Guitar Building Kit

[iRaiseTheDead]

I'm not too sure if this would go in this section or not but it seemed as if it fit.

For my first build (I took the advice from a lot of people) I am going to start with a kit. I want to build a Jackson Randy Rhoads style guitar, and after some browsing around the internet I found that dragonfire guitars sells kits. Would it be a good idea to start with this kit to see how everything goes together, and to help give me a little more experience before starting a from scratch?

Oh, and if you can check it out... I've got one question so far.
Dragonfire Guitars

My question: near the bottom where it says 'kit-predrilled:' does that mean the body, and headstock will be blank pieces of wood (nothing on them, no holes) or will it just mean that there will be no screw holes? or actually, what does it mean?

EDIT: is there anyway I could make this a 7-string?
EDIT2: can I remove the "stock-inlays" and put on different ones?

 

[aiur55]

From the looks of it, all the holes that are needed will be there if you pick the predrilled option. I would recommend you do that since your experience with building guitars is limited. And no, there is no way you can make this a 7 string unless you want the strings really close together, but then you would need a new nut and some bridge that would fit, which i believe would not exist.

And unless you are good with a dremel, no. Even then, if you remove them, there will be a hole wear it used to be and you new inlays would have to be bigger than the old ones. So no.

 

[iRaiseTheDead]

so what exactly would I get if I chose not to get it predrilled?

 

[gtrbmart]

The kit... without holes.

The holes are for your bridge, neck, pickups, tuners, etc.

 

[Bananalyze]

"Pre-drilled" means that all of your screw holes are already drilled by the manufacturer.

Those are all 6 string necks and that body is designed for 6 strings, so I imagine converting it to a seven would be pretty difficult. Not to say it isn't possible, I know people have done it. But it would involve a lot of complex modding.

You can remove the inlays, but you will still have the inlay routes in your neck, so you could only enlarge the routes or put inlays of the same shape in there.

I did look up a couple reviews about Dragonfire, and they don't look terrible. I suppose if that's what you want to get, go for it (personally I would choose something more well-known).

EDIT: Dang, everyone beat me to it already.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

EDIT: is there anyway I could make this a 7-string?
EDIT2: can I remove the "stock-inlays" and put on different ones?

1) You'd have to enlarge the bridge route, get a new neck, and widen the neck pocket and pickup routes, as well a throw out the stock bridge, nut, and pickups. It'd be a lot of work and expense. Might as well have a luthier make you a 7-string body and neck, and do the project "Warmoth style".

2) In theory you could remove the stock ones and install your own, but if you want it to look remotely good, you'll have to use an inlay in he exact same shape, and once again, it's not going to be easy.

 

[Justin Bailey]

build one and see if you can do just that before you start wanting to do anything else

 

[iRaiseTheDead]

"Pre-drilled" means that all of your screw holes are already drilled by the manufacturer.

Those are all 6 string necks and that body is designed for 6 strings, so I imagine converting it to a seven would be pretty difficult. Not to say it isn't possible, I know people have done it. But it would involve a lot of complex modding.

You can remove the inlays, but you will still have the inlay routes in your neck, so you could only enlarge the routes or put inlays of the same shape in there.

I did look up a couple reviews about Dragonfire, and they don't look terrible. I suppose if that's what you want to get, go for it (personally I would choose something more well-known).

EDIT: Dang, everyone beat me to it already.

so if I do not get it predrilled, it wont look like the picture? it will basically be a coloured piece of wood XD or it just wont have the holes where the screws go?

 

[aiur55]

I think it ll have the routes (the bigger holes) but wont have the holes for the screws. Just get it pre drilled...

 

[Berserker]

If you're gonna get a pre-painted, pre-drilled, pre-routed guitar, why not just buy a guitar? If you want the option to customise, get a body blank and a neck with a blank fretboard... at least you can decide on a paint job and inlays then.

 

[iRaiseTheDead]

yea, I'll just get it predrilled.
but I don't want a certain brand name on it. I'd rather put it together, to feel as if it were my own, its sort of a pride thing.

 

[Berserker]

It's completely up to you, but I wouldn't get a sense of pride from screwing together a kit. It's still built by someone else, and just because it doesn't have a logo on the headstock it doesn't make it original in any way.

I can understand you not wanting to tackle a complete build yet though, it's a scary prospect, but if I were you I'd at least get an unfinished body and neck so I could add my own touch.

 

[iRaiseTheDead]

yea, I know what you mean, thats how I feel too =/

I might just have to do that too thanks

 

[Berserker]

You could get a 7 string neck from somewhere like Warmoth with a paddle headstock that you can shape yourself, pick a body style and you're away. Paint it your choice of colours and Bob's your Mother's Brother!

 

[cwhitey2]

wow that's like the cheapest kit guitar i have ever seen, i have to to start looking harder apparently...

 

[iRaiseTheDead]

wow that's like the cheapest kit guitar i have ever seen, i have to to start looking harder apparently...

lolz really?

 

[shadscbr]

First off, don’t build something you don’t want…if you want a 7 string V, then build one.

I think you might need to narrow down how much work you want to put into this project. Do you want the pride of assembly, or the pride of doing some woodworking? The complete parts kits, show you can use a screwdriver, but little else. On the other hand, starting with a few raw pieces of wood and some fret wire seems very daunting on the other end of the spectrum.

How about something in the middle?

http://www.carvinguitars.com/necks/guitarneckthrough.php

The 7 string neck through with paddle headstock would take away the worry of milling precision fret slots, but still provide some woodworking (cutting the body shape, routing for pickups, and choosing switch and knob placement.) Plus, you would end up with a 7 string V, which is what you want I also feel like the neck quality might be better with the Carvin than with the cheap kits, but ymmv.

Just a thought

Best of luck in your quest

Shad

 

[iRaiseTheDead]

haha thanks bro, and everyone who has given me advice.

 

[iRaiseTheDead]

I did a little thing in my photo editing software... and I wanna do this to my guitar when I get it/put i tall together. is it possible to re-colour fret inlays?


I coloured this in to how i plan on making it:

 

[aiur55]

You might be able to dye it actually, depending on what the inlay materials are. However, I know that carvin doesnt offer that type of inlay. Carvin does offer a TON of different options in wood and fretwire and fretboard radius and stuff though. Carvin has great quality.

You can also grab so ideas from the neck through bass build that Melvyn Hiscock does if you end up using the neck through neck from Carvin.