Tips you've learnt; thing's you wish someone had told you BEFORE you started

[thisSNsucks]

I only have one complete build under my belt (and a few still in the works) but my typical rules are:

Measure twice, cut once.
Never take your eye off the blade.
Don't do any work if you feel you're in a hurry.

There's also great ways to save money when you're ordering parts, sometimes it's cheaper to order parts at higher prices together to save on shipping than buying piece by piece for cheaper on ebay and then have to pay for shipping.

I like the adjustable tuning keys from stewmac and buying my bridge and all electronics from guitarelectronics.com

 

[Barnaby]

Another great rule: clean and sharpen all of your tools before putting them away.

I also like to put a little Briwax on freshly-sharpened chisels and planes, just to keep the rust at bay.

 

[gmjhowe]

Another great rule: clean and sharpen all of your tools before putting them away.

I also like to put a little Briwax on freshly-sharpened chisels and planes, just to keep the rust at bay.

Actually, Briwax is awesome. For a long while I recommended bees wax varnish for finishing wood with. However people were never really impressed.

Then I realised all of them had just been to B&Q and picked up a tin of some other brand wax.
Which lead to my discovery that Briwax is just in a league of its own.

So now I make a point to specifically recommend it, telling people not to just get something else from the shop because they are impatient to wait/find the proper stuff.

I don't know if its usually used to finish instruments with, but I love how nice it is to work with.
Plus unlike most varnished/poly finishes, if you dink the wood, you can just sand down that area, re-wax and it blends right in.