Diy guitar

the kits are as cheap as a cheap guitar.
you will probably end up with a cheap guitar.

if you want to build it and maybe personalize it, sure.
I know I want to.

if you just want to save money, then no.

>>1220903
I'm 1/3 in on a mountain banjo.

$36 in raw cut lumber and 2 days labor. Idk. Depends on how much your time is worth and your skill level.

I may end up having 40 hours and $75 into it. I get a whooping $30/hr, but it's for fun. So $75-$1,275 whereas I can buy one for $200-$400.

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>>1220908
Half way through the neck.

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>>1220908

>>1220903
Yes

Where are the most reliable ones that arent super expensive

>>1220903
i've built that exact kit pictured. it wasn't worth it in terms of getting a guitar for cheap. you're better off buying an Epiphone because they're far better quality. but if you want the experience of assembling a guitar and finishing it, it's fine. you will not be able to get away with keeping the pickups as they are toy-quality and you'll have to do a fair amount of finishing this and that. but if you want to get into the hobby of building you could do worse. also FYI fender style guitars are easier projects than LP style.

>>1221526
>fender styles is easier
This, especially for a first build. Tune o Matic and an angled neck pocket can make you miserable. If the break angle is wrong, either from a bad kit or from improper assembly it will be unplayable. It's a fun hobby, unless you have some experience finishing wood the first one will look bad. Good finishing supplies aren't cheap, and it'll take you a while to develop proper techniques and to get used to working/waiting times. You could get decent results with cheap rattle cans and/or dyes with some wet sanding, but it's a lot of work. You could easily spend $70-$100 on quality clearcoat materials alone. Not too bad if you get 3 or 5 guitars out of them, but a lot of money if you end up only doing 1 guitar.

Like I said, it can be a fun hobby, but it's not going to be much cheaper(and may end up costing much more) than an equal quality off the shelf guitar.

For a first attempt you may want to purchase a pre-made neck and build everything else. Getting the neck right is a pain.

Alternately you could build something small scale like a ukulele. A lot of the same techniques involved but due to the shortness of the scale, the neck/body fit and neck geometry are less demanding.

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I put together a guitar kit that I got off of aliexpress a few months ago. It wasn't too hard, but you might not have access to some of the equipment that made it easy to assemble, like a drill press. This kit was relatively smooth, but I heard some kits are total nightmares to assemble.

If you want to do minimal work, it might be best to buy a body, neck and hardware off of a website like guitarfetish.

>>1220903
Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery grad here.

With a few tools and woodworking knowledge, you can make your own body pretty easily, with a custom shape and finish. A bolt on style neck joint is your friend here.

Building a neck requires a lot more detail and experience, and if it goes wrong you're sunk.

You should build your own body and save yourself a ton of time/money/headache and get a well made neck online. These necks come fully finished, with tuner holes and precision fretwork. Spending $150 on a great looking neck will be totally worth it.

>>1220903
>>1220907
You can make one of those sound good if you put enough effort, though.
Of course, replace all the electrical parts and the strings, since those are beyond shit tier.
Then, make sure the neck is straight and frets are leveled.
Adjust the bridge and the height of your pickups to make all strings sound even. Your strings can't be either too close or too far from the pickups.
Make sure your neck is smooth and fixed solidly to the body.
The hardest part here is leveling the frets and adjusting the neck, but that and the pickups are the main difference between a shit and a good guitar. You don't need expensive pickups, though. Just don't buy the cheapest ones you can find and you're good.
These tweaks are enough to make your cheap diy kit sound like a decent guitar.

i'll just leave this here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwIvUbOhcKE

>>1220903
if it's the kit, you're basically assembling and you'd better hope they got the work done accurately because it's the little things that make or break a guitar.

If building from scratch... it's all down to materials, your willingness to aim for precision and a certain amount of skill (or at least foresight in planning). You can come out of it for around 2x the price of a kit with a masterpiece.