BYO Guitar Kit: Impressions

[yakkmeister]

Hello Nutz!

I just unpacked my shiny(?) new tele kit from BYO Guitars and I wanted to share with you all my impressions of this little devil ...

First off, this isn't the standard kit - it's a 'custom shop' jobbie;
www.byoguitar.com/Guitars/BYO-Custom-Shop-Tele__BYO-CS-T-KIT.aspx

I configured mine with a licensed by fender neck (mighty mite brand) with rosewood fretboard, 1pce swamp-ash body, black scratchplate and the graphtech tusque nut in black.
I also ordered the Tonerider Hot Classic pickups.

Of note are the differences I am applying to this tele over the kit - I decided that the hardware sold by BYO looked less-than-brilliant so I purchased a deluxe wiring kit from realtone:
www.guitarparts.co.nz/cart/Details.cfm?ProdID=1815&category=55
Plus I got the pretty, solid metal knobs from these guys as well.
In addition, I decided to use staggered machine heads to avoid string trees (you know, just cos).

So, onto the kit ...

The whole thing was pretty well packed (a good sign since I live in Brisbane, Australia) and all the specified parts were there and in good condition.

Body and Neck:
The first part I examined was the body. This is the 1pce swamp-ash body from their 'custom shop.' The grain is pretty crazy but interesting and, for my purposes, fine. I found several patches that were quite rough and some places where the wood had chipped away slightly. Holes were not cleanly dressed but seemed to be uniform in size and accurate. Notably absent are the holes for mounting the scratchplate. That is rather annoying as I lack the equipment to drill anything with any accuracy at all (I have 1 18V hand drill ... ) so I will be taking this to the local luthier for drilling.
The next part I looked at was the neck. Beautiful. Everything about this neck just looks right. It's been sanded smooth as and everything just looks and feels totally pro. Worlds away from the body. I think the neck is still in need of a finish, however, and I will be following Cynical's advice on that.
Oh ... there are no mounting holes in the neck! Argh!
Whilst on the subject of neck holes... the supplied (extra-cheap!) machine heads do not fit snugly into the holes in the head. Though it's possible to mount them (they have the screw-in type fastener on top and a single, small screw on the back), I find that this arrangement will, over time, tend to weaken and allow the machine heads to rotate slightly. I have seen this in many cheap guitars (the fit and machine-head style was identical to this setup). I found that to be a little poor but not unexpected. The staggered, gotoh vintage-style units I purchased have too small a bushing to fit to this neck. Here's hoping I can get some appropriate conversion bushes; the holes are about 1/2" instead of 11/32".
The scratchplate has no mounting holes for the tele neck pickup either ... that is also a bummer.
The Tusque nut I ordered? No idea what kind of guitar it's for, but it's about 1/8" too wide for the tele neck and the string spacing (confusingly) is more narrow. Weird. Also, I wasted $7 on that "upgrade."

Electronics and Hardware:
Straight up, the electronics on this are a million, billion times worse than anything I could do even if I was drunk and someone had dared me to wire a tele up as horribly as humanly possible.
All the joints are clearly cold and the tone cap was shorting over the back of the tone pot. The supplied pots are alpha-branded mini-pots and have a smaller diameter thread than the CTS units I intend to install. That also means more drilling - since I am adding a switch and using different pots than supplied, this is hardly a fault on BYO's side but it does translate to more work. Had they used standard-sized pots, this would be even less of an issue.
The 3-way switch supplied is definitely an el-cheapo unit. Fortunately, the dimensions are perfectly normal and the (much) better-quality unit I have will go in without drama.

Conclusion:
For the money, this was not a waste of dosh. This is a cheap unit for what we pay here in Oz and if I payed the same amount for a working guitar (assuming I did not add extra parts), I could have ended up with something far, far less quality. I probably won't be buying from these guys again simply because I have to change too many parts out of the kit because I want to use the very best components for my projects. if, however, I was asked to build a cheap guitar for someone who wanted something a little interesting but without the massive budget, I would buy one of these guy's kits and work within those constraints.

[yakkmeister]

Pics of the body's crazy grain ...

[newey]

yk-

Thanks for the review, I had wondered about their kits. Don't know if you hve ever seen or dealt with a Saga kit butI wondered if the hardware, etc on the BYO one was better or worth the extra $$$. Probably not, from the sound of it . . .

There's so much variation in pickguards I can understand that they don't drill holes for those. But your drill should be fine for that.

The neck holes are another story, they need to be dead-nuts on. Again, there's so much variation in parts that I can understand that they don't want to pre-drill it.

Doing it without a drill press is an iffy proposition. That's the part I would take to a luthier if you don't have a drill press.

[yakkmeister]

No worries, mate!

Yeah, I think I could drill the pickguard holes myself but I am a little concerned about stuffing it up. I also need the mounting holes for the neck pickup drilled and I have nothing in the way of measuring gear, ergo; luthier.

As for quality, these parts are mostly really cheap. I have spoken to an amp bloke who prefers Alpha pots over CTS, so they are, at least, not the absolute worst around. If the other guys are cheaper and have comparable bodies and necks, I'd say save the cash.

The body has a good sound when tapped so I expect that, crazy grain aside, it'll sound really nice when put together.

[lpf3]

Yakk-

Personally I like that grain- that's the beauty of natural wood. I think it would look great with a transparent finish, if you're so inclined.

FWIW- I'm under the impression that all Fender necks are interchangeable whether they're from China, Japan, Mexico, USA, no matter. My experience has been the same- I've put Licensed By Fender necks on Squiers, swapped necks from one Fender to another- so far no issues. I think the neck holes should have been drilled..........FWIW .

I don't think measuring tools would help much drilling the pickup mounting holes- I'd screw that up in a minute. ;D The easy way is to mount your pickup cover in the pickguard opening, tape it in place & there's your drilling template. Just get the appropriate size drill bit & drill through the screw holes in the pup cover & you're in business. Can't miss......

Oh yeah, thanks for the heads up on the kit- you're gonna have a nice guitar there.

-lpf3

[lpf3]

I almost forgot- will any of these tuner bushings work for ya?


-lpf3

[jmartyg]

Man-o-man, this makes me want to track down a lefty Les Paul kit. Why pay $3000 for a real one when I'm going to change most of it anyway? (and I learn how to stain and set an angled neck)

I DO NOT HAVE THE FUNDS FOR SUCH ENDEAVOURS!

[yakkmeister]

lpf3:

Yes, I like the grain - the plan is to get my Dad, a local indigenous artist, to draw some turtles on there using a technique called pyrography. The finish will, indeed, be transparent. I think the grain will be nicely evocative of a tropical beach

I agree that the neck mounting holes should have been drilled ... but then, isn't there some kind of 3-hole mount for teles?

Thanks for that link, too. I don't know yet what actual size the holes are but I am sure one of those will do the trick. Some research should clear that up pretty quick.

Also, I think I will have a beautiful guitar once it's all done, too

jmartyg:

That's pretty much the reason I chose to go this direction. I wanted a tele, but I knew I would not be happy with stock, especially not the kind of stock tele I would be able to afford.
Like I mentioned, if I were to do this again, I would find a local builder or something but I do not regret buying this kit despite the amount of extra work it has turned out to require.

[sbgodofmetal]

If it had a knot in it, it would look like the planet saturn and just use a reddish orange trans finish lmmfao ;D .

But personally for the money id go with either a carvin.com kit, or a guitarfetish.com kit. I really like the grain on the one you got and if it were me id definately go transparent finish that's too beautiful to cover up. But as always with in build premades your best two bets are warmoth.com or buying all your parts individually to fit your personal tastes and specific functions your looking to incorporate into the project at hand. Here's a list of websites to look into on the subject everyone feel free to add more to this list and give a review of their products that you've obtained through them.

Guitarfetish.com
Stewmac.com
Warmoth.com
Carvin.com
lmi.com(Luthiersmercantile)

[sbgodofmetal]

As far as using your hand held it can and has been done.

[yakkmeister]

Yeah, mate, there are definitely no knots in there. I was worried about the body having knots when I ordered since, you know, you never know. As soon as I opened up the package, however, I was more than happy with the body.

[jmartyg]

As a followup on the YouTube video series posted above, I found another one. This guy goes into a lot of detail. I'm about half way through, so I can't say how good the second half is, but i'm liking it so far.

This link should direct to the whole playlist:

[ozboomer]

Apr 22, 2012 18:13:03 GMT -5 sbgodofmetal said:

...for the money id go with either a carvin.com kit, or a guitarfetish.com kit.

I'm sorry... but I had to LOL when I checked the Carvin site for kits...

Starting price for their kits is AUD1726 plus shipping. That's +$1500 on top of what yakkmeister's kit starting price is...

Not criticizing the recommendation, mind... 'tis just that I'll never understand some companies who price their products at a point 10x what (most) everyone else is doing(!)

YMMV, of course...

[sbgodofmetal]

Sorry bout that ozboomer last I checked stateside the carvin kits were $400+ starting price and went up in price depending on options chosen. Perhaps you could persuade a U.S. buddy to order one and ship it out to you. Its not too uncommon nowadays.

[kevwi]

this is a very old thread but things need to be said about BYO. I bought a $129 strat body and had a bittersweet experience. the Pros: woods nice, sustain (assembled prior to painting) is good and the neck pocket is tight.

Cons: it took a month to get and that was after several calls. my guess is it was imported. the tremlo bridge 6 holes were drilled off a bit but i managed to get it on. The control cavity was routed strangely and only an 8 hole vintage pickguard will work. a 11 ole will not. (they do not tell you this and do not sell 8 hole vintage pick guards).

Bottom line, i will use Warmoth next build and pay a little more for perfection.

[sumgai]

kevwi,

Hi, and welcome to The NutzHouse!

Thanks for the heads-up, I'm certain that more than one reader will be thankful for the warning.

As to Warmoth, they do have a good reputation in general, but like most outfits, they're just as prone to an occasional glitch. Not just for them, but for all online businesses, I can only quote that ancient Roman saying:

Caveat emptor

sumgai