Custom Firebird Guitar 2019!
- Sean
- Apr 25, 2019
- 3 min read
So where do I begin with how excited I am to show and tell you all about my latest project... After 2 and a half months it's complete and I couldn't be happier. So just over 2 months ago I stumbled across a guitar kit online that contained all the components needed to build a guitar. After looking at the reviews and seeing how people had customised theirs sparked my inspiration in wanting to do one myself. So I decided that I would set myself a budget of £500 to completely customise it. This consisted of a new paint job, new hardware replacing everything the kit provided me with, and new pickups too.
Once having setup a spreadsheet of all the costs to see how practical it was going to be and whether I could do it for £500, I started to order all the parts needed. This was easier said than done as some parts required them to be ordered after I measured up other parts - for instance the pickup rings for the pickups as well as tuning pegs. After everything was ticked off my list the first thing to do was mark out parts of the body that needed to be modified; having larger pickups and ones which needed a battery to power meant I had to cut out parts of the body to cater for this.
The next stage was painting this bad boy up! Just like my previous projects I opted for spray cans as I felt I was comfortable in doing a good job and also knowing the fact I'd done everything myself would be a huge achievement. As always it's never as straight forward as it seems with the occasional paint run meaning having to sand down a respray it. I sprayed the pick guard with a high gloss black finish and chose to go for contrasting white for the body and neck. After several layers on both the guitar head and body it was ready for assembly. The best bit! I started with installing the tuning pegs at the top and instantly knew this was going to look so slick and bold too. I then assembled the neck onto the body installing a custom plate on the back too to give it another level of customisation. I then installed all the electronics from pickups to switches. The most complex part of this wasn't the wiring of which pickups went where and connected to what volume knob but it was getting all the cables fed through the body as the kit had only predrilled a tiny hole for them to run through. Once all installed and then mounted onto the body I then went to test the guitar to make sure everything was working. This was when I realised the pickup selection was the wrong way round... silly me... So then after a few minutes rewiring it I rushed back up stairs, re-stringed it, tuned it and plugged it in... WHAT A SOUND! This thing kicks out such a clear, powerful, punchy sound. I mean I knew that choosing EMG pickups, known for heavy sounding aggressive tones, would make it immediately sound better but not this good! I then took a step back to admire just how amazing it looked and all the hours that had gone into this too. This is one special guitar and I love every part of it!
If you're looking into doing one yourself or any questions I'd be more than happy to help and offer any advice I can. The reward in doing this is so fulfilling and knowing that no one else in the world has one like this is something else; a feeling like no other. Now time to publish this blog and get back to playing!!!!
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