Description
This unfinished guitar kit has everything for building a Parlour Acoustic guitar.
All challenging wood cutting, drilling and shaping is already done professionally, as well as fret leveling and dressing.
Some woodworking skills and tools required for completing this project. You will need some tools and finishing supplies.
Disclaimer:
The successful construction and assembly of acoustic instruments rely on a complex set of mathematical and physical equations, as well as the inherent variables associated with wood products. Adherence to these equations is critical to the instrument being playable within the parameters of tuning and intonation. We have taken every precaution in order to make our acoustic kits as easy to assemble as possible.
Therefore we will not take responsibility if the variables associated with acoustic instruments, or the lack of skill and/or accuracy on the part of the assembler contribute to the instrument not meeting the customers expectations.
What is included with you Acoustic Kit:
- Fully assembled body
- Spruce top
- Mahogany back and sides
- Parlour body
- Chrome hardware
- Overall Length 41″
- Scale length 25.5″
- Black Walnut fingerboard
- Fretted (20 frets)
- 2-way truss rod
- Machine heads with bushings and mounting screws
- Pre-shaped bridge
- Bridge pins
- 1 set of strings
weavers2794 (verified owner) –
Fast delivery. Very easy build. All parts fit well. Frets had to be filed but that was the only adjustment to be made. Changed strings to D’Addario half wounds. Sounds great for a cheap guitar. Giving it to my 48 year old Daughter as she wants to take lessons.
almakaya (verified owner) –
Very pleasant and knowledgeable to deal with. My guitar arrived with a painted front neck ( not what I was expecting ) and a missing strap pin, a little disappointing but quickly fixed with a posted item and a great partial refund for my troubles.
I have started building the guitar and am pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of the construction.
I certainly will use SOLO again.
Living in Australia the guitar was freighted in a very timely manner, not expected from past experiences.
Well done SOLO.
laingr1 (verified owner) –
Unbeatable value for the right person. Quality is very good.
Lucas (verified owner) –
Fast shipping. All the pieces were there. The neck took a bit of fitting to get seated nice to the body, but I wasnt expecting everything to go together without a bit of work. The assembly work was well done by the Solo team. The only problem I have and that I found after I had the neck glued in was the headstock was cut crooked at some point in production, its still workable and I did not contact them about it. The bridge locating marks were not in the right spot, so I relocated the proper spot for the bridgeand installed it. All in all its a well made kit, requires some tweeking to assemble, I am currently in the finishing stages.
kwalchyshyn –
Box arrived quickly and was well packaged and protected. While the small machinehead screws were missing – no biggie, everything else was there and in fine shape. I ordered some small chrome-plated wood screws online that work well. All the parts seem of decent quality, and fit well together, tho’ I did change out the plastic parts for bone (Vencetmat bone saddle and nut), and, ebony for the bridge pins. Used D’Arrio EJ32 light classical guitar strings in lieu of the ones the kit came with. I bonded the guitar neck and bridge to the body using extremely high tensile strength carpenter’s glue which dries very hard. The neck was dimensionally correct once I was able to get everything together. I finished the guitar in matte nitro lacquer, and used Ernie Ball fretboard conditioner. Added Fender strap pins. Result: The tonality of this set-up is enchantingly bright, and dwell resonance is remarkably (surprisingly) good. The strings, lightly played provide a smaller sound experience, but one of substance and good quality. This was built for my wife and she is very happy with it, loves how it feels and its sound. She also has a Yamaha FGX3 Red Label. Good job Solo!
David Lockard (verified owner) –
Very good sounding guitar.Very easy to play it is a laminated not solid wood but I am glad I purchased it.
seanhoya –
A great deal! A beautiful bright-sounding guitar with surprising resonance for such a small body! I actually prefer its tonality to my other store-bought guitar!
I just put the finishing touches on my Solo Parlour guitar, which had sat for about a year because I needed to lower the nut and re-finish the back. This was my first time building a guitar. For the price, the kit was well worth the money. The good: building required few special tools (I had to get a clamp for the bridge), the kit was complete (except for strap button – I ended up buying one), and there were no big surprises. The bad: the bridge was stenciled onto the guitar in a way which was different from the instructions (I had good support from the Solo team – thanks!) Also, the nut was way too high – I had to drop it and the saddle a bunch using sandpaper, and the action is still a little high (I might drop the nut more the next time I change out the strings). Also, I had no idea that finishing a guitar is probably more complicated than building one! In retrospect, I should have invested in guitar-specific mahogany filler-puddy over what I could find at the local hardware store. Finally, I should have used a drill-press (and not a hand drill) to drill the bridge pin holes because the Walnut is very hard wood. But I managed to build a beautiful and wonderful-sounding guitar on the first try, which I actually play. I would highly recommend this kit for beginners!
richard.herbert –
Fast delivery. Quality item in terms of fit and finish. My guitar was a B-stock item, but the blemishes were minimal at best. I’m super happy with this build. The boys in the jam space were well-impressed with the look, sound and feel of the guitar.
walstib1961 (verified owner) –
I bought this kit to satisfy my craving to create something with wood, and then donate to my Church for their annual fund-raising auction. This was my second Solo kit (the other is an electric). My wife says I can’t keep another guitar in the house, but I’m going to put a bid in myself anyways. I am really pleased with the results. It looks great and plays well. I don’t want to put it down. The size is perfect for practicing on the couch (or the kitchen table, or on the porch, or wherever), and the sound is very sweet (I don’t generally use a pick).
I sanded the body with 400, then “0” steel wool, then a slightly damp 1000 grit wet-dry. I finished it in natural stain with a satin finish. The neck was rubbed with Danish oil and the fret board with orange oil, and I lightly polished the frets. Overall, it feels very satisfying to the touch. I finished it off with some nice hummingbird graphics that I laminated onto the headstock with a light clearcoat spray to give it a little bit of personality.
The mahogany back and sides absolutely pop. There’s sort of a herringbone to the grain and with the natural stain they look almost golden. The spruce top offsets the gold mahogany sides and back really nicely.
Mostly, the kit was perfect. The neck was true and the frets were well dressed. Two or three frets (closest to the body) needed to be filed a bit, but nothing a very light sanding couldn’t deal with.
There was one blemish on the body where there seemed to be some glue that was pretty deep into the grain, and I didn’t want to sand too far for fear of damaging the laminate, but otherwise it was all good.
My kit also only came with one strap button, but I think that is by design. On this size body a lot of folks might want to use a thong around the headstock vs a strap attached to the body. Anyways, I like the Fender American strap buttons, so I bought a couple of those and used them instead. I did put the top strap button into the body near where the neck attaches. For that, I fashioned a small piece of wood that I glued into the inside of the body where the screw came through for reinforcement.
The bridge saddle and bridge were the most difficult parts, and are likely what earns this kit a fairly difficult rating. During setup I had to file the bridge several times to get the action right (without giving it too much relief). I did a little bit at a time, and patience paid off. After restringing and adjusting 4-5 times, the playability is quite good. I also reinforced the bridge saddle onto the body with a couple of small black colored wood screws (countersunk). It is still new, so tuning is needed pretty much every time I pick it up, but it does seem to be settling in. My primary guitar is a Taylor which also took a while to settle in, and it had a creaky neck for the first three months. This little parlor guitar has a really sturdy feel to it.
I would recommend this kit, but echo some of the other reviews. It will take some patience and skill to get it to where it deserves to be.
carlphilip45 (verified owner) –
Got this to build fro my girlfriend as a Christmas present. Based on some other reviews and personal choices I changed out the bridge for a pyramid style and added bone nut and saddle. Also added gotoh 310 tuning machines. The alignment of everything was great. I located and glued bridge first based on the reviews that talked about neck alignment and knowing my girlfriend like a relatively low action. Finished sides with an enamel stain from solo and the neck with ring oil. The rest got a few coats of Osmo polyx in satin and the wood really looks great. No solid coatings wanted here.
Also bridge plate is well sized and located and all interior members are scalloped. Very happy.
Cliff Jacques (verified owner) –
First time customer. Great product. Needed help and the support was immediate and informative (thanks Scott). Shipping was very fast. Just ordered my second.