Guitar parts question...

[DarkTirade]

can anyone recommend a good website to buy guitar parts? I'm thinking about dabbling in making my own. Starting with electric, of course. It's easier to cut wood to the right shape than to mold it. :) I figured I'd start cheap, don't wanna spend too much money. Just need the basic stuff. Bodywood, preferably a pre-made neck and fingerboard, and a few other random parts like the back plate and electronics. For a pickup I'm going cheap for the first few. Instead of buying a humbucker, I just bought a 5 dollar piezzo buzzer that I'm gonna turn into a piezo pickup. I'm not expecting my first few guitars to have great sound quality, I just want to try and and see if I can, and if I like it as much as I think I will. :) After that I'll start going for quality.

So far I've found the following sites:
http://www.guitarpartsusa.com/
http://store.guitarfetish.com/
http://www.stewmac.com/

Any tips on which ones to frequent/avoid, or any other sites that you know of?

[freethought]

1. Well, I'll give you my input

I have only ordered from Guitarfetish once, and the order only came just today. I ordered some single coil pickups and I have decided to try them out. So the jury is still out on them.

Never purchased from GuitarpartsUSA so I really can't say.

I have ordered from StewMac, and they appear to be a quality outfit. They are somewhat on the pricey side, some of the stuff is expensive but they also seem to carry things that nobody else does.

Another outfit that you may, or may not, have heard of is AllParts(http://www.allparts.com). They also have a great selection of tools and parts. I have never ordered from them however so I can't make an opinion if they are good or bad.

Another outfit is Warmoth(http://www.warmoth.com). This outfit actually makes guitar bodies and necks for sale. They always have a running inventory of necks and bodies available for sale. I have ordered things from them previously and the service and quality are excellent. You can even order necks and bodies made to your own specs. However, this outfit is pricey, an unfinished neck (no frets, no finish, no nut) will be about $200.00 give alot or take a little. Prices vary on the necks by the types of woods used. Some unfinished necks with exotic woods can be as high as $900.00 unfinished. They have finished necks too-same pricing applies, it depends on the type of woods used. Bare minimum for a finished neck would likely be around $300.00 but I have seen one or two made of highly exotic or figured woods as much as $1000.00. The majority are strat or tele necks but there are others. The quality is excellent however.

They also keep a running stock of finished and unfinished bodies. Again, price depends on the types of woods used and the type of finish put on the body. You could get an unfinished body of basswood or poplar for $190 give or take, or an Ash body for $210-$250, make it an Alder body with a quilted/flamed maple top or figured Koa wood and the price can be as high as $500. If a finished body is what you want bare minimum that you could expect to pay is about $250.00. They also carry everything else you would need pickups, pots, wire, pickguards, knobs, bridges, tremolos etc... On some things pricing is competitive with other outfits and on some things the price is higher. Again the majority of inventory is in strat or tele style bodies but others are available.

Another option is to go hunting on Ebay, there are a host of shops that put all types of guitar parts up for sale. Mainly it is pre-finished bodies and necks. I peruse those forums a great deal and I must confess that I don't see too many auctions for uncut bodywood. I know on Ebay it is "buyer beware" but I have made a number of purchases that I have been quite happy with. Its always an option.

Hope this helps.

[DarkTirade]

2. Thanks.

I had somebody else recommend StewMac too, so I'll probably get some of the more esoteric parts there, but find a cheaper source for the bodies and necks. I'll add those other two to my bookmarks though. If I ever get into the really high-end stuff I might start buying exotic woods and whatnot. :) But for now I'm just starting out.

[freethought]

3. Here's a suggestion or two more.

There's an outfit in Tennessee called The Guitar Mill(http://www.guitarmill.com), their specialty is finishing bodies with nitrocellulose lacquer. They do sell wood body blanks for $40.00 give or take depending on the type of wood chosen.

As far as necks are concerned here's something I have actually done myself. I have not built a guitar from the raw wood up, but I have put together a few instruments with pre-finished parts. There is a company called Mighty Mite who produce strat and tele style necks under license from Fender. I have bought a few of these and with a some work they actually can be turned into good necks. The necks are made in Asia, Korea or China I think, and are usually cheaper. You could acquire a Mighty Mite neck for about $100.00, if the neck has figured wood like birdseye or flamed maple the price goes up. They don't sell direct but there are outfits who do sell there necks, bodies, and other stuff on Ebay. You could put together a guitar made entirely from Mighty Mite parts if that's what you want. I have an instrument I am assembling right now that has a few MM parts.

The positives are this-the necks look straight and well assembled. Well finished with a satin urethane coat. Truss rod adjustments are at the headstock. Price is usually very reasonable and you can get a neck with maple, rosewood, or ebony fretboard. The negatives are- the frets often need a good amount of finishing such as deburing, polishing and the like. I have been able to do this myself with some steel wool and a Dremel tool, albeit somewhat crudely, but good enough for the neck to be played. Also and most importantly is that MM necks are usually sold with a nut made of a type of plastic called Delrin which is not a good nut material. Not only that but the nut is often poorly installed. A poorly installed nut made of some poor material can be the source of endless problems. A nut has to be properly FITTED to the neck and the slot cut for it using bone, graphite, brass, tusq(a synthetic), or maybe even ivory like some high end guitars use. Fitting a nut is a tedious and involved process but crucial to avoid problems later.

You can get MM necks, bridges, etc... on Ebay, usually at at a good price.

I did order some single coil pickups from Guitarfetish.com. Give me time and I'll post how they sound once I get them wired up and installed.

[DarkTirade]

4. Yeah, I've got a dremel that I bought

back when I was making something even http://www.stickmanltd.com/cheapsabers/">geekier than guitars. :)

I'll bookmark that site and write down Mighty Mite somewhere where I know I'll find it again when I'm looking on eBay. Thanks!

[treblemaker]

11. I've had very good experiences with GuitarFetish

Got a grey bottom overwound Strat pickup set from them for my Frankenstrat -- nice pups.

I've been happy with StewMac, too, although I've only gotten small and relatively unimportant parts from them.

AllParts makes most of the aftermarket generic stuff carried by the local stores -- it's functional, nothing special.

[paulk]

5. I've bought stuff from here before -

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/guitar_index.htm

they take paypal, which made it easy for me since I do a lot of e-bay selling - and have a paypal account.

[DarkTirade]

6. Ooh... they have sheets of pick guard material

so I can shape my own. Awesome. Bookmarked. :)

[MrsBrady]

7. i'd look up some luthiers and ask them, they'd know for sure n/t

[DarkTirade]

8. Yeah, I'd love to find somebody willing to teach me.

Why don't people do apprenticeships anymore? They could be so handy.

[freethought]

9. Maybe because if a luthier takes on an apprentice

They will be training future competition. Just a guess.

[DarkTirade]

10. Which is why in the old days

part of the apprenticeship involved working for the teacher for quite some time. :) To make up for that.