Has anyone ever built a kit guitar/partscaster?

I've built 4 jazzmasters up from parts, and all of them sort of follow the same story of "oh I have this spare bridge sitting around" or "oh this nice AVRI neck is poorly listed on ebay" [scene missing] "where did my $2000 go?"
 
When I got into cycling, it didn't take me lock to customize the shit out of my bike. Within about a year and half, every part of what was on the original bike had been switched out for something else. With my second bike, I built it from the ground up with nothing but a frames to start.

But that process didn't happen overnight. With the first bike, I screwed a lot of shit up with some of the components I was switching out. I learned by doing. So if you plan on doing stuff to your guitar, get a cheap as shit guitar and use it as a guinea pig before tackling your main axe.

So, just like my bikes, I think building a guitar from scratch allows one to accomplish a few different goals: 1) You get the exact setup that you want and 2) You know the guitar inside and out so that when something goes wrong you'll know how to fix it. Not everyone can rely on a luthier to fix every damn thing wrong with their guitars...but with a little knowledge and practice, there's not much you can't do yourself.
 
MichaelW said:
This one from BYO is one I've had my eye on for a while now. But every time I configure it with what I want it winds up being over $1100. That's before throwing away all the hardware and electronics that it comes with :p. Inspiration is the Nick Huber Krautster II model.
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Oh nice. Buy the basics and source your parts elsewhere, or did you do that?
 
I've built 3 partscasters, using Warmoth, USACG, and Fender bodies and necks. None of these are budget sources of parts though. All of them are great, but they didn't save money compared to just buying a USA made Strat or Tele.

The resale on partscasters is bad, so don't build one unless you plan to keep it a long time. All mine are keepers, although I have flipped a few necks until I found a profile I liked.

I imagine a low priced kit would probably make a great guitar too, if you have the skills and tools to work on them. I haven't gone that route myself--and luckily mine all came out great without requiring too many special set-up tools (I did have to buy some nut files and finishing supplies). I had one professionally set up (not that it really needed it but I wanted to try it), but the others I did myself.

The problem with this is, if you enjoy the process, it can be addictive to keep making them. It's probably why I turned my attention to pedals instead: not too expensive to build and you can stash them in a drawer.
 
I'm itching to make a Warmoth partscaster myself but I haven't been able to pull the trigger because I already have 4 guitars and that seems like enough
 
MichaelW said:
No I have not pulled the trigger on that one yet. I kinda got that itch scratched a little bit when I bought my Gretsch. I also have not done a guitar finish in over 30 years. Not my strong suit.....:)
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I was always terrified to finish bodies myself, it actually kept me from building a partscaster with an unfinished body for years. Then someone mentioned Wudtone to me, and it turns out it's not that hard as long as you're willing to pay a bit more for the finishing kit.
spi said:
The resale on partscasters is bad, so don't build one unless you plan to keep it a long time.
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That's a huge point that needs to be considered when putting something together. Just because you spent $2k on your perfect partscaster doesn't mean you're going to be able to sell it for $2k. My experience in selling partscasters is that you're better off parting them back out and selling the pieces. You still lose money on the sale, but not as much as you had trying to sell it all together.
 
spi said:
I have a spare string tree that's just itching to be used :)
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So funny story....I always forget to order string trees when I'm doing an F style build. So on my 90Caster I decided to order a set from Amazon (Music Lilly?) I always have to do a little tweaking to them (polishing where the string touches). So anyway I get the package and there's 10 sets of string trees:oops:. I'm like well crap, now I have to build a bunch more guitars so these don't go to waste!
 
Conversely, other folks' parts builds are absolutely the best value imaginable in used guitars.
 
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Not sure how compatible parts are, but what about buying a Classic Vibe and then gradually upgrading parts over time: Pickups, neck, tuners, etc...
 
vigilante398 said:
I was always terrified to finish bodies myself, it actually kept me from building a partscaster with an unfinished body for years. Then someone mentioned Wudtone to me, and it turns out it's not that hard as long as you're willing to pay a bit more for the finishing kit.

That's a huge point that needs to be considered when putting something together. Just because you spent $2k on your perfect partscaster doesn't mean you're going to be able to sell it for $2k. My experience in selling partscasters is that you're better off parting them back out and selling the pieces. You still lose money on the sale, but not as much as you had trying to sell it all together.
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I built a pretty expensive Warmoth "ultimate Strat" about 20 years ago. Of course my tastes in what is "ultimate" has evolved quite a bit. But it was a hollow flamed koa body which I did a tung oil finish on. After a while the guitar just looked garish to me and it sounded like crap. It was a total fail from a tonal perspective. I wound up parting it out and "almost" broke even.

My Thinline Tele started life as a Squier Classic Vibe. At the time I could not find anyone making a thin line body at a reasonable price. And I also rather liked the idea of a nato wood thinline body, it's a bit closer to mahogany than alder. (Even though nato is typically used on budget guitars I think it's a very nice tone wood.) So I bought the guitar, parted EVERYTHING out, sold the neck, the pickups, the tuners, everything. Amazing what people will pay for some of this stuff. The only thing I used was the body then put a Warmoth neck, Gotoh relic hardware, Lollar pickups and it's turned into one of my favorite guitars. On the right in the pic below.

IMG_3175.JPG

My main and only Strat at the moment started life also as a Classic Vibe from around 15 years ago. Last year I decided to rebuild it. Sold the neck, hardware, pickups, etc. Bought a Fender roasted maple neck, Lollar "Dirty Blonde" pickup set, wired it up with the "Eric Johnson" style wiring. It plays and sounds so nice that I immediately sold my Suhr Classic S. (Never bonded with that guitar even though it's a high priced Strat).
One of the things I like about the CV Strats it is that it's a slightly thinner body (like most of the Squiers) which actually makes for a lightweight, very comfy Strat. Here's a demo of my Caesar Chorus on it.

I do have another Strat project in the works. I ordered another GFS XPG body on the 4th of July sale. Hasn't got here yet but if it turns out as nice as my tele body was I'll probably build a 60's style Strat around a set of Lollar 64's. I'm also so pleased with the Allparts neck I'll probably get another one of those as well for the Strat. The neck profile just suits me perfectly. A bit chunkier than a Fender C shape but not huge. All of my "partscaster" guitars are played and enjoyed equally as much as my expensive retail guitars.

For me it's all about getting the right pickups, and getting the setup to my preferences. I enjoy and play the heck out of all of them.

Did someone mention that once you build one it's pretty hard to stop at just one? :p
 
jubal81 said:
Not sure how compatible parts are, but what about buying a Classic Vibe and then gradually upgrading parts over time: Pickups, neck, tuners, etc...
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No problem at all with that. The important spec is the neck pocket and the CV's are all standard 2 3/16" neck pockets which will fit any aftermarket necks. HOWEVER, they're not cut the most cleanly at that price point. I've had to do some judicious cleaning up with a chisel on my CV based guitars. I think I also had to shim one of them to get my preferred neck angle but I can't remember for sure which one. Pickups are pickups. Any aftermarket Tele pickup will fit as will 99% of the pick guards. About the only think you'll have to modify is reaming out the potentiometer holes. The import spec is a little bit different from US spec. (Alpha vs CTS pots).
 
Harley Benton stuff is a ridiculously good value just in general but I've heard their $70 partscaster kit is decent for what it is, especially if you only are looking for the body and neck. I have a Bass VI from them and wish I would have known about the brand before I bought a vintage series squier strat that I ended up basically turning into a partscaster build.
 
vigilante398 said:
I was always terrified to finish bodies myself, it actually kept me from building a partscaster with an unfinished body for years. Then someone mentioned Wudtone to me, and it turns out it's not that hard as long as you're willing to pay a bit more for the finishing kit.
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I am going to try a Rit Dye and Tru-Oil finish. I may have been watching too much YouTube in the past few months.
 
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