Kit guitar flying-V

[deeaa]

I'm gonna build me a kit guitar.

I found a place in Germany that had a basically "58 V shape kit available- they're out of stock just now but say they are getting new ones in September.

So I'm already sourcing for parts for it. Got me a 4-lead Dean HMV humbucker for neck which I'll wire as parallel, and picking up a Gibson 498t on weekend.

Also have some nut materials, and a few good pots and other assorted parts...hoping that some of the hardware that comes with the kit might be usable.

I have a suspicion that the fretwork and frets might not be of very high standard, so I have Dunlop frets waiting, if it looks like the frets are soft and bad I can replace them as well.

Actually last night I built me a simple rig to bend the fretwire to a suitable radius, turned out great for normal frets, but stainless frets will require a sturdier 'machine' if I want to use SS.

Anyway, I'll post pics once I get the project under way. Already thinking about colors and finish, what might be nice.

Here's the fret bender I made for starters.

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[Partscaster]

Looking forward to the build.

jimi-hendrix-with-a-flying-v-tom-copi.jpg

[deeaa]

Can't wait to get notified when it will be available...

[TVvoodoo]

I was browsing v kits the othe day. Shit I have GAS again

[deeaa]

The kit should be here in about a week.

Planning and testing colors; am thinking of going for a sort of blue burst, like this.

Only, it's probably gonna be mahogany and probably totally different grain...but this is, nevertheless, the plan for now. Black sides, transparent blue that gets close to natural wood color in the very middle of the body.

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[Partscaster]

The kit should be here in about a week.

Planning and testing colors; am thinking of going for a sort of blue burst, like this.

Only, it's probably gonna be mahogany and probably totally different grain...but this is, nevertheless, the plan for now. Black sides, transparent blue that gets close to natural wood color in the very middle of the body.

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I had mahogany body that i used a rich blue dye on for sunburst effect. It looked very nice like a worn pair of bluejeans fading into hues of mahogany in center. I think I sanded back some in center to let blue lay in troughs of dominant mahogany grain in center.
My old pics are gone but I'm gonna snap you a few fresh ones, right now.
I kinda wish I sunburst the back side, too.

DSCN2743.JPG

DSCN2744.JPG

DSCN2748.JPG

[deeaa]

Oh yeah, that looks really good...maybe I could also ditch the black sides entirely, hmm...yeah that's exactly the looks I think I want!

[Mossman]

I was browsing v kits the othe day. Shit I have GAS again

Build GAS doesn't count as real GAS... That's what I keep telling myself.

[Partscaster]

I was browsing v kits the othe day. Shit I have GAS again

Build GAS doesn't count as real GAS... That's what I keep telling myself.

Me too. I have 2 more necks ( rosewood slab/soft-v) laying on a chair, and 2 new 3-piece alder strat bodies being cnc'd for me right now.
It seems that I have to build a strat for every set of good pickups I want to keep.

[ID10t]

I was browsing v kits the othe day. Shit I have GAS again

Build GAS doesn't count as real GAS... That's what I keep telling myself.

It seems that I have to build a strat for every set of good pickups I want to keep.

Sounds about right

[deeaa]

I'm the opposite, I put the same pickups in all my guitars..

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[glasshand]

I'm the opposite, I put the same pickups in all my guitars..

That's interesting - I guess I can see the point of that (if you like these pickups, then you like these pickups!) but I prefer my guitars to be all different, which to me is the point of having many different ones! I've got three with different kinds of humbuckers, one Firebird, and two with P-90s but one is scheduled to get mini-humbuckers at some point in the near future.

[deeaa]

Yeah, I never felt a need for different types of guitars, I always went for one guitar that does everything I want it to. I don't do much covers etc and if I do I do it with my own sound.

I just use a single channel amp that goes from clean to drive with guitar controls...no fx to speak of. I do have an OD pedal for some extra drive when it feels like it's needed and an echo pedal so that my lead bits have a little 'space' and don't sound so dry they vanish in the background.

Since I get all I need from one guitar I could literally just have one really...and I did for about 15 years I only had one - a Les Paul with the same pickups I still put in all of mine, standard Gibson 498t bridge and some parallel wired neck pickup, don't care what really, but I have the same cheap alnico in most anyway.

But, it's nice to have a backup...and it's fun to tinker with them...and maybe one I can leave at the ready at the band room....so now I have 4 almost identical ones.

And gonna build this kit V to the same specs as those are too don't need more but it's just fun and they look pretty together.

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[Partscaster]

Assembling and modding guitars/strats is just such a rewarding hobby in its own right. Its separate from the playing hobby, but crosses in, of course.
I know people who play LPs/strats and they never think or dare to even mess with pickup heights, never mind swap necks, change pups, capacitors, etc.
I shouldnt play more than an hour or two a day, and partscasting/modding lets me keep geeking out about guitars without getting tendonitis.
We all know its great.
I'm certainly happy for it.

[deeaa]

Assembling and modding guitars/strats is just such a rewarding hobby in its own right. Its separate from the playing hobby, but crosses in, of course.
I know people who play LPs/strats and they never think or dare to even mess with pickup heights, never mind swap necks, change pups, capacitors, etc.
I shouldnt play more than an hour or two a day, and partscasting/modding lets me keep geeking out about guitars without getting tendonitis.
We all know its great.
I'm certainly happy for it.

Yeah, I love tweaking my axes constantly. And have also built many from scratch, but lacking proper tools and a place, they always are a bit lacking in some respects.

I've found out that there are very very high quality kits as well, I mean stuff costing $700 just for wood parts alone.

That seems a bit much IMO but I'm keep to find out how good a guitar can a $150 kit plus $100 or so for better parts make.

I could easily imagine, if this turns out good, that I might buy another kit and maybe of a little higher price bracket and quality.

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[Mossman]

I was browsing v kits the othe day. Shit I have GAS again

Build GAS doesn't count as real GAS... That's what I keep telling myself.

Me too. I have 2 more necks ( rosewood slab/soft-v) laying on a chair, and 2 new 3-piece alder strat bodies being cnc'd for me right now.
It seems that I have to build a strat for every set of good pickups I want to keep.

Yeah, I have a bunch of bass and guitar necks and bodies laying around here, and I'm still looking at more. I also suffer from the: "I have a nice set of pickups that I need to make a home for" syndrome. Just before I came here, I was looking at an unfinished Telecaster Thinline Deluxe body with flame veneer and binding. Why? Because I have a Brandonwound WRHB that I really like (formerly installed in a VM '70s Tele Custom that I sold), and I'd rather buy another WRHB and build a Deluxe, than let go of that pickup... And I have lots of other pickups! I had to force myself to stop looking for deals on parts that I don't need, and stop buying stuff I don't need just because it's a good deal. It can become a sickness.

[Partscaster]

Build GAS doesn't count as real GAS... That's what I keep telling myself.

Me too. I have 2 more necks ( rosewood slab/soft-v) laying on a chair, and 2 new 3-piece alder strat bodies being cnc'd for me right now.
It seems that I have to build a strat for every set of good pickups I want to keep.

Yeah, I have a bunch of bass and guitar necks and bodies laying around here, and I'm still looking at more. I also suffer from the: "I have a nice set of pickups that I need to make a home for" syndrome. Just before I came here, I was looking at an unfinished Telecaster Thinline Deluxe body with flame veneer and binding. Why? Because I have a Brandonwound WRHB that I really like (formerly installed in a VM '70s Tele Custom that I sold), and I'd rather buy another WRHB and build a Deluxe, than let go of that pickup... And I have lots of other pickups! I had to force myself to stop looking for deals on parts that I don't need, and stop buying stuff I don't need just because it's a good deal. It can become a sickness.

All things being unequal, I really enjoy being able to pick up similar strat builds with a different awesome flavor of pickups in them. Or same model pickups, similar body, but different neck varieties, etc. Its way nicer than actually changing pups in and out to make any comparisons. At some point I'll sell most off. But I'll have had a great set of options to test side by side, and choose a few keepers from.
Hanging onto some favorite pickups may be a good investment. DAllen has perhaps stopped building. I bet his pickups will gain in value, as they are on the top of many's favorites list (not my favorites list, though. I have 4 sets to eventually sell). Chubtone has fetched big money and he is scarcely winding. If Klein stops winding, those pickups will become worth more, IMO. The sad part would be them not being readily available if I needed to replace a set.
2 more strats, and I'm done.

[Mossman]

I've found out that there are very very high quality kits as well, I mean stuff costing $700 just for wood parts alone.

That seems a bit much IMO but I'm keep to find out how good a guitar can a $150 kit plus $100 or so for better parts make.

I could easily imagine, if this turns out good, that I might buy another kit and maybe of a little higher price bracket and quality.

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I take the middle road... I have bodies made to my specs and typically use licensed Allparts necks (WD and Mighty Mite necks are about as good as well). I usually pay between $125 and $150 to have a custom body made with quality wood, and unfinished necks can be had for $109 to $150 (BTW, @Partscaster , I was on the Stratosphere website last night and they still have vintage-style Allparts necks for $109!).

I see a guitar kit as nothing more than a neck and a body, because you know you're probably going to want to throw away the hardware, pickups and electronics that come with it. A cheap kit is a cheap kit. You're not going to get decent wood and craftsmanship, and you'll probably run into issues, like a wonky neck pocket, or routs and mounting holes that are misaligned. I'm not saying you can't make a decent guitar out of a cheap kit, but it will cost you more than you think, and not just in terms of money. I would also have no confidence in the longevity of a guitar built from the cheapest materials possible. I doubt those necks are made from choice, kiln-dried Canadian Maple, and may end up warping or twisting over time. The bodies are nothing to write home about (usually made of Basswood), and you may have to do some re-engineering to make it work.

A $700 kit is way too expensive from my perspective, when I can get a good quality neck and body for $300 on the high end. The hardware and pickups may be of higher quality, but I can get good deals on that stuff too, and get exactly what I want. I don't like having to settle for someone else's choices... Especially when it comes to pickups.

[deeaa]

That's true, but based on descriptions the woods on even sub-$200 kits are still far better than in most circa $500 complete guitars. I mean, for instance Epiphones are made of bits and pieces and veneered, and usually full of knots etc.and most other cheaper guitars are basswood etc.

Even these cheaper kits have real solid mahogany necks and bodies, and they don't seem to be terrible in looks either.

They do often have some measurement issues, but hopefully nothing that can't be fixed.

The hardware for sure must be total crap, however, and fretwork also likely pretty bad...but I would venture that a $200 kit and another $100 or so in used quality parts might well build a guitar better than many sub-$500 guitars.

But we'll see...might be really terrible.

If that's the case, I think I will keep buying used guitars sub 500 or so and rebuild them into great axes.

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[Mossman]

All things being unequal, I really enjoy being able to pick up similar strat builds with a different awesome flavor of pickups in them. Or same model pickups, similar body, but different neck varieties, etc. Its way nicer than actually changing pups in and out to make any comparisons. At some point I'll sell most off. But I'll have had a great set of options to test side by side, and choose a few keepers from.
Hanging onto some favorite pickups may be a good investment. DAllen has perhaps stopped building. I bet his pickups will gain in value, as they are on the top of many's favorites list (not my favorites list, though. I have 4 sets to eventually sell). Chubtone has fetched big money and he is scarcely winding. If Klein stops winding, those pickups will become worth more, IMO. The sad part would be them not being readily available if I needed to replace a set.
2 more strats, and I'm done.

Haha... Yeah, we really need to start telling ourselves that pickups are an investment. Unfortunamtely, I don't have many booteek-type pickups. Just the Brandonwound, and a few Buddhas. I also have a killer set of Strat pickups by US Toneworks in the Sun King, but I wouldn't call them "boutique" (I only paid $50 for the set!). The rest that I have are all commercially made pickups.

Personally, I like all my guitars to sound noticeably different. I don't like redundancy. I'm a Tele nut, but I only own two in the traditional pickup configuration. They sound different enough from each other... well... the neck pickups do. The bridge pickups sound different, but not by much. So I don't really feel the urge to own another Tele in that config (unless something totally irresistible comes along, that is ), because they'll just be slight variations, and I already like what I have. The rest of my Teles have non-Tele pickups in them.

I could never understand owning multiples of the same guitar, all with the same type of pickups (let alone same brand/model), that all sound only slightly different from each other. If it were me, I'd naturally gravitate to the one I think sounds best and the rest of them would go unplayed. I now have two Strats, and as soon as I finished the Sun King, I could already tell that the other one was going to get neglected. It sounds good, and it sounds different, just not different enough... And the Sun King sounds better (to me). If I build another Strat, it'll probably have P90s or something... Then again, if I didn't find LPs uncomfortable to play, I probably wouldn't feel the need so much to put HBs and P90s into Fender-style guitars...

It's complicated.

[deeaa]

That's the thing...I can't stand it if one of my guitars sounds better than another one. I have to tweak and adjust until they sound equally good, or if it can't be achieved, I sell it off. Sometimes I spend a lot of time tweaking pickup pole pieces to make two guitars sound identical.

I just don't need different sounds. One great sound is enough. Kinda like ACDC...they never used different amps and guitars...no need. I've played Gibson 498t pickups for over 20 years in total...sure I've had dozens of others as well but I always go back to those.

Kinda like why would you ever drink a Pepsi or a Tab or whatever, if you can always get a Coke. No need for others, unless Coke isn't available for some reason.

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[Mossman]

Even these cheaper kits have real solid mahogany necks and bodies, and they don't seem to be terrible in looks either.

Part of my prejudice comes from the fact that I do dye finishes, so I'm looking for something that's well matched and has attractive grain. If you can get Mahogany, that's better than Basswood, but I guarantee you it's going to be a paint-grade body, made of multiple pieces with no effort at all made to match grain or color. You might get lucky and get a good one, but what you see in the picture can be quite different from what you see in the box.

I'm not trying to talk you out of it. It's a fun and cheap project. Just temper your expectations... And be prepared to paint.

and fretwork also likely pretty bad...

Count on it... I've never seen a kit neck that didn't need a full leveling. I also think the quality of the alloy they use for the frets is questionable.

but I would venture that a $200 kit and another $100 or so in used quality parts might well build a guitar better than many sub-$500 guitars.

But we'll see...might be really terrible.

Yeah, it's entirely possible. There are some kits that are known to be better than others that are not expensive. If you're trying to hit a $500 target on a $300 budget, then a kit is the only way to fly. Just take your time and shop around.

[Mossman]

That's the thing...I can't stand it if one of my guitars sounds better than another one. I have to tweak and adjust until they sound equally good, or if it can't be achieved, I sell it off. Sometimes I spend a lot of time tweaking pickup pole pieces to make two guitars sound identical.

I just don't need different sounds. One great sound is enough. Kinda like ACDC...they never used different amps and guitars...no need. I've played Gibson 498t pickups for over 20 years in total...sure I've had dozens of others as well but I always go back to those.

Kinda like why would you ever drink a Pepsi or a Tab or whatever, if you can always get a Coke. No need for others, unless Coke isn't available for some reason.

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I think my approach to guitar tones is informed by my background as an artist. I don't want the 24 piece set of colored pencils, I want the 78 piece set, or the 118 piece. Why? More colors. Is Vermilion objectively better than Crimson? Is Azure superior to Periwinkle? Perhaps in certain situations, but not in others. Other times, it barely makes a difference, but at least you have the option. I built my first Tele because I couldn't get the sound I wanted out of my Casino for a particular song I was writing (my only electric guitar at the time). That didn't make the Tele inherently better, or made me want to ditch the Casino, it just added to my palette of colors... And a Tele will never sound like a Casino.

I think if you're trying to make all your guitars sound the same, only then can one emerge as sounding "the best", but if you have a bunch of guitars that all sound completely different, or are suited for different applications, then it's impossible to say that one sounds inherently better than all the others. It becomes a case of comparing apples and bananas.

In a way, though, I kind of envy your single-minded approach... Because I can spend a lot of time trying to decide which guitar sounds best for which song, and get into "analysis paralysis"... Or worry if one of my guitars is "redundant" because it doesn't bring something unique enough to the table. But I'm glad I have options.

[deeaa]

I don't really hear differences between guitars that would make it worth to use one over another I some situation.

Pretty much the only difference I really can tell is a Fender type (longer scale and a flat headstock) yields a different, sort of more spongy and lively, less focused tone, but even that is more of a 'when playing' effect not really audible in end product.

But as far as pickups go....they don'trrally sound different, some just sound less bright, or too bright, or have too much low end or are too weak or too powerful...but they sound basically the same, except for single-coils sounding different from buckers and actives from passives etc.

Basically all the differences either are eliminated by tone controls and gain adjustments etc more easily than changing guitars, IMO.

I can get pretty much exactly that RHCP Fender clean funky tone from any of my guitars easily, or a Slayer tone or ACDC type or whatever.. A good pickup can do everything I want, I don't see a need to change the guitar or pickup for different sounds....all I need is a bit of tone control and play differently or set up the amp a little different.

But, for that, I need to be able to trust the pickup and know how it sounds in every situation.

There are pickups that sound better for some things 'out of the box' but then fail in some respects.

So...what I mean, I don't see the guitar and pickup as the colors...I see them as the palette and the thinner and such...the amp and the playing dictates the colors 100% as long as the palette and thinner can be trusted and is just the right base for everything.

I don't need a strat because I can make a Gibson sound like a strat, or even better IMO. I don't need super powerful pickups, because it's easy to add gain...or weak pickups because guitars have volume controls....

Ultimately, a sound can be brighter or thinner or thicker or cleaner or dirtier according to the song or situation, but I don't see that as important at all.

All I care about is that I get just a good type of breakup, and just a good type of bite and clarity, and just the right amount of power behind when needed.

Then I can get whatever sounds from them.

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[solteroblues]

I'm pretty much in agreement with you here. Maybe it's my ears aren't that good, or some people just have really good ears, but other than the minute differences of brightness or maybe sensitivity to gain, I can't tell too much difference. Even in coil split guitars, the only difference I really hear between full and split is a drop in volume.

I don't really hear differences between guitars that would make it worth to use one over another I some situation.

Pretty much the only difference I really can tell is a Fender type (longer scale and a flat headstock) yields a different, sort of more spongy and lively, less focused tone, but even that is more of a 'when playing' effect not really audible in end product.

But as far as pickups go....they don'trrally sound different, some just sound less bright, or too bright, or have too much low end or are too weak or too powerful...but they sound basically the same, except for single-coils sounding different from buckers and actives from passives etc.

Basically all the differences either are eliminated by tone controls and gain adjustments etc more easily than changing guitars, IMO.

I can get pretty much exactly that RHCP Fender clean funky tone from any of my guitars easily, or a Slayer tone or ACDC type or whatever.. A good pickup can do everything I want, I don't see a need to change the guitar or pickup for different sounds....all I need is a bit of tone control and play differently or set up the amp a little different.

But, for that, I need to be able to trust the pickup and know how it sounds in every situation.

There are pickups that sound better for some things 'out of the box' but then fail in some respects.

So...what I mean, I don't see the guitar and pickup as the colors...I see them as the palette and the thinner and such...the amp and the playing dictates the colors 100% as long as the palette and thinner can be trusted and is just the right base for everything.

I don't need a strat because I can make a Gibson sound like a strat, or even better IMO. I don't need super powerful pickups, because it's easy to add gain...or weak pickups because guitars have volume controls....

Ultimately, a sound can be brighter or thinner or thicker or cleaner or dirtier according to the song or situation, but I don't see that as important at all.

All I care about is that I get just a good type of breakup, and just a good type of bite and clarity, and just the right amount of power behind when needed.

Then I can get whatever sounds from them.

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