T-style, Single Cut Leftie (non PBG kit)

[ElleBrooke]

Thanks for that link fender3x! I forgot about that thread.

I've made some progress on the front (still working on the back). Here's the front with a little paint:

With hardware placed:


Without hardware:


I'm going to sit on it for a couple days while i work on the back, then see if it needs any tweaking. But I'm happy with it so far!

[fender3x]

That is spectacular. Wow!

[Simon Barden]

You certainly work fast! Very impressive.

[ElleBrooke]

Thanks guys!

I started pre-planning and sketching in March when Luc told me he wanted this for his birthday in September. I got the kit at the beginning of June and spent 3 weeks drawing and redrawing until the design was right before burning it. And I have lots of practice tests for color. It may seem really fast, but it's bc I've been working on it since before I even thought about the purple guitar. The telecaster was practice for this one. I just calculated how much time I have left, and it's only about a week to paint this, then 2 weeks to clear coat and a couple weeks to cure, a day to polish it. I think I'll have just enough time to get it wrapped. Hopefully.

[fender3x]

Aha! So this is the real present. Nice for him! Curious what you'll do with the Tele?

I always figure that a guitar I build will be valuable to me, but that its disassembled parts will have greater cash value, and that I'll never get $$$ back out of it that I put in... Your creations would probably put that rule of thumb to the test. If you keep producing them, I suspect one day your guitars will be collected.

[ElleBrooke]

Yep, this is the birthday guitar. The tele is his also. He went in half with me to buy the kit because he had never built a guitar before and needed practice too. He plays it. I think he likes it because it sounds different than his stratocaster.

I've considered buying a kit and listing it in my Etsy shop afterwards. But I think there's a lot of liability there. What would be awesome is if someone had me wood burn and paint the body and neck, then THEY did the finishing and building! Lol. I really enjoy doing these, but I am not fond of the clear coating, and building the electronics then setting it up is beyond my current abilities. So if you know anyone who wants to go in on a venture like that, send em my way!

[Trevor Davies]

I've considered buying a kit and listing it in my Etsy shop afterwards. But I think there's a lot of liability there. What would be awesome is if someone had me wood burn and paint the body and neck, then THEY did the finishing and building! Lol. I really enjoy doing these, but I am not fond of the clear coating, and building the electronics then setting it up is beyond my current abilities. So if you know anyone who wants to go in on a venture like that, send em my way!

Do you live in Perth?

The top looks outstanding. The pickguard also works really well.

[ElleBrooke]

Thanks Trevor Davies! I am on the east coast of the US so unfortunately, nowhere near Perth.

[fender3x]

I've considered buying a kit and listing it in my Etsy shop afterwards. But I think there's a lot of liability there. What would be awesome is if someone had me wood burn and paint the body and neck, then THEY did the finishing and building! Lol. I really enjoy doing these, but I am not fond of the clear coating, and building the electronics then setting it up is beyond my current abilities. So if you know anyone who wants to go in on a venture like that, send em my way!

I can understand that. I also dislike the clear-coating and sanding. It combines skills I don't have with the worry that right at the very end I could have a catastrophic screw up. After I wrote the "collectors" post it occurred to me that there might be a market for the painted bodies and necks, which seems to be what you like. I am not sure the stock parts would really sell the product anyway. You might be able to sell the bodies and necks without the clear coat, or perhaps you could make a deal with an auto body shop to do them for you. I suspect they'd sell like hotcakes on either Etsy, or even better on Reverb, particularly if they were completely finished with Topcoat.

"But what do I know?" I thought to myself. So I thought further. In the tiny town where I was born in Washington State there was a company called Martin Archery which was for a while one of the worlds largest makers of archery supplies. In retirement one of the "Martins" turned to making guitars, and now has quite a following with the Walla Walla Guitar Company. If you were to shoot Terry Martin an email (https://wallawallaguitars.com/about-us/), I am guessing he could tell you a lot about the artisan guitar market.

[ElleBrooke]

Thanks for that info fender3x! Those WallaWalla guitars are pretty cool! It's certainly something to consider. There's really only so many guitars I can justify making with only the one player in the house. But I maybe could sneak a third one just to see if it would sell. 😂 And buying only the body would be cheaper... I already have designs in mind, just need the canvas!