Building Electric Guitars From Kits.

Pickups, wiring schemes, switch techniques and onboard active electronics for guitars and basses
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DrNomis
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Post by DrNomis »

I've been doing some netsurfing for some replacement guitar parts and found some kits for electric guitars, I've never even thought of building a guitar from a kit of parts until now and I'm interested in giving it a go, just wondering if there are any FSB members that have built guitars from a kit of parts, and what have their experiences been like, how hard/easy are the kits to assemble?, is there anything I need to know how to do beforehand?, also what's the best way to finish a guitar body/neck that has had one coat of sealer applied?..... :thumbsup


I believe that I'm competent enough to do all the electrical wiring...... :thumbsup
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Post by benobo »

Hey Doc,

What model do you plan to build?

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DrNomis
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Post by DrNomis »

benobo wrote:Hey Doc,

What model do you plan to build?


There's two kits that I want to build, one is for a PRS style guitar, the other one is for a headless style guitar, they're about $250.00 Australian each on eBay, the headless guitar kit is from a company in Dublin, Ireland and they quote free posting to Australia,the PRS style kit is from a company called JWebber Guitars and DIY kits..... :thumbsup


They look cool..... :thumbsup


Links to the two kits I'm interested in:


https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Electric-Gu ... 4ac1606f70


https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Unfinished- ... 5aeb73c565
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Post by rcustoms »

DrNomis wrote:
benobo wrote:Hey Doc,

What model do you plan to build?


There's two kits that I want to build, one is for a PRS style guitar, the other one is for a headless style guitar, they're about $250.00 Australian each on eBay, the headless guitar kit is from a company in Dublin, Ireland and they quote free posting to Australia,the PRS style kit is from a company called JWebber Guitars and DIY kits..... :thumbsup


They look cool..... :thumbsup


Links to the two kits I'm interested in:


https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Electric-Gu ... 4ac1606f70


https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Unfinished- ... 5aeb73c565

hi dr. let me help you a little few ,i built many guitars from kits or parts purchased in different stores,your first choice is very easy to set,but look out ,The neck should be attached to the body with glue and you need to find a couples of clamps to put together that parts ,having previously painted each separately, without the paint cover the glue area.i think this kit is a little complex for the first time ,the other one is neck is screwed and more simple.the next is paint,you need to apply a wood sealer and if you like to add some color use dye ,compatible with the sealant and go to finish with waterborne or urethane finish. send me a pm with your email and I send to you some books that detail the process better.look some pictures in my blog.sorry for my english
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Post by Lucifer »

Hi Doc,

Alternatively, you could buy a used guitar (or fairly cheap new one), put decent pickups on it and give it a proper set-up.

I used to have an old Jedson Telecaster, which cost me £50 new - and sounded like kangaroo dung. But with a bit of TLC, I had people complimenting me on the sound (one even said it sounded better than his real Tele).

Whatever you do, have fun, and keep us posted.

Good luck buddy :thumbsup
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DrNomis
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Post by DrNomis »

rcustoms wrote:
DrNomis wrote:
benobo wrote:Hey Doc,

What model do you plan to build?


There's two kits that I want to build, one is for a PRS style guitar, the other one is for a headless style guitar, they're about $250.00 Australian each on eBay, the headless guitar kit is from a company in Dublin, Ireland and they quote free posting to Australia,the PRS style kit is from a company called JWebber Guitars and DIY kits..... :thumbsup


They look cool..... :thumbsup


Links to the two kits I'm interested in:


https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Electric-Gu ... 4ac1606f70


https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Unfinished- ... 5aeb73c565

hi dr. let me help you a little few ,i built many guitars from kits or parts purchased in different stores,your first choice is very easy to set,but look out ,The neck should be attached to the body with glue and you need to find a couples of clamps to put together that parts ,having previously painted each separately, without the paint cover the glue area.i think this kit is a little complex for the first time ,the other one is neck is screwed and more simple.the next is paint,you need to apply a wood sealer and if you like to add some color use dye ,compatible with the sealant and go to finish with waterborne or urethane finish. send me a pm with your email and I send to you some books that detail the process better.look some pictures in my blog.sorry for my english


Hi rcustoms,

Firstly, your english is fine mate..... :thumbsup


Secondly, you have some good points there, I'll see if I can buy some suitable clamps from my local Bunnings store before I start building the kits( I've still got to buy them though)..... :thumbsup


I'm just going to pm my email address, cheers mate...... :thumbsup
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DrNomis
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Post by DrNomis »

Lucifer wrote:Hi Doc,

Alternatively, you could buy a used guitar (or fairly cheap new one), put decent pickups on it and give it a proper set-up.

I used to have an old Jedson Telecaster, which cost me £50 new - and sounded like kangaroo dung. But with a bit of TLC, I had people complimenting me on the sound (one even said it sounded better than his real Tele).

Whatever you do, have fun, and keep us posted.

Good luck buddy :thumbsup

Cheers Lucifer, that could be a good alternative option for me, I really want to give guitar kits a go because it's something I've never tried before and it's really piqued my interest, I sure will keep you posted, I won't be buying the kits for a while because I'll be paying off a new Marshall MA100C 100 Watt 2X12 combo amp that I'll be putting on layby this coming Tuesday, and I sure will have fun mate...... :thumbsup
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Post by MoonWatcher »

rcustoms wrote:look out ,The neck should be attached to the body with glue and you need to find a couples of clamps to put together that parts ,having previously painted each separately, without the paint cover the glue area.
I've built lots of stuff from just kit pieces all the way up to altering and combining existing necks, bodies, etc. But the set neck stuff does scare me a bit.

In my case, I'd like to build a nice SG from a kit, and the SG suffers from a weak neck joint as it is.

I also know a guy with a nice Gibson Les Paul who knows there are cracks in the headstock, and failure is unavoidable at some point.

I guess what I'm saying is that while it wouldn't be 100% correct with respect to the original, I always tend to look for kits or pieces that substitute a bolt-on neck for this reason. I also like to swap necks until I get one that seems to be the best fit. And there are always the potential issues of neck warping/twistin/humps that are more of a pain to deal with if it's a set neck design.

...All of that said, if anyone knows of a good kit source for set neck projects where they've tried to minimize some of these issues, I'm always interested.

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Post by bluescage »

Hi Doc,

I've built two guitars from diy kits, and I have to start on the third one. I purchased my kits from http://www.ml-factory.de. He is also on e-bay. The guy there is Matthias List. He has some 70 different kits. He is very quick in responding to your questions. I have no idea what the costs will be to send a kit to Australia.
In one kit (the ES copy) I had to glue the neck in the body, which went ok with white wood glue. The LP copy had the neck already glued in.
I also had ordered the book Building Electric guitars from Martin Koch, which was very useful.
P8030198.JPG
P5190039.JPG
Hope this helps a bit,

Ad

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Post by Steven_M »

I'm about to build one of these:

http://buy.precisionguitarkits.com/shop ... tly-simple

One word of warning in regard to those Asian guitar kits. They usually mention that sanding sealer has been applied, do you know what kind of sanding sealer? Not all sanding sealers are compatible with the myriad of finishes that are available. I've read some horror stories of guys trying to sand off that sanding sealer to add their own sealer, compatible with the paint they want to use, and the sealer just turns into a gummy mess that they can't get off the body.

I'm going to do a TV style finish with a Sea Foam green Nitro lacquer on mine. The TV style finish means I can skip sanding sealer and perfectly flat grain filling. I'm also going to cheat and do a matte finish so I don't have to spend hours finish sanding!

Can't wait to get started!

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Post by DrNomis »

Cheers for the replies guys, keep them coming...... :thumbsup

I just finished paying for the headless guitar kit I was interested in so I'm looking forward to when it arrives, will post a pic of the kit when it does, stay tuned..... :thumbsup
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Post by DrNomis »

bluescage wrote:Hi Doc,

I've built two guitars from diy kits, and I have to start on the third one. I purchased my kits from http://www.ml-factory.de. He is also on e-bay. The guy there is Matthias List. He has some 70 different kits. He is very quick in responding to your questions. I have no idea what the costs will be to send a kit to Australia.
In one kit (the ES copy) I had to glue the neck in the body, which went ok with white wood glue. The LP copy had the neck already glued in.
I also had ordered the book Building Electric guitars from Martin Koch, which was very useful.
P8030198.JPG
P5190039.JPG
Hope this helps a bit,

Ad


They look cool, especially the hollow-body guitar, I like the green tint colour...... :thumbsup
Genius is not all about 99% perspiration, and 1% inspiration - sometimes the solution is staring you right in the face.-Frequencycentral.

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Post by DrNomis »

Just a quick update,

I received a parcel card in my mailbox yesterday so I went to the post office in Winnelie, just up the road from where I live, it turned out to be the guitar kit I ordered,goint to be buying the stuff I need to start painting the body next Tuesday, been toying around with a few ideas for how I could paint the body, I might go with the EVH 5150 paint-job style..... :thumbsup

Stay tuned for more updates..... :thumbsup
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Post by DrNomis »

Here's a pic of the Headless Electric Guitar kit I bought as received:
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Headless Electric Guitar Kit
Headless Electric Guitar Kit
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Post by sinner »

Keep us updated Simon, cant wait for picture show

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Post by rcustoms »

DrNomis wrote:Here's a pic of the Headless Electric Guitar kit I bought as received:

good choice ,like vito´s brata guitar from white lion.i paint a couple of guitars like van halen 5150 model ,be patient and careful to mask all the guitar between coats,to prevent splashing the other coats.
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Post by DrNomis »

rcustoms wrote:
DrNomis wrote:Here's a pic of the Headless Electric Guitar kit I bought as received:

good choice ,like vito´s brata guitar from white lion.i paint a couple of guitars like van halen 5150 model ,be patient and careful to mask all the guitar between coats,to prevent splashing the other coats.
regards
rcustoms

Cheers mate, I've been reading both of those PDF books you emailed to me and I totally understand the need for being careful with the masking, I'm thinking that if I take my time with this project, it should come out pretty good, I just need to wait till tuesday to get the all the sealer/primer/paint/etc I'll need, as well as the wet/dry sandpaper too, might see if I can get all the grit sizes I need up to 2500 grit, if my local Bunnings store stocks them, they might also stock the buffing compound too.... :thumbsup
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Post by DrNomis »

sinner wrote:Keep us updated Simon, cant wait for picture show

Will do mate..... :thumbsup
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Post by blackbunny »

DrNomis wrote: by DrNomis » Yesterday, 05:48
Here's a pic of the Headless Electric Guitar kit I bought as received:
Looks good so far DrNomis! Does it have a solid timber body, or is that some kind of plywood?
Also, is it from the Ebay store in Ireland as per your OP? And finally, did it cost much to freight it to Australia? :mrgreen:

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Post by roseblood11 »

Another choice is neck-through-body construction:
http://www.carvinworld.com/catalog/neck ... ?model=nt6
This way, it's quite easy to built a high-quality guitar with a unique body shape.

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