Les Paul Guitar Kits: DIY Classics You Can Build Today

I'm sure you'd agree with me on this one:

Finding a DIY Les Paul Guitar Kit that sounds just as good as a $400 - $500 guitar is a tall order. This would require a kit with quality materials and great pickups.

Although no DIY kit will give you that perfect-sounding guitar, there are a few that come pretty close. In this article, I've listed some of my favorite Les Paul Guitar Kits that are both relatively easy to put together (i.e. require no soldering iron, feel well made) and sound pretty good once fully assembled. 

One such kit is the Saga LC-10 Deluxe Kit available on Amazon. It's a Gibson Les Paul style guitar and comes with all of its electronics ready for installation (solder-free assembly), includes chrome plated hardware, strings, cords, and an instruction manual that's easy to follow along to. 

Read on for some more details.

This kit is a blast to assemble, taking about a week on average from unboxing to finished guitar. The great thing about this kit is that once it's all put together, it has the potential of sounding like a $400 - $500 Les Pau​​l! That's pretty good if you ask me.

The Saga LC-10 kit can be the perfect canvas for your creativity. For example, there was a fellow who recently bought this kit and decided he wanted a nice, unique paint job on his finished guitar. 

Well, instead of just spray painting it (which is a very viable option), he took it to an auto shop that painted it with metallic paint, complete with shadows on the outside and a little bit of a marbled pattern on the inside with darker highlights. The result was gorgeous. 

After putting it together he read up on bridge adjustment, strings, trus​​s rods, and the like (it was his first time assembling a guitar) and it ended up looking like a million bucks (not to mention played incredibly well).

The pi​​ckups that come with this kit are decently good. You shouldn't experience any feedback or buzz unless you're playing near a strong electromagnetic field (i.e. an appliance that's actively running, like a microwave).

But it's not perfect all around. One complaint owners of the Saga LC-10 had were the thin wires used in assembly. If you're not careful, these can break apart and require re-soldering to be put back together.

If you're looking to beef the electronics up a bit this can be low-hanging fruit: replacing all of the thin gauge wires with a thicker gauge. The tuners in this guitar kit are also "okay", but not anything incredible or amazing.

All in all, if you're looking for a great Gibson Les Paul Guitar Kit project to take on and build, the Saga LC-10 delivers. You have to come in with the right expectations (it's not going to sound like that perfect $1,000+ electric), but it comes pretty close.

For a build-able kit, this is some of the best bang for your buck when factoring in quality and personal enjoyment. I think you'll have a lot of fun putting this one together, and know that you'll learn a lot in the process! (especially if you've never put together a guitar before...) All I have to say is -- for an LP-Style Electric Guitar, these are the real deal.

Grab the Saga LC-10 Les Paul Ki​​t on Amazon

Not quite as good as the Saga LC-10, but it does cost a bit less. This Spalted Maple Top LP Kit is a great electric guitar for beginners who want to take on the project of building a guitar from scratch for the very first time. It has a beautiful mahogany body that's tough to pass up.

All of the holes are pre-drilled, making assembly easier. The body is made of Mahogany and the Top is Spalted​​ Maple.

The good (or possibly bad, depending on your goals) thing about this kit is that it requires a bit more hands-on effort to make it work to your liking. This is great if you're trying to learn everything you c​​an about building a guitar and are willing to work through a trial-and-error experience.

On the other hand, it's not so great if you want everything to "come together" super easily.

For example, the electronics. You may need to do some soldering to get them all together, and might have to come up with some creative solutions during assembly (i.e. maybe you'll have to shim the guitar neck tight, like one fellow had to).

The key point here is that there will probably be a few things requiring minor adjustment during assembly.

I will point out right now that the strings that come with this kit aren't the greatest, so you'll have to replace them with a better set of electric guitar strings after you're done putting it together. A good new set of strings will significantly improve your sound!

The Spalted Maple Les Paul Guitar Kit isn't a bad option if you either don't want to spend extravagantly or just want a nice beginner kit to work from.

Grab the Spalt​​ed Maple LP Kit on Amazon

It's more personal preference and the style you prefer, more than anything. Les Paul style guitars, in particular, are known for playing heavier styles of music like rock very well.

This is due to having two humbuckers on their pickups, giving the LP more gain than any single-coil guitar (like a Stratocaster, for example). 

On top of that, they also have set necks rather than bolt-on necks. If you look around at Fender Style Guitar Kits, you'll notice that those have bolt-on necks through and through. Not so with the Les Paul Style Kits and their marvelous set necks! 

A set neck gives the guitar a warmer sound, and can also improve the sustain of the notes you play. 

Les Paul Style Guitars have their own unique sound that comes from the combination of woods used, the electrical components (such as the pickups), the shape of the guitar body, etc.

If you like the sound and like the look, I'd say why not go ahead and build a Les Paul? And as a final note, these guitars are not hollow body, and you can actually feel their solid wood base.

Ah, upgrades. This is always a great question. 

We recommend looking at two big contributors to your sound when doing a build: Pickups & Strings.

These two are fairly low hanging fruit when it comes to upgrading the hardware in your guitar. It's relatively easy to buy and replace your guitar's pickups during assembly, and replacing your guitar's strings can be easily done. 

With those two hardware upgrades alone you'll immediately see an improvement in your sound.

You can have zero guitar building experience and successfully complete one of these kits. In fact, this is actually the reason a lot of people purchase a guitar kit - to get better at assembling their own guitars and learn the ins and outs of being a luthier (a maker of stringed instruments). 

If it's your first build, it's normal to struggle a little. It won't be easy the first time around, and you'll probably have to work around some issues with trial and error. 

But don't let this scare you. Guitar kits come with instruction manuals that guide you through the process, all you have to do is follow along and build it up per the directions provided. 

If you buy a guitar kit that requires soldering, you'll likely have to get a soldering iron and practice a little on some spare wires. But the first Les Paul kit we mentioned above doesn't require any soldering iron, so if you get a kit similar to the Saga LC-10 you shouldn't have any trouble.

The key is practice! Once you've built up your first guitar, you'll get better and better.

But it's perfectly okay (and in fact, normal) to start out your first build without any previous experience.

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