Home buildt Guitars

[Ole]

Im planning on pickin up a homebuild set for a ( not yet decided wich ) guitar.
Was wondering if anyone had any experience with (good or bad) building sets, good advice, or other fun stuff.
This is purely a hobby thing, but thought it would be fun. And i cant be the only one

I have absolutelly no experience in this, but have a broad craftsman background, so i dont think it will be that hard. Could be fun to share some ideas though

 

[Rick]

I am only familiar with the Carvin guitar kits, but they work very nicely. You have a lot of options out there, so my guess is that there is also a wide range of quality to account for in your search.

 

[s0c9]

Depends on what you want to spend... if you WANT to home build a guitar, that's great.. but time and budget how you intend to finish it, are a consideration. I have a Carvin "bolt" which was an easy build. You could buy a Warmoth neck to replace the Carvin if you want, but I like the ebony fingerboards..
or .. you could buy a cheaper guitar (already finished) and customize it. I took a 'cheap' Tradition guitar, put in the Bolt's neck, then drilled the guitar body to permanently install a Roland hex (GK3) pickup.

YMMV

 

[Dr. Willy]

Like everyone says need more info on what you are meaning by home built. There are kit guitars you can put together and put a finish on or there is from scractch. I build from scratch, if you have the drive and desire you get a much better product.

here is my latest.

 

[Ole]

Thx for the responce guys.
As i said i have no experience in this yet, so all from scratch might be a bit to much, (also toolwise) atleast to start with.
I think what i was hoping for was for ppl to post a few experiments like you lovely V (really nice work btw), and then that might drive me towards what to do.
Just feel a bit lost looking on the net with 1000 diff sets and really no idea what is good and what is crap.
I know that offc you get what you pay for, so yes i have to make up a budget for this. And my mind of what i want
Anyways hoping for more ppl to share experiences.

 

[funny_polymath]

Im planning on pickin up a homebuild set for a ( not yet decided wich ) guitar.
Was wondering if anyone had any experience with (good or bad) building sets, good advice, or other fun stuff.
This is purely a hobby thing, but thought it would be fun. And i cant be the only one

I have absolutelly no experience in this, but have a broad craftsman background, so i dont think it will be that hard. Could be fun to share some ideas though

I would say the main point is, why a kit? Are you doing it for the fun of it? To save money? For customize-abiity?

You can get some pretty awesome guitars for under 300-400 dollars (my Godin Radiator comes to mind - 265.00 with the case, mint, off ebay). So, for value, I don't see a kit as a good deal. But for the pride of 'making it your self and making it your own', sure, why not?

 

[Ole]

Yeps deff not to save money.
Only as a "Yay i did it myself on a cold wintherday (month)" thing
So yes deff for the fun of it.

 

[CyberFerret]

I've got a couple of kit guitars which I thought I would build over time. I've said on here before though, that I am not really good with my hands when it comes to craftwork, so I found the builds to be challenging. Lots of good, fun parts, but also lots of tedious and frustrating parts to it.

Nothing worse than taking time to spray on a nice, even finish, and then realising that the spray can has spat out a blob right at the end, or else getting dust or a 'run' mark on wet paint! Gah - have to sand it back and start again... I also spent a day with a fret file doing levelling and crowning of the frets on one and I think the way I was holding the file ended up spraining a ligament in my first finger of my left hand which meant I couldn't actually play my other guitars for a week.

Don't get me wrong - I am not trying to put you off the project, but I thought I would just try and give some perspective.

By far, the most fun projects are the ones that have some definite purpose or meaning behind them. I have one build that was just a 'lets see what happens with it' build that is now pretty much abandoned.

However, last month my sons and I set out to 'build' an EVH tribute guitar (actually - we heavily modified an old Squire Strat), and doing it with them and sharing the enthusiasm with them meant that it got finished quickly. Nothing like having your kids storm your bedroom at 6am to roll you out of bed so you can help them mask and spray another coat of paint!!

Good luck with your build!!