After a couple of months of effort, I’ve finally finished building my first guitar.

A simple telecaster with a twist, but I’m still very pleased with the result. It’s been over a quarter of a century since I last did any woodwork, and this project had me in Makespace wielding the plunge router and pillar drill.

It really is a testament to the learning potential of the Internet. Most of what I needed to know here I learned from YouTube tutorials, particularly the Crimson Guitars channel. Ten years ago there was no YouTube, and I think we tend to take it for granted now, but as an education tool for things like this, it’s just wonderful – I doubt I would have ended up with a finished guitar had it not existed, given the other demands on my time.

The finished result looks lovely, but also plays great. It’s a common twist on a common guitar, but this exact combination of bits makes this one unique.

I’m looking forward to doing more and slowly making more and more of the parts. The second guitar will be made for my brother to his specification, and I plan on building the body from scratch this time, doing the rough shape on the CNC router at Makespace and then finishing it by hand.

After many years making software, it is rather nice to build something physical.