Leo Jaymz DIY Electric Guitar Kits with Mahogany Body and Maple Neck - Ebony Fingerboard and All Components Included (BC)

I have been building one of a kind guitars for last 4 years as extension to my 40 plus years of woodworking. I decided to buy and try out this kit. It came a few days later almost no damage to shipping box. Everything was neatly packaged and the assembly manual was best I have seen for any type of kit build. The description on Amazon said kit was poplar body but box label said basswood which it was. One could easily build this guitar from instructions. I modified the body for better playability adding a back horn scallop and heavily tapered neck attachment. I also increased the size of the perimeter radius. I decided to spray paint the body using duplicator metallic blue paint as a first for me. Because I’m not too familiar with their products I contacted their customer service and they recommended if I was to clear coat the paint I should use their match color acrylic lacquer. Back to build. I found the basswood not the easiest wood to sand. It took 2 times the amount of sanding I do typically do for dyed figured maple and walnut or genuine mahogany. The wood is prone to grain rise and feathering lacking it difficult to get a really smooth finish. You have to use scrapers and go up to 600/ 1000 grit sand paper. Spraying the duplicity primer and sealer with sanding and the metallic blue took again more time to do than I wood have thought. Once done I had very good results. My big issue came with the clear coat. I would not recommend using the clear coat I got per customer service. The first can even after mixing for 1-2 minutes like directions sputtered finish on the body which caused small darkened circles in the paint. I would spray one pass then have to dry the nozzle. I ended up using 2 of the 3 cans and during wet sanding and buffing experienced some issues with the durability of the finish. The neck has an artificial ebony fretboard which you may or may not like. The frets were close to being level but needed a fret leveling job which inexperienced guitar builders might be a problem. After leveling and polishing and sanding the neck I applied a light yellow dye to give it a bit of aged look. I cut the head stock to one of my designs and sanded it and finished it in polyurethane. I have to say the info said it was a maple neck but it looks more like birch. The neck was well carved almost a perfect Fender C shape. Frets finished like they are stainless and are at least medium jumbo. Assembling the guitar was easy as all holes are predrilled no real soldering is necessary as electronics are plug in type. The only item s I changed were nut to bone and bridge to a new one I had which is heavier and saddles more block like. The included bridge is adequate. A pleasant surprise was they included copper foil tape for lining the pickup , input jack cavity and back of pick guard. The finished guitar with stock pickups and small pots sounds very good. I did use Daddarrio 9/42 strings. I did add the bridge to the middle pickup tone control. The tone pots with green capacitors have a good tone sweep. Except for the clear coat issues the guitar came out very good. With my set up at 1.25- 1.5 mm at 12 fret the guitar easily plays and sounds like a medium priced guitar. I can recommend this kit to someone wanting to build a guitar with minimal tools. I can’t recommend painting and clear coating with the dupli color match clear coat.

It's a $70 kit, which is fine for my first build.I can make mistakes, not stress and have fun while learning about the process.The neck was straight and the body was immaculate. The fit/finish wasn't perfect. Electronics, meh. The holes and controls cavity are drilled for what's in the box. But if you want to upgrade electonics ir the pickguard, you'll need to do a bit if woodwork and drilling since it's not (legally?) to Fender specs.But again, it's more of a learning exercise rather than replicating a US made Telecaster so 5 stars.

The media could not be loaded. This was my first kit guitar build and I would say that it's a great kit at a good price but mine did have a couple issues. Again this a great kit and people looking to get a kit will be very pleased with the quality and overall packaging. My first and well biggest issue was that the frets were so out of whack that I had to level, crown and polish them. I know that this is a kit and that is part of the building process but from many reviews and videos across the board everyone said the neck was good to go out of the box. Most people I know that would want to try a kit guitar would have big problems with this step. Now for a positive on the neck the flamed maple fret board is gorgeous, I mean really beautiful. So that's a big + for the kit and I would guess not all the kits are going to have that neck. The second issue is that the neck pickup is not working very good. This could just be a one off in my kit but for sure test the output when you receive your kit. I built the whole thing thinking it was all good then found out in the end that the neck pickup was lacking. (Very low output compared to other neck pickups I've heard and the tone is off} Again this could just be in my kit and your kit will probably have great sounding pickups. Tuners I can't say good or bad as I swapped out with locking tuners from the beginning of the build. Strings are basically set up use only and then replace with quality strings. Pots seem to be good and work as they should. I swapped out the 3 saddle bridge for a 6 saddle as I prefer having more control on intonation. I think for the price and the overall kit it is definitely worth the money, just know that you might need to upgrade a few parts to have a great playing finished build.

Great kit. The body I received was matched well and allowed me to keep a natural finish. Smooth fret ends and level frets just needed a light polish. The Hardware is decent enough and works as it should. I found the manual to be very well done although I did not need it from years of tinkering with guitars. It would be very easy for someone who doesn't know anything about them to follow along and put it together.