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
- Bridge & neck pickups
- Pre-wired wiring harness
- Full size potentiometers
- Jack, back, neck, truss rod & cavity covers
- Chrome plated hardware
- Black top-hat bell knobs with chrome insert
- Strings
- Strap buttons
- Setup adjustment wrenches
- Guitar cable
- All mounting screws
: Solo MBK-1 DIY Electric Guitar Kit
: MBK-1
Disclaimer: Kits can only be returned in virtually untouched condition and in original packaging
eti.lamontagne (verified buyer) –
Very cool kit to built. I have done mine and I am very satisfied of it. Guitar is light but still sound good. Was planning to switch the pickups but after I’ve heard them, I am gonna keep them. They dont sound as warm as gibson’s pick ups, but i would easily compare them as epiphone pro pickups. Had some sanding to do on some parts for them to fit. Its a chinese kit so dont expect to get a custom shop mockingbird. The frets were leveled and round which was pretty good. The only reason why I give 4 stars and not 5 is because my neck had problems. First of all I had a banana neck which was easy to correct. In second, I got a loghtely twisted neck which sucks a bit because I could not ajust the touch of the guitar like I wanted to. Overall very good kit and fun to build. Will defintively buy again from solo guitars
rome (verified buyer) –
This was my first kit build after 30+ years of musicianship, and I’m very happy with the result. I learned more about woodworking in a very short time trying to learn (and make mistakes with) finishing. The components fit perfectly with no additional mods required unlike a competitor from whom I’d bought my second kit.
Never again. I’m sticking with Solo’s kits. Despite being import kits, the supplier for Solo is much higher in quality and care. Even with a manufacturing defect I found, Solo’s customer service was kind and cordial (thanks, Padraig!).
Once I figured out what was connected to what in the prewired electronics, the rest of the soldering went quickly.
When it was done, the Mock played wonderfully. Smooth and easy to play; light, but balanced. I replaced the stock pups with SDs (because they matched the finish I did). Found the sweet spot for pinch harmonics pretty much right away.
Was very proud of myself for getting the soldering right on the first try!
Easily rivals my 25-year-old Jackson KE-3 in physical qualities – weight, balance, and feel. Solo has won a customer for life.
mike.buckham (verified buyer) –
This was my first kit purchased from Solo. Body and neck is fantastic. Was not disappointed with the kit. The tuners, hardware, and electronics all were good quality. A very fun kit to build. I would recommend this kit.
Ian Futter (verified buyer) –
Bought this as my first kit. Very pleasantly surprised. Body was well prepared, neck was outstanding, straight and set up well. All the mill work was accurate and very professionally done. The wiring was detailed enough to make it a simple task to connect the pick ups and controls. Shipping was quick and without any issues. I decided to do a clear coat over the mahogany body and applied five coats of Tung Oil over the period of a week. Replaced the kit knobs with my own gold Gibson LP knobs and put two 3/4″ body stripes on either side of the pickups the length of the body to accent the guitars shape. I also replaced the kit tuners with a set of light green jade that I already had. I can’t say enough about the quality of the product and Solo’s service. I will definitely be going back to them for another kit.
Ian
electropiecescowansville (verified buyer) –
This is a winter project, so i haven’t built it yet. The wood is flawless, and has a beautiful grain. The components look good, and everything seems to be there.
the electrical diagram may give me some trouble. the color coding is incorrect, but i’m sure someone in here or at Solo will be able to help wit that.. All in all, a good experience with the company. I will be a repeat customer for sure…..Paul
Shogan (verified buyer) –
After reading reviews of several companies that sell guitar kits, I settled on Solo. I am not disappointed. Fast shipping from Ontario to California and great customer service.
Now to the kit. This was my first guitar build and I was nervous that I would mess things up. Nope. It was so easy, even I was able to handle it.
First, I used grain filler on the body followed by a water-based stain. I then used Minwax water-based glossy wipe-on poly (15 coats since this is thinner than regular poly). For the neck I used Minwax satin wipe-on poly. So far, so good.
Afterwards, I was worried about getting the wiring right. I’ve never soldered wires before. My first attempt had no sound when I plugged in. My second attempt had sound, but horrible buzzing. I went back online and figured out how to kill the buzz and had success on my third attempt.
Pros: the neck was perfect right out of the box. Frets were leveled, rounded, and comfy. The satin poly gave it a great feel. I just needed a quarter turn of the truss rod and that was it. No blemishes on the body and the grain is attractive (hence the stain rather than paint). Stock tuners and pickups are good, as well.
Cons: I made this for my brother so it won’t be in my house past Christmas. I guess I’ll have to buy another kit and I will 100% be going with Solo, again. Thinking about the Firebird or one of the V’s.
Great kit and perfect for this first-time builder!
-Scott
torresmatt (verified buyer) –
I’m giving this 5 stars mainly because of how cheap it is. I could take a star off because the tuners feel kind of cheap and feel a bit rough when you adjust them..you know, things like that. However, I paid just under $200 for this kit. It’s a nice looking mahogany body with a well made maple neck and a well done neck pocket. The tuners might feel cheap but they stay in tune. I can’t speak to how good the stock pickups sound because I put in a pair of wilkinson alnico-5 overwound pickups I had from a previous project. I also put in my own 1meg pots for the knobs. The fretwork and the nut are surprisingly well done, which if you ask me are two of the most crucial things about how good an electric guitar “feels”. The neck profile feels really good too. Seems to be a c-shape and is very comfortable. Just picked this thing up after having had it hanging on my wall for a while without playing it and it rivals almost anything else I’ve got.
carroltonaudio1 (verified buyer) –
Bought this in November. I was quite surprised at the quality of the body wood. Very easy to assemble and set up. The neck had little work required like sand the edges of frets here and there ( but that’s one of those things I expect with a kit instrument). I can’t really say much about the electronics with a kit guitar as I never use them, I have preference to Seymour Duncan pickups. this guitar is sick little monster.
shekoufa.navid (verified buyer) –
I recently purchased this kit and it took me just a week (considering the exhaustive wood dye and finish) to put this together. Everything fit perfectly. I made some upgrades to my taste, changing the tuners to locking ones and replacing the pups with an EMG Het Set! I’m absolutely loving the result! I’ll definitely come back for more kits from solomusic! ❤️
chrisbgough (verified buyer) –
Everything was awesome, and had lots of fun doing this project.
brucetay88 (verified buyer) –
I had a real BC Rich Mockingbird back in the late 70’s, it was my first “real” guitar, real as in it was a quality brand name guitar. Sadly, I sold it in the 1980’s because I needed money. Because of that and a bit for nostalgia, I wanted to get another one, but prices are way more than I wanted to spend. I saw this kit and it looked decent and was cheap enough.
When it showed up however, things were far from what I read. The neck is so loose in the neck pocket it will need to be shimmed to get an acceptable fit. As sent the gap is about 1/16″ and the neck will just fall out, this should be a snug fit. The body is two pieces, but the grain runs almost 90 degrees from the top piece to the bottom, why would they glue it up that way? A natural finish is not an option here. The frets are horrible, sharp fret end, I actually cut my finger when I was handling the neck. The back plate for the control cavity was bigger than the route cut for it. I had to use a file and sandpaper to shape it to fit. All in all very poor QC, really disappointing.
If you read the description, the frets are supposed to be finished, the neck and body are supposed to be matched and numbered. My numbers matched, but that was it, the pocket was too big for the neck.
The other thing is the controls are not laid out like a Mockingbird; they are like a Les Paul. To solve this and because I want a natural finish, I am going to fill all the holes and glue veneer over the top and back. That way I can hide the mismatched grain pattern and put the controls where they belong. Of course, this is a lot more work and expense than I was planning.