WMP1 wrote:
It sounds like you are where I was 3 years ago. I spent some months trying to figure out the best guitar kit for me to buy, and in the end decided to just collect the various parts needed from a variety of sources and piece them together as best I could.
After building one tele-style and getting close to finishing a second, I decided to buy a short-scale bass kit from The FretWire (almost exactly 2 years ago). I was quite happy with what I got and with the communication with "the company" (possibly comprising just one guy!). However, I have heard that within the last year or so the company got sold to other concerns and that this has negatively impacted the quality of the experience.
I had looked at a number of "kit companies" over various price ranges but since I haven't tried any other kits I won't try to comment on them. I have now completed 3 tele-style partscasters, none from kits, and it is viable to build a guitar from parts obtained from multiple sources. Should I decide to build another electric guitar, not in solid body, I'll definitely take a spin again through the web pages of the kit vendors and see what there is to be had.
One thing I will say is that the lower-priced kits likely include pickups and/or hardware that, while serviceable, you may find yourself wanting to upgrade. It might be easier to just source the desired quality of parts right from the start (I note that a lot of kit companies offer upgrades at the time of ordering the kit). But I did appreciate that the one time I did buy a kit, the body and the neck were (by design) matched beautifully.
I also found myself making my own pickguard from a big sheet of four-ply for my most recent partscaster because I wanted it to very closely match the body (which I bought from BYO Guitar, but not as part of a kit). A few pickguards I had bought online just didn't line up properly.
Wishing you the best of luck ... it's a much deeper rabbit hole than is pedal-building ...
That sounds pretty cool, but I wouldn't feel too confident trying to piece one together myself! It's like with pedals, putting together a kit is within my skill level.. when I try to engineer something myself, it ends up taking a lot longer, and the results aren't usually too good. And I don't want to cut into my guitar playing time too much!
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