Electric guitar kit ideas for a spring / summer project.

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I'd like to build an electric guitar, I've never done one before but it's something I'd like to have a go at come the spring. I'm a fairly handy, can solder etc and have a small shed / workshop to complete the work so sorted from that pov. 

The Kits on Amazon for approx £120 seem, on face value too cheap, (perhaps I being too dismissive I don't know)? I'd spend £500+ so I end up with something decent. 

realise I'm asking quite a broad question, however I'd be very grateful for any links to complete kits, and body and necks only that I can fit my own hardware to. Ideally ones in the UK.

thank you.
Graham

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Comments

  • underdogunderdog Frets: 8334
    edited January 2015
    Some of the kits on Amazon look really nice. I've built an £80 kit and was pretty impressed to be honest. It's easy money for a factory as your time and money is dealing with finishing, assembling, soldering and setup. As long as your happy with that kind of work then I'd not worry about spending £500 on a kit.

    But a decent kit of about £150 or up, and bin the electrics and tuners and invest in some good ones. You'd end up with a good guitar.

    Or ignore kits and get a body and neck made and buy whatever hardware and electrics you fancy
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  • The idea of buying a kit to bin electrics etc isn't something I'm really keen on.

    Are there any higher spec kits for sale? All the ones on google I can find are £100 or less. 
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  • speshul91speshul91 Frets: 1397
    Mine was 116 with delivery and seems pretty good
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27345
    Check out the threads here.

    We ran a compo last year to see what people could make out of a basic kit.  You might be surprised ...

     
    The idea of buying a kit to bin electrics etc isn't something I'm really keen on.

    Are there any higher spec kits for sale? All the ones on google I can find are £100 or less. 
    People end up binning the electrics on proper guitars that cost £500 (eg PRS SE pups are often criticised and upgraded!), so you reallly won't get much in terms of quality from a £100 kit.  But the upgrades are still pretty cheap and it's probably one of the more worthwhile parts of the basic kit to be changed.

    The other option is to buy a body/neck from someone like @GSPBasses and then select all the hardware and electronics that you want, binning nothing.  You could probably do that for £500.  BUT ... getting a cheap kit is a great low risk way to learn ... if you screw anything up, you're down £100 (max), whereas if you mess up a decent kit ...
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • LordOxygenLordOxygen Frets: 319
    edited January 2015
    Thanks, yes I understand a cheap kit is a good way to learn and I accept you can make a good guitar. 

    However I would like to look at some higher spec ones as well. £500 is a round number could be more could be less.

    There's several companies in the USA selling high spec bodies and necks along with options to select electronics from etc.I was hoping to get pointed towards companies in the UK offering something similar? 
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27345
    pointed towards companies in the UK 
    I'm not aware of any *companies* doing that in the UK - there's not the same market here as the US.

    Your best bet is probably the aforementioned GSP - if you search through this section and the Classifieds you'll find some examples of his work.  He doesn't actively sell stuff via a website, but if you drop him a PM with an idea of what you're interested in, he'll get back to you.
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • I think tokai might do some guitar kits.

    Also, try looking at precision guitar kits in Canada. I think.

    They don't come with hardware but by all accounts the wood working is very good.

    I agree with @ttony though. A cheap kit is a good idea for a first time if you've never finished before. I did a pretty expensive warmoth jazzmaster as my first, and it's in parts because everything I've done since is better (and they get better each time).
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  • LordOxygenLordOxygen Frets: 319
    edited January 2015
    OK, well by the sounds of it I'm looking for something that doesn't exist (this side of the atlantic). 
    Thanks, will have a look at GSP



    Edit, posted this before seeing post from prettydamned, cheers will have a look at your suggestions.

    Maybe I'll buy a £100 kit to practice on first, shame that my idea is more neich than I thought it would be.
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  • BigMonkaBigMonka Frets: 1763
    Getting the body and neck made by someone like GSP seems to be the best way forward as you'll get exactly what you want. I'm not sure that there's a market particularly for upmarket kits as once you get into the higher price brackets people want to be able to choose their own hardware, so any kit company would have to have such a huge range of pickups/tuners that it wouldn't really be realistic.
    Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, in which case always be Batman.
    My boss told me "dress for the job you want, not the job you have"... now I'm sat in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.
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  • Yes, I think you (and the general consensus) are right, custom body and neck and then buy the hardware and finish myself. Though I think I will have ago at a cheap one to start with.


    I've been looking though all the options here (Canada) http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies/BeginBodyBuilder.aspx wow so much choice!
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  • I have just started my first build and it's coming in at about the £450 mark. I will start a thread when I get some pictures sorted. Nothing revolutionary but maybe of interest to other first timers.

    Yup it's a tele!
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  • DeadmanDeadman Frets: 3852
    I have just started my first build and it's coming in at about the £450 mark. I will start a thread when I get some pictures sorted. Nothing revolutionary but maybe of interest to other first timers.

    Yup it's a tele!
    Be interested to see that.
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  • Deadman said
    Be interested to see that.
    Hi Deadman, guess what, it was your mim tele for sale on ebay with a link to this forum that started the whole thing. I never knew about this place before that and have spent the last few weeks lurking and learning. I was going to buy a Squier and mod it but then got hooked on building from scratch after reading everything on here.

    My Oil City, Honky Tonk Angels arrived today and I am in the middle of applying Wudtone.

    I will get a thread running soon.


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  • DeadmanDeadman Frets: 3852
    @CaptainBlack

    Well, welcome aboard mate. I'm genuinely amazed and really pretty chuffed that you've stumbled over here on the back of that tele. It was owned by 3 other forumites as well as me too.

    @LooseMoose would be interested as he posted the link on ebay.


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  • HysterHyster Frets: 208
    I'll watch this thread with interest, I'm very tempted to have a go at a first build but £400 or £500 quid is into Ishibashi territory and I'm not sure that a self build will be better than that  :|
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27345
    Hyster said:
    I'll watch this thread with interest, I'm very tempted to have a go at a first build but £400 or £500 quid is into Ishibashi territory and I'm not sure that a self build will be better than that  :|
    Self building isn't really about getting something *cheaper*, it's more about the guitar building journey and developing skills that can be applied to other tasks.  

    Oh, and about building something different, that's unique, that is exactly what you want.
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • imaloneimalone Frets: 748
    OK, well by the sounds of it I'm looking for something that doesn't exist (this side of the atlantic). 
    Thanks, will have a look at GSP



    Edit, posted this before seeing post from prettydamned, cheers will have a look at your suggestions.

    Maybe I'll buy a £100 kit to practice on first, shame that my idea is more neich than I thought it would be.
    There are various companies here that sell parts, in addition to GSP (who I've never bought from but is a regular here and seems to produce very nice stuff). http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Guitarbuild-uk sometimes have cheap bodies on auction (though maybe not as cheap as they used to be), and there are sites that sell the parts you need including mass produced necks (and bodies, though it's hard to beat guitarbuild on price for bodies). So while I don't know of any high end kit suppliers over here you can put together all the stuff that would come in a kit (sounds fromThePrettyDamned's post like the American high end kits are neck + body only anyway).
    You wont save any money by building a kit, likely you'll end up spending more. The best reasons to do it are for fun, experience or to get something that's exactly what you want. For just the experience maybe a cheap kit is better, for exactly what you want then you're probably better finding the parts yourself or accepting you will have to replace some of the included parts.

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  • imalone said:
    http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Guitarbuild-uk sometimes have cheap bodies on auction

    The best reasons to do it are for fun, experience or to get something that's exactly what you want.
    This exactly, I was the only bidder on a Guitarbuild Standard Tele body - 2 piece Alder - delivered £43.
    I just wanted quality hardware which has pushed the build price up.
    I will start a build thread today.
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  • Jez6345789Jez6345789 Frets: 1756
    Hi 
    I am a big fan of Guitar Build bodies and they will be doing necks shortly also Les Pauls which I am really interested in doing. 

    I think the big advantage with choosing the parts is you can drill down and get exactly what you want. 

    I wanted old school light swamp ash Strat 2 piece body with a soft V neck and old school pickups, I did an early Wudtone as a finish, which as they say gives you a light weight finish and is easy to do instead of spraying if you dont have the facilities. 

    There is a small mountain of good cheap hardware out there which if you choose carefully is a lot better than what you are getting in an Amazon kit. After playing around with an original Fender vintage Trem that a friend lent me I settled on the Wilkinson version with the steel as I could hear no real audible difference nor any sustain or playing difference and got it on ebay for 18 quid.

    If you get some pickups from someone like OCP on here or others you are going to get a great sounding guitar way better than Amazon Kit. Again doing Vintage wiring yourself is a pleasant evenings hobby and will be way better than a basic kit, you can choose decent caps and pots for not a lot of money. 

    Have fun

    As someone said most of the fun is in the journey rather than looking to make a cheaper guitar. That said I think the Strat I have ended up is a much better instrument than I could of got this side of the custom shop. I spent hours getting a nice broken in feel on the neck rolling the edges wire wooling fret ends and it plays like the Strat I always wanted but could never justify spending custom shop money on it. 

    Just dont lend it to friends as since then I have made several for friends which the first time around you think is fun that somebody actually likes what you did but  then becomes a bit of a chore.  Ha Ha

    This year I am back to building my Pine Strat from Guitar Build and hopefully a Les Paul when he gets them done


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  • Some very usful info and points of view here. Thank you for sharing. 
    The ebay shop looks to have very good value bodies.
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