The body after the cuts. The long slot is for the controls. The two smaller holes are for the pickups. The square pocket at the bottom holds the neck. Courtesy of Simon S.
Why would you cut your own guitar shape?
Most kits come with the body already cut. You sand it, finish it and put it together. A blank kit hands the best part to you. The body is one flat block of mahogany, and the outline is your call.
Simon went for sharp points and long, lean lines. Look at the photo above. No two sides match. One horn sweeps up past the neck. The tail ends in two points with a curve cut between them.
How do you draw a shape around holes that are already cut?
A blank kit is not a bare plank. The hard cuts are done for you. The body comes with a pocket for the neck, holes for the two pickups and a slot for the controls. They sit in the right spots, so the strings line up and the guitar plays in tune. Your job is to draw a shape that keeps all of them inside the line, with solid wood all the way around each one.
Simon did just that. Count the holes in the first photo: the long slot, the two pickup holes and the neck pocket. Each one has wood on every side. His outline is wild, but it bends around the parts that must not move.
That is the trick to a good custom shape. Treat the pre-cut holes as fixed points. Draw the fun part around them. Our guide on how to design your own guitar covers the rest, and custom body shapes explained shows what each style is good for.
Why did he 3D print the pickguard?
A pickguard is the flat plate on the front of a guitar. It guards the wood from your pick, and on this kit it also holds the neck pickup. A stock pickguard is cut to follow one body outline. Put it on a new shape and the edges no longer match. It may hang past the wood. It may just look like it came from some other guitar.
You will not find a pickguard in a shop for a shape that only you have. So Simon made his own on a 3D printer.
The same body, now a deep brown, with the parts on. The black mesh is the pickguard Simon printed. Courtesy of Simon S.
He could have printed a plain flat plate. He printed a honeycomb. The mesh is full of small six-sided holes, and the stained wood shows through every one. The pickguard still does its job. It holds the neck pickup in place. But it does not hide the mahogany he had just finished.
A closer look at the same photo. The printed pickguard holds the neck pickup and wraps around the neck pocket. The brown wood shows through the mesh. Courtesy of Simon S.
Look at the edges too. The plate gets narrow as it runs down to the neck. It wraps around one side of the neck pocket. Its top edge is cut to fit around the bridge plate. This part was drawn for this body and no other.
Simon did not stop at the shape. He told us what he changed.
Easy to upgrade parts as desired (I upgraded pickups, pots, nut and switch, and 3d printed a custom pickguard), but all the included parts seem good quality entry level.
That is four swaps and one printed part. The pickups turn string motion into sound. The pots are the dials behind the volume and tone knobs. The switch picks which pickup you hear. The nut is the small white piece at the top of the neck where the strings rest.
A closer look at the controls and the bridge. Each new pickup has two thin blades in place of six round poles. Courtesy of Simon S.
We like how fair he is here. He did not swap the parts because the stock ones let him down. He calls them good for the price. He swapped them because he had a sound and a feel in mind. A kit suits that well. The parts are common sizes, so a new one goes in where the old one sat.
Lots of builders change the color of a kit. Simon changed three things that most people leave alone. The outline. The pickguard. The parts under it.
And the three fit each other. The body is all angles. The pickguard is all angles too, with a mesh that repeats one small shape again and again. The black pickups match the black plate. The chrome bridge and controls stand out on the brown wood. Nothing looks stuck on.
He also used a new tool for an old job. Builders have cut pickguards by hand for a long time. A printer lets you draw the part on a screen, test it and print it again if it is a hair off. That makes a custom shape much less scary.
What Simon got right
He kept every pre-cut hole inside his outline. The neck pocket, the pickups and the controls stayed where the kit put them. So the strings still line up, and his new shape did not cost him a guitar that plays.
He made the pickguard part of the design. A stock plate would have fought his outline. A printed one could follow it, edge for edge.
He let the wood show. A solid plate would have hidden a big patch of mahogany. The open mesh keeps it in view.
He swapped parts with a goal. He changed four parts that shape sound and feel. He kept the rest. That is money well spent.
How did it turn out?
The last photo shows the guitar with its neck on. The fretboard is dark rosewood with white dots. The six tuners are in.
The neck is on and the tuners are in. The headstock is the same brown as the body. A tin of finishing wax sits on the bench. Courtesy of Simon S.
The bare wood is now a deep, even brown from end to end, and the headstock matches. Mahogany takes color well. It is also easy to cut and sand, which helps a lot when you saw your own outline. Our stain finish guide shows one way to get a look like this.
One safety note. Rags soaked in oil or stain can heat up as they dry. Lay them flat outside until they are dry. Our finishing safety tips cover the rest.
And the part that counts most? Simon said it best.
Final product plays beautifully and sounds great
What you can take from this build
Trace the holes first. Lay paper on the blank and mark the neck pocket, the pickup holes and the control slot. Draw your shape around those marks.
Leave solid wood around each hole. A thin wall can crack when you drive a screw near it.
Plan the pickguard with the shape. If your outline is new, the stock plate may not suit it. Draw both at the same time.
Test a printed part in paper first. Print the outline on a sheet, cut it out and lay it on the body. Fix the drawing before you use any plastic.
Swap parts one group at a time. Pickups, pots and the switch all sit on the same wires, so do those in one go. Do the nut on its own.
Keep the stock parts. They work. They are also handy for a test fit before the new ones show up.
What do builders ask about printed pickguards and blank kits?
Can you 3D print a guitar pickguard?
Yes. A pickguard is a thin, flat part, so it suits a home printer well. Trace the body, mark the screw holes and the pickup hole, then draw the plate to match. Print it flat on the bed. Most pickguards are about 2 to 3 mm thick.
What plastic is best for a 3D printed pickguard?
PETG and ABS both hold up well to heat. PLA is the easiest to print, but it can go soft in a hot car or in strong sun. If you print in PLA, keep the guitar out of the heat.
Will a stock pickguard fit a custom body shape?
It will most often still line up with the pickup hole, since that hole did not move. But its outer edge was cut to follow the stock outline. On a new shape it can hang past the wood or look out of place. Most builders with a custom shape make a new plate.
What parts are easiest to upgrade on a guitar kit?
Pickups, pots, the switch, the nut and the tuners are the most common swaps. Pickups, pots and the switch need a soldering iron. The nut needs slow, careful fitting so the strings sit at the right height. Tuners need only a wrench and a small screwdriver if the new ones fit the same holes.
What is a blank guitar kit?
The body is a solid slab of wood with no outline cut. The neck pocket, the pickup holes and the control slot are cut for you. You draw and saw the rest of the shape. The neck comes built, with the frets in.
How do you design a guitar body around holes that are already cut?
Treat the holes as fixed points. Trace them onto paper, then draw your outline so each one sits inside it with solid wood on all sides. Keep the neck pocket, the pickups and the bridge where they are, since they set where the strings run. The rest of the shape is up to you.
Our thanks to Simon for sharing his photos and his review. He cut his own shape, then made the one part no shop could sell him. It is one of the most creative blank kit builds we have seen.
Now a question for you: if you could 3D print one part for your guitar, what would it be? Tell us in the builder community.
Tak Takenaka drew a guitar no store sells, then cut it from a blank kit. He took out the wood behind the bridge to save weight, and solved the problem that caused.
Vincent S. had a pale quilted maple top and chose not to stain it. He covered it edge to edge in tattoo-style stickers instead. Here is how he layered, masked and coated it, and what to test before you try it.
Dan Muehlemann wanted a bass shaped like his hockey team's logo, but the shape did not fit on the blank. Here is how he added wood, walled the body with playing cards and poured it blue, and what you can copy.
Mark Maneja
9 min read
Mark Maneja
9 min read
