Want to make first custom guitar

[ColinSmith]

I want to build my first custom guitar, and I know what I want. I just don't know what  my budget should be, and where I can find quality components. I want a Gibson explorer body, and I would like it to be sparkly purple with gold hardware. I want the purple sparkles to carry up the neck and cover the headstock. Other than that,  I have no clue what pickups to look for and even what all I need. Thanks, Colin.

also, don't want to blow the bank

[MiKro]

Welcome to PG. There will be suggestions coming from members soon. What is your budget? I have a lot of gold hardware that I will not be using. So before ordering anything PM me I will make you a deal on Tuners, Pickup rings, and Bridge depending on style wanted. I also have the Gibson style Switches in Gold As far as the paint Do you plan on spraying it yourself? If so, check out paint with pearl they have some good tuts in there article section and good pricing on metal flake and pearl additives for your paint.

https://www.paintwithpearl.com/

MK

 

[StratsRdivine]

I second the reference to PWP - great products.  Study the "In Progress" part of this forum too.  

Unless you plan to build you own necks and bodies, Warmoth gets good reviews of their bodies and necks.  Then pups should be less than 100 bucks each.

A lot of the cost is buying minimum orders on paint just for one guitar, so look into having it sprayed by a pro, which will cost more than the raw material minimums, but worth it.  You can wet sand and buff the final coat.  

This purple / magenta color-changing borosilicate is my favorite color, so I can really picture what you are after.  

  

[curtisa]

Don't discount buying an Explorer kit and pimping it up. They're a good way to get a feel for what goes into building and assembling a guitar from a series of semi-finished components, particularly if your budget is limited or if you don't have access to the various tools used to build an instrument from scratch. If the budget allows, you can always swap out the supplied pickups with something more glamorous, or upgrade the tuners and bridge with better quality variants.

Even if you buy all the parts as cheaply as possible I reckon you'll struggle to build something from scratch for less than $300 - $400. That also assumes you don't need to spend any money on tools. On the other hand, a kit Explorer can be had for around $200 or less. It's not a cheap hobby by any means.