S.Smith Custom Guitars

Shaping a guitar neck the old fashioned way. Files and rasps.

After cutting the general shape of the neck with the band saw, I smooth out the edges on a spindle sander. Once it’s close to final shape, I’ll clean it all up on the router table.

Cutting the rough outline of a guitar neck. I’m using a high figured piece of curly/quilted maple for this one. After rough cutting the general shape, I’ll finalize the shape with a bit of sanding and then clean it all up on a router table. Enjoy!

After gluing the fretboard to the neck, I use a flush trim router bit to trim everything perfectly flush. No room for error on this.

Here’s a quick look at the process of putting a bevel on a telecaster body. It’s a modern take on a classic design. Enjoy!

A quick look at the process of cutting in and shaping the arm contour on a Stratocaster body. This particular body is African Mahogany.