Assemble your own guitar?

[fltlll]

I'm adamant about modding my guitars (since I never find one that's "perfect"), and I guess that it has slowly evolved into a desire to assemble one from scratch.

I'd LOVE to have a Fender Esquire-style guitar, except for the fact that I want different switching for the pickup (which could just be modded) but the big thing is that I want a flatter radius neck and bigger frets.

How hard is it to actually assemble one from individual parts? I figure screwing on the bridge and tuners would be no big deal, but what about screwing on the neck itself? Is that as "duh" as it sounds, or is there some complex process?

Any insight would be awesome, since I would hands down make this if I didn't feel hesitant about the difficulty.

[WezV]

as long as you make sure the alignment is ok, dont drill too deep and use the correct length of screws then attaching the neck need not be a problem

i clamp it into place and use string attached to the tuners/bridge to check alignment before drilling the holes in the neck

i am sure there must be videos and tutorials available to help with this

you also need to be prepared to do some fret and nut set-up to get the most from a 'factory fresh' neck

[Loomer]

Well, my main axe, which is incidentally a bit like a 'roided-up Esquire, was put together from Warmoth and Fender parts, and that whole process was pretty easy. I say go for it!

[fltlll]

as long as you make sure the alignment is ok, dont drill too deep and use the correct length of screws then attaching the neck need not be a problem

i clamp it into place and use string attached to the tuners/bridge to check alignment before drilling the holes in the neck

i am sure there must be videos and tutorials available to help with this

you also need to be prepared to do some fret and nut set-up to get the most from a 'factory fresh' neck

Actually, I was talking about assembling a pre-made neck and pre-made body, so there would be no routing/drilling or fretting/ nutting (LOL). If the holes are pre-drilled from the same company, shouldn't the assembly be straightforward screwing in the necK? If so, I'm REALLY tempted to do this...

[Loomer]

All Fender-licensed stuff, and real Fender as well as some knockoffs follow the same standards in regards to screws. The Warmoth body and where-ever-the-hell-it-was-made Neck I made mine from fit together nicely.

[WezV]

well, warmoth are predrilled in the body and neck and match together nicely.  most other  kits or aftermarket necks are not drilled in the neck heel and you would have to do that bit.

and even with a warmoth, which come 'playable' they still benefit from a bit of fret and nut work

the key thing to remember when building from parts is that there is not such thing as standard fit or spacing - sometimes not even from the same manufacturers (although i will say warmoth are pretty well standardised which makes things easier if you go that way)

[WezV]

dont be put off by that - its still all pretty easy to get something nice... but a bit of time spent ensuring good fit of parts will give you a much better finished product

[PaulG]

Go for it.

I've assembled a couple of teles as being a lefty, choice is very limited.

The first was a mighty mite body & neck (right handed neck) - the body was drilled but the neck didn't have any pilot holes

The second was a Warmoth body with a 2010 mexican fender neck which was a near perfect fit, the holes lined up exactly and I just needed to ease the paint around the neck pocket with sandpaper - would have gone in but it just felt a little too tight. Used a warmoth pickguard which fitted exactly.

The mighty mite incidentally had holes in the body in slightly a diiferent position and wouldn't match up with the existing holes in the fender neck which I compared out of curiosity. Also I bought a pickguard - from where I can't remember but this needed a bit of work to get a decent fit. The only other thkng about this particular mighty mite body was the string ferrule holes are not a perfect straight line on the back but aligned fine on the front with the bridge.

My personal opinion is that the Warmoth parts are of higher quality and although I haven't tried a warmoth neck, they have all the options that you want.

So like what has already been said, expect a little work.

Having said all that I'm happy with both of these guitars and enjoyed assembling them.

[MrBump]

My main guitar is a Tele put together from Axes R Us parts - and I had to drill the neck.

Absolutely no drama whatsoever - everything fitted really nicely, and these were relatively cheap parts.

I wrapped a bit of tape around the drill bit to make sure that I didn't drill too far into the neck.