Please see our warranty and return policy.
Please see our warranty and return policy.
Yes. Please contact us for a shipping quote.
In most cases we ship our guitar kits immediately. Ground shipping within the USA takes from 1-7 days depending on how far you are from us in Portland, Oregon.
We sell kits as well as unfinished American-made guitar and bass bodies and necks. Please see the pages of this website. If you have questions, please contact us.
Our guitar kit assembly manuals are awesome. They are loaded with pictures and pro hints to get your guitar assembled beautifully, easily, and without frustration.
Contact us. We are happy to help.
Pliers, screwdrivers, clippers, sanding material, and finishing supplies.
There are a large number of tutorials on line (search YouTube) and many books.
If you have the ability to read instructions carefully, and use a screwdriver, you can do it!
The amount of time varies wildly depending on the builders skills and what type of finish is desired. Some of our customers have reported taking between 40 and 80 hours to complete their kits.
Without finishing, just a few hours.
Finishing can take a good deal of time, depending on the choice of finish. Some finishes need to dry and harden (cure) before applying the next coat. This can take weeks. Finishes will be dry to the touch rather quickly, but can take quite some time to be truly dry and ready for the next round of work. Don’t hurry this! You want the finish to be beautiful, durable, and protect the instrument.
These kits are relatively simple to assemble with basic tools. Finishing is more difficult, but completely doable for most people.
Our guitar kits are straight-forward to assemble. The T-style guitar requires the least amount of effort to build since the bridge assembly and setup are easier.
Yes. including strings!
Yes, just go to the product description and click “Owner’s Manuals”.
You should have a space that offers good airflow and plenty of room. The finishing process involves sanding and use of chemicals and things that will stain. If you are spraying your finish, you should avoid spraying near anything that you don’t want to get stained. You should carefully mask the floor, walls and ceiling of the work area. The fine mist from spraying will travel farther than you expect! Dust from sanding and steel wool will go everywhere. Safety should be your first consideration. Make sure that you have good ventilation, appropriate face masks, and that you have a fire extinguisher nearby as many finishing and cleaning products are flammable.
That is up to you. Find a guitar image online with a finish you particularly like, print it out and reference it often. Be creative, but don’t try for the fanciest finish the first time around. Nitro cellulose finish is great… but not on your first guitar.
We try to use American-made components whenever possible. We find that the quality of American-made components is much higher than Chinese components. However, it is difficult or impossible to find American-made components at all price points. So we must use imported parts in many cases. In many cases, we use Japanese manufactured parts instead of Chinese parts. We find that the quality is better, and we have less concerns about intellectual property and labor laws being violated.
Our guitar kits are manufactured from high-quality, solid wood, without the use of veneers. Some other kits use veneers but do not tell you! More importantly, often, those inexpensive kits simply don’t work! Necks don’t line up, holes are drilled in the wrong spots, manuals are non-existent, or written in badly translated English. In short, most of these kits stink! And believe us when we say we have purchased many of these kits and built them ourselves. We keep costs down by choosing parts wisely and working deals with manufacturers. We do the hard work so that you can enjoy a high quality instrument without spending tons of time finding the right materials that will work together and perform well.
We include everything that you will need to build a high-quality, playable instrument using only basic tools. This includes strings, all required screws, all electronic components, and a detailed instruction manual to guide you through the building process.
No. We attempt to use American-made components whenever they are available. For example, we also proudly sell American-made bodies in some of our kits. In some cases, there simply are not American-made versions of some components available at appropriate price points. In these cases, we have chosen components to create instruments that look, sound, and perform well – all at a great price.
Wilkinson produces a suite of guitar hardware and pickups. Wilkinson products have been licensed and manufactured all over the world. We sell both the licensed Chinese-made and Japanese-made versions of these parts. We DO NOT sell unlicensed (and illegal) copies of these parts (particularly from Chinese manufacturers).
Absolutely. They work very, very, well in every way. They are easy to assemble. They include quality components, top to bottom. They sound great. Even our least expensive kit will go together without hassle, will tune up correctly, and play well. Many of our customers play our kits on stage.
Yes. Truss rods are installed. Additionally, our goal is to require no adjustment of the truss rod after you assemble your guitar.
Yes. Frets are installed, leveled, and crowned properly right out of the box.
Please see the specifications for each individual model.
Please see the specifications for each individual model.
Please see the specifications for each individual model.
Please see the specifications for each individual model.
Please see the specifications for each individual model.
Please see the specifications for each individual model.
Please see the specifications for each individual model.
For T-style and S-style guitars, no. Our LP style guitars are set neck instruments.
Not at this time.
Not at this time.
Generally 2-3 pieces. Please see the specifications for each individual model.
Not at this time.
Regarding our guitar kits: for T-style and S-style guitars, not at this time. Our LP style guitars have a spalted maple top.
For our custom bodies and necks we have a wide variety of different woods that we can use. Please see the rest of this website and contact us with questions.
All guitars are completely unfinished and unsealed, but are well sanded and should require little preparation to finish.
For T-style and S-style guitars, not at this time. Our LP style guitars have trapezoid shaped inlays.
For our custom guitar and bass necks, we offer a wide variety of inlay shapes and materials.
Our guitar kits sound great. We believe them to be as good as guitars at double the cost. Sound quality comes from quality body and neck builds and then good components. There are a lot of really bad kits out there! They are made with questionable wood, poorly executed builds, and bad component selection. Our kits do not suffer from these problems. We choose great suppliers, great components for the money, and we do extensive quality assurance on each and every guitar kit that leaves our facility. You can be assured that you are receiving the best quality instrument kit for the money from Alloy Guitars!
For sure! We are not just part-time online/eBay sellers peddling whatever we can get our hands on! We are guitarists, manufacturing experts, and people who care about our customers.
No, we do not have a retail store front. However, you are welcome to make an appointment to pick up your guitar kit from us. Please contact us if you are in the Portland area.
Yes, absolutely! Please contact us!
No. We only sell our super-awesome, premium guitar kits, and custom guitar and bass bodies and necks.
FAQ last updated: 1 May 2026
Copyright 2015-2026 © Alloy Guitars