Well, I think I might make my own guitar. Get some parts together and build it. But I was thinking, holy crap, even unfinished bodies are expensive (to an extent anyway) Does anyone have any idea how hard it would be to make one myself? Think it will be extremely expensive?
@ Rekarp (if you read this): How much of a challenge do you think this is, oh might wood master.
A solid-body guitar would probably be easier. Acoustic guitars require a bit more skill to get them to sound really good. Do you have a donor guitar for the pieces (frets, strings, fingerscrews, etc) or are you planning on buying all that?
Solid body would be the way to go if your making an electric guitar. What you do is buy the wood you want to use for it from a lumber yard (see is Woodcraft is near you). Look for wood thats the right thickness. Don't buy a board thats the same width as the guitar because its super expensive. Once you find that you cut the boards to make sure the edges are 100% straight/ Any variations will cause screw up the gluing process. Cut the boards to the length of the guitar body. Take the boards and spread a high grade wood glue on to the sides and glue them together. Use lots of glue. Clamp the whole thing and wait 2-3 days. Unclamp it and trace your design on it. Using like a scroll saw cut the majority of the material off leaving a thin layer. A spindle sander works great for removing this excess but a drum sander on a drill press (what I use) works great.
Thats basically how I would go about making a electric guitar.
Now for acoustic guitars....I know the internal volume is important in producing a good sound. So the design of the body is the most important part. The hardest part would be bending the sides of the guitar so I would avoid that by making a template that was smaller then the actually size of the guitar and cut "rings" of material out of some 1/2" stick with a router. What you do is stick you small template on the board and cut around it with the router. I would guess you want the rings to be 3/16" in thickness so its not to heavy though 1/8" would be ideal. Then stack these together and glue and clamp. For the top and bottom do it the way I described for the electric except with thinner wood (1/8"?). You will need support arches and the like to keep the guitar front from buckling from the forces from the strings.
As for necks... For all intent of explanation acoustic and electric are about the same. You need to use a higher end wood and shape it just right to handle the loads. There is a metal rod that goes down the back that supports the neck to keep it from buckling.
That is about all I know on building guitars. I know there are plenty of forums with how tos and the like out there so give google a whirl.
The wood master
"I was under the impression Mac owners don't actually USE their machines, they just parade them around trying to evangelize the masses."
Yeah, Rekarp really hit the nail on the head. I was looking on doing the same; when I first picked up guitar in fifth grade, my teacher had built quite a few guitars. He gave me the first steps, and I wanted to do it, but i never got around to it (kind of like where I think modding is going for me as well). But, ghosst, being that your avatar is the Fender logo, I say stick with it and try it!
Well, it would definitly be an electric. The only problem I can see so far is finding templates for the pickups, control box, and neck. (I would use a bolt on neck)
Well, the thing about making your own guitar, is that you can make it look, feel, and sound to your liking, so, if it's in the budget, you should try building a couple, using different styles and materials, to see what you prefer. Best of luck to you!
PS, I'm sure it wont be to hard to find templates for stuff with a little bit of time on Google
The project guitar forums are a great place to get templates and help when building a guitar. Also, check out my website and take a look at my Les Paul build.
Get some parts together and build it. But I was thinking, holy crap, even unfinished bodies are expensive (to an extent anyway) Does anyone have any idea how hard it would be to make one myself? Think it will be extremely expensive? 
