Help me build a Telecaster in a week for under $300 with my brother-in-law!

[Charlie H 72]

Help me build a Telecaster in a week for under $300 with my brother-in-law!

 

Hi everybody,

Im looking to build a telecaster with my brother-in-law as a gift. He likes projects but doesn't do much woodworking. We will be together at my parent's house for a week around Christmas, and I have a budget of ~$300. What's the best kit in that range/that can be completed in that timeframe? (maybe excluding finishing?? or with a very basic finish?) I have built three guitars, so I am familiar with the process and have all the necessary tools- but this is different! and of course there will be a build thread. 

I'm looking at Stewmac's kits right now and they seem like a great deal, even leaving some budget room for a pickup upgrade (or tuner upgrade?) any experience with those?

How about guitarfetish? Seems risky

Warmoth is too pricey

Any ebay gems? Or does it make any sense to cobble together my own kit? 

 

Lookin forward to any input!

Charlie

[curtisa]

The Stewmac Tele kit seems like a pretty reasonable deal, plus the added safety net of buying from a reputable seller makes it seem like a bit of a no brainer. They even seem to be running a special at the moment where you can add on a finishing kit to the base project that still come in under $270US.

Guitarfetish seems to get good reports for their parts given the price. Don't know about their kits, but for less than half the cost of the Stewmac one you could also explore a thing or six along the way about fret end dressing, nut height or hardware subsitution, which might be a fun sidetrack.

[Charlie H 72]

Thanks Curtis,

That's kind of where I'm at with it too. I think that I will go for Stewmac - While exploring all the options available with a cheaper kit is tempting, I imagine that it would also involve some headache finding fixes for issues that shouldn't be there to begin with. Who knows...