how to build an electric violin

1. obtain materials. in my case I used a walnut slab that was thick enough to include the tuning box, and a relatively thick piece of basswood. I also needed some maple for the nut, but we already had some from scraps from other projects.
2. cut the materials into rectangles of the correct size. make sure all edges are square and parallel.
• on the next steps, the whole idea is to take off material with the biggest and roughest sections first.
3. using a table saw, make a cut running along the bottom of the violin as if the finished violin was sitting on the bottom curve. set the blade just deep enough to touch the back of the tuning box, then lower the blade just enough to compensate for any error the blade or wood may have.
4. make another cut with the face of the violin against the saw table to meet up with the cut made in the last step. a rectangle should fall out.
5. set the blade of the table saw to 45 degrees. set the blade depth to just touch the line where the bridge will sit. set the placement of the cut where the bottom of the 45 will touch the end of the fingerboard.
6. set the blade back to 90 degrees. set the depth so the blade will touch the end of the cut you just made. make multiple cuts each moving a blade's width away to cut out the area for the bridge to sit.
7. make another cut as if you wanted to make the slab thinner. set the depth to the line of the tuning box. this cut should run parallel to the neck and fingerboard if they weren't tapered. it should be 90 degrees to the cut you made in step 3.
8. now set the violin face down to cut out a rectangle a lot like you did in step 4. repeat this for the other side.
9. set the violin up on the side you used in step 7, but orient it so the outline faces you. set the blade depth to touch the cut you made in step 7. cut just so the top of the body will be left.
10. lay the violin as it would sit in a case if it was finished. orient it so the nut would go into the blade first. make a cut 90 degrees to the one you jsut made. set the blade as high as is comfortable for you. the higher you set it the less likely you will cut into the body, but it will also be easier to cut your fingers. cut make this cut but stop when you make the scrap fall out. repeat this for the other side.
11. now you need to cut the slope of the neck down when you lay it flat. first lay the violin the way it would lay in a case. set the blade to 45 degrees. cut 1 inch away from the other 45 degree cut you made. if you cut too deep, as I did:
• cut a maple chunk to fit in the gap. make the grain orient verticaly to add strength. use epoxy to fit it in. take the oppertunity to think about if you want to make that maple chunk run along that whole cut.
12. starting near the nut, cut out the slope of the nec one blade's width at at a time, making the blade increasingly deeper to touch the line. use this same tecnique to cut the top of the fingerboard.
13. now you are done with the table saw. use a drill press to cut holes around the shape of the body. make the holes close, but not touching. do the same to cut the width of the neck.
14. use a jigsaw to connect the dots you made with the drill press.
15. use a belt sander to get rid of the spikes and bring it down to the line.
16. use scrapers and plaines to get rid of the bumps where the bridge sits and the frount and back of the neck.
17. make the back of the tuning box curve to look nice using chisels.
18. using scrapers, scrape anything that looks bumpy or is far from the line until it doesn't look bumpy or it touches the line.
19. trace the line of the piece you have been working on the piece that is still a rectangle. (in my case, basswood.)
20. use the same methods used for the walnut to cut out the basswood, but leave it a little farther from the line.
21. use a router with a streight bit that has a berring on the end to make the basswood the exact same shape as the walnut.
22. use the drill press to cut holes in the basswood that DO NOT GO ALL THE WAY THROUGH!
23. chisel the inside of the basswood to make it smooth. it needs to be hollow to house the electronics.
24. use hide glue to glue the basswood onto the walnut. use screws to keep it in place while the glue dries. (you use hide glue because this isn't a structural joint, and hide glue can be taken off.)
25. use chisels, rounded files, and rounded scrapers to get the curve of the neck and fingerboard.
26. drill a small hole for the wire coming out of the bridge to get into the basswood cavity. drill a bigger hole comming out of the side to fit a plug to plug into an amp. drill one more in the top of the body for the volume control.
27. drill an access hole in the back of the basswood to be able to get to the electronics.
28. the bridge comes with just the wire comming out of it. solder the wire to some longer wires so it can access the volume control. from there solder some more wires to get to the plug.
29. use laquer as a finish. put as many coats as you want on it. to be extra glossy, between coats use scrapers to scrape the finish, then the next coat will be super glossy.
30. add strings. now you can play everything you haven't been able to play with your accustic instrument!