment.
The Minelli Group and subsidiary Minelli USA have manufactured wooden components for the OEM market for more than 50 years.
Thanks to our internal research & development department, sophisticated software, cutting-edge machines, and extremely accurate electric guitar manufacturing process, we can produce innovative and customized wooden electric guitar necks and bodies.
We have a culture of continuous innovation, and we invest a lot of time and money to get the newest machinery and systems; our company is a very advanced factory based on automation, interconnectivity, machine learning, and real-time data.
If you are looking for top-quality wooden electric guitars or have a project in mind, contact us right now!
