Description
Building a Solo DIY guitar kit can be a rewarding experience. You’ll not only create a custom guitar but also gain valuable skills throughout the process which can be applied to other guitars. Since all the challenging parts such as drilling, shaping, fret leveling and dressing are already taken care of, you’ll just need some basic tools and finishing supplies to complete it.
Manuals: Assembly / Wiring
Recommended Tools: Bolt-on Assembly Kit
Finishing Options: Nitro, Stain, Oil, Dyes, etc
Kit includes:
- Unfinished Mahogany body with poly sealant
- Unfinished Mahogany neck with 2-way truss rod
- Rosewood fingerboard
- Machine heads
- Tune-o-matic bridge
- Stop bar tailpiece
- Tune-o-matic bridge
- Stop bar tailpiece
- Bridge & neck pickups
- Pre-wired wiring harness
- Full size potentiometers
- Chrome plated hardware
- Black top-hat bell knobs with chrome insert
- Jack, back, neck, truss rod & cavity covers
- Pickguard
- Strings
- Strap buttons
- Setup adjustment wrenches
- Guitar cable
- All mounting screws
: Solo FBK-1 DIY Electric Guitar Kit
: FBK-1
Disclaimer: Kits can only be returned in virtually untouched condition and in original packaging
hansoncolton (verified buyer) –
Great kit! The only downside was the position of the volume and tone knobs. One was drilled too close to the strip that runs down the center of the body. And it seemed the lower one was drilled too far away from the other holes. Over all it is a quality kit and I enjoyed building it!
Timothy Lindsey (verified buyer) –
Good kit. Had to do a little work on the neck pocket but other than that was fine. The mahogany had a lot of character (flaws) but come out looking good. It’s a keeper.
Gregory Davis (verified buyer) –
I’ve been playing it for about a week. Overall I am very pleased with the kit. It was not very difficult to build. The finish was much more work than assembly. The most important fact is that is plays very well. Nice low action and it stays in tune and sounds good. I will be taking it to next jam session.
* The neck is straight. I have not had to adjust truss rod yet. The fret job is fairly good. I have filed about 4 frets to adjust for bending strings. Other than that frets are fairly level. I also polished them.
* The heel of the neck fits perfectly into the body neck pocket without adjustment. It Fit snugly without forcing it in place.
* The routing and all holes are lined up in the correct positions. The bridge and tail piece mounting holes allow for inserting mounting bushing without much effort ( no hammer or press) but firm fit. The position was perfect for sting alignment centered over the fret board. The E strings are evenly spaced from the sides of the fret board.
* The Bridge mounting bushings are not recessed into the body. Therefore, the bottom of the flange on top of the bushing sits on top of the body not flush with top. This limits how low the bridge can be adjusted. So when the bridge is adjusted to low as possible, the strings are too high off the fret board. Two possible solutions: 1) recess the bridge or 2) shim the neck. I shimmed the neck with a 1/2 degree maple shim and that raised the neck to a height where the bridge can be properly adjusted.
* Pulling the wiring from the switch cavity through the pickup routs to the control cavity takes some patients. The pots come solder to switch wire. The pickup height adjustment screws are tricky due to the pickup tight fit in the metal ring.
The pickups sound pretty good. Much better than I expected. They have a thinner sound than normal hummbuckers. The kit was not missing any parts. I used all hardware that came with the kit except the output jack. I replaced it because the tip connector was too flimsy to hold the guitar cord plug firmly in place.
Hope this was informative.
henseltronics85 (verified buyer) –
This is an awesome kit that turned out fantastically. Minor sanding on the neck pocket was needed. The neck is beefy and fast. No fret job needed. Perfect right out of the box. I used a combination of stain and paint and lacquer to finish it and it came out amazing. The pickups are a super nice treat as well. The perfect balance of punch and bite. I definitely would recommend this to anyone looking to build.
Patrick McCarthy (verified buyer) –
It’s been a lot of fun doing this build! All the hard stuff has been done. The kit is beautiful, the wood is beautiful, finishes perfectly.
This kit is only the first one I’ve done but won’t be the last.
smurf_hurp_es (verified buyer) –
I had a great time with this build. I have modded other guitars previously but this was my first build from scratch. There were a few things I was worried about simply because I’d never done them before, but everything went together perfectly. Everything that I thought would be a problem wasn’t. For example I bought tools (also from solo) for fret leveling but the frets were already nearly perfect. All I really ended up doing to the frets were polishing them. The neck fit great. I can’t speak on the hardware because I purchased upgraded tuners and pickups but I plan on using the pickups on another project. Overall it was a great kit and a great experience.
John McDurham (verified buyer) –
This is a nice kit! It is my 3rd kit from different vendors and probably the best one so far. Neck fit perfectly in pocket and needed very little fretwork. Body was in good shape and did not require excessive prep. All hardware is functional and the mini humbuckers are better than expected. I modified this guitar as a tribute to Skynyrd’s Allan Colins. I put a Dogear P90 in the bridge position with the mini in the neck route. Put on a Hofner style vibrato and did my first Tobacco Burst Nitro finish similar to Colins guitar. I don’t really like the feel of the tuners that came with the kit and am contemplating changing out with banjo type like the early Firebird had. Over all this is a great kit and was fun to build and finish.
bluesboy –
Just a super deal at a great price, guitar plays very well. Had a couple slight problems though, the prewired grounds on pots had to be re-soldiered and the knobs you may want to replace the are not the greatest quality ( mine shattered after I stuck them on and then had to take them off, those are a cheap fix though). This is really a great buy, and mine now is one of my favorites to play. I’m looking to maybe buy another style, very easy to sand and finish as the bodies are already sealed, you just need to sand them stain (I used a gel stain) or paint.
Joshua Pace (verified buyer) –
Just opened it up and the kit definitely looks & feels like a traditional FB-style guitar but definitely needs some serious sanding and prep. Fingerboard and frets need some fine-tuning if you really want to make it playable. The nut is a throwaway. Wood seems to be c-grade. There is bleed on the neck binding – not sure if it’s overspray. Aesthetically looks really good but needs some serious tender loving care to make it something special.
Elio Barahona (verified buyer) –
This was my first build and had so much fun that my wife is now really worried! But the body kit is well built… I end up using different hardware because I wanted black hardware so I cannot attest for their quality but it looks like good quality I am sure I was going for chrome k wound end up using them… however the wood kit is well done and the only issue was the headstock wouldn’t get the wood stain as good as the body did (though I sanded it all up it just would not but I figure that may have to do more with my limited skills more than anything) very pleased!
greggeby (verified buyer) –
This is my second Solo kit, I built the TCK-1SB Tele kit previously. I love that guitar, in fact I sold my similar ‘factory made’ one because I truly like the one I built better. This one was a breeze to put together, I sanded it then applied 6 coats of Tru-Oil to the neck & headstock and 10 coats on the body, with light Scotch-Brite pad buffing after every 2-3 coats. Assembly-wise everything fit very nicely, although it was quite tricky routing the wiring through the pickup cavities to be able to leave room for the pickups. The nut was a little high for me so I popped it out and did a little sanding to get it down to the height I like. The tuners are nice and smooth, so at this point I don’t think I’m even going to do any upgrades. Now it’s time to enjoy setting it up and playing. My “pre-setup” run-through felt and sounded really nice.
bluesfan (verified buyer) –
Hi,
This is my 23rd Solo kit. Yes I am sold! They did it again with a Fast and Furious shipment in a bulletproof package. All parts made the trip without a scratch or a dent. The body was nicely cut and routed with great wood grain and it even has flames. All the holes are in the correct places. The neck is very straight with good fretwork, the ends are very smooth. The neck joint is snug, well aligned with a perfect angle so I can set my bridge very low. I did not use the kit pickups and electronics as I had my plans.
Pots: 2 volumes A500K with independent wiring and 2 tones B500K with vintage wiring, all with brass sleeves and shafts.
Pickups: Little Crunchies ceramics Mini Humbuckers 7.6 K at the neck and 8.8 K at the bridge.
Switch: real 3 way tuggle.
Bridge: metric Nashville style for the added mass and extra saddles travel for better intonation.
Finishing:
I wanted to give her an old vintage natural vibe. So after sanding off all the polyseal protective coat I applied 1 coat of Saman Black water based stain and sanded it back to pop the wood grain then applied 1 coat of Saman Golden Wheat water based stain diluted with 30% water then applied 4 coats of Saman water based flat varnish. I alway buff with 3M gray pads between each coat of stain and varnish. I gives a nice smooth finish. The peghead face is black.
I did a satin brushed finish on all the chrome using 3M gray pads including all the screw heads… also buffed the pickguard to remove the gloss.
Assembly:
This was a smooth operation. Thanks to good fabrication tolerances the fit is perfect. The strings a well aligned with the fretboard, bridge and pickups.
Setup:
This was fast and easy. The trussrod is very responsive so adjusting the relief to .005” took less than 1/4 turn. Filed down the nut slots just a bit to clear the first fret by .006” when pressing at the third fret. Ste the bridge for action to .060” at the 12th fret. The only minor issue was that the 3rd fret was a little high under the high E and B strings so I had a buzz when pressing a the 2nd fret. Easy solution, glue a strip of 320 grit sand paper to a small 1/4” wide wood stick to make a marrow file, moved both strings to the side of the fretboard and mask on both sides of the fret. Sanded slowly rotating the stick keeping the stick to save the fret shape. Checking with the fret rocker until it was leveled, then polished with 0000 steel wool. The repair is invisible, no more buzz the whole process took less than 15 minutes, no big deal. It was an opportunity to try somenthing.
Final: With a very thin neck, low action and no fret buzz she is a dream to play. The sound is fantanstic, very powerfull, good definition and raw.
I just love the natural vibe look. I am more than happy with the end result.
Thanks again Solo for the great service and these fun affordable kits. The problem I have now is that after 23 kits I am starting to run out of
options to select a new kit. You will need to add to our offering.
Regards, Michel
bluesfan (verified buyer) –
Added comment to my review above:
Note that this kit is smaller than the original Gibson and Epiphone Firebirds.
To me this is a good thing as I do not bang the headstock in the mic stands on stage…
Also it does fit a standard ST / TE rectangular case. This is a real bonus for my budget.
Regards, Michel
Omer Gaudet (verified buyer) –
I have bought and completed six DIY guitar kits from Solo, mostly Fenders, but this last one is a Firebird kit.
All kits were great, till this one, very disappointed..
Neck pocket very loose, even tho the number matched the neck.
Three way switch didnt work at all out of the box..luckily, I had an extra one.
The pickups are very weak, even when raised as close to the strings as screws will allow..don’t sound great either.
I guess one out of six ain’t bad??
Sean McCartney (verified buyer) –
Arrived on time and in great shape! I cannot wait to get started on this FB kit!!