to those that have thought about assembling a guitar. Not only that but it also hits on a little history that some may find interesting.
Now it is a big playing field with many issues assembling a guitar- way to many for me to want to get into on this forum. This post is to mainly share some info about Charvels guitar and Boogie Bodies. ( for clarity; assembling is not the same as building one. IMO -they can be confusing terms. One can buy a "kit" - not everyone can start with a board of wood)
Before Charvel started using serial numbers there were guitars being used by players such as EVH that more or less started the graphics appeal. The deal is; Charvel wasn't making the bodies or necks. They were being supplied by
Boogie Bodies.
Now I'm not going into a history lesson. If interested it's easy to get the details.
What interests me that I wanted to share;
One of the questions when assembling a guitar is "should I get a neck from ___ and a body from ___?" Well one can get them from different makers but there may be an issue with fit and "fit" doesn't only apply to the neck heel fitting into the bodies neck pocket. ( I won't bore with the many issues)
So if one can get the body and the neck from the same maker it sure avoids some possible catastrophic problems.
That makes Boogie Bodies one to consider. Their history also makes them interesting and their prices also tell a story. How? Well it gives you an idea of how much it's worth to risk using power tools LOL.
Here is an example; I'll use Swamp Ash but first let us consider this; Two very popular woods (not including Poplar) are Swamp Ash and Alder. ( we are talking about Strat/Tele style guitars) The main differences; Ash is not a consistent wood but it has interesting grain so a clear finish works. Alder is a consistent wood but uninteresting grain so a paint finish works. ( not to say that Ash can't be painted but it does take more work to do so)
"Consistent" is referring to weight (wood density) in this example. Ash can be very light or very heavy. ( "Swamp" Ash seems now to be no more than a term to indicate "light" IMO)
Boogie Bodies offer an Ash body- It's $295.00.
One can purchase a body blank of Ash for - $125.00 excluding shipping. (I'll add @$20.00 for shipping - $145.00)
So one can safely say that Boogie Bodies shapes the body to ready for finish/assembly for $150.00.
The neck; Well the neck is the heart of the guitar. The neck they offer is $249.00.
IMO that is a very low price for a well made, unfinished neck. Even though a Maple board to make a neck can be had for under a twenty spot. The neck wood is just a small part of making a good neck.
Of course being able to shape the body/neck and have construction, design and material options is great if one can and it's also cool to have somebody with a cool history offer theirs for very fair prices. Now I have no experience with Boogie Bodies products. I'm not saying they're anything at all...other than what I've said here. I'll add that I also think it's cool that if one wanted to assemble and finish a guitar that they could "build a kit" with almost "one stop shopping".
I know there are others where one can almost or get "one stop shopping" and I have no need for any of it.
I find the history of Charvel and Boogie Bodies interesting so thought I'd share that along with some of "assembling a guitar" perspective. (even though I don't assemble guitars)
Wish I could paint...still working on that. At least my two attempts with Nitro did work out...no confidence and mostly nerve racking to do. Until much improvement, beautiful wood and a clear finish is favored.
I'll add; I did assemble a guitar once. By the time I had the neck and all the pro work done on it I had over $650.00 into the neck alone...but what a neck. Another player traded me a Deluxe Strat in "like new" condition for that assembled guitar and I didn't use not one power tool. :)
I'm not affiliated with either nor anybody.