Frequently Asked Questions

• Eastern Flame Maple Standard

• Eastern Flame Maple Premium

• 3A Western Flame Maple

• 4A Western Flame Maple

• 3A Western Quilt Maple

For further information on these and other woods, please see our Wood Information page

We’ve shipped almost everywhere in the world from our shop in Vancouver.  We use UPS exclusively and we get really good rates which we pass on to our customers.  Shipping is quoted live for each order when you checkout.

International shipping, customs, duties & taxes

• Orders shipping to USA are covered under CUSMA and usually do not incur any duties or taxes.  UPS has implemented an “Entry Prep Fee” on orders over $800 that are shipped UPS Standard.    This fee is $28.75 unless the order is over $1250, then the fee increases to $40.50.  If your order is larger than $800, you may consider shipping Expedited where you will get the product faster and avoid this Entry Prep Fee.  Please note – we have no control over US customs and occasionally our US customers are charged various fees at the border.  These costs are the responsibility of the customer.
• Orders shipping worldwide (non USA / Canada) will be subject to various customs fees, taxes etc.  Each country is different, and we have no control over these costs.  Please be prepared for this and contact your customs office for more details.  These costs are the responsibility of the customer. 

Time it takes to ship out from our shop

• 1-7 days for In Stock items & Made To Order fretboards
• Up to 9 weeks for other Made To Order items

What is the status of my order?

• If you have an account, and ordered your guitar with that account, you can check the status of your orders by logging into your account.  Made to order guitars will have the batch number they are in as their order status.  Stock guitars will have a status of “packaging” once they are being prepared for shipment.  We currently ship 1-2 times per week, so they should go out within a week of ordering at the most.
• Once your order has shipped, you should receive an email with the UPS tracking number.  In addition, you can log onto your account and get the tracking number as long as you ordered via your account.

We’ve been asked this question very often recently.  None of our necks are interchangeable between different models and each model has it’s own headstock options.  So for now, the answer is no.  You can see the current headstock options for each model under “Headstock Shape” in the Made To Order section but we don’t have the ability to put the headstock from one model onto another and again, the necks do not interchange.

So.. here’s the scoop..

Some guys build the guitar in the raw first, put all the pieces in place with the neck glued, string it up and then take it apart and paint the guitar as one piece. This is harder and requires a spray booth, some skill, as well as a way of holding the guitar so you can get paint on it properly.  There are some elaborate systems for this feat for sure!

Most folks though paint the body and neck separately because it is way easier to get a great finish in the guitar.  If this is your fist build, definitely go this route.

Make sure you mask off any of the surfaces in the body neck pocket and neck tenon that are going to be glued.. no paint there.  Mask or plug the holes for the bridge.  Once you have the color on, then you can set the neck and put a final clear coat on to make the joint seamless.

African is a lighter wood, lighter in colour and in weight, density.  It’s a far more abundant and thus less expensive, although the price lately for a board foot is creeping up. It has a beautiful grain to it, that dazzles wonderfully beneath a stain or clear coat.

Honduran is the wood all the old guitars from the 50’s were made of. It’s a dense, heavier, darker wood. The idea was that the denser wood would be better for tonal qualities, it certainly does give it color.

The Honduran we have now, is great, is dense, dark and plays well. It getting very, very expensive though, much harder to get than it used to.  It is a beautiful grained wood too, darker in color than the African, more rich brown than golden and easily identifiable.  It will make for a heavier guitar than African Mahogany,

We take time to get the right tone woods so both are excellent, you won’t be disappointed. 

There is a bit of discussion on 1 piece vs 2 piece body construction.

One piece is felt to be better at holding and thus enhancing tone. Some say that with one chunk of wood, the vibrations are thought to travel better.

A two piece body is a more stable platform for a guitar, as the two pieces have opposing grains, matched well when glued.

A one piece has more of a potential to warp as it is a big piece of wood. We don’t believe there to be a degradation on tone with the two piece.

Attached is a pic of the chambering we do.

It brings the weight of the guitar down a substantial amount, and to our ear, there is no tonal degradation.  Because this style of guitar uses such a big piece of lumber, we think that chambering it makes sense.

We have three neck sizes for the Carved Top and Jr guitars

60’s Slim – 1st Fret .8″ / 12th fret .885″
59 Medium – 1st Fret .877″ / 12th fret .976″
JR Huge – 1st Fret .955″ / 12th fret 1.125″

Sorry, we are currently not accepting any customer supplied materials for builds.  With us being in a different country then 99% of our customers, it is just not practical to do this.

I think this’ll do just fine, and it’s what we use in the shop on all the joints

Firstly, it depends on what your kit is routed for.  By default, our JR kits are routed for Wraparound bridges.  Our Carved Top kits are routed for Tunomatic and Stop Tail hardware.  These can be changed when you order a Made To Order kit.  If what you need is not available there, you can spec your guitar with no bridge routing and complete that yourself. 

Below is listed  some of the most common machining we do for bridges, and some links to bridges that will fit.  Please note that not all hardware is machined perfectly to spec, there is some tolerance allowable for drilling of these holes and wood can expand and shrink in time and in different climates.  It is quite possible you will need to re-drill, ream or enlarge holes to fit your specific hardware.

If your kit is routed for a Wraparound:

It will have 7/16″ (11mm) diameter holes spaced 3.23″ (82mm) apart.   

https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/all-hardware-and-parts-by-instrument/electric-guitar-parts/electric-guitar-bridges-and-tailpieces/non-trem-electric-guitar-bridges/tonepros-avt2m-wraparound-bridge/

https://www.allparts.com/products/gb-2530-atb-wrap-around-adjustable-aluminum-bridge

If your kit is routed for TOM / Stop Tail:

The bridge will have 7/16″ (11mm) diameter holes spaced 2.91″ (74mm) apart.

The tailpiece will have 7/16″ (11mm) diameter holes spaced 3.23″ (82mm) apart.

https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/all-hardware-and-parts-by-instrument/electric-guitar-parts/electric-guitar-bridges-and-tailpieces/tune-o-matic-bridges/tonepros-lpm02-tune-o-matic-bridge-and-tailpiece-set/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA5NSdBhDfARIsALzs2ECQnee4RByiJVS8ROe-lquHcEnfqBvm1Mzp05T1XPYsMS9Eati9dFgaAnVXEALw_wcB

https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/bridges-and-tailpieces/bridges-and-tailpieces-for-electric-guitar/gotoh-tune-o-matic-bridge-with-studsbushings

https://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/All_Hardware_and_Parts_by_Instrument/Electric_Guitar_Parts/Electric_Guitar_Bridges_and_Tailpieces/Non-trem_Electric_Guitar_Tailpieces/Gotoh_Stop_Tailpiece.html

If your kit is routed for ABR1 TOM / Stop Tail:

The bridge will have 1/8″ (3mm) diameter holes spaced 2.91″ (74mm) apart.

The tailpiece will have 7/16″ (11mm) diameter holes spaced 3.23″ (82mm) apart.

https://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/All_Hardware_and_Parts_by_Instrument/Electric_Guitar_Parts/Electric_Guitar_Bridges_and_Tailpieces/Tune-o-matic_Bridges/Original_ABR-1_Tune-o-matic_Bridge.html

https://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/All_Hardware_and_Parts_by_Instrument/Electric_Guitar_Parts/Electric_Guitar_Bridges_and_Tailpieces/Tune-o-matic_Bridges/Gotoh_Tune-o-matic_Bridge_with_Standard_Posts.html

https://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/All_Hardware_and_Parts_by_Instrument/Electric_Guitar_Parts/Electric_Guitar_Bridges_and_Tailpieces/Non-trem_Electric_Guitar_Tailpieces/Gotoh_Stop_Tailpiece.html

We finish our guitars up to 120 grit. Thats pretty good for paint, some painters will take it up to 400 or 500. You may wanna do a quick once over yourself but it doesn’t require you to shape or shim, no hard work, we’ve done all that.

You get to do the beauty work.

Now if you were going to do an oil finish I would suggest that you sand up to 400 grit. That will make it wonderfully smooth to play.

No, they are not. We have taken what we think is the best model and fashioned our guitars around them.  Our products are not an exact representation or replica of the classic models they may look like.

New guitar makers often start here. This is the book that every single guitar repair shop you go into will have:

http://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Own-Electric-Guitar

and then…

http://www.projectguitar.com/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-Your-Own-Electric-Guitar!/

And guitar maker Guitar Luthier Suppliers:

http://www.stewmac.com/

http://www.allparts.com/

http://wdmusic.com/

Yes and no, but mostly no. We have fashioned joints that are specific to our guitar kits. If you are comfortable with making alterations and shimming it a bit then by all means. Just letting you know that it is not a drop in.

It is in US dollars