Would I be better off buying a kit or not

[BlackSwallowtail]

I am very interested in working on a project guitar but there are so many routes I can take. Which would I be better off doing. 
Buying a kit and replacing the cheaper parts with ones that I like. 

Looking for separate guitar bodies and necks I can find people selling. 
Or buying an inexpensive guitar and modifying it. 
Let me know which will be most worth my time/money. 
 

thanks

[Bizman62]

Hi and welcome!

The route depends somewhat on what exactly do you want to do.

• Buying a kit and replacing the cheaper parts with ones that I like. 
  - A kit is closest to building from scratch as you'll have to apply some sort of finish as well. And some kits really can be challenging, like the 335 where you'll have to first build the mould and then glue the top and bottom and then rout the binding channels and glue the neck etc. etc. Which means you'd need a bunch of tools.

• Looking for separate guitar bodies and necks I can find people selling. 
  - There's a caveat similar to buying kit parts from different places: The neck and body may not match. You can't even mix parts of the same manufacturer, e.g. the neck pocket of a Tele is different to that of a Strat. That said, learning all the differences is valuable experience and modifying the neck cavity to match with a neck isn't different to routing it to a blank.

 

• Or buying an inexpensive guitar and modifying it. 
  - That is the easiest way, sort of, as the parts already match and the proportions most likely are right. The only potential "irrepairable" issue is a twisted neck. There's lots of instructional videos about 'making a $100 guitar feel like a $500 guitar', the tasks needed involving fret leveling and dressing and rounding the ends, adjusting the nut and bridge for low action and intonation. Changing the hardware is optional, swap those that don't please you and keep those you like.

I'd recommend the last option with a used cheap guitar. Not something that's blown into smithereens, though!

 

 

 

 

[BlackSwallowtail]

Okay thank you.  Would you recommend I go for name brand guitars or do you think something Harley Benton or Xavier guitars would be good for my first project?

[Bizman62]

Name brand doesn't necessarily mean that the guitar is good from the shelf. I've seen a €1500 Gibson LP with a shrunk fretboard, the fret ends were sticking out and there was a visible shelf between the neck and the edge of the fretboard.

Harley Benton have got good reviews and a quick search tells the same for Xaviere which was previously unknown to me. Any guitar you can get for a couple of tenners is good for a first project. The basics are similar even in the cheapest ones and if something goes awfully wrong you won't lose a fortune.