I wanted to build a guitar but knew I did not have the skills required to do it from scratch. That's when I turned to electric guitar kits. I found it much easier than expected and even more rewarding.
A guitar kit is a build it yourself construction project that at the end of you have a fully functioning professional quality guitar. Everything you need comes in the box and is ready to be used. Everything is designed to make it as easy as possible, even the holes and cavities are pre-drilled and there are no specialist tools required, you should already have all the necessary tools and if not a friend or neighbour will. You will require the following - Screwdriver, Coping saw or jigsaw, sandpaper (various grades), a craft knife and a wood file. That's pretty much it.
You may be asking the question. Why do we need a saw? Well most electric guitar kits come with a blank headstock to allow you to design your own shape and further emphasise that this is your guitar. The kit I brought had a headstock with three tuners on each side (holes pre-drilled). So to make sure my design was symmetrical, I found the vertical middle of the headstock and using a piece of paper drew just one half on the shape I wanted, traced it onto the headstock then simply flipped it over and traced it on the other half. Cut it with the saw and then finessed it with sandpaper until it was perfect and smooth.
There were a few things a was worried about before I even brought the kit. The first was the paint job. The body comes sanded and natural wood so the finish is up to you. Even though the body was sanded and sealed in the factory I found on my kit it was not a brilliant job so I chose to re-sand the body starting with a course paper and moving on to a fine wet & dry paper to really get a smooth professional look. I choose a navy blue colour to finish my guitar and I used an aerosol spray paint that I brought from my local car spares store. It took Four coats until I was happy with it, and then I gave it a further two coats of clear to give it a shine and protect the paint. I kept the headstock natural so just sprayed it with the clear to protect the wood. I could then attach the neck and body together which was simply a metal plate and four screws.
The biggest worry for me when I thought about building an electric guitar kit was the electrics. I was not confident about wiring the pickups, switches and knobs, so guess what, I didn't. The kit I had brought came with these all pre-wired I just simply feed them through the cavities in the guitar body and the job was done.
I plugged into my amp and was actually amazed to be playing something I had made and it sounded good. It really encouraged me to play more often and to get better. I will definitely be doing an electric guitar kits project again and really encourage you to do the same.
Chris is an avid guitar player who was so surprised by how easy and rewarding putting my own guitar together was. It really is a great way to get a guitar that is really yours. please use the links below to find more info on building electric guitar kits
A guitar kit is a build it yourself construction project that at the end of you have a fully functioning professional quality guitar. Everything you need comes in the box and is ready to be used. Everything is designed to make it as easy as possible, even the holes and cavities are pre-drilled and there are no specialist tools required, you should already have all the necessary tools and if not a friend or neighbour will. You will require the following - Screwdriver, Coping saw or jigsaw, sandpaper (various grades), a craft knife and a wood file. That's pretty much it.
You may be asking the question. Why do we need a saw? Well most electric guitar kits come with a blank headstock to allow you to design your own shape and further emphasise that this is your guitar. The kit I brought had a headstock with three tuners on each side (holes pre-drilled). So to make sure my design was symmetrical, I found the vertical middle of the headstock and using a piece of paper drew just one half on the shape I wanted, traced it onto the headstock then simply flipped it over and traced it on the other half. Cut it with the saw and then finessed it with sandpaper until it was perfect and smooth.
There were a few things a was worried about before I even brought the kit. The first was the paint job. The body comes sanded and natural wood so the finish is up to you. Even though the body was sanded and sealed in the factory I found on my kit it was not a brilliant job so I chose to re-sand the body starting with a course paper and moving on to a fine wet & dry paper to really get a smooth professional look. I choose a navy blue colour to finish my guitar and I used an aerosol spray paint that I brought from my local car spares store. It took Four coats until I was happy with it, and then I gave it a further two coats of clear to give it a shine and protect the paint. I kept the headstock natural so just sprayed it with the clear to protect the wood. I could then attach the neck and body together which was simply a metal plate and four screws.
The biggest worry for me when I thought about building an electric guitar kit was the electrics. I was not confident about wiring the pickups, switches and knobs, so guess what, I didn't. The kit I had brought came with these all pre-wired I just simply feed them through the cavities in the guitar body and the job was done.
I plugged into my amp and was actually amazed to be playing something I had made and it sounded good. It really encouraged me to play more often and to get better. I will definitely be doing an electric guitar kits project again and really encourage you to do the same.
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