“Poplar” body strat kit - Neck appears well made straight and of decent wood. Minimal fret work needed, just a little smoothing of sharp ends. The body is very soft and light, seems more similar to pine than poplar. Wood grain is pleasant and would look ok with an oil finish. I’m going to prime and paint. I have applied a wood hardener to firm up the surface in hopes of reducing dents and dings in the future.
I regret not spending the extra $10 for the “mahogany” body option. I have ordered a mahogany SG kit that I am quite happy with the quality of wood. If I had the neck I received along with the body in mahogany I think I’d be very happy. All the routing and drilling appears clean and accurate.
The hardware and electronics appear low quality but serviceable. I purchased the kit to see how nice of a guitar I could build out of it. From what I can tell so far it’s going to be a nice foundation to work off of.
Update - Fretboard is artificial fiber composite. Very dense and uniform. I tried to remove the plastic nut to upgrade to bone and had tear out of the material on the tuner head side of the nut. Whatever is used to glue the nut in is the most tenacious adhesive I have ever experienced. I was unable to separate the torn out fretboard from the plastic nut even when the joint was heated to the point that the nut was soft and deforming. instead of regluing the torn out material I chose to file out the remainder of the fretboard and glue in an ebony block to reshape.
| Parcel Dimensions | 72.9 x 51.05 x 8.13 cm; 4.85 kg |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer reference | GK002 |
| Back material | Poplar |
| Body Material | Poplar |
| Colour Name | Poplar TL |
| Fretboard material | Maple Wood |
| Guitar pickup configuration | S-S |
| String Material | Stainless Steel |
| Top Material | Mahogany Wood, Maple Wood |
| Neck material type | Maple |
| Number of strings | 6 |
| Item Weight | 4.85 kg |
