Building Guitar Project

[Grem]

I can't remember who it was that posted about building a guitar from a kit a good while back, but ever since I've been eyeing the offerings at StewMac. I am close to pulling the trigger on the cheapest kit they sell for a starter and working my way up to the Wilkerson '50's Vintage Strat, which sells for close to $500.

Just seeing if there are any guitar wannabe builders out there that could give some insight on any "gotchas" that newbs overlook. 

As far as tools go, I have some, but none of the specific tools that some jobs/adjustments would need. If I bought all I wanted I would spend well over $1k. I don't want to invest that much into something that may end up aggravating me more than I can stand!

I have been told to look at Amazon and have searched there but some of that stuff looks low quality.  I am of the mindset that if I am going to do this, I want to be proud of the results.

Any thoughts and past experiences would be appreciated. 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Grem

[Sheens]

have never built a guitar but I wouldn't try myself.

in a guitar factory the neck fitting is done by a trained/specialist worker who fe uses shims in the joint pocket to get the neck on correctly.

(had this on my Squier fe ), not sure if the neck and neck pocket on a kit are prepd to go on a 100% straight...

I have done refrets, fretwork and setups but really if you want to save money -> go to a tech/luthier.

after bying good tools, you'll need to do a lot of guitars to break even.

if like me, you like the 'adventure' and like to learn it.....sure go ahead.

oh, for less money of the kit, you can get a simular guitar from Vintage (in lots of colors/editions/types), just with the Wilkinson economy (china) and maybe better Wilkinson (Korea) pu's......not the best Wilkinson's  you get with the kit.

google: vintage v6 strat

 

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Sheens

[craigb]

Does this count as a guitar building? ?

[Sheens]

I have a strat,  81euro/90usd brand new incl delivery  that is just AWESOME

pickups are crab, plastic nut and frets won't last long....but the (basswood I guess) guitar and maple neck are killer.

just alone that maple neck and how great it feels, everyone who picks it up just loves that thing.

also have a Rockson cheapo strat with nice neck but a cardboard body it seems....so a real beginner thing.

the Fazley is at least as good a Affinity or Standard Squier, but neck is nicer.

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Sheens

[Grem]

2 hours ago, Sheens said:

you like the 'adventure' and like to learn it.....sure go ahead.

That's where I am. And I am fully aware of the complexity and SKILLS needed to properly set a neck. Specially a bolt on neck. That's why I was gonna go for the cheaper model before spending on the better model.

 

I have also looked around at other places that sell kits.

I have two excellent Strats (mic) that I paid less than $200 for each. 

I just wanna build it. At least give it a try.

[mettelus]

@Grem, that was me with this thread.  One thing with StewMac is that if anything in the kit is messed up, they will replace for free (some folks posted they got kit pieces with bad finish and they were replaced). Some of kit parts are generic, so you may end up wanting to swap them (I never did replace the pots in mine although I bought another set). My kit had very tight tolerances on the neck socket, but in reality the ability to adjust the bridge is important... I lowered the nut by knocking it off and sanding down the backside (FAR easier to do that, than try to slot a fret nut).

Quick edit: I put the tools needed at the bottom of that post, it is not that bad really.

Edited March 18, 2023 by mettelus

[Byron Dickens]

My first really good guitar I put together with parts from Warmoth.

[kennywtelejazz]

Give it a try . Once you gain some guitar set up skills in all the various areas of action , electronics , intonation , setting up a neck , changing all the parts and fitting them , you will have some chops . The next time you run across a guitar used or new you will have a level of confidence in your abillity to know exactly what you are looking at and where you may stand on being able to determine if the guitar may be a good choice for you with out having to bring it to a shop .If you get good you may even decide you prefer what you are doing most of the time as opposed to sending one of your guitars out to have it set up in a shop. In a lot of cases I prefer what I'm building / Modding over what they are selling over the counter.

The only thing I may caution you about is  you may need to be OK about the money you sink into this type of activity. You may not ever see it again or get a decent price when and if you try to sell one of your experements in guitar building.

Where I'm at just so you know ,

I do alot of my own work within these parameters . My short list includes changing bridges , necks, pickups, setting action , intonation , stripping a finish , refinishing ( oil or paint can ) basic electronics and wiring ( this one trys my patience and i always need a schematic ) truss rod adjustments , cleaning a fret board and oiling it ,

As you can see my list includes most things guitars need to have done to them with out the heavy tools and super experience.

Things such as taking a plank of wood and turning it into a guitar body or neck , routing out cavities for parts , doing a fret job , and a few other things that invole specialized knowledge , tools and experience are out of my wheelhouse .

I enjoy what I'm doing and I consider myself  a parts changer that knows a little bit about what he is doing ?

Kenny

Edited March 18, 2023 by kennywtelejazz

[mettelus]

2 hours ago, kennywtelejazz said:

Things such as taking a plank of wood and turning it into a guitar body or neck , routing out cavities for parts , doing a fret job , and a few other things that involve specialized knowledge , tools and experience are out of my wheelhouse .

This is the reason that the kits fall into the "fun" category, since they focus on what an average person would do to customize one rather than build a guitar from scratch. The only drilling required was for the small screws for pickup rings, face plastic and tuner alignment (back of the head mounts)... a small piece of tape on the drill bit is an easy depth guide. The frets in mine were actually done well, but you might need a sanding block (I would assume these are all simple radius, not compound, but cannot say for sure), straight edge (a metal yardstick from a crafting store is great for this), and the patience to crown them after (StewMac has videos for everything... a (funny) practical one is using a triangular file with no teeth on the corners for crowning... funny because crowning files are not cheap and have no real use outside of fretwork). I am pretty sure the bolt-on necks are pre-drilled, so you have no choice but to mate surfaces and match the holes.

There is a manual for each kit on its product page, so that would be something to check out before buying. Kenny's shortlist (except no need to strip finish because there isn't one to remove) is what these kits focus on. If you are a person who likes to customize, these are perfect playgrounds, since they are spec'd to fit any mods/hardware you would want after the fact.

[Craig Fowler]

There's very little you can screw up with kits of this kind. Beyond a screwdriver, drill, and soldering iron, you shouldn't need much. 

I've put together probably a dozen kit guitars with parts from Warmoth, USACG (before they were bought out), and Musikraft. Apart from one, they've all turned out great - and the one that didn't was because I made poor choices in parts.

[Grem]

2 hours ago, kennywtelejazz said:

Once you gain some guitar set up skills in all the various areas of action , electronics , intonation , setting up a neck , changing all the parts and fitting them , you will have some chops . The next time you run across a guitar used or new you will have a level of confidence in your abillity to know exactly what you are looking at

 

This never crossed my mind. Great perspective. 

2 hours ago, kennywtelejazz said:

need to be OK about the money you sink into this type of activity.

Yeah, I am seeing that for sure. Not looking to recoup any funds, just the enjoyment of the finished product.

Yep, I have no illusion of ever getting that type of experience.  But hey, ya never know.

13 hours ago, kennywtelejazz said:

basic electronics and wiring ( this one trys my patience and i always need a schematic )

I am the same way. I have a guitar that I been trying to rewire for quite a while! I can only do so much. Then I gotta take a break. My eyes just ain't what they use to be. And I got a solder stand with clips and a magnifying glass that helps... a little. Sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth!! But I keep at it.

[Grem]

10 hours ago, mettelus said:

am pretty sure the bolt-on necks are pre-drilled, so you have no choice but to mate surfaces and match the holes

This is what I was wondering about. Reading the manual hadn't crossed my mind either.  Great idea.

 

10 hours ago, mettelus said:

triangular file with no teeth on the corners for crowning.

 Nice idea. I have seen the price of crowning fret files and was like.... do I really need that? Good solution here.

9 hours ago, Craig Fowler said:

There's very little you can screw up with kits of this kind. Beyond a screwdriver, drill, and soldering iron, you shouldn't need much. 

I've put together probably a dozen kit guitars

Thanks for that info.

I have the tools I need for sure.  I have some setup tools that I have had for years. Some new stuff I got in recent years that I am still really trying to get some use out of them!!

 

[paulo]

 

18 minutes ago, Grem said:

Reading the manual hadn't crossed my mind either.  Great idea.

Mrs Grem: Really Grem? How come that whenever I suggest that......

(this goes on for a while)

Then something about when it's one of your buddies, you're all ears, but you never listen to me......

(and then that goes on for a while)

 

 

[mettelus]

@Grem I need to backpedal about the neck being drilled. The S-style kit does not have a manual, but the Wilkinson kit does and you need to drill that neck. I would recommend shooting StewMac an email and ask them about that specifically. If that does require drilling you are going to need to be sure that neck is square and clamped when marking and/or drilling. That step would fall outside the "beginner" kit in my opinion... but (good thing), there are no "WTF" reviews about that.

That fret file video that made me laugh is below. The reason being is fret files are not cheap (nut slotting files are worse... why I just knock the nut off and shave the back down with sandpaper) and StewMac sells them both. They even sell a triangular one, but you can get the same at a hardware store for a fraction of the price (or even run a grinder down the corners of a normal triangular file to take the teeth off those edges).

 

[Grem]

1 hour ago, mettelus said:

run a grinder down the corners of a normal triangular file

This is exactly what I thought of doing with one of my triangle files when I read your post. 

1 hour ago, mettelus said:

need to drill that neck

This is what concerns me.

I have a guitar that a friend built, and he had to line the neck up, drill the holes, and screw them in. He told me it was a job he had not anticipated when he took on the build.

That guitar he built turned into a keeper. It has a Performance unfinished neck with a DiMarzio S-style body, Original Floyd Rose trem, SD Invader (original!!) pup in the bridge and a innovative (at the time) stacked single coil style in neck. Excellent sounding and extremely enjoyable to play.  

If I could build something comparable to that I would be proud!!

[Grem]

I can get lost for hours in those StewMac Videos!!

[Sheens]

I use the Stewmac centered Z-file, expensive but worth it imo....the crowning goes so fast and without even touching the center of the frets.

also have the FretGuru file, on new/high frets it can file the center of the fret sometimes, but for frets till 1 mm will be fine probably.

Real handy shape too, that one.....and it leaves a nicer surface than the Stewmac which you have to sand/buff to get shiny again.

also have their Fret Kisser,  mine doesn't do the job as intended (Stewmac gave me money back immediately without a hassle).

However I do use it always for taking high frets down, but in a 45' angle (pointing 1 end to the E string) since in a a straight line par with the strings it doesn't work.

For anyone wanting to try leveling frets, I would advise not to use a beam.....maybe a full neck size radius beam on a straight neck would work though.

But I found with a 10 inch straight beam and also radius sanding blocks I took off a lot of material/height and not getting real levelled frets....the beam always 'rides' over the high frets and puts itself in an angle so then takes down frets that it shouldn't.

Imo best to just take down any high frets that cause buzzing/chocking.

Also be careful with fret rockers, most of them are not correct....and whenever it rocks can mean you have a high, but also a low fret....pretty tricky to level your neck with a rocker...it might seem there is a problem, it might not be....and you can be causing problems hahaha.

So the whole leveling....imo forget it...you'll find a real problem fret somehow and just fix that one or two...

sorry for the rant, but hope it saves someone a neck or two...

Edited March 20, 2023 by Sheens

[DeeringAmps]

@Gremthe Wilkerson kit looks pretty bulletproof to me. I have one build to my credit (based on a Carvin neck). I finished it with the Stew-Mac aerosol cans. (I should post a photo). The nut was “high” and required cutting the existing slots deeper; the fret work was excellent. Pretty sure the fret work on the Wilkerson will be spot on. Read, re-read and read once more (RTFM) the instructions. I haven’t downloaded them yet, but I’ll take a look and make sure I’m not giving you bad advice. 
The pick guard is prewired so all you have to do is screw it down. No brainer if you want a 50’s correct Strat. 
t

The only bugaboo that jumps out at me is the 7.25 radius, that would be a buzz-killer for me. No one plays a 7.25 on purpose anymore.
(those who love to reach up and pull your strings down to the fretboard may flame me now ...)

here is that pic:

 

Edited March 20, 2023 by DeeringAmps

[Starship Krupa]

I've built part-o-casters and many Frankencasters (parts from various guitars built into one). If you're buying a body and a pre-drilled and fretted neck from one place, and a high-end dealer at that, it should be a walk in the park. Put it together and you're good to go after setting it up. It shouldn't even need a level and crown, but if it does, my essential specialty tools include:

The notched straightedge like this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/373639203226

The radiused block:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/363678676926

This is a nice little kit of specialty items for crowning:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/363052995555

The beam, for the actual leveling:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185606270424

The tape, to stick to the beam:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304590906458

All together, those will set you back about $60.

What I do for fret leveling is get it as flat as I can with the truss rod, using the notched straightedge, then tape off the entire fretboard with low-tack tape (like the "board tape" used in studios or low tack painters' tape). Then color each fret top with Sharpie. Use a steel straightedge (like a rafter square) and the fret rocker to find the high and low frets, then level away to my heart's content. Go slow, and the Sharpie will tell you what frets aren't yet being touched by the beam.

One very, very important element in setups for me is string height at the first fret, which is a matter of nut slot height. Since I have damage to the tips of my left hand index and pinky fingers, I prefer low action, especially down around the cowboy chord area. Most guitars in my experience are set up with the nut too high.

Just about any guitar you buy new as from the factory will be set up on the high side, because the biggest sin a brand new guitar can commit is buzzing. That's why so many shops throw in setups on new instruments. But those freebie setups often omit the nut slots, so you get nice action above about the 3rd fret but exert needless force to make 1st position chords. The string height at the 1st fret doesn't need to be any higher than what you'd have at the second fret after capoing the first fret.

Are you going to use their finishing kit? Finishing is where many, many otherwise excellent woodworking projects go into the ditch.

After trying multiple techniques, my favorite is still using a Minwax water-based stain on the bare wood, with a dozen layers of Tru Oil over it. Tru Oil is great. Wipe it on with a rag, wait a couple hours, wipe on another layer, keep doing that over a weekend, throwing on another layer whenever you think of it. Depending on whether you want a matte or glossy finish, you can hit it with some ultrafine Scotch Brite in between coats, or just buff it after you get enough build.

After it's done, you have a durable, attractive finish. I've done them in red, black, and green. A friend of mine said "it reminds me of Tinkertoys." Thereafter it was called "Mother of Tinkertoy." I think one of the J Mascis Signature Jazzmasters sports a purple Mother of Tinkertoy finish.

That 3oz bottle will finish many guitar bodies. It's amazing how little of it goes a long way. In your area of the US you should be able to get it at Wal-Mart or a hardware store. Around here, I depend on finding a gun shop that carries it or ordering from Amazon.

[Grem]

15 hours ago, Sheens said:

I use the Stewmac centered Z-file, expensive but worth it imo....the crowning goes so fast and without even touching the center of the frets.

This is very helpful. Was looking at this very file last night. I think I stuck it on my wish list.

15 hours ago, Sheens said:

have their Fret Kisser,  mine doesn't do the job as intended (Stewmac gave me money back immediately without a hassle).

This is also very helpful as this was an item I was looking at after watching video.

13 hours ago, DeeringAmps said:

finished it with the Stew-Mac aerosol cans. (I should post a photo).

I have a friend that has used the Stewmac aerosol spays to do a Tobaccoburst finish on his guitar and it looks great! Your guitar in the photo is sweet!!

13 hours ago, DeeringAmps said:

only bugaboo that jumps out at me is the 7.25 radius,

Is that the Wilkerson kit your talking about?  I will have to check my G&L Legacy and MIC Squire necks to see what they are.