Meat and potatoes.

So, that's enough exposition and sappy stuff. Let's talk about where I'm going with my plans.

I initially planned to build a classic Les Paul style guitar (like the one pictured below ) - which has a body constructed of mahogany with a carved (or arched) maple top and a set (or glued-in) neck.

I went to a few luthier supply websites and priced out all the parts, hardware, materials, and electronics. It came to a grand total of around eight hundred dollars (although, I found a much cheaper place to buy wood, so I could probably drop a hundred or so off that estimate) which sounds bad... until you consider that buying a Gibson Les Paul costs around two grand.

I've decided to change my plan, though. I'm going to hold off on the Les Paul for a while and build a Stratocaster-style instrument first, like this one:

There are a couple of good reasons. First, the Strat is still a damned fine guitar. Secondly, it's a much simpler design. Stratocasters have a one-layer body with no arch-top, and most of them have a bolt-on neck. Bolt-ons are the easiest kind of neck joint to deal with. Third, most Fender guitars were designed with easy manufacture in mind - which also means cheaper to manufacture, particularly compared to Les Pauls.

Also, Strats are usually made from Alder or Poplar wood bodies with a one-piece maple neck. Keith works pretty much exclusively in poplar for his toys, so trying to find a "deal" on more exotic woods won't be a concern.

Lastly, even though I've decided to go in first on a "practice" build, I'm still going to end up buying a lot of tools for the project... tools which I will keep and re-use.

There are trade-offs, sure. Poplar is, as far as most luthiers are concerned, an "ugly" wood, at least based on what I've read. All that means is that I'll likely end up choosing an opaque finish that doesn't show much grain. I won't get much practice with inlays or bindings (decoration) on this kind of instrument. Same goes for routing. But because the materials for this project are much cheaper than the stuff for the Les Paul, I'll get to dive right in. And I won't be nearly so worried about making mistakes.

My initial impressions are these: Body work will likely be the easiest. Everything I've read on neck design, construction, and joining make me cringe a little bit - but I'm sure it'll make more sense when I have the neck blank in my hand. Wiring electronics is something I've never really done before, but I don't think it'll be too difficult. Decorating is going to test my patience.