Stellah 12 String T Style Unfinished Electric Guitar DIY Kit Project

While this is a poitive review, I must start off by saying; WARNING!!! These kits are NOT bolt-it-it-together-and-play kits! I'm actually a luthier who bought this kit on a whim to see what was out there for the beginner dabbling in building. These kits are NOT for the faint of heart nor for beginners. Although the wood is of suprisingly good quality, there WILL be parts mis-cut/mis-drilled/chipped/and/or scratched. You WILL need to have moderate woodworking skills and decent tools. Other than the bridge assembly (which is worth the 1/2 the price of the entire kit), all of the hardware including the electronics are extremely subpar if you have any intentions of making a decent, playable instrument. With all of that said, if you are willing to take your time making the wood right and invest another $2-300 in hardware, paint and electronics, you CAN build a surprisingly nice instrument for not a lot of money.

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If you’re looking at building this kit, like me you, probably love all things Telecaster. However, before your desire to build and own a 12 string version turns into an expensive love of labour, I suggest you read this review first.Firstly, alternative options: An identical completed 12 string Telecaster, albeit with an Ash body (which better than the kit’s Basswood) is available for an extra £10.Secondly, due to typically poor quality components, quality control and set up, you won’t be playing a finished version straight out of the box, as it is likely to have issue/challenges sufficient for any would-be luthier. See Youtube review. ALSO the kit is not a cheaper option. That £10 difference will soon be eaten up by additional materials and tools (and possible assistance from a luthier) needed to complete the kit and make it playable.Still determined? Read on….Quality Issues - consAs the quality of the kit is so poor and the specialised components are not readily available elsewhere, such as the 12 string bridge, I'd recommend buying through Amazon to anyone wishing to take this kit on due to the company’s excellent returns process. In any case careful inspection of all components before starting any work is recommended.The first kit I ordered came with a massive gap between guitar wood top and plastic binding came and had to be returned as I had in mind staining the body. The second kit had unlevel frets (which would require “dressing” with expensive specialist tools and know-how) and holes for the bridge saddles adjuster screws drilled and tapped at an angle, which I only noticed when it was too late to return the kit.The strings that come with the kit are rubbish and best thrown away and replaced with a set of D’adarrio or similar strings.Woods and finishes: The quality of the maple neck wood itself is ok, despite the finishing of the frets being poor – sharp fret ends and unlevel frets. The basswood body isn’t particularly attractive, being made up out of three to four pieces, and is best painted* or at least varnished. Basswood is difficult to stain, especially when it comprises three of four individual wood grains, as evenness and consistency of colour are difficult to achieve and old favourites like Truoil don’t cover much better (believe me I tried!) – although I did achieve good results on the maple neck.• Bear in mind that the cost of postage of aerosol paints is expensive and the number of tins required won’t be far off the cost of the kit!.Pros:The electronics (pots and pickups) and hardware (tuners) are cheap but not bad. Certainly not worth changing immediately, given the total value of the kit and quality of its other components.When it’s (eventually) finished it does sound like a twelve string Telecaster, giving that “jangly” Byrd-like sound and despite the wide fat neck, playability isn’t bad – I’d advise tuning down a whole tone and putting a capo on second fret, to ease string tension.I have built six string Telecasters previously with a lot less hassle – but the quality of the components was a hundred times better, and to be honest, so was their cost. In comparison, the seller suggests that this DIY kit is “intermediate level” without any further explanation. Having now built this kit, which required the help of a highly skilled luthier (guitar technician) with all the necessary experience and specialist tools (that cost more than the kit) to put right the quality related issues, I think the term “intermediate” is misleading!My advice, if you’re not a luthier is save yourself the hassle and money and buy the finished version if you must have a 12 string Tele – it’ll give you enough work setting it up to be getting on with before you get to play it. Apologies for the length of the review but the devil’s in the detail! Hope this helps.

Ich habe diesen Gitarrenbausatz als Studienobjekt verwendet um eine 6-saitige Gitarre mit einer Sattelbreite von nahezu 48mm zu erhalten.Aufgrund meiner XXL-Finger verziehe ich auf E-Gitarren mit 42-43mm-Sattelbreiten häufig Saiten beim Greifen bestimmter Akkorde im unteren Halsbereich. Das Ergebnis klingt dann nicht so gut. Auf Konzertgitarren, mit bekanntlich sehr viel größeren Sattelbreiten, habe ich das Problem nicht. Das Ergebnis nach dem Umbau war recht erfolgreich hinsichtlich des o.a. Problems.Der Umbau war jedoch nicht ganz einfach:Es musste ein 6-Saiten-Sattel mit ca. 48mm x 3mm aus Knochenrohmaterial angefertigt werden. Den Rohling gibt's übers Internet. Ich musste zum Herstellen der Saiteneinkerbungen meinen bereits vorhandenen Sattelfeilensatz anwenden. Diesen verwende ich sonst zum Feineinstellen der Intonations-Fehler durch zu hohe Saitenlagen am Sattel. Die Sattelfeilensätze erhält man in verschiedener Qualität ebenfalls übers Internet.Die mitgelieferte Brücke des Gitarrenbausatzes für zwölf Saiten habe ich ersetzt durch ein fast passendes Teil für 6 Saiten. Ich musste dazu die Befestigungspunkte um wenige Millimeter auf dem Korpus versetzen, damit die 6 Saiten gleichmäßig am Hals angeordnet sind, außerdem musste auf die Oktaven-Einstellung geachtet werden (Abstand Sattel > 12.Bund = Abstand 12.Bund > Brücke).Das Versetzen der Brückenplatte erforderte andere Bohrungen als die bereits im Korpus vorgesehen. Die alten Befestigungsbohrungen habe ich dazu mit feinen Rundhölzern aufgefüllt; Sie sind nicht sichtbar unter der neuen Brückenplatte. Die Bohrungen für die Saiten-Führung/-Befestigung von hinten mussten um einige Millimeter versetz werden. Hierzu habe ich die alten oberen Lochenden mit Rundholzabschnitten verschlossen und dann von hinten von den alten Positionen schräg zu den neuen Sattelplatte-Öffnungen gebohrt. Das ganze ist nach der Endmontage dann unsichtbar.Den Gitarrenkorpus sowie den Hals habe ich nach mehreren Montage-/Demontage-Vorgängen zum ausprobieren der Saitenlagen dann gebeizt und mit Bootslack lackiert (mehrere Durchläufe). Das Griffbrett wurde nach Feinschleifen der scharfkantigen Bundenden des Bausatzes nur mit Öl behandelt.Die obere Halsplatte habe ich vorher durch Absägen auf 8-Mechaniklöcher verändert. Um nur noch Löcher für die notwendigen 6 Mechaniken übrig zu haben, habe ich die oberen beiden Löcher mit selber gefertigten Abdeckplatten oben und unten verdeckt. Das ganze sieht dann ganz ordentlich aus.Der vorliegende Bausatz ergibt nach meiner Modifikation und nach Einstellen der Saitenlage und Intonation noch keine hochwertige Gitarre. Dies liegt an den Materialien und der Präzision z.B. des Halses. Doch für den angebotenen Preis bekommt man ein sehr gutes Ergebnis.Nach den vorliegenden Erfahrungen überlege ich mir von einem Profi eine auf mich maßgeschneiderte Gitarre bauen zu lassen.Danke für das geduldige Lesen, vielleicht hilft es dem einen oder anderen bei der Entscheidung für den Bau einer 6-Saiten-E-Gitarre mit breiterem Hals.

Wood is okay, tuners is pretty bad quality. Screws for the tuners broke if you turned them to hard, and I used a regular screw driver and turned them just as hard as you would do on any other guitar, just about snug. And the head of the screw broke of. Pretty annoying to get the rest of the screw out of the headstock.The strings is not marked in any way, so if you're a beginner guitarist or luthier, you're probalby not very famailiar with string guages. It's hard to know which string goes where. I ended up buying an Ernie Ball 12 string pack. I don't think the strings included in this kit was very high quality anyway.I have not played the guitar yet since I haven't put the string tree in place, because I'm going to buy a new one and use other screws, I don't want to risk getting ugly holes in the headstock if it breakes.Anyway, you get what you pay for. I basically just wanted the neck since 12 string "Fender" style is hard to find if you don't want to pay a small fortune. So overall, I'm satisfied. It's good if you have spare parts and screws at home, 'cuz it's very likely that you need to change stuff.

Bought as a present for my son. He’s thrilled with it.

Muy buena relación calidad precio. Buenos componentes. Recomendado para quien quiere realizar un instrumento propio y que tenga facilidad para trabajar un poco la madera y algo de electrónica. Servicio de atención al cliente muy atento y profesional. Lo recomiendo.