j
Far better than I expected
I purchased this kit, as I wanted an LP style guitar for the tone produced for recording some backing tracks, but had a limited budget. The result really surprised me. The veneer on the body is thin, so use minimum pressure when sanding. The finish is amazing. I am into natural finishes and so after a light sanding, just used thin clear varnish applied with a cloth. The result is quite stunning. A natural butterscotch with a light catching grain. It literally reflects light on stage in places.
The electrics are wrong. If left unchanged, the tone pots do not work. Five minutes with a soldering iron chnging one wire on each tone pot to the correct lug cured the problem. The cure is detailed on several reviews, so I won't bore you with repeating it hear. Once done, the volume and tone controls work very well indeed.
The back of the neck, I left as it came. The fine smooth varnish finish is perfect to play.
The only other problem was the nut. It came with the high E slot cut too near the edge. A replacement for under 2 euros cured the problem and allowed me to file it to the ideal depth.
The Frets were surpisingly good. After fitting the new nut, I set the neck to Gibson Les Paul specs and it plays perfectly. No buzz, surpringly low action. Can't ask for more.
The pickups are very acceptable, producing the rich creamy sound I was specifically after on the neck pickup, with the tone pot turned fairly down and very capable of the typical LP scream on teh bridge pick up if required. Sustain is amazing. In my opinion, a far superior performer to the Vintage/Revelation LP copies that cost 3 times the price.
The bridge is an obvious copy. Typical of a Chinese ebay replacement. I was lucky with mine, it works and I have left it on.
If I add the price of the nut and a set of D'addario 10's strings to replace the ones that came with it. I got the bargain of the century for under 100 Euros. I have played live, recorded 7 songs with this guitar and a professional performer (an ex-guitarist from Mott The Hoople) asked me if it was for sale. It isn't!
The wiring, bridge and the nut brought the quality rating down to Okay for the price. The rest is good.
So in short, if you want a good LP copy and are willing to spend 5 minutes resoldering, maybe a new nut and reasonable time setting up the neck carefully. go for it, you will not be disappointed. I reckon I would have to pay at least £500 to buy a ready made of equal playability. In fact, it has turned out to be a far superior performer to the Gibson Studio.
I have been as honest and detailed as I can. I hope this helps you.
The electrics are wrong. If left unchanged, the tone pots do not work. Five minutes with a soldering iron chnging one wire on each tone pot to the correct lug cured the problem. The cure is detailed on several reviews, so I won't bore you with repeating it hear. Once done, the volume and tone controls work very well indeed.
The back of the neck, I left as it came. The fine smooth varnish finish is perfect to play.
The only other problem was the nut. It came with the high E slot cut too near the edge. A replacement for under 2 euros cured the problem and allowed me to file it to the ideal depth.
The Frets were surpisingly good. After fitting the new nut, I set the neck to Gibson Les Paul specs and it plays perfectly. No buzz, surpringly low action. Can't ask for more.
The pickups are very acceptable, producing the rich creamy sound I was specifically after on the neck pickup, with the tone pot turned fairly down and very capable of the typical LP scream on teh bridge pick up if required. Sustain is amazing. In my opinion, a far superior performer to the Vintage/Revelation LP copies that cost 3 times the price.
The bridge is an obvious copy. Typical of a Chinese ebay replacement. I was lucky with mine, it works and I have left it on.
If I add the price of the nut and a set of D'addario 10's strings to replace the ones that came with it. I got the bargain of the century for under 100 Euros. I have played live, recorded 7 songs with this guitar and a professional performer (an ex-guitarist from Mott The Hoople) asked me if it was for sale. It isn't!
The wiring, bridge and the nut brought the quality rating down to Okay for the price. The rest is good.
So in short, if you want a good LP copy and are willing to spend 5 minutes resoldering, maybe a new nut and reasonable time setting up the neck carefully. go for it, you will not be disappointed. I reckon I would have to pay at least £500 to buy a ready made of equal playability. In fact, it has turned out to be a far superior performer to the Gibson Studio.
I have been as honest and detailed as I can. I hope this helps you.
102
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B
Great little project.
So I bought this as a entry into creating the guitar that suits me perfectly (or as close as perfect gets).
As is always the case with anything I buy from Thomann this arrived extremely quickly considering it was close to Christmas, and it arrived in perfect condition in that the box was undamaged and the same shape it left the factory.
All the pieces were there, all packaged well and looked neat and tidy.
However, I was led to believe that this had been grain filled and annoyingly after primer and first couple of coats of paint it became apparent that this was not the case. This is the reason for four out five stars on quality.
I really hate not giving full star ratings because I'm not picky do I understand that whatever I am rating is relevant to the products cost. Of course this isn't a Gibson but HB guitars are really good so I was expecting something that is better quality than the price suggests.
The body had a nice grain so would have looked good on the back and sides with a decent stain be it clear or coloured.
The neck is nice and straight and didn't need adjusting when the whole guitar was setup.
The hardware (tuners, bridge) are really nice, sturdy and look great.
I didn't install the pickups simply because I wanted a particular set of Epiphones in, so the decision was not based on the quality of those supplied. But they look good and I have HB guitars that still the pickups in so I love the sound that even their budget pups kick out.
Overall, this is a great project guitar that can be almost anything you want it to be.
Frustratingly though... Arg! The lack of grain filler and the fact it is sold as having the treatment!
I will buy another, probably a bass, but bear in mind that it needs grain filler. I'm going on about it because it was frustrating at the time, however I'm quite taken by the effect that comes through beneath the clear coat so I could have been really mean and docked it two or three stars as I'm there are people who would.
Anyway, finished project had Daphne Blue on the front, Vintage White on the sides and back, clear coat and all in nitrocellulose. Epiphone pickups was the other extra.
All in it came to around £160.
As is always the case with anything I buy from Thomann this arrived extremely quickly considering it was close to Christmas, and it arrived in perfect condition in that the box was undamaged and the same shape it left the factory.
All the pieces were there, all packaged well and looked neat and tidy.
However, I was led to believe that this had been grain filled and annoyingly after primer and first couple of coats of paint it became apparent that this was not the case. This is the reason for four out five stars on quality.
I really hate not giving full star ratings because I'm not picky do I understand that whatever I am rating is relevant to the products cost. Of course this isn't a Gibson but HB guitars are really good so I was expecting something that is better quality than the price suggests.
The body had a nice grain so would have looked good on the back and sides with a decent stain be it clear or coloured.
The neck is nice and straight and didn't need adjusting when the whole guitar was setup.
The hardware (tuners, bridge) are really nice, sturdy and look great.
I didn't install the pickups simply because I wanted a particular set of Epiphones in, so the decision was not based on the quality of those supplied. But they look good and I have HB guitars that still the pickups in so I love the sound that even their budget pups kick out.
Overall, this is a great project guitar that can be almost anything you want it to be.
Frustratingly though... Arg! The lack of grain filler and the fact it is sold as having the treatment!
I will buy another, probably a bass, but bear in mind that it needs grain filler. I'm going on about it because it was frustrating at the time, however I'm quite taken by the effect that comes through beneath the clear coat so I could have been really mean and docked it two or three stars as I'm there are people who would.
Anyway, finished project had Daphne Blue on the front, Vintage White on the sides and back, clear coat and all in nitrocellulose. Epiphone pickups was the other extra.
All in it came to around £160.
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Rp
Amazing Experience...Get one!
Great experience, if you are looking forward to having something really yours to put your heart and soul into, go for any of the kits. I received mine in April, was preliminary done in a week and been playing around with several bursts and finishes but completely done since beginning of June. 360-400 grid paper is your best friend for the body if you want to try a couple of faces for your Axe but be smooth with the sanding.
Friends, family and wife actually think I have been sabotaging my own work to keep at it and I have to humbly say yes, mea culpa, I did sabotage amazing finishes just to be able to do it again, stain, stain, stain! Now I am happy with this last face so she will remain with her purple burst for a long while I hope.
All works perfectly fine, I was a bit unlucky with one easy connector from Pot to Switch was lose. It took Thomann but a couple of days to send me the entire circuit, switch included. Many thanks since it now sounds great with her two humbuckers and no “humming bird colony” singing along in the background….great service but I think that is a common denominator amongst all these reviews, keep up the great work you are doing Thomann.
Quality of all items is perfect for the task and price at hand. You can always just include your old matching electronics and/or mechanics but with what you get, you are ready to rock! If you find the tuners are not as high quality, get a good synthetic lubricant, take them all apart and give them a day in the Spa ….the nut I have no idea what It could be but with a pencil you just lubricate it nicely….
Body was excellent, thick nice wood to stain with Angelus Leather Dyes, the top is thick enough to play around since you can still sandpaper a lot before messing up. This is a total danger for guitar bodies with a thin veneer…..would look nicer but we would probably sand through veneer quite easily so body as received is perfect…..anyhow please consider internally a Premium body Kit with doubled maple top with unfinished-unsealed wood, to avoid sandpaper problems from source….if you guys are selling these kits already like candy at the school entrance…..imagine if an upgraded kit or body was available to purchase with flamed maple tops…..for a fair price of course.
Mechanics and electronics are also ok, the easy connectors make life much easier, especially if no experience with soldering…..If you can solder though, go for it, the quality of sound will improve I think since these connectors are not as reliable as a real soldered connection but that is a fact, not a quality issue. Still very happy with content. As mentioned I had to play with only one humbucker since one connector was lose and C. Care send me urgently a set of pots and switch.
Once everything was done and I had extensively played it, I took the guitar yesterday for fine tuning to a friend and now it does really sound like a true beast. Amazing, I am actually extremely happy with the sound and feeling. A tank of a guitar.
If any challenges when wiring, the website for the product has pictures in color where you can see easier the position of volume or tone pots as well as clear pic of what goes where and how. A bit of patience and you are done!
I only changed the nut for a Graphite one and to Knuson turners, not by any means top of the line but definitively a good upgrade
Would like to suggest to consider anyone purchasing the kit to put aside some part of your budget on quality consumables such as paints, dyes, sprays and finishes……they are not cheap so just make your peace with it and stay away from low quality consumables and special offers that will make you buy at least twice…….read, check videos and try to learn where you need, will be easier afterwards. I could now stain almost any burst and finish a guitar in no time, drying time aside.
Enjoy your time during the build and don’t rush it, you will experience each little achievement as a battle won and you will be safer by letting things dry as they should and a bit longer just to be sure
Big thanks to all at Thomann!
Friends, family and wife actually think I have been sabotaging my own work to keep at it and I have to humbly say yes, mea culpa, I did sabotage amazing finishes just to be able to do it again, stain, stain, stain! Now I am happy with this last face so she will remain with her purple burst for a long while I hope.
All works perfectly fine, I was a bit unlucky with one easy connector from Pot to Switch was lose. It took Thomann but a couple of days to send me the entire circuit, switch included. Many thanks since it now sounds great with her two humbuckers and no “humming bird colony” singing along in the background….great service but I think that is a common denominator amongst all these reviews, keep up the great work you are doing Thomann.
Quality of all items is perfect for the task and price at hand. You can always just include your old matching electronics and/or mechanics but with what you get, you are ready to rock! If you find the tuners are not as high quality, get a good synthetic lubricant, take them all apart and give them a day in the Spa ….the nut I have no idea what It could be but with a pencil you just lubricate it nicely….
Body was excellent, thick nice wood to stain with Angelus Leather Dyes, the top is thick enough to play around since you can still sandpaper a lot before messing up. This is a total danger for guitar bodies with a thin veneer…..would look nicer but we would probably sand through veneer quite easily so body as received is perfect…..anyhow please consider internally a Premium body Kit with doubled maple top with unfinished-unsealed wood, to avoid sandpaper problems from source….if you guys are selling these kits already like candy at the school entrance…..imagine if an upgraded kit or body was available to purchase with flamed maple tops…..for a fair price of course.
Mechanics and electronics are also ok, the easy connectors make life much easier, especially if no experience with soldering…..If you can solder though, go for it, the quality of sound will improve I think since these connectors are not as reliable as a real soldered connection but that is a fact, not a quality issue. Still very happy with content. As mentioned I had to play with only one humbucker since one connector was lose and C. Care send me urgently a set of pots and switch.
Once everything was done and I had extensively played it, I took the guitar yesterday for fine tuning to a friend and now it does really sound like a true beast. Amazing, I am actually extremely happy with the sound and feeling. A tank of a guitar.
If any challenges when wiring, the website for the product has pictures in color where you can see easier the position of volume or tone pots as well as clear pic of what goes where and how. A bit of patience and you are done!
I only changed the nut for a Graphite one and to Knuson turners, not by any means top of the line but definitively a good upgrade
Would like to suggest to consider anyone purchasing the kit to put aside some part of your budget on quality consumables such as paints, dyes, sprays and finishes……they are not cheap so just make your peace with it and stay away from low quality consumables and special offers that will make you buy at least twice…….read, check videos and try to learn where you need, will be easier afterwards. I could now stain almost any burst and finish a guitar in no time, drying time aside.
Enjoy your time during the build and don’t rush it, you will experience each little achievement as a battle won and you will be safer by letting things dry as they should and a bit longer just to be sure
Big thanks to all at Thomann!
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T
All up to you
An amazing kit in total, but let me break down the various different parts for clarity and to help set some proper expectations.
Wiring:
In general is kind of ok if you really have no clue what you are doing, but my advice would be to use something better for various reasons (scratching sounds, loud hiss, sticky knobs, bad switch),
Pickups:
They almost make the sounds you need them to, as long as you don't compare them to something else.
But the second you put a better set of pickups (irongear?) in it you'll have a beautifully singing masterpiece.
General hardware:
It works.
Change the tuners and you will get better tuning stability. Change the bridge and you will have better intonation, better sustain and less weird overtones.
Add some graphite in the nut slots (draw in them with a pencil) and it's just fine for now.
Wood and general make:
Amazing!
In all fairness, this is what you paid for. Everything else matters little.
Sand your surfaces with no shortcuts, show the finish some love, do a proper set up, do a fret dress and you have a GREAT guitar.
Summary: 98 euros of amazing possibility!
Wiring:
In general is kind of ok if you really have no clue what you are doing, but my advice would be to use something better for various reasons (scratching sounds, loud hiss, sticky knobs, bad switch),
Pickups:
They almost make the sounds you need them to, as long as you don't compare them to something else.
But the second you put a better set of pickups (irongear?) in it you'll have a beautifully singing masterpiece.
General hardware:
It works.
Change the tuners and you will get better tuning stability. Change the bridge and you will have better intonation, better sustain and less weird overtones.
Add some graphite in the nut slots (draw in them with a pencil) and it's just fine for now.
Wood and general make:
Amazing!
In all fairness, this is what you paid for. Everything else matters little.
Sand your surfaces with no shortcuts, show the finish some love, do a proper set up, do a fret dress and you have a GREAT guitar.
Summary: 98 euros of amazing possibility!
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FF
Great way to make and customise a LP tyle guitar!
I am primarily a bass player who likes to mess around a lttle on 6 string too.Also I build 3 ,4,and 6 string cigar box guitars for fun so I was tempted by this budget price LP kit.
I had never used Thomann before and as a Brit living in Spain ordering anything from the uk was just unaffordable and difficult since Brexit (Thanks a bunch Brexiteers!) so I was very pleasantly surprised to discover how easy and quick and affordable it has been to use Thomann...Delivery came within 7 days and all was well packaged and undamaged.
Put together easy with good instructions,all parts fitted perfectly.
Only minor grouch was the pickups switch wiring connectors could have been tagged with correct connections as the plugs can be connected in several permutations which took a bit of sorting...but apart from that no Complaints.
Action and intonation almost perfect out of the box with very minor setup needed.
Got a couple of professional guitarist pals to do a test drive and they were very impressed with the sound and playabilty of this instrument.
In short...If you can handle a screwdriver and some sandpapering you will get yourself a very capable instrument for a very low price...well done Thomann!
I had never used Thomann before and as a Brit living in Spain ordering anything from the uk was just unaffordable and difficult since Brexit (Thanks a bunch Brexiteers!) so I was very pleasantly surprised to discover how easy and quick and affordable it has been to use Thomann...Delivery came within 7 days and all was well packaged and undamaged.
Put together easy with good instructions,all parts fitted perfectly.
Only minor grouch was the pickups switch wiring connectors could have been tagged with correct connections as the plugs can be connected in several permutations which took a bit of sorting...but apart from that no Complaints.
Action and intonation almost perfect out of the box with very minor setup needed.
Got a couple of professional guitarist pals to do a test drive and they were very impressed with the sound and playabilty of this instrument.
In short...If you can handle a screwdriver and some sandpapering you will get yourself a very capable instrument for a very low price...well done Thomann!
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C
Utterly Impressed.
I am utterly impressed with the craftsmanship and the absolute speed with which I received this.
The craftsmanship on the kit is remarkable. True there are some spots where the glue sticks out or some small parts where the holes could have been drilled neater. That, however I am willing to overlook, just purely on how stunning the guitar looks. The body is flawlessly finished, not a single imperfection. The neck is immaculate. I'm pleasantly surprised by the frets, as I have heard some complain about this (I guess it's on a case to case basis).
Everything came perfectly packaged, nothing is damaged and everything is here, so I can't wait to put this together.
I cannot comment on sound as of right now so I am just going to leave in the middle based on sound samples of other single cut guitars from Thomann. I will update my review when I do.
The only downside isn't even on the part of Thomann, they were incredible. DHL on the other hand delayed the parcel 3 days in a row, something that I am not pleased with at all, so do keep that in mind. THIS CANNOT BE HELD AGAINST THOMANN.
Overall, I am extremely happy with this, and I would recommend this to people who are either dabbling in guitar luthiery or have experience already and just want to see what this kit would be like.
A very huge thank you to Thomann for this.
The craftsmanship on the kit is remarkable. True there are some spots where the glue sticks out or some small parts where the holes could have been drilled neater. That, however I am willing to overlook, just purely on how stunning the guitar looks. The body is flawlessly finished, not a single imperfection. The neck is immaculate. I'm pleasantly surprised by the frets, as I have heard some complain about this (I guess it's on a case to case basis).
Everything came perfectly packaged, nothing is damaged and everything is here, so I can't wait to put this together.
I cannot comment on sound as of right now so I am just going to leave in the middle based on sound samples of other single cut guitars from Thomann. I will update my review when I do.
The only downside isn't even on the part of Thomann, they were incredible. DHL on the other hand delayed the parcel 3 days in a row, something that I am not pleased with at all, so do keep that in mind. THIS CANNOT BE HELD AGAINST THOMANN.
Overall, I am extremely happy with this, and I would recommend this to people who are either dabbling in guitar luthiery or have experience already and just want to see what this kit would be like.
A very huge thank you to Thomann for this.
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TL
5/5 on value for money alone. Great kit !
The kit is absolutely superb. For the price of one seymour duncan pickup, you get an entire LP style guitar. The provided instructional manual is great and very clear, and only a couple of basic handheld tools are required for assembly.
I highly recommend giving this a go. A great way to spend an afternoon putting it together, and guitar you're left with is great.
Only a couple of niggles.. There were no screws for the strap buttons as the ones provided slipped right out of the pilot holes. The truss rod cover pilot holes were slightly in the wrong place,,,, and that was about it !. The neck needed a little cleaning and the frets needed a quick buff (but an hour of playing would sort that). I don't know what the provided strings were like, I tossed them out.
I highly recommend giving this a go. A great way to spend an afternoon putting it together, and guitar you're left with is great.
Only a couple of niggles.. There were no screws for the strap buttons as the ones provided slipped right out of the pilot holes. The truss rod cover pilot holes were slightly in the wrong place,,,, and that was about it !. The neck needed a little cleaning and the frets needed a quick buff (but an hour of playing would sort that). I don't know what the provided strings were like, I tossed them out.
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T
A beautiful guitar
I wanted something that I could customise so I went for the Harley Benton kit. The wood is beautiful and everything about this kit is of the highest quality. It took me 1hr to build it without any specialist tool, you don’t even need to solder the electronics! The tuning heads are a joy to turn and are well machined, the whole guitar feels really good and is finished beautifully. The pickups sound good and overall I am incredibly happy with this guitar. I couldn’t believe how well organised the kit was and how everything fitted perfectly. I will probably add different scratch plates and eventually pickups and a bit of wood stain to personalise the guitar but for now it is great as it is. I thoroughly recommend this guitar to you.
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MP
Surprisingly Brilliant
I wanted to dip my toe into the world of kit building and Thomann had the most reasonably priced kits on the net, that also had pretty good reviews. So I took a chance on the SC kit and those reviews proved to be entirely justified as this is a fantastic piece of kit!
The body looked great even before I stained it, the wood had a nice weight too it and all the routing was neat and tidy.
The neck was amazing! The frets were level and neatly filed, no fret sprouting and nice and shiney! The neck also fit perfectly into the neck pocket, no adjustments needed.
The stock hardware that came with the kit was perfectly serviceable but not great. The bridge, stoptail and electronics were all fine so I kept them. The plastics that came as stock were also just ok, slightly more orange in colour than cream but decent enough quality. I did switch out the pickups, tuners, nut and pots as I felt the quality of these could be improved, but the stock items were fine, just not to my personal standards.
If, like me, you're looking for a kit to experiment on, this the best value for money kit you can buy, I can't recommend it enough.
The body looked great even before I stained it, the wood had a nice weight too it and all the routing was neat and tidy.
The neck was amazing! The frets were level and neatly filed, no fret sprouting and nice and shiney! The neck also fit perfectly into the neck pocket, no adjustments needed.
The stock hardware that came with the kit was perfectly serviceable but not great. The bridge, stoptail and electronics were all fine so I kept them. The plastics that came as stock were also just ok, slightly more orange in colour than cream but decent enough quality. I did switch out the pickups, tuners, nut and pots as I felt the quality of these could be improved, but the stock items were fine, just not to my personal standards.
If, like me, you're looking for a kit to experiment on, this the best value for money kit you can buy, I can't recommend it enough.
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P
great guitar, fun to build
as a birthday gift for the two kids of my fiancée, i bought two LP style guitar kits. the way i finished and built the guitars would probably require as little as a few days to up to a week for one guitar, but i stretched out that period over about a year.
these kits are a great opportunity to own a personalized guitar for the lowest price possible. it is great fun to play your own build, made to your own preference. you just need some time, some inspiration and a bit of dedication. if you don’t want to customize the guitar you could even leave the guitar unfinished or just clear coat it so you could be done in a few hours. i kept the hardware stock on these guitars and used water based stain to color the guitars and finished them with gunstock oil. the only thing i recommend to upgrade are the tuners (and the strings). but the two guitars definitely turned out to our liking.
we live downtown and do not have much space to work on such projects, such as a balcony or extra room to spray paint the guitars or to keep the parts laying around. but as i made myself a Harley Benton ST style guitar a few years before and used staining and oiling as method for coloring and finishing that guitar, i knew how it could work if i could use the same technique on these two.
after sanding down the bodies and necks (they are prepared to be lacquered so needed to be stripped of that before using a different finish) i colored and oiled the wood. i used our kitchen table as workplace. the sanding is a bit of work and gives a lot of dust, but the result is great. one of the guitars is stained purely black, the second one fades from blue to yellow, which gives quite a great vintage effect. i didn’t sand down the second body and neck thoroughly enough the first time, so i had to redo that partly as the stain did not cover the wood well on all parts. that was a bit discouraging, but in the end it wasn’t that bad and actually this guitar turned out even better than i could imagine, even though it didn’t came out exactly as i planned. the hardest thing was to keep the binding on the body white. and even though i put some protective tape on it, after i removed it, i still had to scratch some stain of that got to the binding anyway.
assembling the guitars was quite easy and foolproof, even though sometimes you wonder if you should connect something to this or to that, it can not really go wrong and is quite interesting if you never knew how a guitar actually works.
remarkable fact is that the sound of the two guitars is quite different. they both have a clear lp style sound, but the one has a clearer and cleaner sound and the second has a warmer sound, a bit raw, like if the guitar has been drinking and smoking and living a rock and roll lifestyle for a few decades. it is an amazing sound, that makes me want to build a third one for myself, hoping that it will have the same voice. not sure if it are the pickups that are slightly different or the uniqueness of the wooden parts in the bodies and necks, but they really have quite a different sound.
the guitars were bought a few months apart and the second guitar came from a new batch, as they were sold out for a while in between. i guess you can not really predict how your guitar is going to sound exactly, but they both sound very well, especially if you consider the price.
pro’s
- good looking, classic lp style guitar
- cheap
- totally customizable in appearance
- interesting to build
- easy to assemble
- good sound
- scratchplate, etc also available in black (sold separately)
- complete
cons
- tuners work but are a bit wobbly
all together: these two guitar kits made me and their young owners filled with pride. finishing the guitar can be made as easy and fast or complicated and time consuming as you want, but should be quite manageable. it is not hard to assemble the guitar, and the results look and sound solid and good. recommended for anyone who dares to paint, lacquer or stain a bit of wood and knows how to handle a screwdriver. and of course for anyone who dreams about a personalized guitar and does not want to spend a fortune on it.
these kits are a great opportunity to own a personalized guitar for the lowest price possible. it is great fun to play your own build, made to your own preference. you just need some time, some inspiration and a bit of dedication. if you don’t want to customize the guitar you could even leave the guitar unfinished or just clear coat it so you could be done in a few hours. i kept the hardware stock on these guitars and used water based stain to color the guitars and finished them with gunstock oil. the only thing i recommend to upgrade are the tuners (and the strings). but the two guitars definitely turned out to our liking.
we live downtown and do not have much space to work on such projects, such as a balcony or extra room to spray paint the guitars or to keep the parts laying around. but as i made myself a Harley Benton ST style guitar a few years before and used staining and oiling as method for coloring and finishing that guitar, i knew how it could work if i could use the same technique on these two.
after sanding down the bodies and necks (they are prepared to be lacquered so needed to be stripped of that before using a different finish) i colored and oiled the wood. i used our kitchen table as workplace. the sanding is a bit of work and gives a lot of dust, but the result is great. one of the guitars is stained purely black, the second one fades from blue to yellow, which gives quite a great vintage effect. i didn’t sand down the second body and neck thoroughly enough the first time, so i had to redo that partly as the stain did not cover the wood well on all parts. that was a bit discouraging, but in the end it wasn’t that bad and actually this guitar turned out even better than i could imagine, even though it didn’t came out exactly as i planned. the hardest thing was to keep the binding on the body white. and even though i put some protective tape on it, after i removed it, i still had to scratch some stain of that got to the binding anyway.
assembling the guitars was quite easy and foolproof, even though sometimes you wonder if you should connect something to this or to that, it can not really go wrong and is quite interesting if you never knew how a guitar actually works.
remarkable fact is that the sound of the two guitars is quite different. they both have a clear lp style sound, but the one has a clearer and cleaner sound and the second has a warmer sound, a bit raw, like if the guitar has been drinking and smoking and living a rock and roll lifestyle for a few decades. it is an amazing sound, that makes me want to build a third one for myself, hoping that it will have the same voice. not sure if it are the pickups that are slightly different or the uniqueness of the wooden parts in the bodies and necks, but they really have quite a different sound.
the guitars were bought a few months apart and the second guitar came from a new batch, as they were sold out for a while in between. i guess you can not really predict how your guitar is going to sound exactly, but they both sound very well, especially if you consider the price.
pro’s
- good looking, classic lp style guitar
- cheap
- totally customizable in appearance
- interesting to build
- easy to assemble
- good sound
- scratchplate, etc also available in black (sold separately)
- complete
cons
- tuners work but are a bit wobbly
all together: these two guitar kits made me and their young owners filled with pride. finishing the guitar can be made as easy and fast or complicated and time consuming as you want, but should be quite manageable. it is not hard to assemble the guitar, and the results look and sound solid and good. recommended for anyone who dares to paint, lacquer or stain a bit of wood and knows how to handle a screwdriver. and of course for anyone who dreams about a personalized guitar and does not want to spend a fortune on it.
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