Is building a kit guitar even cheaper any more?

[Loydthebartender]

I've kind of had the itching for an EVH style guitar recently as I've started to get good enough to learn some of his songs. That is to say, single humbucker mounted directly so it's easy to swap out, NON recessed Floyd Rose, nice fast unfinished neck, wild 80s paint job. I've been told that you can build one for way cheaper than the ones that are sold under the EVH name, and I've kind of always wanted to do that, but after looking into it. Is that really true? I don't possess any woodworking tools or skills nor do I have the space for anything like that, so I wouldn't be able to build from scratch. I can however screw stuff together and solder stuff. I have wired up a guitar from scratch before so that is not above my skill level. The thing is necks on warmoth seem to go around $400 now, and bodies are around $200-300, so right off the bat I'm out $600, then $300 for an OFR. That's already more expensive than a used EVH brand guitar and I haven't even painted the thing or put a pickup in it yet.

Is there a cheaper way of going about this? The one thing I wont tolerate is a shitty neck or horrible frets. I'd like to have a premade neck with a nice profile and frets already put in there. I'd really like to try building one but it seems like it's more money and a lot of risk. The thing I'm worried about is fitting the neck into the body because if I fuck that up well then I can't undo that unlike wiring up the pickups wrong.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Kits are about having fun putting a guitar together, not really about saving money.

 

[spudmunkey]

Along with the rest of the industry, American-made guitars (like Warmoth) formerly known for value have steeper competition from imports that have increased on quality. Kiesel(Carvin) got out of the kit game, because it was too hard to compete with the great complete guitars you could get from asia.

Honest question: when you said the pricing you were seeing for used EVH guitars: were those US-made guitars, or Korea, Indonesia, china, Mexico or Japan (all countries where they've been made).

I remember a guitar youtuber, who builds a fair number of kits, likes Precision Guitar kits. About a year ago, he put out a summary of a bunch of kits here.

The highlights:
He also liked Crimson kits, but I don't think they sell them anymore...at least I don't see them on their website. He mentioned "Guitar Build UK" for those in the UK, but their pricing seems to be nearly as much as warmoth, at least on necks. He also mentioned Solo, but that they were a tier down, though still "pretty good", and seemed to hint that the more expensive ones were somehow nicer then their cheaper ones, so I would expect "pretty good" to be in regards to their more expensive ones, and then go down from there.

Music Lilly was also "pretty good", though it's not complete kits: just necks and bodies.

Stew mac: he hadn't build with their products. Prices seem high, though.

Guitar Fetish: his neck pocket and bridge hardware didn't line up, and he sanded through the ultra-thin veneer top, though that was the only kit he's built from them.

Muslady: no bueno. Had lots of problems...couldn't even finish the build.

Badcat was mentioned that he hadn't built yet. Though in his other videos about it, he didn't seem to be super hot on it...seemed more "ok for the price", which is quite low, so...yeah.

 

[ElRay]

... I remember a guitar youtuber, who builds a fair number of kits, likes Precision Guitar kits. About a year ago, he put out a summary of a bunch of kits here.
...

Brad Angrove. I love his rattle-can finishing videos.

 

[soliloquy]

you can easily make cheaper guitars as Ebay is littered with affordable parts.
But that quote of 'buy nice or buy twice' rings true here. Lots of garbage items on Ebay too. You could get lucky and get genuine parts with decent work.

If, for example, you decide to go the Ibanez route, where you just paid an RG the same colors/stripes as EVH, then you may get a decent built for pretty affordable.


and as Max said above, kits are moreso for having fun (and/or for making something unique that isn't readily available in the market). Having a 'versatile kit where you swap out the pickups as you see fit' sounds great, but honestly speaking, how often do you actually do that, vs playing with the tone/volume knob?


you could always go the GFS route with kits that will require some sanding to fit the necks, but thats about it.

EDIT: also keep in mind that guitar companies can make guitars in bulk, allowing their prices to come down. One-offs by default would be expensive. If they arent, then you might be sacrificing on quality.

 

[Marked Man]

Kits are about having fun putting a guitar together, not really about saving money.

And getting exactly what you want. I wanted a natural finish roasted swamp aah Strat with Duncan rails, SS frets, pau ferro board, and Babicz trem. Couldn't find it, so I built it.

 

[eaeolian]

And getting exactly what you want. I wanted a natural finish roasted swamp aah Strat with Duncan rails, SS frets, pau ferro board, and Babicz trem. Couldn't find it, so I built it.

Definitely why I go that route.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

And getting exactly what you want. I wanted a natural finish roasted swamp aah Strat with Duncan rails, SS frets, pau ferro board, and Babicz trem. Couldn't find it, so I built it.

Of course!

Why put together a guitar you don't want? That doesn't sound very fun.

 

[lost_horizon]

Of course!

Why put together a guitar you don't want? That doesn't sound very fun.

Because you can? I am doing a few tele builds out of spite.

RE parts. You can buy an EVH neck for cheap. You can buy EVH loaded bodies from japan for less than $200. Charvel also has a factory outlet on reverb and you can find loaded bodies straight off the floor.

What is the difference between buying a production level guitar already made and a kit?

Warmoth don't even crown or level the frets. Buying used gear you are already off to a better start. You are tuning rather than building.

I got a bunch of post CNC production necks for less than $50 from japan and a tele body from the Cool Z factory for less than $70. The stuff is out there.

 

[lost_horizon]

I've kind of had the itching for an EVH style guitar recently as I've started to get good enough to learn some of his songs. That is to say, single humbucker mounted directly so it's easy to swap out, NON recessed Floyd Rose, nice fast unfinished neck, wild 80s paint job. I've been told that you can build one for way cheaper than the ones that are sold under the EVH name, and I've kind of always wanted to do that, but after looking into it. Is that really true? I don't possess any woodworking tools or skills nor do I have the space for anything like that, so I wouldn't be able to build from scratch. I can however screw stuff together and solder stuff. I have wired up a guitar from scratch before so that is not above my skill level. The thing is necks on warmoth seem to go around $400 now, and bodies are around $200-300, so right off the bat I'm out $600, then $300 for an OFR. That's already more expensive than a used EVH brand guitar and I haven't even painted the thing or put a pickup in it yet.

Is there a cheaper way of going about this? The one thing I wont tolerate is a shitty neck or horrible frets. I'd like to have a premade neck with a nice profile and frets already put in there. I'd really like to try building one but it seems like it's more money and a lot of risk. The thing I'm worried about is fitting the neck into the body because if I fuck that up well then I can't undo that unlike wiring up the pickups wrong.

I got you fam!!

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buyee.jp

https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/h1129432171?conversionType=search_suggest_history

 

[Seabeast2000]

I was just dream-building a JS with Wizard neck at Five Alarm then realized I would have to source a LoPro (is that right? the Low version of the Edge they still make/use) and all of the other hardware from other sources......in summary Five Alarm should carry all of the Ibby parts.

 

[Kyle Jordan]

I was just dream-building a JS with Wizard neck at Five Alarm then realized I would have to source a LoPro (is that right? the Low version of the Edge they still make/use) and all of the other hardware from other sources......in summary Five Alarm should carry all of the Ibby parts.

Woah! I’ve never heard of Five Alarm. Lots of ideas cooking up now.

Edit:

THEY MAKE S BODIES!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy fuck I need to hide my wallet and cards.

 

[narad]

Of course!

Why put together a guitar you don't want? That doesn't sound very fun.

That would be very SSO. "If only I had made it in a color other than black, and with a hipshot bridge instead of this crap gotoh"