Ep 1 - Taking a Cheap Kit Guitar and Making It GREAT - The Intro
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- Опубліковано 29 лип 2024
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The first video in a new series from www.crimsonguitars.com following an untried apprentice as he, with master Luthier Ben Crowe's supervision, turns an £80 kit telecaster-style guitar into something worthy of the cover of the world's best-selling guitar magazines - Premier Guitar.
In this episode, Ben introduces the project
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:08 The reveal - but Ben doesn't think too much of the kit!
3:53 To make something special watch this space!
4:50 So - Ben will oversee his apprentice, Howard, make this into something Great
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Stay tuned and stay awesome! ________________________________________________________________________ - Навчання та стиль
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Do it yourself, go to woodprix and learn how to make it.
Thanks a lot!
I CANNOT wait for this series - I have gotten myself both a strat and tele kit to build and was going to start soon - these will be invaluable.
I would have recommended buying two of them, building one as is and then doing your corrections to the other. You know, for an exact comparison.
This is such a good idea - looking forward to the next episodes!
Really excited for this. I've always wanted to do something similar myself
I believe I am Subscriber 101K and you are a natural at this presentation stuff, funny but detailed and knowledgeable. Of course you are gifted luthier which is AWESOME, not sure why ppl spazzed about the finish product & the midi PAD! I think it rocked! Been going through all these videos! Thank you for your work. I want that finish guitar! WOW!
This series could be very interesting, I'm looking forward to it.
We're going to try to edit at least one per week until it is finished.. Monday mornings sound good?
Crimson Custom Guitars will this be a free series or will you string us along then given it to the guild :(
Excited for this series.
Awesome videos, I'm loving them and can't wait to start building.
Deeply impressed about the huge knowledge. I have own two Gibsons in my life and sold after years. If i would nowadays buy a premium Guitar I would take it from you. Greetings from Germany and please stay all healthy to continue.
Great idea! looking forward to the series!
Briliant idea ! Bravo Crimson Guitars !
Im really excited about this series
Any news of making your own crimson kits? I'd be really interested to see one of a better quality than what's already out there.
I have been looking forward to this series. I think the idea of putting together a kit guitar is the perfect entry point for a lot of us who want to make an affordable instrument but are not skilled enough to take the plunge into making one from scratch. I'm also looking forward to seeing what Crimson Guitars will offer in the form of a kit guitar.
I'm all for it!!
Always want to try a diy kit great. Info looking fwrd to this series
Thanks man
Ahh, I'm looking forward to this; I've built all of two kits. The first, from Saga, dropped right into place, and was a really fun learning experience; it wasn't until several years later that I discovered the truss rod was broken! Oh well oh well ... the second, from someone else, was a nightmare; every single hole was wrong. I'll be interested in seeing what Ben (and his apprentice!) does with this, er, less-than-perfect example!
Hi there how could I get rid of the binding around the front of my guitar so I can spray the whole body without all the masking off ,???
nds like a fun video series. lots of home builders out here. I hope to pick up some tips that I can use on my guitar building. thanks for doing these videos
This was fabulous! I watched the whole project in one go. Learned a lot! How is Howard doing? What's his progress as an apprentice?
I got a maggotty Strat kit for Xmas so keen to see how to make something of it
This will get me into gear, as I have the bits, but want to finish my body blank in a special way. Bring it on.
Great series, thankyou
I purchased a _Les Paulie_ I few years ago. Not sure what to do with it in regards to cosmetics, and replacement of any hardware... It'll arrive to me someday.
Thank you for your series!
If you ever do get into making kits, I hope you'll give some thought to making more options available than what other kit manufacturers do. It would be nice to have several neck sizes to choose from. It's very difficult to find necks that are wider at the nut than 1 11/16" (and even one that wide is hard to find), but I'm convinced there's a market for wider necks for us older guys who now have fingers like sausages. When you look at guys like Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed among several other who went to wider neck guitar as they got older, I think it's easy to see there's a market for well made wide necks. I eventually found a 1 3/4" (at nut) neck for my Telecaster and have never been happier. I can now do all the intricate jazz chords like I did when I was younger without my fingers all squeezed together. Thanks.
Pardon my french, but I fucking love your humor. Great job, have a sub.
Love this idea
wonderful idea ben
Looking forward to this series! Cheers! --Chris.
This will be great
Is it that guitar with the maple top and the XYpad that appears on premier Guitar mag, and howard is the apprentice that got headhunted and no longer works here??? I can tell the age of that vid with the way tools are displayed, and also the missing Crimson sign, and a lot more details.. Good to know that you shot the process!
Interesting to see what you end up with :)
Any experience with the Carvin kits? I haven't had a chance to try one.
Ben, I've been looking at a lot of your videos. One thing I don't understand is how clean everything is. Behind you there's no dust in the shelfs. Even books! It's like my kitchen. My workshop is full of dust. How do you do?
where did you buy the kit from? Looks like a saga kit
Heyyy ok question fir you. I want to start building guitars and just wanna know for info sake. I know we al learn new things every day and we always try to improve on ideas but with that being said. How many guitars did u personally build before you: 1. Felt internally that you had the guitar building process down?
2. Before they actually were great playing and sounding guitars?
3. You actually felt comfortable that they were good enough to start selling them?
Thnx ahead. I know all this is personal to you and may be different with me but it will give me a good sence of direction to aim for with the learning curve.
Damn I didn't know Bam Bam Bigelow was a luthier now
I build lots of kits, I just don't use the hardware that comes with it. Lately, I have been telling the manufacturer not to bother sending me any hardware and they usually give me a discount.
THANKS!!!! This is Awesome.
Thank you very much, my wife just bought me this kit for valentines day. Would you know in your experience what the best kit company would be? Also do you sell tools and parts to Canada? Thanks again!
"the think that I was thinking" a man who has read Elmer to his children no doubt :D
Looking forward to the series and the result
f
Where did you buy this?
Got an amazing collection of modern and old tools man... would give anything to have all that at my home!
I have a weakness for fine old tools, it really does make creating things easier, as does being surrounded by things you love! B
this is more like it ben I'm never going near a guitar with a grinder sets my teeth on edge watchin you do it !!! if you started selling kits i bet you would never keep up with demand.
Oooh! I have been waiting for this series since you announced it. Also looking forward to your kits arriving in the shop
Hi Ben how could I drill right through a Tele like body to line up for the furrels without a drill press ?? thankx
You could buy a cheap 'drill stand' for your hand drill which turns it into a drill press.
Hi there, I've watched the whole thing and was very informative and enjoyed it. One thing though, I don't recall seeing how or where to drill the holes for the bridge? I may have missed it but I don't think so and can't seem to see that part. I have a tele kit and there are no holes to screw the bridge into and I'm sure there's probably a mathematical formula to work out where these should be placed and I'm not ready to make this mistake and get it wrong. Any help is appreciated!
When I was making a DIY Frontline guitar kit, I found lots of plans for Telecasters (I think even Fender had one) which gave you all the measurements for free! Just do a few different searches on different search engines, I can't recall my actual question, but something like "Telecaster Template" might help. Check out this:www.julimorcreations.com/Plans/TelecasterPlans.htm and
www.julimorcreations.com/Plans/Tele_Style_drawing_revF.pdf
I agree with you Ben that there are too many "builders" doing this. I have no problem with people building the kits for themselves, but to pass off someone elses work as your own is morally reprehensible. Ask them to make you a neck with a different scale length, or ask them to work out nut spacing on a custom string set, and you soon find out who can and cannot do the job that we both love. If I make a cock up it is up to me to correct it, or restart the piece altogether to achieve the quality of instrument that people who pay me to make them deserve and expect. Ask someone who builds these kits to pass off as their own to work out the compensated scale measurements including pythorgorean theory, or the newtonian properties of resins and adhesives and they would look at you as if you were speaking ancient egyptian. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of bullshit buzzwords out there intended to baffle the average guitar/bass/stringed instrument player put out by the industry itself, and the finishing in particular to most "stock" guitars in retailers are shoddy at best, and I would not dare release any of my instruments in that condition, but that's a whole new discussion for another time. Suffice to say that if you want a custom guitar designed and built by a good luthier shop around, and before you pay your 2,500 for a stock guitar assess the other options before you buy, you may well find out that the "extortionate" price you were expecting to pay could well be less than a Gibson, and to a much better quality, and you will be far happier with.
Excellent idea for a series and REALLY looking forward to it.
Just one thing that's bugged me for a while. Could you make your episodes a bit longer? Just as I'm getting into it, the episode ends.
CountryHouseGent Kreisel makes kids
EDIT: I mean Kiesel makes good kits
Have you got any further with producing guitar kits?
See I'm thinking about building a firebird from a £119 kit, however, I'm not too sure on how good of quality is the wood
Great Idea
"and the think that I was thinking" - I'm thinking that Winnie the Pooh is building guitars - excellent :-)
Looks like a cracking project by the way but the suggestion of a Crimson guitars kit guitar for three to four hundred quid is what really has me interested! Tempting indeed as long as you will be catering for us sinister lefties.
I've had a quick look at guitar kits and found two problems, at least as far as I'm concerned.
Firstly they cost more than I could get a complete guitar for - or perhaps I should say a guitar-shaped object. ☺
More importantly, too much of the assembly has already been completed: frets fitted, wiring at least partly done &c. As labour is the most expensive part I'm effectively paying somebody else to have my fun. All I'd want pre-done is the rough shaping and routing.
Hi I subscribed to your channel and I'm impressed, this may have been asked on seperate videos but I know Caparison Guitars LTD. was recently acquired by a place in the UK. My question is, have you or anyone on that sees this played them? Are they worth the 1,999-4,000 pounds or dollars and what other lines are comparable? Jackson? I know the original creators were from the Jackson facility. Thanks for the amazing knowledge base you bring with your videos!
would you give us the link where we can buy the kit??
maybe u can find guitar kit at ebay buddy
Had been cool if you could sell set neck building kits
I have an rg470 with a lo trs trem. I HATE the trem it will NOT hold tune. I have a Jem Kit guitar with a cheap chinese "Floyd Bosb" chinese trem probably made out of melted mufflers or something. The "floyd bosb" holds tune no matter how much i whammy it . Ive removed it , worked on the guitar (sanding etc etc).. tossed it back in and... not only was it in tune the intonation was still correct....
I made an LP from an "Albatross" kit. I threw out all the hardware and pickups. Not a bad guitar once it was completed.
I'd want a 24fret telebody with a single humbucker in the bridge position only
are you going to do basses?
In response to woodsoes guitar mods post, I will draw a line. Those who assemble parts made by others are assemblers not builders just as those who customize guitars are not custom builders. Nothing wrong with any of it until you claim to have built it. The car analogy breaks down if you consider the parts are designed by the builder and then sourced and assembled. And of course there are similarities between models and even crossover parts. That's just smart design.
Dane Nichols I couldn't agree more with you buddy even if i tried to.
+Dane Nichols Yup!
so someone who builds houses is really an assembler because he didn't make the bricks, plaster, sand and everything else? build = assemble. fuck off.
So a builder makes his own pick-ups starting from iron minerals?
There is no a "line", but an ample grey zone of guys that use parts that they make and parts made by others in different percentages.
I don't know much about the building process so why is there 2 pieces of wood sealed together on a body? Why can't I use one piece of wood?
You can, but because all the old growth trees have been harvested already, the one piece bodies are much more expensive and harder to find.
my biggest worry about buying one of these kits is just how bad the wood/construction, etc, is going to negatively affect the feel/sound of the guitar. My guitar was pretty cheap anyways, so I don't think it would be too terrible, but I don't want to spend, well, more the time needed to finish the build than the actual money on it if it's not going to be worthwhile
I've been wanting for a long time to build/finish a guitar neck and body without wasting money on crap accesories.
Some of these kits offer the foundation of a good guitar
This should be interesting, & that is not having a "dig", at you.
There are plenty of these kits, out there.
The only thing that concerns, me, is people passing this stuff off as custom made.
Very interested in watching how this may unfold... I'm one of those guys that still wants to know why it costs so much to buy a decent guitar. Why does one have to pay $2000 to get a good entry level (supposedly) instrument? You take the costs of quality parts and then figure wood costs and a good dollar for the work and you won't come up with the prices that some companies charge. Not a custom shop like Crimson Guitars, I'm talking about a production line company. This should prove to be very good. Thank you Ben!
+Buddy Martin $2000.00 is not Entry Level!! Lol But I do Agree most of the top guitars are in the 1500 and up range.
You needn't buy a $2,000 guitar to sound great. Gibson and Fender have brainwashed the musical world into thinking that the only way that we guitar players MUST have their instruments.It's just simply not true. For instance, did you know that most guitarist session players use Squires when recording? And there are many more examples.
If you are not swayed by that argument, just listen, with your eyes closed, to a head to head comparison between the Squire and the Strat. Odds are, you won't really be able to tell much of a difference.
Easy now Bald Bill Baley
You said a number and then indicated the smaller angle with your hand. That's going to be confusing.
subbed
You should check out precisionguitarkits.com. They have killer stuff from Canada. I'm building a LP jr. The fretwork on their kit's is awesome, but they're not nearly as cheap of course. Great video. Thanks so much. Regards from the USA.
"He arrived three months late for work" - Best boss ever.
More volume! Cant hear you on my phone :(
Whatever happened to making these kits available????
Damn took forever to find the first video 😂😂
LOL at the auto-generated captions. "Kitsch Qatar's".
didn't realise Stewie Griffin made guitars
He goes by Stew now
+George Bingham but his friends call him Tattoo Stew
stairway2000 xD
Harley Benton? Maybe think the thinking that some of us are on a less than limited amount of finacial income, and can't afford quality custom made guitars? Cheers for the video, I've got a Les Paul 'style' kit guitar, and need expert advice on 'how to'. Well thunk.
No need for a Gibson or a Fender, mate. You are mostly paying for the name. I have picked up some beautiful Samicks from pawn shops, etc., and have never regretted it. If I want to mod them, I do. New pups or whatever. I buy the guitars so inexpensively that I can afford to drop a couple of new pup's in, and the total investment is far, far less than a new "brand name" guitar. If you can play, people aren't going to be ragging on what kind of guitar you play. They're going to be congratulating you on your style. In fact, you may even make the GUITAR famous, rather than the other way round.
with his voice i feel like the head tattoo was as a result of being drugged and walked into a tattoo shop
+rory levell adult stewie?
My thoughts exactly xD
Arfon Williams and
rory levell the accent is sooooo against everything about this video 😂
grest
wish crimson would buy these cheap kits fix them up nice and label them like "crimson certified" or something like that and sell them for under 500$ maybe some nice stain and fretwork. and sell them as a full guitar but more of a budget guitar
Nice hair 😃
Paul towey He still needs _'to shave those sideburns'_ ....
I love this idea, but the chat about other builders buying these and 'passing off as their own', is a curious thing. You appear to be imply it's unethical? I think you're drawing a line. You could be a bit crazy and suggest that you haven't grown your own wood. Or perhaps a little less crazy and say that you bought pre-prepared wood. Where's the line? The auto industry is made up of, almost entirely, buying a pre-prepared part, good for multiple platforms, slapping it all together and sometimes getting 3 or 4 badges out of slightly different variations of the same thing. I reckon if a dude, buys a kit, works it into something beautiful, he ought to be able to put his name on it and sell it as his own. He's just skipped a step. Maybe he used a good kit, maybe a bad one. Okay, the fella who's used a bad one, and thrown lipstick at it, might be a douche, but no more than any other industry where shady stuff happens. But what about the guy who buys a quality made body and neck, then crafts it into something even more special? Is he wrong for putting his name on it? I don't think so. The idea that a guitar somehow deserves special treatment, or is better for being made entirely by scratch, is kind of nonsense. Not everyone can afford a 2, 3, 4, 5K custom built guitar. We should be driving the industry to make the best affordable instruments they can, to put guitars into the hands of as many people as possible. What's a crying shame is knock off brands, sold by the dozen, that are absolute junk. But someone skipping a step in a handcrafted guitar... not such a big deal.. not to me:-)
Woodeso's Guitar Mods I generally agree with you. I build and sell custom guitars and pickups. I have made a few from bodies and necks from suppliers but found like Ben did in this video, the routing and shaping is less than ideal, and it takes as much time and effort to correct as it does to simply route it myself. I now simply buy fretboards (for accuracy) and craft the remainder from blanks. I think people get bent on a genuine 'kit' (everything included but finish and strings) and that I would agree escapes lutherie and becomes assembly. As long as the wood is quality, and the routing is accurate, what difference does it make if it's Ben's CNC or Warmoth's (for example) or my router? None. I source the magnets, bobbins and wire for my pickups, heck even the wax! So does Lindy Fralin. That doesn't invalidate the status of them being custom pickups.
Anyway, should be a great series.
Not quite unethical, more a little dishonest maybe? If I say 'I made this' I mean that I made it.. If I say that 'I put this together' or 'sourced' it then that may be better? Honestly since I filmed this early last year my opinion had become quite a lot less rigid and that has quite a lot to do with talking to you :) you align guitar building and car modding and it does kind of mesh for me, though it must be said that almost anyone really could build a guitar from scratch and no one I know could say that about a car..
Crimson Custom Guitars That's a fair cop. I'm just saying it's a line that you personally, seem to be drawing in the sand. I reckon it's just a bit more grey than it being unethical. For example, here in Canada, you can buy very well crafted guitar bodies, completed to any level you like. Routed, not routed.. up to you. Very nice woods, very well made and very precise. Necks too. Same as Warmoth. However these are more raw. And yes they can be bought with an entire kit. But if I buy a lump of mahogany and cut it myself or have them do that part for me... I'm not sure it's still dishonest.
If however, like in your video, a kit like this is being sold as handcrafted... then yes, I agree completely. That's shady all day long. But I think you'd agree, that if someone bought a kit you plan to make, and 'assembled it' with his or her own name, it would be a nice thing. An affordable nice guitar?
I mean shit... look at what Chappers is doing. He has no part of building any of the guitar. Yet he's put his name on it. He's essentially ordered a load of guitars to his spec and put a decal on it that says Chapman Guitars. That's more dodgy than someone at least trying to build a guitar no? I mean... what do I know. I'm nobody. I don't build or sell guitars. I'm just genuinely interested in the discussion of it. I'm in no way attacking your view point. I just happen not to entirely agree at the moment:-)
+Woodeso's Guitar Mods
I agree, except for the part about Chapman Guitar's.
He's just giving his community the guitars they vote for.
They're affordable and pretty well crafted for the price.
+Woodeso's Guitar Mods If i read this right (otherwise excuse me). But yeah, you can look at it as in "auto-tuning" or Hot-rods. let's say a "Honda". No matter if you transform it beyond recognistion, it will still be a Honda. But you can add your name next to it (in your case Honda "woodeso customs" or with a guitar a Gibson "woodeso custom"). But that is if you do more than just replacing pickups ofcourse :D
Interesting video even with the dripping sarcasm - which is very 'on trend'. OK, you're a professional craftsman, we get the message.
RJ Buxton nah that's just how Brits sometimes talk XD
A certain large German concern offers a 68-euro kit that promises to be really grungy. Hmm....
John E do you mean Thomann? I've bought 3 of their kits, so far so good....
man! You look like you are my twin!?!
Did this polite chap dub the voice of Peter Dinklage? Sounds a bit like Tyrion Lannister
Let's Make Guitars Great Again!
what happened to the series ?
How would you describe your worst fret job? Answer: Fantastic😂😂
That's why they call them a kit. Finishing and fitting take a little extra time and effort. Cant just bolt one together and expect it to look like a $2000 one. As for looks I don't care about how smooth the finish is. But how it sounds is more important. I built one from a kit... didn't veneer it... just sanded it as smooth as possible and gave it a clear coat. When you hear a song on radio do you see what the guitar looks like? Nope.
MrRatkilr yeah but when you see a band live do you see what the guitar looks like? When you're playing do you see what it looks like? When you're playing do other people see what it looks like? Yes, yes, and yes. However, yeah I agree the sound is generally more important.
6 a pas eu
Do you have any experience of the guitar fetish kits? I'm thinking of buying this one for my first build, I'l probably use a tribal purple stain and an oil finish:
www.guitarfetish.com/Vintage-Explorer-style-kit-Poplar-Body-COMPLETE_p_1198.html
I like you.
Please don't kill me
IT TURNED OUT TO BE A LONG NECK NOISE GENERATOR **DR KEL
I want to see a kit build by someone with very little wood experience and only using tools bought for the job and not a whole luthiers workshop to work with.
His accent sounds South African.
There's a very good explanation for that...
kit guitars as explained by a Bond villain
lol...... The think i was thinking......
I don't play guitar. But to buy a kit and modifying it and calling it your own is not a gray area. It is wrong. It is and always be a modified kit. Love your idea want yo watch the,. I will never play guitar but this is still cool idea
+David Christensen Not entirely your own but you can add your name next to the brand (as in your case it could be a "Fender 'DC' custom" or something like that). That said, it has to be a complete transformation like with car-tuning or Hot-Rods (like a Ford will still be a Ford no matter you recognise it or not). But only replacing pickups is not enough ofcourse :D