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New member and first time builder here. I have modded a few electric guitars (new electronics etc) but this is my first time building. My favorite past guitar was a new Gibson Les Paul Junior. I brought it with a broken neck and did the repair myself. I later sold it. My dream guitar is a vintage 1950's Les Paul Junior double cut in TV yellow, but can't afford the $5 to $7k price tag. So I figured why not try a kit.

I have a '59 style Les Paul Junior double cut body and LP style neck on the way from Eden Guitars in California. I don't know much about this company, but I believe it may actually be based in China. They have a large eBay presence. Price is reasonable, I paid $180 (free shipping) for the body and neck. They have good reviews on ebay, but the only thing I can find outside ebay is a bunch of old reviews from '07 -'08. Apparently then they didn't have the store in California and charged $100 or some obscene amount to ship from China. The body and neck are solid mahogany. Body looks like its three pieces instead of one solid slab. In photos the routes for pickups and neck cavity look very clean like maybe they were done with a CNC.

I'm comfortable with the electronics. The thing the scares me a little with a build (especially set neck like this) is getting the right angles with the body. I'm imagining that these things have to be pretty precise otherwise it may result in a guitar that doesn't sound or play well. The neck I bought is a complete unfinished neck, but at the price point I figure it may need some nut and fret work. This also is a bit out of my comfort zone.

Reservations aside, I'm looking forward to getting started. I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions ............................

Welcome and ask away, you'll find most folks here very helpful.

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

There is a member on this forum from England with a series of videos on taking an inexpensive Chinese kit and really making it something special. I think his YouTube handle is Glimmer Guitars. Maybe he'll read this and chime in. In any case, they put a lot of work into it, but they are getting interesting results. It's worth watching the series of vids.


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I found an 18-part youtube series by Crimson Guitars on "Taking a Cheap Kit Guitar and Making it Great." Could this be the one you're thinking of?

Michael, welcome to the forum. You will get a lot of very good advice and help here.

I'll make a couple of very humble suggestions. First, get a copy of Melvyn Hiscock's book Make your Own Electric Guitar. He covers both building from scratch and assembling a kit of parts as you are doing. He has a very good chapter discussing geometry that should help you understand the neck angle, as well as chapters on finish, wiring, fretwork, etc.

Second, find a set of plans for a LP Jr - a google search should turn up several sources, if not some of us can help. Plans will answer a lot of questions - how much does the neck stand proud of the body, what is the angle, what is the height at the bridge. Compare these to your parts and you'll see what needs to be done (if anything).

Next, get your hardware - particularly your bridge and tail piece. At least get their dimensions (suppliers like StewMac often have a spec tab). I'm assuming you will use some sort of ToM bridge - build a mockup to simulate its height at the lowest and highest adjustments - you will want the plane of the fretboard to be close to the lowest. Clamp your neck in place and put a straightedge on it to simulate the strings - make sure you are within reasonable adjustment (note that string tension, nut slots and neck relief will affect that slightly, the important thing is to be able to adjust action within those parameters). This is the set neck of a semi hollow body but the principal will be the same for your Jr. The little pieces of wood under the bridge simulate the studs, the blue tape marks the scale length



Find build threads where people deal with these issues. I've done several LP style instruments and have published threads (other forums). You can learn a lot from the way others have done things (and their mistakes LOL).

Lastly, even tho what you are doing is building a kit, if you have specific questions take them to the Electric Guitar subforum. You will get a lot more response and I think it is fair game to ask there.

Good luck, enjoy, and ask away

Yup, that's the one!

Thanks for the replies. I received the neck today and posted some photos in the Electric Guitar and Bass forum