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.
This Short Scale Mini Guitar features a smaller sized body than a traditional guitar, see additional photos for body specifications.
The total length of the assembled guitar is 34 1/2″
The scale length of the guitar is 22 1/2″
Manuals: Wiring
Recommended Tools: Bolt-on Assembly Kit
Finishing Options: Nitro, Stain, Oil, Dyes, etc
Kit includes:
- Unfinished Basswood body with poly sealant
- Unfinished Maple neck with 2-way truss rod
- Maple fingerboard
- Machine heads
- Tremolo bridge
- Pre-wired pickguard assembly with pickups
- Mini potentiometers
- Jack, neck & back plates
- Spring claw with springs
- Strings
- String retainers
- Strap buttons
- Setup adjustment wrenches
- Guitar cable
- All mounting screws
: Solo STSK-10 DIY Short Scale Mini Electric Guitar Kit
: STSK-10
Disclaimer: Kits can only be returned in virtually untouched condition and in original packaging
Paul Roberts (verified buyer) –
I want to start by saying I bought this for my four almost five year old daughter that has been begging for a guitar for the last year. She really wanted a custom guitar after I refinished an old one of mine. When this kit arrived I inspected it and found a number of scratches and gouges in the wood. They weren’t huge and I was able to smooth out most of it, but for my little girl it really didn’t matter. There were also some relatively sharp tooling marks on the fret. It looked like someone had use a file to level them, but left these scratches in the metal. I went ahead and smoothed them out the best I could. After doing that you can still see the marks, but they are now smoothed out so the sharp edges are gone. Again my daughter didn’t care. She really loves this little thing. It’s still too big for her, but she’ll grow into it.
The neck fit was nice and tight, which isn’t necessarily the most important thing because it is a bolt on. The nut was ok, but I could have done more to improve it. I also didn’t upgrade any of the parts because it was for a little girl that doesn’t know how to play. It was fun to work together to design the finish together. It really made this a great bonding experience. We now “rock out,” as she puts, it together. With only two soldering points on the output jack it was very easy to put together.
One other issue I had: the screws for the tuners didn’t fit in the predrilled holes. Rather than using dowels and re-drilling the holes, I happen to have screws from another spare set of tuners I wasn’t using that fit the predrilled holes. One day I think I will upgrade some of the parts if my daughter sticks with it and keeps playing.
If you are looking for a great parent/child project this is a good one.
moonman (verified buyer) –
I got this to build for the grandkids, so they could have one to play with. Mine came out of the box really smooth, had to do very little sanding to get the full body smooth. The neck was the same. I finished the neck with boiled linseed oil and did one coat of linseed oil on the body. It was way too light, so I got some darker oil-based stain and did a couple coats, and it really makes the body pop, brought out the wood grain looks beautiful.
Neck fit snug, is straight and everything else lined up and went together very well. I drilled and tapped the ground wire and added a lug. The wiring schematic did not show the jack wiring. I just pulled the jack out of my strat and copied that.
I was a bit concerned about the tuning, as I had read reviews on different small-scale guitars, and they stated they had to tune to A. I strung up this one and tuned to open E, NO PROBLEM. Sounds a bit tinny if you crank the tremble up but for the most part sounds good. I enjoy playing it and I think the grandkids will to. Definitely worth the money. This is my second SOLO kit and now the wife thinks she wants to learn bass, guess that will be my next kit.
Lyle Siemens (verified buyer) –
Be prepared to use some elbow grease on all kits. I bought this one for my girlfriend who is just under 5′ tall. I’ve upgraded the tuners and nut so far. Plays and sounds really good. Nothing is finished and requires some knowledge to bring it to a really decent Strat. Plays and sounds better than any Squire and rivals MIM Fenders.
luc.masson07 (verified buyer) –
Really fun little DIY project. I had to file the frets and sand some rough spots. I let the varnish cure for a week and I’m sure this guitar will be one of my favorites.
masterdebradwick (verified buyer) –
Built this to do Little Guitars by the mighty Van Halen. Great little kit! Sounds great and actually plays really really well. My only complaint are the fret ends. They were a little ridiculous. After filing them down (quite a bit) the fret work is actually pretty great. I guess whoever put them on originally just didn’t cut them correctly. No big deal though, it was an easy fix. My next kit will be the double neck! Gotta learn and play Secrets. Anyways, if you are looking to make a smaller guitar for a child or have small hands, do not hesitate to pick this up. Great sounding guitar and fun to build!!!
James Gewurtz (verified buyer) –
I bought this as a project to do with my 6 and 9 year old boys. The staff was extremely supportive and took the time to give me lots of tips and advice.
I’m currently waiting for warmer weather to paint, but am confident that no matter what happens, I can ask. If all goes well, my kids will have a perfect sized guitar to learn and be kids to and eventually a little memory of their childhood.
veele (verified buyer) –
I bought this as a project to do with my grandson. The guitar arrived very quickly the packaging could have been better it was packed with crinkled up kraft paper which did not provide a lot of protection so there are some fairly deep gouges in the body which will be sanded out or filled the neck needed quite a bit of work, fret sprout, leveling and polishing ect. It will be a great project for my grandson but for the price I am thrilled. it will be a lot of fun. All the work is what makes it a kit guitar.
calshar770 (verified buyer) –
First off this company bends over backwards to make customers happy. Shipping was awesome during postal service unrest. Right to my door and I live in a remote location. This was my second guitar kit purchase from Solo. My first was a telecaster style guitar and I love it. My favourite by a mile and I own a limited edition Gibson Les Paul as well as a custom shop Gibson hollow body. My purchase this time was a 3/4 size electric guitar kit. Pre fit everything before starting to finish the guitar and everything looks good. Grand kids are going to learn to Rock!