This is a "how to" book on making a solid body guitar or bass from scratch. There are plans for a bolt on neck guitar and a neck through the body bass. With a little reworking of the drawings, you could make a neck through guitar, or a bolt on neck bass. They show you how to make the guitar using common woodworking power tools and handtools. You won't have to buy expensive specialized tools that are only made for guitar repair.

My friend read the book and he commented that the body patterns and headstock patterns do not have the overall dimensions on them, so you have to find a way to "size" them in order to make an instrument. The book has very detailed patterns for routing the pickups.

There is a good chapter on finishing. The chapter on electronics is one of the best I have seen in this type of book. There is also a good section on different bridges commonly used on guitars.

I recommend the book, but unless you have a lot of skill, or a lot of money and time, for most people it would be better to buy a quality neck that is fretted, and make the body from scratch. You can then do the finish you want, and custom pickups and bridge.