Everything you need to know about electric guitar kits

DIY electric guitar kits are a great first step for anyone who wants to build their own guitar.

DIY electric guitar kits offer a stepping stone between buying an off-the-shelf finished guitar and making your own from scratch. You don’t have as much control over the finished guitar as you would from an entirely self-built one, of course, but you avoid many of the headaches and potential pitfalls too.

Electric guitar kits, like those from DIY Guitar Shop typically include the body, neck with fretboard and headstock, scratchplate, pick-ups, pots, machine heads, bridge, and tailpiece. They come with all the hardware – screws, strap buttons, truss rod wrench, etc — that you need to put the guitar together, and, of course, a full set of assembly instructions. 

You’ll usually have a choice of body shape and colour, and scratchplate colour too. 

By choosing a DIY electric guitar kit for your first assembly, rather than a full blown self-build, you’ll get an insight into the process of putting together a guitar and the way in which each part works together. You won’t, obviously, have the satisfaction of planing that perfect piece of maple you spent months sourcing and getting it to just the right shape, size and silky smoothness. 

The other benefit is that it takes a great deal less time to put together a DIY electric guitar than it does to make one from scratch yourself. As you can see with our interviews with Chris Sundlof and Ken Francis, building your own guitar is a labour of love which can’t be rushed. 

Talking of rushing, don’t just by a kit from the first website you come across. Decide what you want and do your research. Find out where they source their wood and other parts. Do they make the body and neck themselves or buy them in? What’s their after-sales service like? These are all questions you should find the answer to, before you get your credit card out.