i'm new to this. could anyone help?

[veganinme]

basically, I want to make pedals.  i dont know where to begin, and being ADD doesnt help me having to read all this and do it on my own.

does anyone have any plans for making an electric guitar/violin?

[Dave_B]

Check out http://www.warmoth.com/.

[nero1985]

www.geofex.com

thats teh best place to learn (besides this forum of course  )

[Mark Hammer]

What kind of results are you expecting and how fast do you need them to happen?

[petemoore]

  Reads Reads Reads, starting with FAQ @ the top of page, AMZ, GEO....cliklink around....Tons of info on pedal building.
  It's well worth the price of admission, IMO, to just buy Dan Erlewines "Guitar Repair Method".
  Factory necks you won't beat...unless...well...you wouldn't be asking if you could.
  I built some necks, my brother builds guitars too, and said "I Like Factory Necks", I'd have to agree.
  Getting a solid guitar of inexpensive everything except the neck/woods, then doing a fret redressing, and complete wiring re-do is one way to end up with a great sounding/playing guitar. I started with a superchoice Epi/Gibson Les Paul...Excellent...a Couple Dimarzio pickups and a few fret redressings later...still excellent but could use a fret replacement...which means the binding 'problem'...I druther no binding really...[my preferred method after trying others is to just start with a 'unit' that has the nice neck and decent wood...then just improve/upgrade that]
  Other one I did is a BCRich 24 fret Maple neck w/ rosewood board, and made my own body...not exactly 'easy', but being my third try, went well and turned out great. I'm sure there's stuff on body making, I'd recommend a very complete and well drawn plan before taking the times to just be messin' up woods [like I did].
 

[PenPen]

Its going to take you quite a bit of time to learn both pedal making and guitar making. Two years ago I decided I wanted to learn both of those and amp making. I've spent the last two years reading a LOT of info on this. And yes, I have a variant of ADD myself. Thats the background.

First, start off reading as much of the Geofex website as you can. You probably won't understand it all, but read it anyway. Then come here, read the FAQs, and do searches for terms and subjects you aren't understanding. Once you have parts understood, you can go back to Geo, reread the docs and you should  understand it all. If you don't, come back here and do more searching. Eventually you'll understand pedal making.

Guitarmaking. Start with warmoths site. Read as much as possible to learn the wood types, the terms used in construction. Then, there's a few other sites that are helpful, this one especially:
http://europa.spaceports.com/~fishbake/
Note that his links for the strat is mangled. Use http://europa.spaceports.com/~fishbake/strat/intro.htm to access that section.
Basically, this guy built both a strat and LP style guitars while he lived in Peru, without access to fancy tools and such. Really informative.
I have not yet begun making guitars yet. I have finally read enough info that I feel confident to attempt it now, and I've been aquiring basic tools to work with. This weekend I'm going to local supplier to get some rosewood to attempt my first ever fingerboard. It takes some time and studying to learn.

Good luck in your education. Its very fun and rewarding to play using things you have made with your own two hands. It may be more expensive, but it has its own charm to it.

[Chris R]

I bought all my parts for my DIY guitar at http://www.stewmac.com/

As to building pedals.. i'm supprised no one has mentioned the beginners project.. http://www.elixant.com/~stompbox/smfforum/index.php?board=6.0

Start there.. it outlines the tools, materials, schematic, and build.  - We're all here to help so let us know if you have questions.

[delbowski]

here's another great site for getting guitar supplies and resources on making your own http://www.lmii.com/.  i'll second what Chris R said that stewart-macdonald is also a great place.  like everyone else said... read, read, read.  no other way to get around it if you want to know what you're doing!

[PenPen]

Stew Mac is a great resource if you want to assemble a pre cut guitar. They unfortunately don't offer lefty guitar bodies and necks, so I'm stuck learning how to make them myself. Which is fine, I love to learn.

[Dave_B]

I'm a lefty too, PenPen.  If you don't want to make it yourself, take a look at the Warmoth site.  AFAIK, they have everything available left-handed for the same price.

[PenPen]

Not the Mustang, which is what I'm wanting. Besides, I think it will be fun to make it myself. I have three original designs to make once I learn how this is done.

Though, I think if I ever get the money together to get a Tele, I'm going to get it from Warmoth. Their semi-hollow Tele with a Rosewood top, and rosewood fingerboard has caught my eye. 

[Also Wik]

www.projectguitar.com is a fantastic place for DIY guitar builders. The forum is great, too! The best place to learn and observe others as they post their own progress on builds. Also great for modding.