HOME-GROWN TONE

Ever fancied building your own guitar but feel daunted by the options? Dave Burrluck, or rather Trev Wilkinson, has the answer with a new range of all-in-one kits. How hard can it be?

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A round a couple of years back, partly as a response to the criticism that Guitarist only writes about gear that costs an arm and a leg, I put together a cheap-as-chips guitar from a Chinese kit that cost roughly £100, including strings. To say it stretched my lapsed guitar-making skills is an understatement, but after a fair bit of swearing and fettling I did create a perfectly giggable instrument, even though the original pickups are now in service as fridge magnets. It was a vivid illustration of you get what you pay for.

Mind you, it did rekindle my passion for DIY guitar building, despite the fact the only ‘workshop’ I have is my well-used kitchen table and a large box of hand tools inherited from my father and grandfather. But as we’ve said countless times, to build a bolt-on (assuming the neck and body are made for you), you need little more than a couple of screwdrivers, a soldering iron and some setup tools. Yes, ‘luxuries’ such as a bench drill press, or even a flippin’ bench, would be handy, but for many of us those are things we dream about.

Earlier this year, Mod Squad mentor Trev Wilkinson announced a range of midpriced guitar kits that are a whole different level to those Chinese kits I’d wrestled with earlier. Priced around £500 apiece, they include everything you need to “create a true ‘legend’”, and are of impressive quality, made in India by Harmony Musical Instruments. Indeed, the overall kit quality was high enough to impress StewMac’s Dan Erlewine – a respected figure in the world of guitar repair and building – who immediately placed a large order. If it’s good enough for Dan…

What’s In The Box?