BITS 'N' PIECES

Some of the best custom builds can almost happen by chance, believes Dave Burrluck, as he attempts to turn some disparate parts into a valid guitar. What could possibly go wrong?

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The wonderful thing about DIY domestic modding is that creating a guitar can be a bit of adventure and not necessarily follow a specific plan. It's very different from ordering up a custom guitar where all the fine details have to be decided on well in advance. No, us modders can easily change our direction, whether that's because an inspired idea seems like a big mistake the following morning, or simply that we come up with something better altogether.

In the dim, distant past at college, I was taught that every project needs a design brief: its aims and objectives, options to the main idea, not to mention the methods of creating that idea and, of course, as many sketches and drawings as you could muster. If your design brief was good, you'd earn brownie points, even if your final desk, table, chair or - in my case - guitar was less than perfect. To be honest, most of us knocked something up in the workshop first and then wrote our design brief. Some of us even passed the course!

Back to the present and I'm reminded of those days. I have a project to complete, to a deadline, but - not for the first time - I haven't got a plan, let alone a design brief. Where to start?

Going Green