Easiest First Build?

[Cobboom]

I swear I searched a little before asking as I assume this question is asked a lot... But I’ll ask again

What is the easiest body style to build/wire? I love me a telecaster but I’d like to start slow and successful.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I have absolutely no saudering skills but it doesn’t look to terribly hard.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Vulpez]

I'd say the easiest I've ever done was my Strat build with a vintage trem and EMGs. No studs or ferrules to install, no soldering, just screws and plugs.

If your Tele bridge isn't string thru body, I imagine it'd be easier than that. No springs to deal with (though, that turned out to be WAY easier than I thought it would be.)

 

[Logrinn]

Whatever body you choose, a rear routed will probably be easier to wire since there’s more room. I can imagine that a top routed Tele (although the wiring is pretty straightforward) is a bit more difficult to do, since the cavity is pretty small and cramped.
And, also, I have got the impression that Jazzmaster builds are a bit more ”complex” or harder to do, since the fitting of the pickups and switches leave very little room for errors.

Whatever you choose, good luck!
ccasion14:

 

[stratamania]

I would say a Strat is probably the easiest of most of them to do as the vast majority can be done off the body.

A tele is also reasonably easy but when you wire the pickups to the prepared control plate you need to make sure to protect the body from solder.

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=23725.msg347932#msg347932

Or as mentioned EMG / Kinman and others offer solder free assemblies.

 

[new-killer-star]

My HH hardtail strat build was probably easiest, with my tele a close second. It was also much easier the times I used a wiring harness or wiring kit.

My jazzmaster and jag builds were significantly more complicated, both setup and wiring.

Finally when one of my builds had issues I didn’t let pride prevent me from taking it to a good tech and ask him to fix wiring or setup issues and ensure it sounded and played like the guitar I wanted.

 

[rgand]

A Tele Deluxe would be much like a Strat in that everything except the output jack can be done in the pickguard outside the body. If you want a Tele, that's the one you may want to look at.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

The ‘72 Thinline is also a very straight forward build. No trem and the pickups and wiring are all on the pickguard. You still shouldn’t expect it all to snap together like Legos, attention to detail is what will separate a fine playing instrument from one that simply looks good, but the reccommendations presented in this thread do represent the projects with the least hurdles. And for the hurdles that remain, you won’t find a more helpful forum than this one anywhere on the net.

I agree with what has been said above: the offset guitars seem to be the most challenging. I’ve built a Jazzmaster and a Mustang and they both required considerable work for proper pickup and electrical component placement as well as having generally more complex wiring.

Looking forward to seeing what you jump in to!

 

[Seamas]

I had certain anxiety regarding soldering, but it's not a terribly difficult task at all, and will be an extremely useful skill to have going forward.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Whatever you build, go with a hardtail bridge. Maybe even a single pickup guitar like an Esquire, or single pickup Strat.

Keep it simple.

 

[spe111]

Really, it depends on which skills you are the most and least confident with. I definitely agree with the hard tail comment. If you're confident with soldering I wouldn't worry about any electronics setup being too complicated with two exceptions... one the switch being up where les paul switches are and two jazzmaster/jaguar type setups.

The solderless EMG system is nice but you do still need to solder a wire to the bridge.

 

[Logrinn]

Whatever you build, go with a hardtail bridge. Maybe even a single pickup guitar like an Esquire, or single pickup Strat.

Keep it simple.

I agree. And with that in mind, how about a Cabronita? Like this one for instance:

Could be a wicked rock machine :headbang4:

 

[Vulpez]

The solderless EMG system is nice but you do still need to solder a wire to the bridge.

I never have. From my understanding, the solderless system eliminates the need, and I haven't encountered any problems.

 

[stratamania]

The solderless EMG system is nice but you do still need to solder a wire to the bridge.

FALSE 

I must emphasize this to make sure it is not missed.

With active EMG active systems, no ground wire is attached to the bridge or any part connecting to the strings. It is actually a good feature as there is then no risk of the player acting as a ground.

 

[spe111]

The solderless EMG system is nice but you do still need to solder a wire to the bridge.

FALSE 

I must emphasize this to make sure it is not missed.

With active EMG active systems, no ground wire is attached to the bridge or any part connecting to the strings. It is actually a good feature as there is then no risk of the player acting as a ground.

Really, I swear the kit I bought had a wire that needed to be soldered to the bridge? I didn't do the wiring though I will have to go inside and check. It was a 57/66 kit.

 

[stratamania]

The solderless EMG system is nice but you do still need to solder a wire to the bridge.

FALSE 

I must emphasize this to make sure it is not missed.

With active EMG active systems, no ground wire is attached to the bridge or any part connecting to the strings. It is actually a good feature as there is then no risk of the player acting as a ground.

Really, I swear the kit I bought had a wire that needed to be soldered to the bridge? I didn't do the wiring though I will have to go inside and check. It was a 57/66 kit.

Yes really. Quoted from the instructions linked from the 57/66 kit...they have it in red type.

6) IMPORTANT: EMG Active pickups do not require a string ground wire!
DO NOT Reconnect the string ground, it is unnecessary

Reference:
http://www.emgpickups.com/media/productfile/5/7/57_0230-0257rb.pdf

 

[spe111]

I believe you, that was more of a rhetorical "really?". I think the guy that put mine together did connect a ground wire to the bridge.

 

[stratamania]

I believe you, that was more of a rhetorical "really?". I think the guy that put mine together did connect a ground wire to the bridge.

Sure no problem. There may be people who do this but as EMG say it is not needed.

 

[dmraco]

GFS has some plug and play systems as well.  Decent pick ups too for the $$

 

[docteurseb]

As a first try I'd go for an already finished Strat body, with either a neck that doesn't require a finish or a neck w/o a maple fingerboard (more on that below).

Bridge: vintage tremolo. A 2-point tremolo isn't all that bad (excluding Floyd Rose here) if you have Warmoth install the studs for you.
If you go for a hardtail bridge (Tele or Strat), you do need to be extra careful installing ferrules or you may very well crack the finish.


Here's what I'd avoid for a first build (that's just my opinion):
  - A neck with maple fingerboard + gloss finish. That way you won't have to deal with removing finish, which can get a little thick, from the frets. If it's ordered with the much thinner satin finish, or if you're going to apply a thin finish yourself then that's not as much of a problem.

  - Rear-routed bodies in general: while the wiring may be slightly easier, positioning/mounting pickups is not (whether it's wood or ring mounted). It depends how much OCD you have though. In contrast I find positioning the pickguard on a front-routed body WAY faster: put the bridge and neck on and there's not a whole lot of room left for messing it up.

 

[Strat Avenger]

I believe you, that was more of a rhetorical "really?". I think the guy that put mine together did connect a ground wire to the bridge.

Sure no problem. There may be people who do this but as EMG say it is not needed.

My ESP M-2 originally had EMG 81 pickups, and there was no ground wire for the bridge (Floyd Rose).
When I converted it to passive pickups, I soldered a ground wire to the spring claw.