OffsetGuitars.com

I saw good reviews on Blackcat guitar kits and they had some fun looking "zebrawood" guitars you could put together. I decided to give a set neck guitar a try. For around $200, it should at least be something fun. I don't intend to use anything in the kit aside from pickguard, body, and neck. I would rather pick up some better quality things for the other parts to help it be a little nicer.

The kit came pretty fast. It has a weird chemical smell. Likely due to it being some sort of engineered wood. The neck fit the pocket well. Not sloppy or super tight. I used some tightbond glue and clamped it up.

20220921_062824 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20220921_062830 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

I let the glue dry overnight and the results were this.

20220921_063156 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20220921_063219 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20220921_063231 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20220921_063228 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

The fretwork and inlays look pretty ok. No sharp ends. It seems flat and level. Also no Gibson headstock shape, but not a bad looking one.

20220921_063449 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20220921_063452 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20220921_063208 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20220921_063424 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20220921_063428 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

I decided to try to dye this interesting "wood." It didn't take dye as well as I had hoped, but it worked ok. I used my normal green dye and got this.

Before:

20220921_203011 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

After:

20220921_205334 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

I like it. Not as strong of a color, but it is there. It also died the inlays slightly too. LOL

Whoah, that is absolutely wild looking!

Actually, now that I say "wild," the dyed appearance kinda reminds me of those Fender "wildwood" models where they injected dye into living trees and then cut them down.



I was initially shocked when you said "zebrawood" and then "$200" because it's an expensive wood, but it makes sense now that you say it's some kind of engineered product.

Out of curiosity, did you do any kind of measurement of the neck angle before gluing? The thing that's always made me nervous about set-neck kits is the non-adjustable neck angle. I'm spoiled by easy shimming on Fenders. I just don't know what the ideal bridge height is on a Gibson, so I wouldn't even know what to aim for if I did measure it.

Of course, it's only a $200 gamble so it's not the end of the world, and one would presume that with CNC, they should all be fine to begin with.

Yeah the angle was preset. Should be ok it looks like so far. Scale length looks correct for the predrilled holes for the TOM also. Everything seems to be lining up and fitting ok.

I've seen those weird fake zebrawood kits before and I've wondered what the material was actually like. Must be pretty hard if the neck and fretboard are made of it too.

TBH I'm not a huge fan of the look out of the box but with the green dye it looks a million times better ― it gives off cool Fender Wildwood vibes as Mike noted. Now I'm thinking of getting a body like that for my Tele...

I've been curious about those too so I'm glad you're doing this one! The dye does look a lot better. Curious to hear how it sounds and plays and what you think of it once it's all together.

Thanks guys! They make a Tele kit and les paul one as well if you like the stripes. Maybe even a strat one iirc.

I think that looks kinda terrible but mostly brilliant. Really striking.

I think I'd have went straight to an oil finish rather than dying. Wonder how much that wood would pop or light up with a bit of oiling. Looks nearly orangey in the first pictures.

I really like the original colour. Some clear on top would look good too.

Off to G oogle

That's different!

LOL I do like things that are different. Plenty just drop clear over it, but I wanted to tinker...

That is insane!

anyone else think a mustang in this kinda body wood would be awesome?

That fretboard is really fucking with my eyes!!

LOL. I wish I could have more done on this. I need to sand it back after staining it, but I have been too busy with work and taking care of my mom.