list of tools required. surface plainer, table saw, scroll or saber saw, router and bits, drill press and barrel sanders, orbital and belt sander as well as sandpaper, drill and bits, screwdrivers,  compresser and paint gun, a selection of boreing bits, lots of patience and steady hands.         next, you'll want to select a design keeping in mind the number of pickups you want to cram into the body and still have the right demensions from nut to bridge, barely enough room for three humbuckers, from my experience.               ok now you have a design in mind, draw it out full sized on paper first, lineing up the neck and pickups you've selected for the beast, and makeing sure the bridge will go where it is supposed to. remember 25.5 inches from nut to bridge saddles. always keep this in mind or your work will be fruitless.  how radical or difficult will this design  be to transform into a guitar body, remember there are limitations  on  what you can and can't do with a lot of tools.  great now that the design has been well thought out the next step is to descide what wood you want to use for the project. alder is a commonly used medium for guitar bodies and will cost you roughly $30.00 for a blank at the local hardwood outlet, thats a piece roughly 20 inches by 13 inches by 2 inches thick, alder is a semi soft hardwood and sands easily, but also does not stand up to dings and dents well, so i prefer to use hardwood, like oak, hard maple, for the grain, paduak, nice grain structure but messy to work with, african maple, dark walnut, birdseye and wavy maple also for their beautiful grain. true hardwoods are more difficult to cut, sand and  finish but the end result will be worth it as long as you don't cover it up with a color. hardwood was meant to show off it's grain and not be painted white, ok now you've got the medium you want to use, the design on paper and all the tools a man could want lol. time to choose a neck, got one in mind or do you need one, search lots  guitar necks, many times you will be able to purchase 5 necks for the price of 1. there may be one bad one in the set but, what's the difference, you've got 4 good ones, at the cost of one, now that you have your neck, carefully measure the heel and transfer these demensions onto your design, taking into consideration the depth of the neck at the heel. take a good look at the grain structure and descide what pattern your design will look best on, transfer your design to the wood, be very careful at this point, the position of the neck is very important to your end result. this is the first cut you will make, and you dont want it oversize, or too deep. set up your router with the proper depth cutter and set the depth stop. make your cuts in small depth changes gradually till you reach the set depth, making sure not to color outside the lines lol, the last cut for the neck will be for fit. ya i know you want to cut the design out. NOT YET, set the neck into the pocket and run a straight edge down both sides of the neck, scribeing a line down the body. this will give you pickup and bridge alignment, remember 25.5 inches nut to bridge saddles. first get your bridge lined up with the neck, if this is your first time you may want to use a top loader as it's easier set up than a whammy. cool, now  you're ready to set up the pickup configuration. what have you got 3 hummers and 3 singles. choose the ones you want to use and mock them up on the body, keep in mind, loaded pickguard? or pickup rings, remember this is a beautiful piece of hardwood, you don't want to cover it up with a bunch of plastic if you can avoid it. great now you know where the pickups will go. next stage  you'll route the pockets for the pickups and a cavity for you tone and volume controls. STAY TUNED