MCCCD Program Description

Custom Electric Guitar Fabrication

Course: ELE161

First Term: 2021 Spring

Lec + Lab 3.0 Credit(s) 4.0 Period(s) 4.0 Load
Subject Type: Occupational
Load Formula: T- Lab Load

Description: Offered to guitar or bass players, artists, woodworkers or anyone who wants to learn the specialized skills of a luthier or the art of electric guitar crafting, maintenance, and setup. Fabricate and integrate a complete guitar neck and body, and finish with a combination of paint, stain, and clear coats.

MCCCD Official Course Competencies
1. Demonstrate safe and proper use of luthier hand tools, electrical tools, and hand held and stationary power tools used in a luthier workshop. (I-X) 2. Design and fabricate a custom guitar or bass body. (I, II, III, V, VI, VII, X) 3. Design and fabricate a custom guitar or bass neck. (I, II, V, VIII, X) 4. Paint, stain, or swirl dip a guitar and neck, clear coat and buff finish. (V) 5. Assemble, solder and test guitar or bass pickup volume and tone circuit. (VII, VI) 6. Fabricate a custom guitar or bass nut. (VIII) 7. Construct a guitar case humidifier and understand the effects of humidity on wood. (IX) 8. Perform a manual new guitar setup. (X)
MCCCD Official Course Competencies must be coordinated with the content outline so that each major point in the outline serves one or more competencies. MCCCD faculty retains authority in determining the pedagogical approach, methodology, content sequencing, and assessment metrics for student work. Please see individual course syllabi for additional information, including specific course requirements.

MCCCD Official Course Outline
I. Safe use of equipment and tools applied to guitar fabrication II. Sandpaper, scrapers, drill bit and lubrication III. Guitar body design and fabrication A. Control cavity design B. Body cavity drill, sand and scrape IV. Guitar neck design and fabrication A. Headstock design and fabrication B. Fret dot install C. Fretboard to neck integration, profiling D. Fretboard radius and fret installation E. Neck heel and body fitting F. Guitar nut fitting and fabrication G. Bridge considerations V. Finishes, customization and buffing A. Paint, swirl dip, stain, Tru-oil B. Clear coating finishes C. Buffing D. Glues options in assembly/repair E. Fretboard oils vs finish F. Waterslide graphics and text application VI. Guitar body cavity shielding for Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) A. EMI B. EMI harness design and fabrication C. Guitar cavity shielding with copper or aluminum or paint D. EMI harness installation VII. Guitar Electronics A. Soldering basics B. Guitar circuit theory and components C. Humbucker vs single coil pickups D. Schematic and grounding diagrams E. Solder a guitar tone circuit and EMI harness F. Pickup testing and troubleshooting VIII. Guitar Nuts A. Nut material B. Design tools C. Guitar nut fabrication and fit D. Guitar nut repair IX. Guitar Humidification A. Humidity B. Humidifier control unit design and construction X. Guitar Setup A. Bridge setup and height adjustment B. Guitar body to neck adjustments C. Strings and tuning D. Neck relief E. Nuts, setup F. Pickup height G. Final integration H. Guitar intonation

MCCCD Governing Board Approval Date: May 5, 2020

All information published is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information presented, but based on the dynamic nature of the curricular process, course and program information is subject to change in order to reflect the most current information available.