Description
This DIY guitar kit has everything you need for building your own TC Style 12-String 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 Bolt-on Neck
Kit includes:
- Basswood body with a poly sealant
- Unfinished maple neck with maple fingerboard
- Solderless wiring
- Hex threaded peghead bushings with washers
- String Retainers
- Tuning Machines
- Strings
- Strap Buttons
- Pickguard Assembly
- Bridge Assembly
- Neck Plate
- Control Plate Assembly
- Jack plate
- Cord
- Hex wrench for truss-rod adjustment
- Allen Key for saddle height adjustment
- All mounting screws are included
smarks (verified owner) –
Ordered the solderless model TCK 12 string and received the solder model. A call to Solo and Padraig sent me the proper harness after a couple of reminders from me. Completed the guitar just need to do set-up and intonation. A couple of notes for Solo going forward first: screws etc were packed tightly in a plastic bag that the screw points had broken through the bag and screws were loose in box, thankfully no damage to guitar body or neck, second: strings were not packaged they were loose and wound together, maybe not a problem for a 6 string but for a 12 string it would easier if strings were packaged by guage for easier identification. I gave 3 stars because of aforementioned issues. Might look around at other suppliers if I decide to do another diy guitar.
Charles Daum (verified owner) –
Good:
-The kit came just as described. The neck was already quite smooth, and the body sanded up quite easily. The fretboard also looked good and I did not have any fret sprout or exceptionally uneven frets. Some leveling may be required, but that’s true of big name guitars, too.
-Once finished the guitar does look quite nice. I have almost no experience working with wood, but was still able to get a pretty nice finish by following some basic online instruction.
-The guitar stays in tune very well.
-It was fun
Bad:
-Like smarks, I also had problems with the plastic bags–they were super thin and a bunch of hardware was rattling around in the box. I needed to mock up the entire guitar to figure out that I was missing the screws for the input jack. Not that big a deal but some better bags could have saved a big hassle.
-The plugs for the solderless electronics are not very strong. I had two wires pull out of the tabs. Luckily I had ordered the solderless kit by mistake and had the equipment and knowledge to be able to solder them properly, but other people may not be so lucky.
-The biggest problem I had was that almost every pre-drilled hole was misaligned and/or crooked. Only two of the bridge screw holes matched up, one of the control plate screw holes, one of the string pass-throughs, and none of the input jack plate holes. But the worst thing was that the holes for the neck screws were crooked. I didn’t want to try to redrill them because I feared it would make the neck wobble, so I just had to live with them being crooked and have the screw heads not seat properly. There were no holes drilled for the string tree so I had to guess at where to put it.
-As noted in the other review here the strings were not marked and trying to distinguish them all was a real hassle. I had less luck or skill in doing so than others and ended up breaking three strings.
Suggestions to Solo:
1. Please take an extra couple minutes per guitar to make sure the jig is straight and/or the holes are drilled straight. Mine probably should not have made it through QC.
2. Add a stringing guide to the instructions. Even if you keep the same strings in the kit you could at least mention which gauges are paired together to give us a fighting chance of getting it right. Also, showing how they go through the bridge would be helpful. I was able to track down an image or two of a 12-string telecast bridge but honestly I don’t think I should have had to.
Overall, putting together a guitar kit was a rewarding experience and now I have the 12-string electric I always wanted for pennies on the dollar. That said, there were problems with the kit that there should not have been. I’m willing accept everything except the misdrilled holes. I get that this is DIY, but if you’re going to do something for me (pre-drill the holes) they should be done right. Like smarks I’m not sure I want to stick with Solo for the LP kit I want to build next.