ericheartsu Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 has anyone ever used any of those build your own guitar kits? i want to start doing this, but i don't know which ones are decent to buy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robthepenguin Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I've been interested in this, too. Well, I did a while back. I had an old bass that was kinda fucked up that I took apart. I wanted to get some parts and turn it into a guitar. Then I forgot about it. Until now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
000000 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 i did one of those Saga kits last summer and it came out alright for a $90 guitar and an interesting learning experience. if you get one I highly advise getting new tuning pegs because the ones they include are total garbage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I built a banjo in 7th grade wood shop. Sounds good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdwell Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 i helped a buddy build a Telecaster copy.....but he built it from scratch....it was a huge pain in the ass, I've never done one of the Warmoth-type builds though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgedestroys Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Built this about 4 years ago for my senior graduation project. I actually want to sell it because I put $1050 into it and never play the damn thing but on topic, most of the parts are from Warmoth with the exception of the EMGs and the Tuners. I can't remember where I got them but I'm guessing it was probably musician's friend. I 100% back Warmoth, quality stuff, decent turnaround rate, etc. It can get a little pricey (obviously considering what mine cost) but the quality is well worth it. Biggest advice I can give here is unless you are fairly proficient with wiring/electronics stick with passive pickups. I've gone over so many schematics and rewired this thing... shit I think 5 times now and it's still never quite right. Active pickups add an extra level of complication that you may not want to deal with if it's your first time building a guitar. I could just be really stupid though so if you can follow schematics and have a decent soldiering iron don't let my bad experience with it stop you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
controlthebleeding Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 are you planning to build from scratch or just putting a guitar together from various pieces. like the kits they sell. most kits suck though and you'll be left replacing most parts. now if you're buying pieces seperatly, that's a different thing and it can be cool and you can get a well build guitar of your own liking. it won't be cheap though. Now if you're building from scratch, good luck. it's time consuming and not very cost effective. I have a friend who build his les paul copy from scratch, neck thru body, fingerboards, fretting etc, and he wound up spending more than what a same build would actually cost from the store. Mainly because of all the tools he had to purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idreamofpunk Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 When I was in high school, I was going to build a guitar, but shit happened, and over time the body and the bridge were lost. What i had planned: Ibanez RG-style body, with one pickup slot near the bridge (used off ebay for about $35) Hardtail, Fender Strat-style bridge that didn't need the strings to load through the body ($15) Seymour Duncan Invader pickup ($40) Squier Stratocaster Affinity neck ($30) Old tuners form my brother's old, MIJ Squier Stratocaster neck from before he got some locking tuners for his (FREE) We had epoxied up one of the knob holes, and a friend and I were in the process of painting the body bold-as-fuck yellow. Shit ended up happening with him and we never finished that. We both think his dad saw it while cleaning out the basement and wondered why the hell there was a guitar body in the basement, and threw it out. Basically, it would've looked like (picture this) a Gibson RG Junior with a 25.5" Strat-style neck. I know, none of those are from the same company, but that's what I was going for. I had faith that it would've been a fine guitar, but unfortunately, it was just not in the cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblahmaster Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Man, I can't wait to go the warmoth route and order some parts to assemble my own guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdwell Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 also....just so it's out there....you'll never see a return on your investment if you try and ever sell a project guitar....even if you're building from the finest of parts....nobody is gonna throw down decent money on a non name-brand guitar no matter what luthier helped you build it, no matter who professionally set it up ect. ect. ect.....so if you're going to build your own, make sure it's exactly what you want and is extremely well suited for your playing style Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericheartsu Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 i just want to buy a simple cheap kit, to put something together, to start understanding more about guitars. i'm not trying to sell it, or start my own line of guitars. I really enjoy playing, and thought this could be a super fun hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpearin Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 i just want to buy a simple cheap kit, to put something together, to start understanding more about guitars. i'm not trying to sell it, or start my own line of guitars. I really enjoy playing, and thought this could be a super fun hobby. I'd say just buy different used parts (NON-kit parts) and throw something together. My brother does this all the time - became a steady hobby for him. He ended up selling one of his to Chris from Lawrence Arms (he used it on Oh Calcutta). There's a few really excellent books you can read about wiring/building. I'll post some links later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idreamofpunk Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 also....just so it's out there....you'll never see a return on your investment if you try and ever sell a project guitar....even if you're building from the finest of parts....nobody is gonna throw down decent money on a non name-brand guitar no matter what luthier helped you build it, no matter who professionally set it up ect. ect. ect.....so if you're going to build your own, make sure it's exactly what you want and is extremely well suited for your playing style Oh, totally. I was wanting something I could play the fuck out of, and that's it. SOmething I could call my own. I kinda wanna try again, but at the same time, I don't have the people around me to help like I did the last time (but look where they got me). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
controlthebleeding Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 yeah, i'm with buying parts and throwing a guitar together. much like a bike. just get decent parts and you should be all good. or if you want to learn by trail and error, get a cheap rondo and gut it. and replace the parts with nicer parts. this way you'll learn how to fix things on your own, and at the same time figuring out how the innards work, and wind up with a decent guitar. i have tons of friends who do this with used crappy guitars. as long as the neck and body are good, he can make a gremlin sound awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericheartsu Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 the warmoth stuff looks great, but if i'm gonna spend that much on stuff i may as well just buy a guitar from EGC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdwell Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 only reason I brought up the re-selling thing. I have a buddy who did a Warmoth build, made his Tele exactly how he's always dreamed, painted it himself, exact specs on the exact custom wound pickups, wired everything himself....dude literally build his dream guitar....joined a touring band for about a year....takes extremely awesome care of his equipment (like OCD care) even while on tour....there's like literally one tiny ding on this guitar he built like 5-6 years ago. Got married, doesn't play anymore and has been trying to sell this thing at less than half of what he put into it and nobody will bite...so he's basically sitting on the thing until somebody will pay what he feels is a decent price for the thing. I have no middle ground knowledge, one dude did a Warmoth build I know, the other built from scratch, from planks of wood, to routing out a place for a truss rod, doing his own inlays and fret wire....which was rad, but cost a ton of time and money...both guitars sound great, look great....but I don't know about slapping random pieces together, got to check scale-lenghts, and make sure neck pockets fit nice and snug, make sure the neck isn't warped before you buy it, ect. ect. ect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgedestroys Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 only reason I brought up the re-selling thing. I have a buddy who did a Warmoth build, made his Tele exactly how he's always dreamed, painted it himself, exact specs on the exact custom wound pickups, wired everything himself....dude literally build his dream guitar....joined a touring band for about a year....takes extremely awesome care of his equipment (like OCD care) even while on tour....there's like literally one tiny ding on this guitar he built like 5-6 years ago. Got married, doesn't play anymore and has been trying to sell this thing at less than half of what he put into it and nobody will bite...so he's basically sitting on the thing until somebody will pay what he feels is a decent price for the thing. Basically where I stand with mine. I grew out of having guitars with wild crazy shapes and just want a schecter or ibanez now with a simple comfortable to play shape. I never touch this one despite putting over a grand and hours of work into it. At this point I don't even want to make half of it back, I just want enough to replace it with a different guitar I actually will play. So yeah, gonna echo on this that reselling these does not happen, and if it does, not really for any worthwhile amount of money. Make sure if you put a decent enough amount of money into it that it's a guitar you know for a fact you'll want to have and play for years and years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdwell Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 side-note to Eric: I think i saw your wedding invite last night? or at least one you printed? shit was legit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericheartsu Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 side-note to Eric: I think i saw your wedding invite last night? or at least one you printed? shit was legit at wills house? yeah it's for my wedding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdwell Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 side-note to Eric: I think i saw your wedding invite last night? or at least one you printed? shit was legit at wills house? yeah it's for my wedding! definitely at Will's...i was a little drunk, so I couldn't remember if it was yours or if you just printed it, cool little invite either way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stumparumper Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I've been considering these Carvin kits for awhile, but I never had a good reason to get another guitar. http://www.carvin.com/kits/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selfreliable Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I've been considering these Carvin kits for awhile, but I never had a good reason to get another guitar.http://www.carvin.com/kits/ So worth it. Thats what I got about 10 years ago and it sounds amazing. I got a bass though so I cant say the guitars are great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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