Guitar kit recommendations

[Giovanni Botta]

Hello everybody
I'm new to the forum and I'm just getting started with building instruments. I have decided to get an electric guitar kit to learn the basics: sanding, sealing and finishing the wood, fitting the neck, setup, etc. My budget is around 150$ for the kit only, i.e., the materials for wood working are outside of this budget. I really would like to get a strat (or even tele) like kit with a maple fretboard. Ideally the body would be alder or ash but that would get too expensive.
I found a few options so far: dragonfire has a strat kit with maple neck and fretboard and basswood body; Guitar Fetish has a nice looking strat kit with Pauwlonia body (is this a good wood for a solid body?) and maple neck and maple OR rosewood fretboard (although the maple option seems unavailable right now) but the headstock needs to be shaped which will be a problem since I don't have the tools for the job; Solo has a strat kit with rosewood fretboard (not my favorite) and ash body (which is a plus), but I couldn't find any review online.
I know there are many other kits out there but they seem to be all out of my price range (stewmac doesn't have kits anymore unfortunately). I'm leaning towards the Dragonfire because I heard good things about the company and I definitely want the maple fretboard. I'd like to ask you guys an opinion and share your experiences (if any) with these kits/companies before I jump the gun. Again, I don't expect to build a perfect instrument but to have a nice learning experience and gain some knowledge. If I end up with a decent sounding guitar that'd be ideal!
Thank you

Giovanni

[Gordon Bellerose]

Go to a site called, "guitarfetish.com"
They have kits available.

[Giovanni Botta]

Yeah that was one of the options I listed but I don't have the tools to shape the headstock so that's out!

[Eric Baack]

you can shape the headstock with a jigsaw and some basic files

[Giovanni Botta]

Thanks for the reply.
I guess I'm a little intimidated by using power tools because I never have before and I don't want to risk to mess up my first build. Maybe for my next build. How are the guitar fetish kits? Any experience with those?
Thanks

[Gordon Bellerose]

If you want an unfinished body to work on, but want a neck that is shaped, you may have to spend a bit more money.
Stewmac sells unfinished bodies, as do a few other sites like Guitar Fetish.
For a neck that is shaped, but unfinished you may have to go to someones else like Warmoth, or Mighty Mite.

[Ben Castellana]

Bargainmusician.com also has some very inexpensive kits. I cannot speak to their quality, but dealing with the peculiarities of unfinished and/or lower-grade materials is part of the learning curve of a build. You would also have to shape the headstock, which can be done with hand tools and some patience (I would suggest a coping saw, a coarse file, and sand paper).

Getting good electronics is also an issue; I would argue that most inexpensive kits contain pretty inferior electrical parts. It's probably good to develop your soldering skills on these, and replace with better parts as you get more confident. In this respect, I would lean toward the Guitar Fetish kits, since I at least know that their pickups are good. I still haven't found a really good source for potentiometers...

Screwing up during a build is also part of the learning curve. We all screw up, but learning how to fix those screw ups is part of the overall woodworking skill. There are some amazing folks on this site who can help you through the worst of it.

Your end product of your first build is not likely to be comparable to an American Strat or Tele, but that doesn't mean it won't become your favorite instrument.

Happy sawdusting!

[Giovanni Botta]

Thanks for the reply Ben.
Did you build any of the guitar fetish kits? I understand that in this price range any kit is probably going to be somewhat crappy, I just don't want to get a complete lemon. The headstock shaping still intimidates me but maybe I'll give it a shot.
I have worked with electronics for a while and I'm pretty confident of my soldering skills, so I'm not worried about that.
On a different note I was searching on the internet and I read that people are having very bad experiences with the dragonfire bodies and kits and with their customer support. Has anyone dealt with them?
I look forward to making this project reality. Thanks for the advice!

[Jim McConkey]

My first electric was built from MDF and a dumpster-dove broken guitar neck, with no plans, and built with barely more than a hand (not electric) scroll saw, a hand drill, and some sandpaper, and it sounded great. You don't need a lot of tools, and shouldn't be afraid of hand tools. Power tools just let you screw up faster! I have since acquired plenty of power tools, but still prefer hand tools for many operations. The sound of an electric comes mainly from the pickups. If you buy the best wood around, and then skimp on the pickups, you will be sorely disappointed. A number of members here have built electrics from nothing more than 2x8 lumber and scavenged copier parts, and have been pleased with the results. Just go for it!

[Peter Wilcox]

My grandkids and I built the Guitarfetish strat kit about 3 years ago. Construction-wise it's a super simple screw together project. Everything is precut and drilled (except the headstock, which can be easily shaped or left as-is.) The fret board is fretted, and the neck and the body just need to be sanded and finished. The only negative is that the body wood is soft and dings quite easily. We didn't do very well on the finish - no filler, cheap spray on rattle can paint, then polyurethane - but this made the body more dent resistant.

It's a cheap way to learn how a guitar is built, and with proper attention gives you the opportunity to learn how to finish and set up a guitar. No instructions for this were given, but there is plenty of information here and elsewhere to get you through it. The guitar was certainly playable, but not being an electric guitarist I can't comment one way or another on the sonic quality.

[Eric Baack]

I've had good luck with GFS hardware in general but haven't tried any of their kits. So far their customer service has been good to me too. They sent me one bad tuner in my last set and replaced it no questions asked without making me send the bad one back to them. I have their crunchy pat pickups in my current build and they sound good but are very hot. Their guitar kits come with pretty cheap hardware and don't use their signature pickups but it can be a great platform to build from I'd imagine. I wouldn't mind trying their explorer kit sometime.

[Giovanni Botta]

A small update: so I got the Solo guitar kit with maple neck and fretboard, basswood body. This is a Canadian company and as far as I understand they recently started making kits. I'll keep you updated on this kit when it gets here.
Thanks for the comments

Giovanni

[Peter Wilcox]

Looks like a nice kit, though I got "out of stock" when I looked at it. Maybe you got the last one in stock?
Also, they don't show the pickup routes - it may be a swimming pool style route, which gives you more pickup options, but some folks think it affects the tone. It probably won't make any difference with the basswood body and the stock pickups.

[Giovanni Botta]

I got it on their ebay store. I noticed it went out of stock right after. I don't mind the swimming pool, it's a cheap wood and a cheap project. I'm more interested in the process than the end result at this point. Now I'm trying to figure out all the steps involved in finishing the body since I've never done this before. I also hope there isn't much work to do on the fingerboard, that would be a hassle!

[Art Davila]

I hope your first build gives you as much satisfaction as mine did.
I have put together 2 guitars but never made my own from scratch.
I am saving up and buying parts, for my next project, as I can afford them.

I have plenty of soldering experience, and have made several wood working projects over the years.
The thing I really had trouble with is finishing.
Aargghh! much more difficult than I had ever thought possible.

Also I didn't do enough research to know that the 24 fret strat style neck I bought did not work at all with the body I had.
(wrong neck pocket and pickup routes).
That was the best mistake that I ever learned from, and now I have a much better idea of how to proceed
for my from scratch full build.
Plan carefully, make a full scale drawing, and recheck plans some more, before before cutting the wood I can't wait.

[Darren Galloway]

http://www.byoguitar.com/Guitar_Kits/Guitar-Kits.aspx

I have bought from here before. Nice kits.

[Giovanni Botta]

Hey everybody
Another small update. It turns out the Solo kit with maple fretboard was actually sold out so I got a refund. I've decided to just suck it up and get the GFS kit since it seems to have worked fine for a lot of people. I'll probably shape the headstock with a coping saw. I'll keep you posted!
Thanks

Giovanni

[Eric Baack]

cool! and if it turns out nicely you can upgrade to some GFS pickups and get some nice tone out of it for not a lot of coin. I have their crunchy pats in my PRS build and it sounds really good IMO

[Giovanni Botta]

Hi everybody!
I got my kit a couple of days ago. Looks pretty good. The paulownia body has a nice grain but it seems to be quite soft. It came with some scratches and dings already. No big deal, I'll just fill them. The maple neck looks great and the fretboard feels very smooth already. The neck clearly needs some fine sanding. Do you guys think I can finish the fretboard without extra sanding? I do believe the edges of the frets might need some work though because they look and feel a little rough. Do you have any recommendations about that? Do I need to use oil on the neck and fretboard? I'm a total newbie, just looking for some guidance.
Thanks!

Giovanni

[Matthew Lau]

If it's smooth to your satisfaction and sanded, leave the fretboard alone. Mask it off. After fretwork, maybe oil it if it looks too dry.

Neck: sand. finish. Mask off with tape after finish cures.

Frets: check that they're level. If not, lightly sand with sandpaper on a plan object. Then micromesh the frets to a high gloss. Of use OOO steel wool followed by rouge or rottenstone.