How to Build a Solid Body Guitar Kit
Purchasing a solid body guitar kit can be a great way to customize your guitar through an interesting paint scheme. You also can swap out components to further customize the sound of the guitar. Not only does this allow personalization, but great savings can be realized by assembling your own solid body guitar kit.
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Instructions
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Paint or stain the body of the guitar before assembly. You can stain it or paint it yourself or have it done by a custom guitar refinishing shop such as Sims Custom Guitar Finishing or Wilkins Guitar Finishes in California. Allow the body to dry for at least 24 hours before assembling the rest of the parts if you have chosen to paint it yourself.
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2
Attach the neck with the included neck plate and wood screws. There will be four holes already drilled in the neck heel. Attach the plate, matching its holes with the holes on the back of the neck pocket. Use a large screwdriver, torquing as hard as possible to secure the neck and prevent it from moving.
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Attach the bridge with the included screws. Like the neck, the guitar body will come with holes already drilled. Guitar bridges often only have two large screws for attachment. After attaching the base, assemble the rest of the bridge pieces, including the main saddle bar or individual saddle pieces.
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4
Insert the pickups into their respective routes. Make sure to feed the wires for the pickups through the holes in the pickup cavities. You will later attach these wires to their knobs.
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5
Push the knob shafts through the back of the guitar body. Secure the washer on the front side of the body to keep the knobs secure. Place the volume knob closest to the strings for ease of use and access.
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Solder the wires to the knobs using the directions included with the guitar kit. Configurations vary depending on the pickups chosen and the style of guitar. Some guitars have one volume for two pickups while others have individual volume controls. Single volume guitars also often have pickup selector switches that must be wired to change configurations of pickups used.
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Feed the tuning knobs through the holes in the head stock. Secure the washer to the post on the front of the head stock and tighten the nut with a wrench. Some guitars have tuning pegs on each side, so make sure that each set of three is oriented correctly. Other guitars have all six pegs in line, so their orientation is irrelevant.
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