FINAL THOUGHTS

This guitar kit has been a pleasure to work with. I had no idea what to expect as I based my purchase on price alone, looking for the least expensive kit guitar on Amazon.

Here is my critique.

The strings are lacking, but this can be easily remedied by putting on a commercially available string set. Choose from any maker of strings and you'll have a much nicer playing guitar in your hands.

The body's pilot holes for the pick guard weren't perfectly aligned with the holes in the plastic. Close... but just a little off. Not enough to warrant plugging and redriling, however, and this is something I wouldn't worry about.

The heel of the neck fits the pocket extremely well. This was a very impressive fitment, as the tech that made this particular kit obviously cared about making things fit.

The tuning machines are actually quite nice. The aren't sloppy, instead feeling nice a tight when tuning.

The entire pickguard assembly with pickups, pots and switch was very well made. Solder joints are excellent. The fact that you can literally plug in the output jack to the output from the volume pot makes this a straight forward kit. Even the bridge didn't have to be soldered, as I crimped it under the tang on the spring claw.

The neck is straight, truss rod didn't need adjusting, the frets are inexpensive, but they work well.

The composite ebony fingerboard is nice, feels good, and looks good. If you like the feel of real wood, then this kit isn't going to work for you unless you purchase a second neck.

The body finishes very nicely and has a nice tone while playing un-amplified. This is always a test--if a guitar sounds good in its natural state, without amplification, then you know it's going to sound good amplified.

My overall grade: A for Axe worthy!

The only serious concern I had was the fact that there were no pre-drilled pilot holes for the spring claw screws. It may have been an oversight on their part, and was simple to rectify.

I will build a Tele style kit from the same company, next.