Grizzly H8068 Telecaster Guitar Kit

I bought mine about a year ago. It came as a five piece alder body with cuts that did not blend together at all. As long as you paint it a solid color, it's no problem. I was disapointed that it wasn t worthy of a clear shellac. The pickups were free of terrible microphonics, but sounded lackluster. The add should mention that the fret work has more ups and downs than a skatepark. If you dont have the tools for a grind and polish, you will be feeling butthurt when you put it together and it sucks to play. I wouldn't pay more than 100$ for a grizzly kit. If you have the tools and experience to do a lot of turd polishing, this kit is not too bad. If I was an amateur builder, I would become very frustrated putting this together.

Here's the main reason I'm giving 4 stars. I ordered 2 kits. This one and a less expensive kit. For the $50 extra this kit is well worth the price. Better pickups, better switch assembly, and the ash body is flawless. The neck is not a true tele neck. It's closer to an Ibanez neck. I can already tell this guitar is fast. I received it today, and by tonite I had it fully assembled less the soldering, but put strings on, adjusted the truss rod, and tuned it up. The one piece ash body resonates well, and the intonation seems close out of the box. I'm going to wire up the pick ups that came with it and see what they sound like, and if I remember I will post an update. I will add that I grew up around guitars, as my father plays, and is also a carpenter, so a project like this is not intimidating to me, but I can see if you are not familiar with what makes a guitar play and sound good you may have issues.On a side note to tele lovers, I intend to rewire the entire thing with vintage correct wire, and 62' reissue switch and pots, which are already enroute. The neck is going to be home to a Seymour Duncan quarter pounder, and a 62' reissue bridge pickup.

When I got this, I wasn't expecting it to be perfect. I wanted a tele kit I could put better pickups and tuning machines and a better nut into and have something personalized that sounded good for not to much money. The biggest problem is with the neck pocket and the overall body. the neck pocket wasn't deep enough. When I assembled the guitar, the strings were sitting on the frets even though the saddles were raised all the way. The fretboard was just to high because the neck pocket wasn't deep enough. Then I found out the surface of the body was cupped so you couldn't just route the neck pocket deeper. The router would not have a level surface to guide it. I had to take the body and neck to a local custom guitar builder to have them reroute the neck pocket. When I bought this kit it was about $187, now the few companies with it in stock want over $300. That's crazy. Since I knew I was only gonna use the body and neck (rest of the parts are mediocre at best), I'd recommend using a warmouth body and neck. Warmouth bodies and necks are fender licensed and of MUCH higher quality.

Instructions were clear and the build was pretty easy. Components are average to a bit better (really pleased with the tuners, volume and tone pots just OK, pickups cheap but serviceable). Neck pocket was perfect and the neck was straight. Suggest using copper shielding tape to reduce hum, especially at the bridge pickup. Be ready to do lots of sanding, especially if you're using stains. I ended up not using the ferrules, stringing through the bridge instead. I'll be replacing components, but the guitar sounds good as is. Take a little care and you'll end up with a product you can be proud of.

for the price i guess that you cant expect a pristine body however advritised as a solid alder body i didnt expect 5 piece glued together and there are some deep dings that would require filler so i have to paint instead of stain. the hardware is kinda what i expected and the neck is straight however im still undecided on using because of the larger headstock and the hole spacing will prevent me from getting a true tele design

I've wanted a Telecaster for as long as I can remember but never saw one that exactly the way I wanted. So I bought this kit as I am good with wood, stain, laquerand electronics. I had access to professional sanders, drills, and a bandsaw which really helped. I am amazed at how complete this kit is. They even give you strings and a cord! Maybe it was my patience and know-how that yielded such wonderful instrument, but I am thrilled with the results. It looks, feels, and sounds as good as any Telecaster I've ever seen. My only complaint is minor. I insist on Switchcraft jacks on all my guitars and not only does it come with a non-Switchcraft jack but the the jack cup is threaded and the threads are incompatible with a Switchcraft jack. My intentions are to replace the cup & jack in the future. I chose to use a black pickguard instead of the white that came with it, so I got one from Allparts and it was a perfect match. Some have critisized the tuning keys but I found them to be just fine. BTW Grizzly chose to make the spacing on the tuner holes at 1" which is wider than a Fender but I really like the extra space.This Kit is HIGHLY recommended by me.

Where do I start? Neck pocket is too big. Body is five pieces with the joints clearly visible. Don't plan on a butterscotch finish. Your gonna have to play this with gloves on cause the fret ends are like razors. Hardware, don't even take it out of the box. If you want a cheap guitar, this is it. If you want a cheap guitar you can actually play, buy a completly finished Rondo for a few bucks more.