I've now built three of the Leo Jaymz kit guitars - the SG style (my first build), the T style (2nd build), and the Explorer (AX) style. Overall, I've hugely enjoyed them and I'm definitely addicted to these things :)
The good:
- Complete kits, at least for me everything fit together well
- Good quality woods. Maybe I just got lucky, but all three of my kits had nice grain, no knots, no issues with the woods. The maple neck on my T style has some quite impressive grain once stained. The AX kit had a small glue stain on the front, but since I was going for a "beat up, reclaimed wood" look, it was no big deal.
- Good fret boards - other than polishing the frets and cleaning up 1-2 sharp frets, there was nothing I had to do other than oil the necks.
- The price! My wife would tell you it was a relatively cheap way to keep me occupied for weeks :P
- The AX guitar had quick connects for the electronics. A welcome surprise!
The less good:
- The instructions, especially for the SG style, leave a lot to be desired in their clarity. There are definite suggestions on how to make instructions clearer to reduce mistakes. Because of my mistakes on the first guitar, I didn't make any on the 2nd, so that's a plus. The AX style guitar had no instructions at all. So don't do that one first.
The subjective:
- After the builds, both guitars are quite playable and sound very good. The SG has relatively tame pickups (~9.1k & 9.5k), so hotter than an under-wound PAF, but not super modern either. Sounds very good with some overdrive. I ended up swapping the TL pickups with an aftermarket set since there was a specific sound I was going for. I put an Alpha/Omega set in the Explorer, and they sound epic. I didn't bother checking the output on the stock pickups.
- Hardware is all serviceable. If you asked what I would replace, in this order: Tuners, nut, pickups, anything else. That said, both guitars stay in tune just fine.
Some lessons learned:
- Mock up all the components before you assemble or paint anything. On the SG style guitar, it turns out if you just use the measurements in the instructions, at least on mine, the neck gets glued too close to the pickup for the pickup ring to fit. It also means the intonation is slightly off now that it's all assembled. Similarly, on the T style, the aftermarket bridge pickup was slightly larger than the cavity in the wood. No big deal, i just shaved a couple mms of wood off and now it's a perfect fit.
- On both guitars, there's a ground wire that goes to the bridge. Forgetting it on the T style bridge isn't a big deal, since you can just remove the bridge with a few screws. On the SG guitar, you can't remove the bridge screw holes once they are in, so i had to get some conductive adhesive to make the ground wire work.
Now that I've built a couple, I will definitely build more. Particularly for guitars in a style of music I don't normally way, it's a great way to get an instrument you like at a good price, and get some good enjoyment along the way. If you are trying to do this to get a PRS 10 top instrument for $200, you'll probably be disappointed. If you are doing this for fun and to come out with a totally great playable instrument, you'll have a lot of fun doing this.
Leo Jaymz DIY ST Style Electric Guitar Kits with Mahogany Body and Maple Neck - Sail Shaped Headstock - Ebony Fingerboard and
4.1 | 1,006 ratings
Price: 87.99
Last update: 01-02-2025
About this item
Bolt-on Neck ST style electric guitar DIY Kits,Solid mahogany body and maple neck.
Beautiful mahogany body has been deeply polished and sprayed with the bottom varnish, which reduces the work of the buyer for body painting.
All cavity drilled for pickups and control knbobs.
Ebony fingerboard with 6mm pearl dot inlay.
1 side Machine heads for a shaped headstock.
The thickened single side can be pasted with copper foil paper, and the noise can be effectively reduced by sticking it to the positions such as the wires compartment and the pickup groove.
All the wire cable and screws are included in it.
25.5" Scale and Maple neck in 21 frets.
The thickened single side can be pasted with copper foil paper, and the noise can be effectively reduced by sticking it to the positions such as the wires compartment and the pickup groove.
Beautiful mahogany body has been deeply polished and sprayed with the bottom varnish, which reduces the work of the buyer for body painting.
All cavity drilled for pickups and control knbobs.
Ebony fingerboard with 6mm pearl dot inlay.
1 side Machine heads for a shaped headstock.
The thickened single side can be pasted with copper foil paper, and the noise can be effectively reduced by sticking it to the positions such as the wires compartment and the pickup groove.
All the wire cable and screws are included in it.
25.5" Scale and Maple neck in 21 frets.
The thickened single side can be pasted with copper foil paper, and the noise can be effectively reduced by sticking it to the positions such as the wires compartment and the pickup groove.
Product information
| Item Weight | 10.18 pounds |
|---|---|
| Package Dimensions | 28.5 x 20.2 x 3.2 inches |
| ASIN | B0CRTHY3CP |
| Customer Reviews |
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars
805 ratings
4.2 out of 5 stars |
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,214 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments) #4 in Solid Body Electric Guitars |
| Date First Available | January 9, 2024 |
| Back Material | Mahogany Wood |
| Body Material | Mahogany |
| Color Name | ST LJ HeadStock |
| Fretboard Material | Ebony Wood |
| Guitar Pickup Configuration | S-S-S |
| Scale Length | 25.5 Inches |
| String Gauge | Light |
| String Material | Stainless Steel |
| Top Material | Mahogany Wood |
| Neck Material Type | Maple |
| Number of Strings | 6 |
| Guitar Bridge System | Tremolo |
| Material Type | Mahogany Wood |
| Size | Full |
Top reviews from the United States
Mr Amir D
You can build great-playing guitars
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2021
Mr Amir D
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2021
The good:
- Complete kits, at least for me everything fit together well
- Good quality woods. Maybe I just got lucky, but all three of my kits had nice grain, no knots, no issues with the woods. The maple neck on my T style has some quite impressive grain once stained. The AX kit had a small glue stain on the front, but since I was going for a "beat up, reclaimed wood" look, it was no big deal.
- Good fret boards - other than polishing the frets and cleaning up 1-2 sharp frets, there was nothing I had to do other than oil the necks.
- The price! My wife would tell you it was a relatively cheap way to keep me occupied for weeks :P
- The AX guitar had quick connects for the electronics. A welcome surprise!
The less good:
- The instructions, especially for the SG style, leave a lot to be desired in their clarity. There are definite suggestions on how to make instructions clearer to reduce mistakes. Because of my mistakes on the first guitar, I didn't make any on the 2nd, so that's a plus. The AX style guitar had no instructions at all. So don't do that one first.
The subjective:
- After the builds, both guitars are quite playable and sound very good. The SG has relatively tame pickups (~9.1k & 9.5k), so hotter than an under-wound PAF, but not super modern either. Sounds very good with some overdrive. I ended up swapping the TL pickups with an aftermarket set since there was a specific sound I was going for. I put an Alpha/Omega set in the Explorer, and they sound epic. I didn't bother checking the output on the stock pickups.
- Hardware is all serviceable. If you asked what I would replace, in this order: Tuners, nut, pickups, anything else. That said, both guitars stay in tune just fine.
Some lessons learned:
- Mock up all the components before you assemble or paint anything. On the SG style guitar, it turns out if you just use the measurements in the instructions, at least on mine, the neck gets glued too close to the pickup for the pickup ring to fit. It also means the intonation is slightly off now that it's all assembled. Similarly, on the T style, the aftermarket bridge pickup was slightly larger than the cavity in the wood. No big deal, i just shaved a couple mms of wood off and now it's a perfect fit.
- On both guitars, there's a ground wire that goes to the bridge. Forgetting it on the T style bridge isn't a big deal, since you can just remove the bridge with a few screws. On the SG guitar, you can't remove the bridge screw holes once they are in, so i had to get some conductive adhesive to make the ground wire work.
Now that I've built a couple, I will definitely build more. Particularly for guitars in a style of music I don't normally way, it's a great way to get an instrument you like at a good price, and get some good enjoyment along the way. If you are trying to do this to get a PRS 10 top instrument for $200, you'll probably be disappointed. If you are doing this for fun and to come out with a totally great playable instrument, you'll have a lot of fun doing this.
Images in this review
Jabez
There are cheaper, better quality options out there, but this definitely gets the job done.
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2021
Jabez
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2021
THE GOOD STUFF:
Now that I've got everything looking pretty and put together, I'm honestly pretty impressed with how well the instrument plays. The frets weren't sharp, and the neck was pretty much straight right out of the box. The tuners are a little janky, but there's a locking nut so that's not a huge concern.
The pickups aren't super high output, but they can still growl with some high gain tones, and the neck pickup sounds sexy, snappy, and full with edge of breakup and clean tones.
The hardware isn't exactly boutique quality, but it's perfectly serviceable. I've had no tuning stability issues and everything fit together as intended. Everything came packaged pretty well with all the parts and screws organized and grouped together logically.
THE BAD STUFF:
Really there's nothing too major. My biggest gripe is that the pre-wired pickguard didn't match the diagram posted on the manufacturer's website, so I had to do a fair amount of Googling to figure out why my pickups were scream-buzzing before I'd even touched the strings. I like solving problems like this, but for someone who wants a straightforward DIY kit, this may be a deal breaker.
Continuing with the pickguard, it was cut very poorly. The edges were jagged and the horn was flat instead of pointed. I fixed this by sanding the edges with a light grit sandpaper, then using a heavier grit to shape the horn into point as it should've been already.
The inlay work on the fretboard isn't the best up close (it's a tad ugly in some places), but from a distance you can't really tell. My fretboard also has a knot in it at the 11th fret that looks kind of messed up, but it doesn't affect playability at all.
CONCLUSION:
Since this is my first DIY guitar, I don't have much to compare it to. However, I've played sub $200 guitars that had higher quality hardware than you get here, so I feel the asking price for this kit is a tad steep. Despite my complaints, I'm satisfied with how everything turned out. There's a little bit of jank here and there, but each blemish is a reminder of an obstacle I had to overcome to get this guitar to where it is now. I used water-based acrylic paint on the body and headstock, and I finished both of them with self-leveling epoxy resin (probably not the best choice, but it looks cool), and the neck was sealed with Tru Oil.
Images in this review
Tall T
Good guitar kit.
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2024T
Great Kit with 0 issues
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2024
T
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2024
Images in this review
