poptartpower

That's bad? I thought it was OK but, then again, I have no reference for a kit. From what I saw of the fit, I figured I could sand the side of the neck to make it flush with the neck pocket. I certainly don't know how to make my own neck. If I did then I'd already have the tools and neck in hand. -- Boris

I got back from my travels and sure enough there was a package from GF. Inside was a new neck and it is in much better condition. The heel of the neck protrudes out from the body a bit but so does the blem neck. Either the pocket is tapered or it's crooked. I posted it on my blog here. A test fit is coming next. -- Boris

This is good to know because I was considering buying one of their kits. Let me know how it turns out. Are you going to do photos of the build/finish process? In theory, and according to the USPS delivery confirmation number, the new neck has been delivered to my address. I'm traveling this weekend so I won't see the neck until tomorrow evening when I come back home. I will definitely be posting more about this kit. In fact, I'm going to depend on this forum to help make this guitar a reality! -- Boris

A couple of days ago I got my Mockingbird kit from Guitar Fetish. It looks like the headstock was cracked and it didn't happen during shipping. I e-mailed Guitar Fetish and they are sending me a new neck. There are pictures on my blog. At first I was really upset at them but now with their seeming A+ customer service I am becoming a fan. Has anyone else received blemmed kits? What were your blems? -- Boris

Other than some cosmetics, I think you did awesome! You can look at those marks and say, "That was me. I made this work!" Don't get discouraged. Maybe you could sand across the entire side of the fretboard and give it a brushed uniform look? Hey, if you can't "fix it" then you ought to feature it! -- Boris

Thanks for the great reply! I understand that there are a lot of variables in play. There's the strength of the magnet, the thickness of the wire, the coating of the wire, and the method of winding among other things. All of those parameters will affect the capacitance, inductance, and impedance which ultimately decide the output. Unfortunately, I don't think we have an equation for "warmth" or "twang". Winding a coil is no small task. I understand that there can be up to 10000 windings and if it is done by hand then it's easy to lose count. The wire should be under some tension and the method of winding can have a huge effect on the sound. Scatter winding could produce longer windings than ordered windings of the same number (hence the greater capacitance). There would also be different turn-to-turn interactions of the magnetic field interactions. Thicker insulation would space the wire further apart from the neighboring winding and result in slightly longer lengths of total wire used and it would also affect the turn-to-turn interactions. A 0.001" thickness difference may not be much but with 10000 windings it will add up pretty quick! Personally, I would be winding two humbuckers for my guitar kit (if I am assembling the guitar then I might as well assemble the pickups too). I would like my neck pickup to be soft and warm. It should almost sound like a mellow whistle, especially when distorted. So I imagine there would be a lot of higher frequency attenuation with emphasis on the lower/mid frequencies. The bridge should be brighter but not "twangy" or like a single coil in a Strat. If I want my guitar to sound like someone shaking a ring of keys then I will shake my own keys. I was curious to see if any amateurs have successfully wound a coil and were satisfied with the result. Were there any "oooops!" moments during the process? Is there a recommended kit? I certainly don't want to buy a pickup to take apart only to rewind. At that point, I might as well just buy the premade pickup. -- Boris

I'd like to one day try making my own pickups. Stew Mac sells a partial kit. The marketing description makes it seem simple. Just assemble and wind. Has anyone tried something like this before? I'd like to hear your experiences. Thanks! -- Boris

The kits from BYO G seem a little bit more upscale. I was eying their Explorer kits. Compare it to the Guitar Fetish version. The knobs and switches are in different positions. I would go for the BYO G version because it looks closer to the real deal from Gibson. -- Boris

Hi Maney, It sounds like the Mockingbird kit is getting good marks from you. That is encouraging. Do you think you would be able to post some pictures for us to see? I would be especially curious to see how well the neck fits into the body. Are there huge gaps? Does the neck seemingly line up straight with the body? What do you think of the neck? Is it thick and clubby? I had a '79 Strat for a short while and the neck felt like a baseball bat. It was very uncomfortable to play. I have read in forums that the pickups in kits like this are the first things to be set aside. Which pickups are you planning to upgrade to? -- Boris

My four and a half year old son do almost everything together and I would like to make sure that he has a part in my first guitar building project. I will be building the guitar from a kit (so more like "assembling"). It will be a solid body. Besides futzing with the screws and things like that, I would like to involve him with the finish of the body. I was thinking of giving the body a solid color and then have him decorate on top of that. Maybe he will do crazy zig zags, splatter art, or random scribbles. Hand prints are good too. I was wondering if there is anyone here who has done something similar with their kids. What kind of artwork did you end up with? Thanks! -- Boris

That seems too simple! So all I need to do is: 1) Place the neck, not glued, into the neck pocket. 2) Make sure it's in all the way. 3) Insert the bridge posts into the body and place the bridge onto the posts. 4) Place a yard stick from the 1st fret to the bridge. 5) Check for clearance between the bottom of the yardstick and the frets below. What should the clearances be? And should the truss rod be all the way loose, tight, or somewhere in between? Am I just over-thinking this? If that's all I need to do then my possibilities for a guitar kit really open up! -- Boris

I am still poking around the different offerings of guitar kits. At the moment, I am leaning toward a bolt-on neck configuration. Everything about a bolt-on neck configuration seems easier. Despite that, I am still intrigued by the body shapes and designs with set neck configurations. There are Explorers and archtops that I simply can't take my eyes off of. So my question is this. How easy is it to correctly secure a set neck and not worry about ripping it off and remounting it if I see it needs to be shimmed? -- Boris

I e-mailed GF asking about their exchange policy in case the neck/body fit is poor. It looks like they will accept an exchange in that case. I also asked where the neck and body are made. The reply was Asia, which is fine. It's all made with computer controlled equipment. The Mockingbird kit is looking real tempting! -- Boris

Thanks for the pointer to Grizzly.com. Their kits seem to be priced comparably to the Carvin kits. I noticed that the headstocks have not been cut to shape. Cutting a headstock may be more than I am ready for though. I'm actually more afraid of screwing up the drilling of the tuner holes. Are headstocks easier than I think? -- Boris

I have continued searching for more guitar kit sites. Guitar Fetish seems to have a pretty good reputation for fit and quality, maybe even better than Saga but it certainly doesn't have the reputation of the Warmoth or Carvin kits. I like GF's Mockingbird kit and it may be the one for me. My only concern is the potential lack of contours for the arm and body. I will contact them in the next few days to learn more about their kits. -- Boris