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.
A blank kit has no outline. You draw the shape. You make the cuts. And wood does not grow back.
Tak Takenaka had a guitar in his head that no store sells. He also had a theory to test. So he bought our Blank Electric Guitar Kit with a mahogany body and neck and cut most of the tail off the body. The guitar got light. Then the missing wood caused a problem that a normal guitar never has.
Where it started: a pen sketch on lined paper. Courtesy of Tak Takenaka.
Why build your own shape?
Tak plays hard rock from the 1970s and 1980s. He wanted a guitar made for that music, and made his way. He put the reason at the top of his review.
āSeriouslyā¦ why do they all look so similar? Has guitar design really changed that much since the 1970s?ā š
A blank kit fits a plan like his for a plain reason. The hard cuts are done. The body comes with the pickup holes, the control hole and the neck pocket cut in the right place. The neck comes with its frets in. So the parts that make a guitar play in tune are set. The outline is yours. Our guide to building a blank kit from start to finish shows the steps.
The solid mahogany body is fantastic to work with. Itās surprisingly easy to cut, carve, sand and shape, so you can turn that plain piece of wood into your own crazy dream guitar.
The blank body with the kit pickguard laid on top. Pencil lines mark the new shape. The sketch sits below it. Courtesy of Tak Takenaka.
How do you get a sketch onto the wood?
Tak did not go from the sketch to the saw. He made a scale drawing first. The gray lines show the holes the kit already has. The red line is his new shape, drawn around them.
The plan. Gray lines are the holes cut at the factory. The red line is the new outline. Courtesy of Tak Takenaka.
This step is why the build worked. Every hole stayed where the kit put it. Only the edge moved. Our guide on how to design your own guitar walks through the same idea.
After the cuts. Straight lines and sharp points, with the neck set in place to check the look. Courtesy of Tak Takenaka.
He cut the headstock too. The kit neck comes with a plain paddle and no tuner holes. Tak cut his to a narrow point and drilled six holes in a row. He made it small on purpose, and that choice matters later. Our headstock drilling guide shows how to lay out the holes.
The headstock, cut small and drilled for six tuners. Courtesy of Tak Takenaka.
His kit came with an ebony fretboard. The kit ships with rosewood today.
And the jet-black ebony fingerboard is a beautiful bonus.
Why did he cut the wood away behind the bridge?
Here is the theory, in his words.
āThe wood behind the bridge on an electric guitar contributes very little to the tone and is mostly just dead weight.ā
Builders argue about this, and we will not settle it here. But the weight is not up for debate. Wood is heavy. Take it away and the guitar gets lighter.
So he cut a deep notch into the body behind the bridge. He calls it a no-tail build. His locking tremolo is a heavy bridge, and the guitar still came out at 3.3 kg (7.3 lbs) on his scale.
The notch behind the bridge. This is the wood Tak took out to save weight. Courtesy of Tak Takenaka.
A light body brings a new risk. If the body is light and the headstock is heavy, the neck drops when you let go. Players call it neck dive. This is why Tak cut the headstock small. He also built a rear support that fits in two spots. The low spot tilts the neck up more, which he likes for fast playing. For another fix for neck dive, see Bill Arico's ash bass.
Virtually ZERO neck dive!
What went wrong when the strings came off?
A tremolo bridge is a tug of war. The strings pull it one way. Springs in the back of the body pull it the other way. When both pull the same, the bridge floats level.
Now take all the strings off at once. The springs win. On most guitars that is fine, because the bridge tips back a little and stops. On Tak's guitar it did not stop. He found that with no tail, the springs pulled the bridge much too far back.
He did not glue the wood back on. He fitted a tremolo stabilizer with two small cylinders inside the spring cavity. It pushes back against the springs. Now the bridge stays put, even with every string off.
This is one of the fun things about building your own guitarāyou can come up with solutions to problems that wouldn't even exist on a conventional guitar! š
How did he wire it?
The kit comes with three pickups. Tak used two of his own: a humbucker at the bridge and a single-coil at the neck. Each pickup has its own volume knob. There is no switch. Turn one knob up and the other down, and you can mix the two in any amount you like.
The back of the pickguard. Two volume pots, a few small parts, and tidy wires. Courtesy of Tak Takenaka.
He added two small tricks. A humbucker and a single-coil like different pots, so he soldered a resistor to one pot to suit the single-coil. And he added a treble bleed to each volume. That is a small capacitor and resistor that keep the sound clear when you turn down. Last in line is a kill switch that cuts the sound when you press it. Our guide to wiring a kit guitar covers the basics.
How did he get that red?
Mahogany has open pores. So Tak sealed the grain first. Then came gray primer, a deep red car paint, and a hard two-part clear coat on top.
Gray primer. A flat, even coat shows every dent and scratch before the color goes on. Courtesy of Tak Takenaka.A piece cut from the body, painted in the same red. Courtesy of Tak Takenaka.
One safety note. Two-part clear coat is not safe to breathe. Read the label, wear the mask it calls for, and spray outside or in a booth. If you are not set up for it, a body shop can spray the clear for you. Our finishing safety tips cover the rest, and how to paint a solid body guitar covers the steps.
What makes this build so creative?
Lots of builders change the color. Some change the shape. Tak changed the rules. He asked what a guitar needs and cut off what he thought it did not.
Each odd part of this guitar has a job. The notch saves weight. The small headstock keeps the neck up. The rear support sets the angle. The two knobs blend the pickups. None of it is there just for looks, and yet it looks like nothing else.
And when his own idea made a new problem, he solved that too. That is the part we admire most. A good design is not one with no problems. It is one where the builder stays with it until each one is fixed.
What Tak got right
He drew it to scale before he cut. The plan showed the kit's holes and his outline on one page. So he knew the shape would clear every hole before the saw came out.
He kept the factory cuts. The neck pocket and the pickup holes set how a guitar plays. He left them alone and moved only the edge.
He thought about balance, not just weight. A light body can make the neck drop. He shrank the headstock to match.
He fixed the side effect in a way he can undo. The stabilizer bolts in. No wood went back on, and the weight stayed low.
How did it turn out?
The finished guitar. Deep red, a black pickguard, and a locking tremolo. Courtesy of Tak Takenaka.
Look at the lines. Each edge is straight, and each one points the same way as the neck. Even the pickguard was cut to follow the body. It reads as one shape, not a body with parts stuck on.
The back. You can see the spring cavity and how little wood is left behind it. Courtesy of Tak Takenaka.
Tak made a video of the whole build. The music is his own playing, on this guitar.
The build from sketch to finished guitar. Video courtesy of Tak Takenaka.
Here is how he summed it up.
Itās about finally building the guitar youāve been imagining in your head for the last 40 years. ššø
Tak with the finished guitar. Courtesy of Tak Takenaka.
What you can take from this build
Sketch first. A pen and lined paper is enough to start.
Then draw it to scale. Trace the holes the kit already has. Draw your outline around them.
Leave wood around the neck pocket and the bridge. The strings pull hard on both. Cut your shape out of the rest.
Plan for balance. If you take weight off the body, take some off the headstock too.
Dry fit before you paint. Set the neck and parts in place on bare wood. Fix what is off while it is easy.
Prime before color. Gray primer shows the flaws that bare wood hides.
What do builders ask before they cut their own body shape?
Can you cut a guitar kit body into your own shape?
Yes, if you start with a blank kit. The body is a slab with the pickup holes, the control hole and the neck pocket already cut. You draw your outline around them and cut it with a jigsaw or a band saw. Then you smooth the edges with a rasp and sandpaper.
How much wood can you cut off a guitar body?
You can cut a lot, as long as you leave solid wood where the load is. Keep wood around the neck pocket, around the bridge, and around the holes for the pickups and controls. Leave room for the output jack and both strap buttons too. Draw it to scale first so you can see what is left.
Does cutting wood off the body change the sound of an electric guitar?
Builders do not agree on this. On a solid body guitar, the pickups and the strings make most of the sound. What you will notice for sure is the weight and the balance. A lighter body is easier on your shoulder, but the neck may drop if the headstock is heavy.
What is neck dive and how do you stop it?
Neck dive is when the headstock drops toward the floor as soon as you let go of the neck. It happens when the neck end is heavy and the body is light. You can fix it with a smaller headstock, lighter tuners, or a strap button set farther out on the body.
What is a treble bleed on a guitar?
A treble bleed is a small capacitor, often with a resistor, soldered across a volume pot. A guitar can sound dull when you turn the volume down. The treble bleed lets the high notes pass, so the sound stays clear at low volume.
Can you use car paint on a guitar?
Yes. Car paint is tough and comes in thousands of colors. Seal the wood first, then spray primer, color and clear coat. Two-part clear coat is not safe to breathe, so wear the mask the label calls for, or ask a body shop to spray it.
Our thanks to Tak for sharing the photos and the video. Most people buy the guitar that is on the wall. He drew the one in his head, cut it, and then fixed what the cut caused. It is one of the most creative builds we have seen on a blank kit.
Now a question for you: if you could change one thing about the shape of a guitar, what would you cut off, and what would you keep? Tell us in the builder community.
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