JET Guitars Factory Tour: Body Construction

Honduras mahogany and white African Korina are stacked and seasoned. When the moisture content is stable at 9% or less, they will be turned into bodies for JET Earlewood & Caldera guitars.

The body blanks are planed to thickness, then shaped with a 7/4" straight bit using the template router guide. In the background is an array of various templates & patterns.

These blanks are made from the lightest possible Korina or Mahogany to enhance tone and make these guitars a pleasure to play.

Here's a group of bodies with the tone chambers routed. We rout chambers using one of three patterns, depending on the control layout that is going to be used. Chambering gives a nice resonant character to the guitar and makes them lightweight. Next, the bodies are planed to produce the proprietary peaked centerline unique to the JET Earlewood guitar. These are ready to have the tops joined.

The awesome book-matched maple found on our guitars comes from the Pacific Northwest USA.

These top billets are actually a hybrid between the beautiful, massive carved tops found on other high end electric guitars, and the thin tops found on flat or drop-top makes.

The 1/2 " thick tops Jeff uses give better tone especially when combined with a maple neck, the top radius preserves the tasteful sculpted look.

The centerline in the top is carefully jointed by hand at a precise angle to match the peaked centerline of the body.

Here is an example of the JET proprietary peak, where you can see the quality and attention to detail that goes into the construction of each body.

Here is a top being glued to a body in the specially made press in the JET shop. Polyurethane glue, the strongest wood glue available, is used and cures for at least 24 hours. Also in the photo are two pieces fresh out of the press, and another that has had the rounded radius sanded into the top after joining.

Here is a top being glued to a body in the specially made press in the JET shop. Polyurethane glue, the strongest wood glue available, is used and cures for at least 24 hours. Also in the photo are two pieces fresh out of the press, and another that has had the rounded radius sanded into the top after joining.

This photo shows another view of the neck joint routing setup, along with a few freshly routed bodies. The pocket extends more than three inches into the body, and is tight enough to press in the neck and pick the guitar up with it.

The output jack plate is recessed in a bevel. In order to get the proper compound angles in this tight area, we use a special fixture for the initial boring. The cavity is then trimmed by hand.

Earlewood guitars are strung through the body and over an ebony tailpiece. Perpendicular string holes are bored first.

The recesses for the ¼" string anchor bar and the ebony tailpiece are routed using a pattern guide. This photo shows three partially routed bodies and some string anchors that will be fit into the recesses. This is also a good view of the jackplate cavity, which has already been beveled and bored.

One of three alternative control cavity options is routed. The matching recess for the cover is also created using a template. The back edge is rounded over also.

Matching recessed korina and mahogany wood covers are a JET trademark. We make four different ¼" covers using a time saving method involving plexiglas patterns, coat hanger wire and a belt sander. (I don't want to give away ALL my trade secrets, now.) A half day devoted to these yields about two dozen covers. In the background are some ebony pickup trim pieces.

Here are the bodies fully routed, contoured, and edge rounded. Now they're ready for final sanding and finishing. You can see some headstock work in this shot, too.