Many of us self-proclaimed guitarists are always on the
search for that perfect guitar. We know what we are looking for -- but we just
can never seem to find it. When we find a guitar that has the look we want it
doesn't have the right sound and vice versa.
There are many luthiers, custom, and boutique shops that can
make a guitar to your specifications -- and that's great if you have the cash.
For a well built guitar you can expect to throw down around $1,500 or more. For
those of us that just can not or will not pay that much for a guitar there are
a few alternatives that can get you that perfect axe you have dreamed of.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
The first way is to build your own. Now I'm not talking
about cutting down a tree in your neighbor's yard, but there are a handful of
companies that provide all of the parts you need from nut to saddle. These
include Stewart MacDonald, All Parts, MoJo Tone, and WD Music Products. These
companies have on-staff luthiers that can help you when ordering and provide
you with technical support while you are building your dream guitar.
For my dream guitar build I used WD Music Products. I
ordered everything from them but the guitar body. It was a wonderful
experience. I spoke with their in-house luthier, Fred, and told him what I
wanted. The entire conversation was less than ten minutes, and all of my parts
where shipped the next day. Now I could have ordered the body from them but I
wanted something a little different than what they offered. My dream guitar was
a combination of a flat top thin body walnut LP style with a bolt on hardened
maple Strat neck. There are a few places where you can order custom guitar
bodies, such as Warmoth, but I wanted to use a local luthier. Brian Jeppson,
master luthier of Jeppson Guitars was able to cut the guitar body to the exact
shape and configuration I wanted. All I needed to do was bring the neck and
bridge to him and within two weeks I had the walnut body I wanted.
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| WD Music Products Build with a Brian Jeppson Body |
After three coats of True Oil the guitar had the finish I
was looking for, a nice dull sheen that really made the grain in the wood pop
out. The entire oiling process took 24 hours. (You need to wait three hours in
between each coating of oil and gently steel wool before the last coat.) Once
the oil had completely hardened I used guitar polish and a cotton cloth to buff
out the finish.
The rest was easy-- copper tape for shielding, screwing in
the parts, setting the neck, wiring her up, cutting the nut and stringing her
up -- basic setup stuff. If you can
change a set of pickups and set the intonation on a guitar you can build your
own. Now with that said, if you do not have the working knowledge of the basic
mechanics of an electric guitar you can take a class, watch a video or read a
book to learn how to make your own guitar.
My Guitar is a walnut slab body with a hardened maple neck
dressed with a rosewood fingerboard featuring 22 jumbo frets with pearl dot
inlays. Her heart is made of (2) KentArmstrong vintage O 4 conductor humbucker pickups that I have split three ways
each with on, on, on switches giving her eleven different pickups positions
with 500k pots, an EP-4380-000 - .022 MFD Orange Drop Capacitor, Switch-craft switch and 1/4 inch jack. She is topped with Grover 18/1 ratio mechanic heads
and a Tusq nut.
If I was to buy this guitar off the shelf -- if I could find
one or have a luthier build me one just like this, it would have cost me over
$2,500. To build this guitar the way I did it will cost you $650, and $150 is
for the body.
BUYING A DREAM KIT
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| R M Olson Languedoc |
The other way you can build your own guitar is by building a
prefabricated kit. If your dream guitar is one that a high end manufacturer
makes that is way out of your price rage -- you could just order one that is
made by someone else. My dream factory made guitar is a Languedoc. The model I
like has a price tag of a ripe $10,000, but the R M Olson version I ordered
would set you back about $310 with shipping for an unfinished unassembled kit.
Now you can order one that is put together for you, but that would just be
cheating.
Robert (the R in R M Olson) makes quality guitars that
emulate some of the best guitars on the market -- and he is a nice guy. There
is normally a 70-day wait for one of his unassembled kits, so that should tell
you right there that you are dealing with a quality product. One cool aspect
about buying a kit is that they give you the option of different hardware and
pickups so you can get the perfect setup and tone.
When buying a guitar kit it's kind of like buying a luxury
car; you have your base model and then a ton of personalized options. The
options can bring your price up by a few bucks -- but it will be nowhere near
the price tag of the guitar it is designed after. Some people compare a guitar
kit to a kit car. In my opinion the only thing they have in common is that they
are less expensive versions of what they emulate. But a guitar kit, unlike a
kit car, is not a fiberglass body on a cheap chassis, but tone woods with
quality electronics giving you the look and tone you would expect from a much
more expensive guitar. The model I received has a solid maple top with solid
mahogany back and sides wrapped in a rosewood veneer, a solid maple neck
dressed in a rosewood fingerboard featuring 24 frets with pearl bar inlays. At
her heart she has (2) EMG style humbuckers with CF 250k pots, a three-way
Switchcraft style switch and 1/4 inch jack.
Since the kit I ordered was unfinished raw wood, I needed to
give her a nice look. After sanding out her imperfections starting with 300
grit sand paper and ending with steel wool -- I gave her three coats of a water
based wood stain. The colors I used were gun stock amber with a 50/50 water to
stain ratio on her top and neck, and a burnt cherry 60/40 water to stain ratio
on her back and sides. I left her neck and headstock back with a satin finish and
added two coats of True Oil to her body. Once the body was dry it was time to
assemble. The only modifications I made to the kit was some copper tape shielding,
500k pots, an EP-4380-000 - .022 MFD Orange Drop Capacitor, and an all-in-one intonatable wrap aroundbridge. Then, after a quick set-up, she was ready to rock
and roll.
INEXPENSIVE CHANGES--BUT IMPORTANT ONES
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| SX Liquid RN 3P90 from Rondo Music |
Another great option for the beginning builder--or if you
just do not want to spend a lot of cash--is to buy an inexpensive guitar and
make a few small, but important changes. For this I went with SX Liquid RN 3P90
from Rondo Music. This guitar will set you back $149.95 ready to play.
Now you are getting an inexpensive guitar, but that does not
mean you are getting a piece of junk. The guitar I received was well built, it
had a solid alder body, maple neck, and (3) P-90 style pickups. Overall the
build quality was about the same as Epiphone or Peavey - they are made to last
but with cheap parts.
I put a total of $37 into this guitar and gave her a setup.
The first thing was I sanded her neck. I hate the high gloss necks that most
inexpensive guitars have. It must just be cheaper for the factory to spray them
than it is to treat them with polish or oil. All it needed was a few swipes
with 300 grit sand paper. After I removed all of her shininess, I used some
guitar polish with a cotton cloth to buff out her finish and my hand was able
to glide up and down her without any hesitation. Next was her electronics. When
I plugged her in the pickups sounded better than I was expecting, but I was
getting a 60 cycle hum from a bad ground. I simply replaced the stock
pick-guard shielding with copper tape and re-soldered her with a set of 500k pots and an EP-4380-000 - .022 MFD Orange Drop Capacitor to replace her stock
components. The only other thing I changed was her nut to one made by Tusq, and
her strings to Kerly strings.
Contact
Guitar one - Walnut LP
WD Music Products
wdmusic.com
(P) 877-WDMUSIC
Jeppson Guitars
Guitar two - R M Olson Languedoc Kit
R M Olson Guitars
Guitar three - SX Liquid RN 3P90
Rondo Music
