Anyone Ever Assembled a Guitarfetish Kit?

[andrewsrea]

I saw an affordable Guitarfetish Paulownia Telecaster kit here: https://www.guitarfetish.com/Super-Ligh ... _1204.html

I've played Paulownia Telecasters before and they were light, twangy and resonant. Since I build pickups, amps, effects and repair guitars ( including frets), the only thing that would be a deal breaker would be the neck. I like a late 50's to mid-60's Telecaster chunky neck with a shape somewhere in between a 'U' and a 'C'.

If I were a kit maker, I'd provide a neck that could be sanded down to the preference of the owner vs. providing a skinny neck. But I don't want to assume kit manufactures to be that logical.

I summitted an email to GF customer service this morning asking about the neck, but thought I'd ask here. Does any one know about Guitarfetish kits and how fat and what shape their necks are?

[LancerTheGreat]

I don't know about the Tele kits, but I modified an explorer kit from them a few years back.
I think it's all GFS parts too, definitely got their '59 HB in the neck and Crunch Rails(maybe power rails, the one with thinner rails lol) in the bridge.

Neck shape is probably a fat D, maybe a chunky C.
Definitely more LP baseball bat profile. I did sand it down a little bit but I kept the profile. Worst thing is after all these years, I STILL need to do a fret level and crowning, it was/is pretty bad in a couple of spots outta the box.

[mozz]

Not familiar with GFS kits but a Tele i am currently building: semi fat neck+ light weight body= neck dive.

[Partscaster]

FWIW, my GFS Paulownia strat body is not great for holding spec strat tremolo screws. Its not strong enough and may crack. I immediately decided to deck the trem, remove the arm, and with light strings after hearing cracking sounds upon using the trem.

[Mossman]

Yeah, I'm not keen on Pawlonia as a body wood. I doubt its ability to hold a screw, and like @mozz said; it sounds like a recipe for neck dive.

I bought a neck from GF once, and it wasn't very good. It was before they had the XGP brand, so it was a while ago, but I wouldn't expect great quality from their kits. What I would expect is a hassle if you try to return it.

[Partscaster]

I'd go with The Stratosphere's Allpart's necks, made in Nagano Japan. They have had a soft V maple I really like, and Rosewood slab (SRO) and Rosewood veneer ( SRO-62). I go with 7.25, so my options are usually with vintage size frets, which i have no problems with. No choke-out bending above 12th. Feels close to my old MIJ 85' Squier that I learned on for 25 years.

I get bodies thru Woodtech Routing LLC, some guys out in Ohio ??? Might be Amish.
https://reverb.com/shop/woodtech-routing-llc

they have tele bodies on hand, Pine and Alder for 95$ and 90$. And their CNC is top notch, IMO. Allparts heels fit neck pockets like gloves.
Really nice brothers running the cnc. Their pics are of exact bodies you receive. I even had them tap test blanks for me at no charge.

[Mossman]

^^^This.

Allparts necks can't be beat... I've never gotten a neck from them that wasn't perfect, and if you buy them unfinished from the Stratosphere, they're pretty inexpensive (about $130 now, I think. They were $109 for the longest time). I get unfinished (sometimes custom made) bodies from a few different sources, depending on what I want. I've never paid more than $150 shipped.