FREDYEN.COM A Collection of Unfinished Projects!
All right so I haven’t picked up a guitar in a few years, although playing the electric guitar was one of my most cherished past times growing up. I can remember jamming out to my favorite band, Thrice, in my bedroom. Head banging, jumping around, screaming… yeah I did that. So what changed? Well… life happened to get in the way and those activities soon diminished. That’s all going to change now. There’s one problem though, I don’t have an electric guitar anymore!
A few weeks ago while wasting time on YouTube, I stumbled upon videos featuring DIY Les Paul guitar kits (eBay). This is what ultimately peaked my interest and that’s when I decided then and there that this would be my next project. So I quickly headed over to eBay to check out options and prices. To my surprise, the options were plentiful and the prices very reasonable. It would cost less to build a quality guitar than it would be to go to the nearest music store and purchase the cheapest guitar available. Being the Do-It-Yourselfer that I am, I quickly became very excited about this project and placed an order for a DIY Les Paul guitar kit.
It only took a couple days to receive my guitar kit from this seller (eBay). Let’s just say that I am very impressed. Not only with the quick shipping but also with the actual guitar kit itself. I didn’t expect much considering the price I paid but I can tell you that this kit is of high quality. A solid Mahogany body with a Spalted Maple top, a nice Maple neck with inlays in the fret board, all the necessary electronics and bridge assembly, and even a guitar cable was included in the package. This DIY Les Paul guitar kit came with everything you would need to start rocking out like the old days.
Check out my video above for a full overview of my guitar project. I show you what is included in the kit and give you an idea of my plan of attack. I will continue to document this project in stages as I progress with each step. The first plan of action is staining the Spalted Maple top. After that, protecting the wood with a nice oil finish. Then moving on to gluing the set in neck and wiring everything up. Stay tuned to see how this DIY Les Paul guitar kit (eBay) turns out!
See Part 2 here : Staining the Guitar
Click here to view entire project.
Stay tuned!
(Get this DIY Les Paul Guitar Kit here (eBay) or here on Amazon)
that is not mahogany…
I’m not a wood specialist.
The top is not mahogany. It’s a maple veneer. The rest of the body is, however.
Fred, The link for who you purchased the guitar kit from just goes to EBay and shows an bolt-on neck. The other LP guitar kits with a set-in neck are $150. Can you give me the specific Seller that you purchased from. I want to try one of these LP guitar builds but my biggest concern is how consistent the notes are on one of these kit guitars. Any information on that? Thanks.
Hi Tom,
The kit that I bought is listed for $150 but I “submit an offer” and it was accepted by the seller. Take a look at the box above with the “buy it now” option, those kits are all from the specific seller I purchased from
Fred how’s the sound on the les Paul ?! Have u finished ?. You cnt just leave me in suspense I’m real Interested in a DIY guitar but to be honest I dnt wanna spend that money on a lousy instument lol so I’m making my decision soley on ur vids…..
Your friend ,
Steven
Hello, i saw your videos, good job man!
So i’m french , i ever build guitars (completly not with kits), i’m curious and i decided to try this famous kits. I visited the shop of the seller and unfortunately he don’t ship to France… I tried to contact him but impossible because i live in France (even for a message to the seller ebay forbid my acces…).
I know you don’t know me but, is it possible for your to send a message to the seller about my request? I’m interrested by two kits and accept to pay the shipping costs (of course if the price isn’t horribly high 😉 ).
I don’t know if it’s possible for you but if you found time to do that for me it could be really cool! Here is my name on ebay : Nicklausronze.
Thanks by advance!
How does the guitar sound????
piqued, not peaked. Hey, good stuff. I’d like to try red ink stain. Another thing is inserting another chevron marker up by the first fret. The Gibson LP Custom model has the inlay up there, but they are rectangular as you probably know. Good site!
Hi fred,
I am going to purchase one of the kits. I have made my first acoustic OM Style guitar which was quite the project but pleased with the results. I have a couple of questions about your Les Paul Project Guitar. How does it sound? How does it play? would you replace the electronics? Is there anything you would do differently if you were doing it again? Would love to hear your feedback. BTW, great instructional video.
All the best,
Jeff
Overall I am happy with the guitar kit. It will not compare with a real Gibson but its a good guitar and fun to build. If you have the funds to upgrade parts I would recommend that, but its not necessary.
Hey Fred,
Love the tutorial and the finish! I’m working on one that is red/balck on the face and solid black for the back and neck. What is the name of the song used in the intro to this set of videos?
Im not sure what the name of the song is. I got it from the free music archive website.
Hey very impressive video, i liked it alot and I want to build the same guitar :). however you forgot to include the neck process. i noticed that the neck looks different in video #1 then in the finished product (I’m talking about the headstock) How did you manage to cut the wood in curve?
I hand drew the shape and cut it out with a rotary tool
Is that hot thing that you used with the pots come with the kit?
No it doesnt, you have to get it separately
can you please give me a link to the same kit as the picture above, but not to Ebay?
Here is the same kit http://amzn.to/1aLlx4H
thanks! i am going to swirl paint it.
How long you finished the guitar?
sorry for my bad English
greetings, from Panama
Thank you for the tutorials. Excellent way to get into doing these yourself. I ordered the kit from Amazon but was not brave enough to do it myself 😀 . So off it went to a friend that is a guitar freak and does this as a hobby.
Greetings from Poland
good job on a kit,
I would choose some other finish but stiill
I have a question about a fret job and the neck it self . Did you do anything witth the frets. or maybe it was all finished and good to go?
Was any thrustrod regulation nesesery?
I’m asking couse even epiphone is hard to get for 150 $ and here You have a fine les paul like guitar.
can you comoere it to any guitar that you played?
Hi. I got my kit but the 4 holes for the bridge and tailpiece are missing. Can yo give me the position of the holes so I can drill them myself. Pls measurement in metric because i live in holland.
also can you give me the postion of the holes measured from the bridge humbucker ?
Thanks in advance
ps your videos are good.
All the best, Rob
It’s always a pleasure to hear from someone with exeietpsr.
Fred,
I enjoyed watching your videos on this Les Paul but my only question is would a Les Paul pickguard fit on this guitar? The type you would find on a Studio.
Hey Fred, great job! Just purchased a kit myself as a father/son project. We’re having fun with it for sure. We’ve sanded, stained and colored and about to glue the neck in then clear it!