Stratocaster kit build

I
have been building one of a kind guitars for last 4 years as extension

to my 40 plus years of woodworking. I decided to buy and try out this

kit. It came a few days later almost no damage to shipping box.
Everything was neatly packaged and the assembly manual was best I have

seen for any type of kit build. The description on Amazon said kit was

poplar body but box label said basswood which it was. One could easily

build this guitar from instructions. I modified the body for better

playability adding a back horn scallop and heavily tapered neck

attachment. I also increased the size of the perimeter radius. I

decided to spray paint the body using duplicator metallic blue paint as a
first for me. Because I’m not too familiar with their products I

contacted their customer service and they recommended if I was to clear

coat the paint I should use their match color acrylic lacquer. Back to

build. I found the basswood not the easiest wood to sand. It took 2

times the amount of sanding I do typically do for dyed figured maple and
walnut or genuine mahogany. The wood is prone to grain rise and

feathering lacking it difficult to get a really smooth finish. You have
to use scrapers and go up to 600/ 1000 grit sand paper. Spraying the

duplicity primer and sealer with sanding and the metallic blue took

again more time to do than I wood have thought. Once done I had very

good results. My big issue came with the clear coat. I would not

recommend using the clear coat I got per customer service. The first

can even after mixing for 1-2 minutes like directions sputtered finish

on the body which caused small darkened circles in the paint. I would

spray one pass then have to dry the nozzle. I ended up using 2 of the 3
cans and during wet sanding and buffing experienced some issues with

the durability of the finish. The neck has an artificial ebony

fretboard which you may or may not like. The frets were close to being

level but needed a fret leveling job which inexperienced guitar builders
might be a problem. After leveling and polishing and sanding the neck I
applied a light yellow dye to give it a bit of aged look. I cut the

head stock to one of my designs and sanded it and finished it in

polyurethane. I have to say the info said it was a maple neck but it

looks more like birch. The neck was well carved almost a perfect Fender
C shape. Frets finished like they are stainless and are at least

medium jumbo. Assembling the guitar was easy as all holes are

predrilled no real soldering is necessary as electronics are plug in

type. The only item s I changed were nut to bone and bridge to a new

one I had which is heavier and saddles more block like. The included

bridge is adequate. A pleasant surprise was they included copper foil

tape for lining the pickup , input jack cavity and back of pick guard.
The finished guitar with stock pickups and small pots sounds very good.

I did use Daddarrio 9/42 strings. I did add the bridge to the middle

pickup tone control. The tone pots with green capacitors have a good

tone sweep. Except for the clear coat issues the guitar came out very

good. With my set up at 1.25- 1.5 mm at 12 fret the guitar easily plays
and sounds like a medium priced guitar. I can recommend this kit to

someone wanting to build a guitar with minimal tools. I can’t recommend
painting and clear coating with the dupli color match clear coat.