DIY Guitar Kits: The New Budget Guitar

Last year, my wife suggested that I stop searching for a diamond in the rough electric guitar and just build my own. Then I discovered the world of DIY Guitar Kits: the new budget guitar and I was instantly hooked. If the internet has done anything, it has taken catalog shopping to a whole new level. Guitar manufacturers and parts providers have taken to the internet in force. From all corners of the globe you can find bits and pieces of your favorite designs, including many high end guitar luthiers that do superb custom builds.

In the 90s I started playing on a cherry red Fender Stratocaster through a 12" Fender practice amp. The next year I spent hundreds of dollars of summer job money to get to the rig that I still have today. An early 90s Marshall Valvestate 100W head with the 4 x 10 cabinet and a 1994 Gibson Les Paul Studio. Other than parts and labor to fix the typical wear and tear, these pieces have remained stock for 30 years. I often could barely afford strings and cords, much less pedals and pickups and neck upgrades. I spent most of my guitar playing journey on a tight budget, and nowadays it hasn't changed much. I repair and mod my guitars solo. I don't give away guitar straps, and I definitely hate sharing guitar cords. I recently started using a Lekato wireless guitar transmitter which was a game changer considering the budget I like to operate with.

After I graduated college I started working with the family business. Playing music had kind of taken a back seat until one fateful afternoon after work. A couple of guys that worked for us knew I was into guitars and brought one over one day. They didn't really know much about it and I did not know much more myself. This was in 2003 when you couldn't just google something. I offered them $75 and they handed it over. It was a glossy black Cort electric guitar. It was a single cutaway Les Paul body shape, but weighed a fraction of my Les Paul. The pickups were real screamy and it could take a pounding. I quickly put it in my arsenal and played the strings off it. 20 years later I sold it to a buddy of mine and I think he still has it to this day.

My first DIY guitar kit came in 2024 from Amazon sold by a distributor called BexGears. The internet said it was a Canadian based company, but all I could find was the online listings for guitar kits. It was less than $100. The kit was labeled an S Style, for Stratocaster body style, and had the standard SSS 3 pickup design with a 5 way toggle switch.

My first DIY Guitar Kit build

The instructions were more of a pictorial than a step by step guide. Thankfully this body had a bolt on neck so no glue was required on this build. There was minimal soldering required, so I really didn't get to practice much on that aspect. During the process of looking for replacement parts and upgrades I found pre-wired harnesses for sale from some very reputable companies. Don't let all that electrical work scare you away from building the guitar of your dreams. Searching for pre-wired whatever will yield some amazing results that could make your mod or build that much easier. From pickups to pots and output jacks and ground wires, the online community has you covered.

Adjustments for a Stratocaster guitar

The machine tuner installation was very straight forward with a few semi tapped holes to guide me. The bolt on neck needed a slight truss rod adjustment. I sanded the body with 220 grit sandpaper and chose not to do a grain filler. The neck was in great condition so no worries there. I wanted the pores to absorb paint and create that worn wood look but still have the nice glossy shine that everyone loves. The hardest part was waiting for everything to cure, not dry. I got anxious and put a couple choice thumbprints on there, but its mine, so there. I chose not to do any clear coat, because my paint color was glossy (from a rattle can) and I wanted some wear to show faster than usual. I didn't sand in between coats and ended up with 6 applications on the front and 3 on the back. It only took a couple of days for the paint to dry, but curing was another 48 hours.

There was a little carpentry involved. Some of the holes had been shallow tapped and needed to be bored out. The strap buttons I had to measure, mark tap, and install myself. The holes for the claw spring were tapped, but I still needed to be precise when installing the screws because they will need to be adjusted every time I change string gauges. I favor tuning stability over a floating tremolo, so I tightened the claw springs until the bridge was decked. Overall quality of the parts is good for a budget guitar kit. The pickups are decent with an output of 6K across all pickups. With a pedal or an amp that has overdrive / gain you can crank it up and really make the guitar sing. I put the strings that were in the box on the guitar which I concluded are .09s. They felt good and the fretboard had very few rough spots or dead strings.

Pickup adjustment on a stratocaster guitar

The only issue that I had was with the intonation on the low E string. I bottomed out the saddle against the fully compressed saddle spring. I might have to remove the spring from the saddle, snip a bit off, and re-install and intonate. Right now it plays the way I like, so I'm going to leave well enough alone. Its not a gigging guitar yet. I've been closely monitoring some up and coming names in the budget guitar game and have even been able to get my hands on a few Leo Jaymz replicas. They play well, and with a professional setup and a good pedal / amp combo they can be legitimate workhorse guitars that sound great. If I don't buy another kit then I am definitely going to buy budget and see where the music takes me!

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