Any guitar kit builders out there?

BoltGuitarsUK · April 2023

UPDATE: Use promo code THEFRETBOARD at checkout for 10% off your purchase until 30/06/23

Hi there everyone on the Fretboard,

First of all I'd like to say thanks for the warm welcome to the forum, seems like a cool place with cool people and cool things happening.

Around 18 months ago, myself and a few close friends began the journey of transforming our love of guitars into something full time. We'd noticed a lot of guitar kits being sold that were 'Ok for a kit,' 'Difficult to assemble,' or simply, 'Not that great.' So we asked the question, what if you could get a guitar kit that had everything you needed in it, full support on how to put it together and at the end of that process, have something that looked and sounded incredible?

Thus, Bolt Guitars was born.

I'd be honoured and humbled if you could take the time to check out how it all works, and have a look at the results that anyone, really, can achieve.

https://youtu.be/kHcNtm0ztig

Our motto is Anyone Can Build Guitars, and life is too short for sh*t ones.

Thanks for reading, Sam (c/o Bolt Guitars)

boltguitars.co.uk

UPDATE: Use promo code THEFRETBOARD at checkout for 10% off your purchase until 30/06/23

WezV · April 2023

Those look like nice kits.

Looking at the finish you offer, it might be worth selling that separately to the full kits too. Lots of DIY'ers are after a non-toxic finish that is easy to apply at home and gives a good consistent colour.

stickyfiddle · April 2023

^^ What he said! This all looks very well thought through and much less terrifying for newbies than the typical approach of sourcing parts from 15 different suppliers and then hoping you're putting them together right!

TTony · April 2023

Just had a quick look.

If your parts are even halfway decent (and I've absolutely no reason to think that they wouldn't be!), then those kits are bargains and should be a great entry point for someone wanting to build their own.

We've seen a few guitar-related businesses emerge through the forum, and develop into very successful and profitable companies with the support of the membership here (who buy a lot of guitars, parts, kits, et al). If you can get the attention here, and stimulate conversations on the forum, you should also find that your Google ranking improves significantly (Google loves the content on here).

Maybe get a few of your kits into the hands of some of the people here, maybe subsidised a little on the basis that they'll then run a discussion thread here to document their build experiences. Voice of the customer, etc.

Also, we run "challenges" here from time to time (eg: this one) - again maybe we could set something up based around your kits. The challenges generate a lot of interest and content, which again Google loves.

BillDL · April 2023

Great video presentation (content and personality) and I do like the idea of having automatic enrolment to a video course designed for the specific guitar kit purchased. He, he. I just looked at the names of your finish colours. They pay homage to the origins without using the original names. "Athletic White"

BoltGuitarsUK · April 2023

Hi guys,

Thanks so much for the positive feedback, it's very much appreciated. We're all really passionate about the project and have worked very hard to bring it this far.

We have discussed offering the colours and finishes as a separate product, so this will be available on the site in the not too near distant future. We'd be happy to sort out sending them separately to anyone who's interested to try them out?

The idea of getting the kits to people on the forum is great, and we would absolutely be happy to give a discount to any forum members who were interested, especially if they'd be up for showing us how they got on and their results.

Similarly, the challenge idea is something that would be really interesting. The way we see it, we have a process which gets you a really nice result, but it's entirely up to the person building what they do with it. So there's a creative freedom there which is another reason we like the idea of doing this so much.

It'd be great to see what you guys think and put something together!

Cheers,
Sam.

Jalapeno · April 2023

Look good, best of luck !

Winny_Pooh · April 2023

Seeing as it has Fralins, that is quite a bargain! Good luck with your venture.

Jeremiah · April 2023

They do look good - the reason I don't think it's for me is because if I was going to build a guitar it would be because I wanted a combination of features that is not readily available from one of the mainstream brands, e.g. a Strat with Firebird pickups.

So I'd be more likely to go with a maker that offers a lot of custom options (and take the risk of it all going horribly wrong!)

Nevertheless, good luck with the venture.

SteveF · April 2023

These look great - have sent you a PM.

BoltGuitarsUK · May 2023

Jeremiah said:

They do look good - the reason I don't think it's for me is because if I was going to build a guitar it would be because I wanted a combination of features that is not readily available from one of the mainstream brands, e.g. a Strat with Firebird pickups.

So I'd be more likely to go with a maker that offers a lot of custom options (and take the risk of it all going horribly wrong!)

Nevertheless, good luck with the venture.

Thanks for the feedback Jeremiah, and that's definitely a valid point. Our intention, really, is to open up the world of guitar building to anyone who wants to do it. So if it seems like a daunting task, which it inevitably is to anyone who's never done it, we want to guide folks through that process one step at a time and offer the support that results in a guitar they don't wanna put down!

SteveF · May 2023

Order is in!

Looking forward to having a crack at this.

Sporky · May 2023

Scooby Blue is an excellent name for a colour.

SteveF · May 2023

It took me a moment to get the reference initially and how it linked to the "real" colour.

guitargeek62 · May 2023

Superb looking offerings, I'll aim to give one a try later in the year

guitargeek62 · May 2023

Winny_Pooh said:

Seeing as it has Fralins, that is quite a bargain! Good luck with your venture.

"Custom-made, hand-wound, vintage Fralin/Lollar style Alnico 5 pickups with pushback cloth wiring and fibre bobbins. 7.5k neck and 8k (approx) bridge."

I didn't read that as the pickups actually being Lollars or Fralins, just custom-wound ones that are in that realm of things. It's and odd choice of wording though to be fair, so I get why you might read it that way.

mudslide73 · May 2023

This looks like my sort of thing and I'll be watching the @SteveF experience with interest. +1 for the Scooby, Latina and Athletic fun.

StevenMK · May 2023

Looks great! Something I'm very interested in trying. What's the profile on the neck?

BoltGuitarsUK · May 2023

Hey everyone, thanks very much for all the interest.

I've updated the original post with a special offer for everyone on the forum.

Add promo code THEFRETBOARD at checkout for 10% off your order until 30/06/23 or for as long as stocks last.

Get our flagship 'Thunder Road' Vintage T-Style high end guitar kit.

Cheers!

Sam

BoltGuitarsUK · May 2023

StevenMK said:

Looks great! Something I'm very interested in trying. What's the profile on the neck?

It's what I'd call a modern C profile (20.8mm on the 12th) with 22-frets and a 9.5″ radius fingerboard.

Apologies for the clumsy photo, but maybe it gives you an idea.

BoltGuitarsUK · May 2023

guitargeek62 said:

Winny_Pooh said:

Seeing as it has Fralins, that is quite a bargain! Good luck with your venture.

"Custom-made, hand-wound, vintage Fralin/Lollar style Alnico 5 pickups with pushback cloth wiring and fibre bobbins. 7.5k neck and 8k (approx) bridge."

I didn't read that as the pickups actually being Lollars or Fralins, just custom-wound ones that are in that realm of things. It's and odd choice of wording though to be fair, so I get why you might read it that way.

We certainly don't mean to mislead anyone and, guitargeek62 is correct, they're handwound in that style.

To make sure no-one gets confused in the future I've removed the mention of Fralin/Lollar from the description on the site.

Thanks for your feedback, we're a new company that needs a steer now and again so it really is appreciated.

Fair enough?

Sam

DiscoStu · May 2023

These look really good Sam. A lot of thought gone in to this and lends a level of reassurance that most kits lack.
Best of luck with the business.

BoltGuitarsUK · May 2023

DiscoStu said:

These look really good Sam. A lot of thought gone in to this and lends a level of reassurance that most kits lack.
Best of luck with the business.

Thanks @DiscoStu ! That's exactly what we're all about, we want people to enjoy the process and not be frustrated, hitting their head against the wall, for something that doesn't sound or play great when they eventually finish!

DrBob · May 2023

Do a Jazzmaster kit, they will come !

BoltGuitarsUK · May 2023

DrBob said:

Do a Jazzmaster kit, they will come !

All in good time @DrBob

BoltGuitarsUK · May 2023

Just a quick update on the kit we sent to @TTony which he has now completed:

IMHO it looks incredible. Fantastic job. We're still offering 10% off for Fretboard users until the end of June, just use the code THEFRETBOARD on checkout at https://boltguitars.co.uk/

Tony's post:

Another hour or two this morning, and the Bolt is Built

First, second and third impressions are all VERY POSITIVE. From the moment I opened the box and saw the quality of the components all neatly arranged, to the moment that I plugged in and strummed the first E chord (it has to be an E!), it's been faultless.

For the deal that Bolt are doing for tFB members at the moment, it's a steal.

Howdy, Stranger!

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Any guitar kit builders out there?

UPDATE: Use promo code THEFRETBOARD at checkout for 10% off your purchase until 30/06/23

UPDATE: Use promo code THEFRETBOARD at checkout for 10% off your purchase until 30/06/23

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