Description
This DIY guitar kit has everything you need for building your own LP Style Electric Guitar. You will only need some basic tools and finishing supplies. This kit includes all parts and step-by-step instructions to build a complete, playable custom guitar. All challenging wood cutting, drilling and shaping has already been professionally done, as well as fret leveling and dressing.
Recommended tools: Solo Guitar Assembly Kit – Set Neck
Kit includes:
- Mahogany body with 2cm solid Maple Cap
- Unfinished Mahogany neck with Rosewood fingerboard
- Threaded hex bushings (flat washers included)
- Tuning machines
- Truss Rod Cover
- Strings
- 3-Way Pickup Toggle Switch (includes mounting nut, flat washer, and plastic Rhythm/Treble Ring-switchwasher)
- Strap Buttons
- Neck Pickup on a mounting ring
- Bridge Pickup on a mounting ring
- Tune-o-matic Bridge with threaded thumbwheel studs and bushings
- Stop Bar Tailpiece with height-adjustable threaded mounting studs and knurled bushings
- Neck Plate
- Pickguard with the mounting bracket
- Control Knobs
- Jackplate with a Jack
- Cord
- Truss Rod Allen Key
- Control Pots (capacitors included for Tone Pots)
- Control Cavity Cover Plate
- All mounting screws are included
- Wires
jpdeaton (verified owner) –
The top of this guitar was really beautiful! The stock photo for it did it no justice. It had lots of flame to it. Some of the hardware needed to be adjusted or filed, but that only took a few minutes. I almost had to do no neck work (just made sure it was straight, and fixed some fret ends). I was also surprised by the tuners. I assumed they would be super cheap, but I think they will be suitable for a while. All in all it was super nice and good for my first set neck build.
Leonard Barnett (verified owner) –
This was my first guitar kit ever. I have to say I was very pleased with the quality. The maple top is not a veneer. It is a very thick piece of maple with a beautiful grain pattern. The machining of the body and neck are quite precise. I had a couple of questions and Solo Tech Support were very prompt in answering even through their move. I wouldn’t have known unless they told me because I saw really no delay in their response.
I used the Crystalac water based finish on it and it came out with a mirror finish. I discovered this from a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=iFtsXkHCbgM He went through the step-by-step finishing process. After buffing it I used the finest polishing compound liquid I could find at Autozone. It worked great! I didn’t have a powerful enough compressor to spray on the finish, so I put on the 6 finish coats with a foam brush. It level sanded just fine before buffing.
My Nephew who has been playing guitar for over 20 years came over and checked it out. The neck was close to perfect. The adjustments I made according to the instructions were almost spot on. I am now enjoying a hobby I gave up when I got married 43 years ago. Hopefully I don’t destroy my wife’s hearing or sanity.
Ben Aw-Yeong (verified owner) –
Same as with Leonard below, this was my first guitar kit; though, I have the fortune of this being my 7th guitar
Pros
– As others have said, the quality of the maple in the cap is excellent – there is some flame figuring to it which wasn’t completely expected
– The neck join fits well, and it looks like these are matched with the kits based on the number written on the neck and body
– Routing is great/clean
– The neck was almost perfectly straight on arrival out of the box
– The Gotoh GE101 and 103 parts fit the spacing of the pre-drilled holes well, though the mounts the come with these are too loose. That said, the mounts from the base kit fit really well, and the threading lines up perfectly for the Gotoh posts
– Tuning machines aren’t too bad
– Pickguard holes are not pre-drilled (I’m not a pickguard on LP fan)
– 43mm nut width and 12” fretboard radius! It’s amazing how many LP kits out there have all sorts of strange specs (for a Les Paul)
– I quite like the headstock shape – doesn’t fall in line with any particular brands
– The mahogany grain is excellent (mine is a 3 piece, not evenly spread – not a big deal)
– The neck feels great (the wood that is)
Cons
– The fretwork was very sharp on the thumb side of the fretboard with an absolute boatload of fret sprout
– The fret ends are extremely uneven on the finger side of the fretboard, with many of them ending a few mm before the end of the fretboard binding, and some not actually reaching the binding at all (fret only overlying the wood)
– Not all of the frets were hammered in properly. Some were sitting half out of the fretboard
– The maple top next to the body binding on the treble side that would sit under the fretboard was much lower than the top level of the binding
– The centre line of the maple cap is not dead centre which probably relates to:
– The maple cap is not bookmatched (it’s still good quality piece(s) of maple!)
– The hole drilled for the output jack didn’t allow for the output jack that comes with the kit to fit properly if a cable was plugged in without modification. That said, the short shaft Switchcraft jack sits the cable slightly further out of the body such that this was not an issue
The in-between
– The positioning of the pre-drilled holes for the pots don’t match Gibson/Epiphone distancing, so if you want to try solderless solutions/premade harnesses, then options are very limited
– Toggle switch feels particularly flimsy (but expected for a kit, so definitely not a dealbreaker)
– The pictures have a long neck tenon; the one on my kit is short. This doesn’t really change anything, but I did find this a bit odd
– Some other kits provide 2 colours of backplates. Makes sense not to include this from a sales/waste standpoint, so certainly understandable
Overall, great kit on account of the wood quality and routing being very good (minus the output jack hole) – a lot of room for you to upgrade/modify as you see fit. Hardware isn’t great quality on the whole but that’s to be expected of any kit (and therefore not an actual con; also read: upgradable!).
The biggest issue with the kit is the fretwork. It’s largely salvageable, but you could also have just made an argument for completely re-fretting it altogether.
neutronned –
Super fun kit and plays very nice! Routing quality on the body is superb and neck is perfectly flat and straight. It took a little bit of filing around the fret edges to smooth out a few sharp edges but they were seated well and leveling was easy. Neck to body fit was perfect! I messed up my first attempt to finish the body and had to sand it all back out, which made me really thankful for the solid top! I replaced most of the kit hardware with black and upgraded pots, switches and pick-ups, also all in black. I used thin copper tape on the top to simulate a printed circuit board pattern and cut custom covers for the rear electronics pockets out of PCB material to complete the look. Overall, I had a great time and have a very nice guitar that is uniquely mine.
joeontheinside (verified owner) –
This is the first guitar I ever built and I was very nervous. Second guessed myself every step of the way. I was sure I did a bad job on the frets, leveled them in my lap like an idiot. But I kept going. Then I was sure I glued the neck in poorly, I kept convincing myself I saw a slight bend in it, and not the bow way. But I kept going. Then surely, I thought, something must go wrong wiring the pick-ups, I had never done it before. Then I thought, there’s no way I’ll adjust the rod properly. There’s no way I’ll get the intonation set. But then I finally strung it up, and the moment of truth arrived… IT HAD NEARLY PERFECT INTONATION, ZERO NECK BOW, NOT A SINGLE BUZZING FRET, AND ACTION LIKE BUTTER!!! IMMEDIATELY! I couldn’t believe it! I shredded around for hours before doing EXTREMELY MINOR intonation adjustments, EASY TO DO AS WELL! Now it has perfect intonation. I will definitely be building more instruments, I can’t believe the quality of this thing. It’s easily the best guitar I own, and built it myself. Incredible. I still can’t believe it. Gonna build a bass next!
willywoo28 (verified owner) –
Like most of the reviews, I was really excited to get the kit. It is my first build with a set in neck, so I’m up for the challenge. I would have rated higher stars, but please see the pro’s and cons below
Pros: Nice hardware for a kit. Shiny and well packaged no scuff marks.
Tuners feel solid for an off-brand tuner. Will upgrade those in the near future.
Pickups were going to be upgraded from the beginning
Maple top was slightly flamed although it wasn’t solid, but 2 pieces butt joined
Mahogany was nicely matched although it was 3 pieces
Plastic covers are nice and uniform in color
Frets are level and neck is straight, minimal work needed here.
Headstock is one nice uniform color and is going to be stunning mahogany when finished with oil.
Neck was sanded well to about 220 grit, and very uniform.
Neck Pocket is routed really well and tight. Can’t wait to glue it in.
Cons:
Body came sanded to about 150 grit with a lot of sanding sealer on it and sanding-swirl marks from the factory. The wood was not prepped for the sealer. It
appeared that it was just slathered on and uneven throughout the guitar body. Some areas of the sealer were thicker than others. Both front and back
were sealed, and the sides were not sealed.
Sanding the excess sealer was not too fun, but a labor of love.
After sanding the sealer off the front, the dye in the wood, came out great, but the back didn’t come out as well. The back was painted with an enamel paint
to be one solid color. The paint reacted with the sanding sealer and began to buckle and not adhere to the surface. There must have been some residue
of the sanding sealer on the mahogany wood. I had to scrape off the paint with a razor blade, as it would not dry, it was just gummy.
The top hasn’t been sealed yet, so I’m a little worried about the surface taking the oil rubbed finish.
The top isn’t a solid piece of maple wood, but 2 pieces joined together. Not bookmatched.
The center seam of the maple top isn’t centered and off about 1” to the right if looking from the butt of the guitar body.
When dry-fitting the hardware onto the body, the left bridge post hole was oversized, and the post will fall out. I will have to modify and shim the post hole to
be a firm fit.
The nut at the top of the neck is extremely high and will have poor action at the top of the neck. I will be replacing with a tusq nut before stringing the guitar
Overall I’m pleased with the pros, but the con’s keep it from getting a 5 star rating. I am still excited to be doing this project. I would like to have seen a little more attention to detail on the wood prep, top of the body seam centered, and bookmatched top. And uniformity of the drilled holes.
But thanks Solo for producing a DIY Kit that can be “made-to-fit” and be unique to each individual builder.
zebrostripe (verified owner) –
This was my first kit guitar…. After some heavy research, I’m so glad I bought from here!!! This was so well made it practically put itself together. The hardware is sub-par, but the wood is well worth the price. Now that I’m done, I can’t put this guitar down… Thank you, Solo!!!
David Van Tuyl (verified owner) –
I originally purchased a different kit that had a veneer flame maple top but had some issues with glue and in the process of trying to remove it I sanded through the veneer (it was extremely this). I called SOLO customer service and was VERY surprised when they offered to replace the kit for free. I have to say that the customer service at SOLO is one of the best in the industry and I will continue to purchase kits from them in the future. I would give them 10 stars if possible.
Ok…on to the kit. It arrived in pristine condition and the fit of the neck in the body cavity was near perfect. I did not notice and issues with the neck other than a few mildly sharp fret ends which is to be expected in a kit. Easily fixed. The fingerboard was beautiful and the inlays were flush. The neck appears straight without any twists. The body’s 2cm maple top has really nice flame to it and the finish (so far) is really coming along well. The Mahogany looks absolutely stunning without any stain at all under a gloss polyurethane finish! I am not finished with it yet but I am sure it will go together well. And as I mentioned, if I have ANY problems I can be assured that SOLO customer service will be there to help me. I will post another review after I finish it (with pictures).
BTW, this is my 4th kit from SOLO and my brother purchased and finished a bass kit from SOLO (finished in gloss black) that looks awesome. Plays well too!
nickbaker26th (verified owner) –
This is my first guitar kit. I’m very pleased with the quality of the kit, I went together easily with basic equipment. My flamed top is not super figured but it is there…. It’s just subtle which is fine it is still beautiful.
I replaced all of the hardware (I wanted a different color scheme than what came with the kit) so I can’t really speak for the quality, however the parts looked nice so I have no reason to think they weren’t sufficient. As of writing this review I haven’t wired it yet nor have I played it. But I’m sure it will play great.
The fret ends were sharp and they need polishing but, they were flat from the box.
The neck was also almost straight, I had to adjust the truss about 1/4 of a turn
Overall I’m happy with it so far. It was fun and a good learning experience.
I paid extra for the thicker maple top just for peace of mind. Since it was my first kit….If I build another I may try one with the Verneer top