Good evening lads, for Christmas I bought my girlfriend a decently nice Jazz Bass guitar kit for us to put together (I know, technically this should be in the bass forum, but I know there's a lot of knowledgeable people in the Guitar Shop that don't venture to other areas). I think I've got enough knowledge of wood working and guitars to set it up to play nice, plus she's really good at art type things. But I was wondering what are some key pointers to keep in mind when I'm putting one of these together, because they don't always come out the box perfect?
Tips when building a kit guitar?
- Thread starter '59
- Start date
It was one of these:
https://www.byoguitar.com/Guitars/El...BYO-JBass.aspx
I've heard good reviews of these, so I decided to go for it. It's already arrived and the components look pretty solid. I've got some j bass pickups laying around that are going in over what came with it, but I like what I'm seeing so far.
Also, I've got a pretty great fretless warmoth neck lined up for it.
https://www.byoguitar.com/Guitars/El...BYO-JBass.aspx
I've heard good reviews of these, so I decided to go for it. It's already arrived and the components look pretty solid. I've got some j bass pickups laying around that are going in over what came with it, but I like what I'm seeing so far.
Also, I've got a pretty great fretless warmoth neck lined up for it.
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Mr. B
New member
Just sticking the parts together is one thing, but in my experience the reason a lot of these don't turn out great is because people don't know how to set up even a pre-made guitar correctly. Do the strings align correctly with the neck? Will the action be correct with the bridge saddle's normal adjustment range, or will the neck need a shim? Are the frets crowned and polished? Are they level? Are the fret ends finished? Is the nut cut correctly? Are the nut slots too shallow? You can end up needing several fairly expensive tools just to get it set up correctly even after putting it together.
I hope for your sake this one is ok. I bought 2 kits from BYO many years back, and they drove me to build for myself due to me being convinced I could do a way better job......turns out I was right!!
Their Les Paul glue in kit had such a poorly made neck joint that to make it sit flush without a gap I had to sand back 2mm of the 'cheek' faces of the joint. This then meant I had to re-rout the neck pickup area as it was no longer large enough to fit a pickup. When I had pointed this out to their 'QC' team their response was 'oh, looks like it needs a little finish sanding to get right'. :bigeyes::wrf:
The Jaguar kit they sent me fitted no Fender Jaguar parts into the control cavity routs - they were all wrongly located with regard to lining up with the pickguard were or too small once the electronic parts were mounted.
The neck was a 22F one but made without a fretboard overhand - so it just has the typical curved neck shaft end you find on a 21 fret model build at the end beyond the 22nd fret plus a wide space. So no pickguard would fit as they are shaped for an overhang for the 22nd fret - or a 21 fret typical shape shaft.
Their Les Paul glue in kit had such a poorly made neck joint that to make it sit flush without a gap I had to sand back 2mm of the 'cheek' faces of the joint. This then meant I had to re-rout the neck pickup area as it was no longer large enough to fit a pickup. When I had pointed this out to their 'QC' team their response was 'oh, looks like it needs a little finish sanding to get right'. :bigeyes::wrf:
The Jaguar kit they sent me fitted no Fender Jaguar parts into the control cavity routs - they were all wrongly located with regard to lining up with the pickguard were or too small once the electronic parts were mounted.
The neck was a 22F one but made without a fretboard overhand - so it just has the typical curved neck shaft end you find on a 21 fret model build at the end beyond the 22nd fret plus a wide space. So no pickguard would fit as they are shaped for an overhang for the 22nd fret - or a 21 fret typical shape shaft.
Chris Pile
Well-known member
A client brought one of their Strat kits to build. It was so badly made I threw it on the ground and stomped on it. He didn't stop me.
So professional.
Chris Pile
Well-known member
Well - in 45 years I do admit to reaching a breaking point every few years. The client made a face when I did, but later told me he gave the body & neck to a local artist who used them in a piece that ended up screwed to a piano mounted on top of a tall tree stump and painted purple with yellow stripes. The local HOA made him take it down. Don't know what happened to it after that.
NegativeEase
New member
My advice is to research each task and move slowly on areas you are less comfortable on -everything you need to know and do is demonstrated 100x on places like YouTube -not all will be useful but many are great.
NegativeEase
New member
:eek2:. Haha.
He's going to use a fretless neck.
Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
I've heard mixed reviews from BYOGuitars on the one hand, they've sold a lot of products with few negative reviews, on the other hand all the negative reviews I see are pretty bad.
ErikH
Well-known member
Have lots of patience and don't expect to have it done in a weekend. Especially if it needs some work to be done right.
With my last Warmoth build, that was a different story. Much better quality than a BYOC. Everything went together perfectly. That's the big difference between something like BYOC and going with someplace like Warmoth. Fit and finish.
With my last Warmoth build, that was a different story. Much better quality than a BYOC. Everything went together perfectly. That's the big difference between something like BYOC and going with someplace like Warmoth. Fit and finish.
Interesting it's a warmoth neck and a byoc everything else. I won't be making any modifications to the neck, but if I can't get the body to fit nice, I'd assume a licensed Fender body would be the best bet anyway? Part of the plan for this bass is for her to slowly swap the parts out anyway as she discovers what works best for her.
If some small modifications are needed, it's not a big task to get everything to fit properly (but be advised that my perspective is coming from someone who builds custom guitars so modifications that seem minor to me may seem to be somewhat overwhelming to a first-timer).
But, hey, putting together a kit is a learning opportunity. So don't be afraid of the learning. And don't be afraid to make some mistakes...they are going to happen nevertheless.
Good luck, have fun learning, and enjoy the results.
But, hey, putting together a kit is a learning opportunity. So don't be afraid of the learning. And don't be afraid to make some mistakes...they are going to happen nevertheless.
Good luck, have fun learning, and enjoy the results.
