The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Ethan Ebbing, a Coldwater High School student, plays the electric guitar he built, wired and painted himself.
COLDWATER - Students taking Coldwater High School's material processing class were tasked with a simple yet broad assignment: build something. While incoming senior Ethan Ebbing had free reign to build almost anything, he decided to tackle a more daring project - an electric guitar.
Over the course of 50 hours, the 17-year-old designed, built, wired and spray-painted a working electric guitar.
"I am in a band and I've been really into guitar for the past couple of years," he said. "I didn't really know what I wanted to build in this class this year, so I thought it'd be cool to try to build a guitar."
The project began with a slab of wood. The classic rock fan said he used a computer numerical control(CNC) machine to cut out the body of the guitar from a piece of poplar wood. From there he rounded the edges, painted the wooden body and attached the neck.
Staff at the Celina Music Store helped wire the electronics and pickups.
Ethan Ebbing, a Coldwater High School student, made this electric guitar. He built, wired and painted it himself.
Ebbing estimated the project cost about $300, which he said is significantly cheaper than buying a guitar.
The burgeoning musician taped and painted the guitar blue, white and black, mimicking Eddie Van Halen's "frankenstrat" guitar. Blue, white and black also happen to be the signature colors of The Spillers, a six-piece cover band consisting of high schoolers from Mercer County in which Ebbing plays guitar.
Because the guitar is electric, Ebbing said the type of wood didn't affect the instrument's tone. Unlike an acoustic guitar, electric guitar amplifies sound, he said.
"When the strings vibrate, it electronically picks up those vibrations and it sends it through the wires that are connected to the input jack, which is where you plug in your guitar," Ebbing said. "From those pick ups to the wire to the amp, it electronically creates the sounds."
Ebbing said The Spillers recently learned "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses, so he can properly rock out with his new instrument. In fact, he said he prefers "Les Paul-style guitars, like Slash from Guns N' Roses."
The experience, Ebbing said, has been incredibly gratifying.
"I would recommend it to anyone (who) plays guitar because you kind of learn more about your instrument and what goes into making the ones that you play," he said. "It's just a fun experience and you get another guitar out of it."
Ebbing's favorite song to play is "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses.
The experience also came with several learning curves, such as the delicate art of measuring dimensions.
"I learned a lot from it - it's a lot harder than you think," Ebbing said. "There's a lot more steps that go into it than you would imagine. I had a couple of problems with the neck fitting into the body where it should because it was hard to get those dimensions right on the programming."
To see Ebbing's new guitar in action, The Spillers will play next on July 1 at McSober's Saloon in Coldwater.
