More Luthier Tools – The Garage Luthier

Why only have the tools you need when there are so many to play with.

Outline

So during my builds (so far) were really my first attempts at very basic Luthier work and of course, that meant buying new tools (any excuse to be honest), now this isn’t strictly necessary but having at least a few of the right tools to hand does help out no end in getting a finished guitar that you might even be able to play or hope to be able to play.

Now this isn’t a definitive guide by any means just bits and pieces I put together that helped me out during this process, so hopefully, you will find this list useful. And if you have anything you wish to add you can hit me up on social media the links are around here somewhere.

Hand Tools for Marking & Cutting

Precision Protractor – Small handy little protractor for marking out, with precision cutouts for fine marks. Perfect for marking out any fret or nut work on a fretboard. Great when marking out precise inlays or fret slots.
String Spacing Ruler – Welding cleaning wires good for Nut filing.
Fret Spacing Ruler with 4 Scale Lengths in 1 – precision double-sided fret marking ruler has 4 scale lengths in one ruler.
Marking Out Square – 100mm – Small simple precise marking out square.
Marking Knife – For marking all the things on wood and soft metal.
Awl – Used for scribing, aligning and punching holes in leather, canvas, wood and soft alloys.
Precision Knife – Hobby craft knife for marking out, cutting and trimming.

Hand Tools for Shaping & Sanding

Double-ended stubby ring spanner 10mm and 13mm – Small handy little ring spanner for pots and tuners.
15 Pieces Guitar Luthier Tools Set – between this and the fret polishing set below you will have most tools you will ever need, not the most expensive but good enough.
13 Cleaning Wires Set + 10 Cleaning Needles + 5 Nylon Brushes – Welding cleaning wires good for Nut filing.
Guitar Straight Edge – To check neck straightness.
Guitar Fret Polish Tool Set
Gel nail buffer & File set – Cheaper alternative to fret rubbers and work just as well.
Engineer compact side cutters – Cutting strings and trimming wires.
Engineer compact long nose pliers – Holding wires while soldering and other things.
Wera Screwdriver w/6 bits in handle – Well.

Hand Tools for Fine Fretwork

To give you that professional fine fretwork finish, no sharp frets here.

Fret End File – Small fret end file with fine teeth and safe edges for fine fretwork.
Fret Rubber – Make your frets shine, Fret Rubbers are rubber impregnated with abrasive grit and they come in four grades Course, Medium, Fine & Superfine

Hand Tools for Electronics

Basic tools to help with all your basic electronic and wiring needs. From checking pickups to diagnosing ground faults or just checking your resistor and capacitor ratings before use.

Engineer compact side cutters – Cutting strings and trimming wires.
Engineer compact long nose pliers – Holding wires while soldering and other things.

Other Hand Tools

Double-ended stubby ring spanner 10mm and 13mm – Small handy little ring spanner for pots and tuners.
String Action Gauge (Metric) – This measuring tool is very useful, includes a different measuring rule on each edge. With easy-to-read string height measurements along the bottom edge, a 75mm traditional ruler on the opposite edge, each of the smaller edges shows tiny rulers.
Over String Gauges – Set of 4 – With just a quick visual check, you can be confident with the shape of your fretboard. Now with notches so that you can quickly check your radius without needing to remove the strings.