Guitar kit build

GloopyJon

I want to increase my knowledge of guitar maintenance and have been thinking about experimenting with things like changing pickups etc, but I don't want to do that on any of my current guitars.  I decided that it would be a good idea to have a cheap guitar that I don't mind messing around with, and I decided that the ideal way to do that and get some in-depth experience would be to build my own kit guitar.

I browsed around for some ideas and found a recommendation for kits that are sold by Thomann.  I had a look at them and decided to buy a shape that I don't have, an SG body.  So I have just ordered one of these: Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit DC Style - Thomann Belgium

It's amazingly cheap at €77 for a complete kit.  I will need to buy a number of extra items, such as fine sandpaper and some lacquer for the finish, and I will also need to buy a soldering iron.  I've never done any soldering in my life so that's going to be fun too!

I've decided that I want to make it a blue / purple burst (blue on the inside and a darker purple on the outside), and I've also ordered some slightly odd control knobs to replace the standard ones.

What else?  I ordered a few other bits and pieces - string winder/cutter, a bunch of strings and a strap for the guitar.  I couldn't get the other things I need from Thomann (the lacquer, soldering iron and sandpaper) so I'll have to get those separately.  I'll try to take lots of photos and update this thread regularly - I might even do a video blog if I feel particularly inspired.

I'll probably get the kit around the end of the week so I'll update with the first photos then.  I've never done anything remotely like this, so it should be interesting!

AndrewH13

Was this the kit I posted about some months back?  I thought it might be worth a punt for a play around.

Magoo222

Looking at the photos it looks like the pots and switch are all already soldered, so you'll only need to solder the pups.  Unless you decide to swap out the pots/caps for better spec ones that is!

Sounds an interesting project, it's something I've thought about doing a few times, but always come to the conclusion that my time would be better spent practising!!  One day though...!

hyperfish

You will need feeler gauges, ruler/action gauge in meteric/64ths and maybe nut files to set it up.

Good luck Jon, looking forward to following this.

GloopyJon

I don't know.  I found it linked on the Chapman forum, by one of the guitar techs at Andertons (who don't sell kits like this).

Thanks - I have the action gauge but not the others.  What's a feeler gauge used for?

I'm looking forward to it too.  I suspect that it'll take me a while to do, if only because I will doubtless realise while I'm doing it that I need something or other that I don't have, and I'll have to order it.  Also, I may have to order the lacquer in the UK and wait until I come over to collect it; I'll see about that.

hyperfish

To set the neck relief and measure the string height at the nut. Some say use a slither of paper, card or whatever but there is a spec for everything and therefore should be set accurately. A set of feelers should only cost a few Euro.
Tools - Spark Plug Tools - Draper - 10 Blade Feeler Gauge Imperial | eBay

Christian 71

You won't need a soldering iron, the kit comes pre soldered as Magoo says but better than that I can see the pickups have been soldered too. You can simply plug the pickups to the plug for the controls.

Its a nice kit as most of the hard work has been done and you could probably assemble and have it playing in a few hours. The hardest part is finishing to a professional level. There are different options, but for painted a spray gun gets the best results. A lot of people recommend poly, I found brush lacquer hard work.

I built a strat from separate bits I bought off ebay, it wasn't that much harder even with the soldering.

GloopyJon

OK, not sure if that's good news or bad, because it would be interesting to have to do the wiring & soldering!  I do want to put an interesting paint job on the guitar which will doubtless take most of the time - currently researching where best to buy the lacquer from.

hyperfish

Many use car spray for the finish. I'm following this guy's build.

                                        Code:                                https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdX3GIDXH3x3pTCjyryFomAiWUNqiHY0z

Christian 71

Yup I used Acrylic spray paint from halfords on my daughters guitar and it turned out really well. Pretty much any finishing stuff for cars works well on guitars.

One tip is that the colour coats are super thin, so any finishing issues will show through. A layer of undercoat will soon show any blemishes, fix these and sand then repeat until the undercoat looks flawless. I used dye on the strat but it was a lot more tricky.

If I have another go I'll either buy a spray gun and spray nitro on over a few weeks or get a body shop to spray it. The wudtone kits also look pretty good:
Wudtone Custom Guitars, Finishes, Parts » Finishing – DIY Kits

Finishing is a bit of an art and it really helps if you buy the super fine sandpaper, ideally a selection upto grade 8000 works the best with lots of elbow grease. TCut works pretty well, but the best stuff is the Maguires finishing kits. Managed a mirror like finish on both guitars.

The great thing about finishing is once you have done it once you can polish any guitar back to a showroom finish.