Buy or build?

Jetfire

As money is tight these days, im wondering about building a guitar rather than buying. That way i can squirrel bits away rather than a big out lay and probably get what I want rather than settling for 95% what i want. I know long term its more expensive to build one but potentially not by much. I did start before but i was intending to do it all my self (soldering etc) but i may just do a bitsa instead. 

Is it just me who thinks this or do other people just go and buy?

alanchanxd

depends on what guitar you would want to build or buy, and the extent of "building" (i.e. scratch builds or assembling a strat?)

then it depends on your budget as well for building or buying

if it is a guitar with a bolt-on neck, then building it should be straight-forward, fun, with plenty of customization options. But when it comes to reselling it, it can be difficult and you may make a big loss. Whenever I assemble a partocaster, I make sure that the cost is lower than the similar offering from a stock-factory fender model

Fuengi

... but if you are buying a stock model it's full price in one hit.

If you go partscaster do you need to buy everything in one go? I guess there is no point buying the body and having that sit around while you save up for the pups or the neck!

MtB

I'm in the process of putting a partsacaster together, sprayed in the colour I want, with the neck wood and shape that I want, with the pickups I want, etc, etc. 

Hopefully I'll never want to sell it, as I'm certain that I'll never recoup the cost. If this last point bothers you then you should buy. If it doesn't, then start collecting bits!

Maybe I should have kept my Haar S-type.......

guitarfishbay

One factor to consider is you can't tell if a partscaster is any good (or rather, if you'll like it) until it is assembled.  An already assembled guitar you could audition before buying.

DiscoStu

Building is fun but it depends on how much you value your hair.

boogieman

Self build will get you exactly what you want, but you WILL lose a shedload of money on it if you decide to sell it on. Just because it appeals to you it won't necessarily be something that anyone else wants, plus some people want *that name* on the headstock. Self builds are a lot of fun though and you'll learn a lot in the process. 

WezV

Never build to save money.

Jetfire

Thats true, and the auditioning of a guitar makes sense too. Tbf with the 9 months interest free at andertons... it could be a goer as its only a few quid a month rather than 200 here and there

stickyfiddle

As above. Don't build to save money if you can get what you want off the shelf. 

If if you can't buy what you want (i.e. Custom colour, hardware, neck profile etc) then building it great. But only if you know what you want - it's very expensive if you get it wrong and sell later.

Jack_

Although not building to save money is a good general rule for most, I don't think it's absolute.

If you want to build a guitar, to exact demanding specs, within a short timeframe, then building won't save money.

But if you slowly acquire certain bits, over time, when you see them going cheap on eBay/facebook/this forum, and you have a bit of flexibility in your end specs, then you can make a great guitar for not much money.

thecolourbox

I got an SG kit for a birthday once, I should have got a Tele or a Les Paul but I wanted to practise on one first before making a Tele as my main guitar and the SG was cheaper than the LP at that point.

The Kit cost £90, which I thought would be reasonable even knowing I'd need to buy some kind of paint or dye for it on top, and that I'd geta decent level of instrument at the end.

Aside from every stage of it being a complete pain in the arse and much more effort than it will ever be worth (the manual for the kit and the pickups were both basically wrong all the way through), it cost quite a bit more in the long run to get it right.

Spray paint (which turned out to be a failed attempt) = £30

Paint remover to remove the failed paint = £10

Scraper to assist in remiving paint = £10

Wudtone wood dye and finish = £30

Time taken complaining to the manufacturer about their shoddy kit that did not fit together with the neck nor the pickguard = £Priceless

Pickups were crap (and i had to cut them out when the new body arrived) so I bought some EMGs at £90

The pickups were described as solderless, however this was a lie as you still have to solder the switch in, so I had to buy a soldering iron and solder for another £20.

So admittedly the tools (scraper and soldering iron) might come in useful another time but still, it's ended up costing three times what the original kit cost. To put it in context, I've been offered a beautiful black Epiphone 335 Pro this week in a trade for a Microkorg synth worth £150...

Though again it could just be that the moral of the story is don't buy a bloody kit guitar!!

paulnb57

Ive built several and all have cost more than a production model. however I have the neck profile, fret size etc that I like, the hardware is my choice as is the final colour....if you are in no rush you could gradually accumulate parts as they become available, prepare them, paint or stain and oil the body, same with the neck, assemble the scratchplate, it can be done in stages as long as compatible parts are used. It is a great feeling playing something that is your personal spec....it is also addictive, which means I have Three Teles, Three Strats, Two Coodercasters and a 51 P Bass, my only off the shelf guitars are an Epi 335 of which only the neck and body are original everything else has been modded, a Messer Resonator and a Gretch Jim Dandy, oh and a home built Cigar box guitar.....

WezV

accumulating bargain basement parts may be cheaper, but don't forget to factor in postage for each individual bit you order, and the tools you will need to make parts fit together better, and the cost of buying some parts twice because you are not totally happy with some of them.  

It can be a fun journey, but rarely as cheap as the final list of parts

I can build a guitar for peanuts.... if i ignore the thousands i have spent on tools, parts and woods to get to the stage where I can walk out to the workshop and build a guitar without spending any more money


I wouldn't want to put anyone off doing a parts build, just don't expect it to be as cheap as the list of parts suggests

skunkwerx

If an off the shelf guitar gets you 95% of what you want, Do you know what that 5% an off the shelf guitar would be missing?

If you do, then is it something that you could pay a luthier to change?

That way you can audition the guitar, if it feels good and plays good then thats a solid starting point, and any reversible changes like pups can be put back to stock if you decide to sell on before any point of no return mods. 

Might work out more expensive that way, but you'd know at least that you are chucking time and money at a guitar that you like to play and feels good to play. 

But if the missing 5% an off the shelf guitar has is something like just not feeling as if you've personally created it, then I guess thats something you'll only get by building yourself and its up to you if the final cost, poor resale, any set up issues etc are worth it as trade offs! 

Dan

I am kind of doing a partscaster, but its more out of necessity as I couldnt find a strat with bigish rosewood neck for under £600 odd 2nd hand. Couldnt really justify CS /artist model prices, so in the end I brought a guitar build body, allparts neck and they are with @lamf68 for finishing. Im ok with soldering and setups but for fretwork and nut its going to have to go to a luthier.

If you can find a strat with the spec you need I would go with that as its cheaper in the long run. Plus if you need to sell or just dont like it, you are less likely to make a loss (may even make a bit).

MrBump

I've done a few partscasters now, they've all been highly enjoyable, but in no way cheap.  A Strat I built with a Warmoth body and Mighty Mite neck (Mojo pickups etc) is a wonderful guitar, but all in it was probably in the 600-700 quid range, maybe more if you factor in a superb setup at Feline Guitars.  But for me it's still worth it.

Jack_

MrBump said:

I've done a few partscasters now, they've all been highly enjoyable, but in no way cheap.  A Strat I built with a Warmoth body and Mighty Mite neck (Mojo pickups etc) is a wonderful guitar, but all in it was probably in the 600-700 quid range, maybe more if you factor in a superb setup at Feline Guitars.  But for me it's still worth it.

Ok, but in terms of end product, a Warmouth body and MM neck, with Mojo pickups, set up by Feline, is likely to be a much better guitar that an equivalent new ~£800 quid Fender... That's not much more than top of the range Mexican, so ignoring resale, what would you rather have? I'd say that's quite good value overall.