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Post subject: Re: Guitar kits
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 11:46 am
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Professional Musician
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Ceri wrote:
Erm - that's not my idea of a kit guitar. And at €645/$865 it's not exactly a kit price either!


Well, still cheaper than a MiM!
Money exchange rates presently spoil the deal, I know. :?
For German prices, these kits are a real alternative to Mexico level.

Of course, you can buy all necessary parts at their store to put your own Strat together as well but that won't make it any cheaper either because you most probably choose the best parts you can get.

Kit doesn't necessarily mean cheap.
If I want to go cheap, I buy Harley Benton.
If I want to put a good guitar together, I must invest more money.

Unless "kit" means just having fun and building a guitar but throw it away afterwards or hang it on the wall as deko, then a 150 bucks kit will do. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Guitar kits
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 11:58 am
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i have been GASing for one of the Airline guitar kits. There is a maker called RES-O-GLAS that has a few really cool kits. They end up being a little pricey but still way less than an Eastwood or real Airline would cost. They look really cool to me. I want to get one eventually (and by eventually of course i mean when i get through my millions of CURRENT projects and free up about $400 for a good build)


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Post subject: Re: Guitar kits
Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 4:55 am
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Hi again Smokin':
Smokin' Frets wrote:
Ceri wrote:
Erm - that's not my idea of a kit guitar. And at €645/$865 it's not exactly a kit price either!

Well, still cheaper than a MiM!
Money exchange rates presently spoil the deal, I know. :?
For German prices, these kits are a real alternative to Mexico level.

No doubt. But...:
Smokin' Frets wrote:
Unless "kit" means just having fun and building a guitar...

Just so! That's exactly what the gentleman has in mind - and he wants to do the finishing too, so he needs a body without lacquer on. And judging by his price list on the last page he's aiming at super-budget too - some of his stated prices are mind-bogglingly low!

Well, ya gotta start somewhere, I guess. But at that price point I'd suggest xny1989 goes with Smokin' Frets' earlier suggestion of picking up a well beaten Squier Strat on Ebay, stripping, refinishing and rebuilding it. You'll end up with a better guitar for the money and more satisfaction and experience under the belt.

At that price level I'm sure this is the way I'd go (and have done several times).

Cheers - C

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Post subject: Re: Guitar kits
Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 1:37 pm
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Carvin makes some kits that are pretty popular. They cost around $450, so they are a bit more, but I wouldn't trust a $150 kit to give me a playable guitar! Here's a link to their kit page.
http://www.carvinguitars.com/kits/

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Post subject: Re: Guitar kits
Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:14 pm
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I really have to ask the OP .....
What experience do you have in refinishing a guitar body and neck :?:
But most importantly what is your skill level with fine woodworking tools :?:

The last question is the crux because at $150.00 to $250.00 for a kit, you are going to have to do quite a bit of wood working to have it all fit correctly.
Just because it is a kit does not mean it fits together like LEGO blocks.
Actually quite the contrary, even on a kit from LMI or Carvin or even Stew Mac, there is ( will be quite a bit of work in many steps to arrive at a guitar that is playable to a pro standard...

If that is not the aim then there is always the wood stove... :wink:
I'm not ridiculing the idea of a kit, but you get what you pay for and to be perfectly honest if I was to buy a kit for say $150.00..... :?: :idea: Then I would pass and buy the stock and outline cut and shape my own body to fit either a MIM Tele/Strat neck.
It's just that if I have to do this much woodworking as a cheap kit assures that you will, the likely risk is that parts will not fit correctly. A cheap kit is not likely to fit standard Strat or Tele parts. That being very likely, then your guitar is pretty much just a bunch of wood pieces and metal parts.....

Just the tools needed to build a nice guitar is going to cost about $500.00 and that is finding them in the second hand market and in good usable condition...

I would urge the OP to do a lot more research as to which type of guitar and then what are the parts that will be needed... This isn't a throw this or that in the mix and Voila... :!: :shock:
You really need to know what you are getting....

LMI offers a few books on building kits and one is a comparison of multiple kits from various suppliers to build acoustic guitars.... ( The principles are the same ) Good kits rule and are not inexpensive... Cheap Kits will leave you begging for mercy...

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Post subject: Re: Guitar kits
Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 8:11 am
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Great advice all. My intent of posting this in the first place was to determine what kits, if any, would provide me with both an attractive (to me) and playable guitar for my guitar playing hobby. While I'm no carpenter, I have refinished many pieces of furniture at home, so I'm comfortable doing that. I've also been comfortable and successful at doing the usual electric guitar setups of neck strut, intonation, etc. Just put a new nut on my Jackson. So, wood sanding and finishing is no problem at all for me. However, getting guitar geometry correct for ill fitting parts might be a challenge. I also perform almost all my automobile repairs, as well as restoring a '72 el camino including welding on body parts, installing interiors, rewiring, installing and removing drivetrain parts, etc. So, I've got mechanical capabilities.

I've seen strat kits, complete, for less than $100, but if the result is a bunch of wood and metal parts that cannot play music, then that's not for me.
I'm a relative newbie to guitar playing; started a little over a year ago (I'm 62 years old too, and retired) and have an inexpensive Jackson Dinky HSS, Digitech RP255 going into a frontman 25r. I play rock and roll music - here are some of the songs I enjoy playing and learning.

Aqualung
Sunshine of your love (without the solo)
House of the Rising Sun
We Gotta Get Out of this Place
Wipeout
Pipeline
Sympathy for the Devil
working on Money for Nothing; Hotel California.

I've been looking into used Sqiers as well as MIM Fenders as well. My intent if I got one of these would be to dismantle and strip the body and refinish in either transparent yellow or blue, but I'd want a nice wood grain pattern to make such a finish pop.

By the way, the list I provided earlier was from guitar fetish website. They have a strat kit for $90, but I decided to piece together their various part to see what that would cost. There are also tons of used strat bodies on Ebay, some loaded, and then there's also Mighty Mite parts (necks, etc.).

Soooo, while I'm not a luthier, I feel comfortable tacking this sort of project.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and advice.

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