Leo JaymzDIY Electric Guitar Kits - Mahogany Body, Mahogany Neck and Laurel Wood Fretboard - Fully Components Included (AX)

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.

PROS:The kit was perfect for building an attractive guitar. The grain of the wood was very nice, all pre-drilled holes lined up well, and the instruction booklet was very easy to follow. The pre-wired electronics are extremely easy to assemble, and the neck fit perfectly into the body. The frets were filed and perfectly leveled. No rough ends.CONS: Pickups aren’t great, but aren’t horrible either. There are a few noticeable glue spots that I could not get sanded out. The binding was cut about 1/4 inch too high near the neck pocket. There is a fairly noticeable seam where the top was glued together.I’ve never built a DIY kit before, so finding this one fairly cheap and with plug-in electronics gave me the confidence to go ahead and try it out. I’ve seen videos from numerous people about buying kits like this and them being garbage. Holes not drilled properly, things not lining up, wood veneers being 1/16 of an inch thick and not glued properly, etc. Needless to say, I was pretty nervous going into this. I’m glad to say the kit arrived well-packaged, safe, and in perfect condition. The body and neck seem very well-made and fit together flawlessly. The grain on my kit was exactly what I wanted. An attractive flame maple that was at least 1/2 an inch thick. I started the coloring/finishing process using Angelus leather dyes and Tru-Oil to finish. The wood took to both products extremely well. I went too dark with the blue that I wanted but, my fault. Live and learn. Glued the neck in place, followed the instruction booklet, strung it up, and tested it out. The sound quality isn’t the best. It is also by no means terrible. It’s on par with every other sub $200 guitar you’ll find anywhere. Upgrade your pickups and you’ll have a guitar just as good as any Fender or Gibson you’d ever play. I would absolutely buy this again if I build another kit in the future. Exceptional value for the price!

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.