The Fret Wire - Overall Rating based on 9 reviews
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Dual lap steel kit
I order the kit and was charged immediately. Then I waited and waited. Sent email, no reply. After 3 weeks disputed charge with my bank and got a refund. Now web site closed and says back soon. Don’t waste your money or time.
ST Style Sapele Top Electric Guitar kit
I'm very worried, cannot contact them in anyway. their Website is down! Has been all week. I may have to dispute charges on the credit card I used to buy it. This was supposed to be for my Grandson's birthday :( and still has not arrived. Very disappointing the way they handle their business
Guitar kit
Paid for a kit August 1st....still hasn't shipped yet as of September 10...dont return emails or voice mail messages. Rip off scam
DIY guitar kit
I ordered a DIY guitar kit from thefretwire on 8/8/22. As of today I've received zero notifications regarding shipping, and I'm unable to connect with an actual human being to get an update. I did email them last week and haven't got a response. I've also left a voicemail...same results. The kit should have been shipped within 4 days of my order based on what their website lists. I'm glad I ordered using a credit card so I should be able to dispute the charges and get a full refund. I'm bummed because this was going to be a fun project to complete with my daughter.
Did you ever hear back from Fretwire?
Burl ash telecaster
My wife ordered me a Burl ash tele kit on December 3rd with the intent of giving it to me as a Christmas present. She purchased it as a preorder so there was in her mind only a fair chance of getting it by Christmas anyway. Unfortunately it didn't arrive until the first week of February. The box had been torn open at some point and someone spent the time and a roll and a half of packing tape to reseal it. I should have refused delivery at that point, but I had waited so long I decided "what's the worst that could happen?" Upon opening it I saw a neck, a body and a pickguard..that's it. no hardware no electronics. After numerous emails to the fretwire and waiting another two weeks I decided to work on the parts that I had. Surely they could ship me the hardware and electronics separately ...nope. They said that they can only ship complete kits. I said to ... with it I was eventually going to replace that stuff anyway. So I bought a bunch of third party replacements at no small expense and finally got it put together.Upon stringing the guitar I was treated to a ... fret leveling job so just one more headache in what has been one long nightmare. Terrible customer service. I will not be buying from them again.
Offset 2 Single Coil
This is a Mustang style guitar. For the price, the wood is great, neck is straight and parts weren't bad. I was disappointed that when I found I hadn't recieved the correct tuners, they were for a Les Paul style head, not 6 in line, they responded with "are you sure" and ignored my response with photos. The "pre-wired" part also wasn't so good. They responded to my request for a diagram with "we do not have a diagram for that model. Finally, the frets needs lots of work. Over-all, not a bad little project, but their service is not good and you have to do lots of your own research. I got it wired, but I'm still missing tuners. I will not buy from them again.
6 different guitars kits
I have purchased six different models from the Fret Wire. My experience with them is very good. Some people do not understand what is required to finish a guitar, even when it comes in kit form. There is always finish work to be done, filling of imperfections, alignment of key parts, etc.
These kits come stock with lower end Chinese hardware. There are options to upgrade them. They are sufficient to complete the guitar and to get it playing.
Each one of mine has turned out so far, very good and I am happy with what I received. Completed they are much better than most entry guitars at music stores. I have reached out to customer service several times and always have a response within a day.
I will continue to do business with the fret wire.Hi Joel,
Hey I agree with what you said. But in your honest opinion, how are the necks? That's my only main concern. Especially the frets. I don't want uneven frets and want a straight neck. I know about dressing the ends of the frets and polishing them. Like, you say, part of the finishing process. But still want something good to start from. So any insight would be great!!
Thank you for your time and insight.
JulioDIY Electric Guitar Kit - ST Style Mahogany Build Your Own Guitar
My initial impression of a very nice kit soon turned to frustration.
The good:
It came quickly.
In spite of all the rework caused by poor QA/QC at the factory I got a surprisingly nice sounding guitar.
Thankfully, even though the bridge was not centered in the cavity it lined up with the neck.
I didn't have to work with the frets at all, at least not yet.
The wood working part of the kit is pretty good and sanding was minimal.
The neutral:
The body is two pieces of mahogany glued together so there's s glue line that shows since I did not paint the guitar but only put on polyurethane.
The bad:
As of 10/28/2020 the company has not responded to my letter of 9/20/2020.
"Some patching and drilling of pilot holes will be required" on the website is an understatement.
The tuning heads are extremely stiff through half a turn and then loosen up, and then back to stiff.
There are two blemishes, and one ding on the fret board that went deep enough to show the white layer underneath (engineered rosewood).
The placement of many of the factory pre-drilled holes caused several hours of delay and rework.
Holes for four of the six screws for the tuning heads had to be plugged and re-drilled.
One of the six holes for the bridge had to be plugged and re-drilled.
All six screw holes for the plate on the back had to be plugged and re-drilled so that the holes to string
the guitar would line up. Otherwise you'd have to remove the plate each time to replace strings. Three of
these plugged holes show.
Mounting the neck to the body was the worst issue. All the holes in both the body and neck had to be plugged and re-drilled. The pre-drilled holes were not in a rectangular pattern like the metal plate but a cockeyed trapezoid pattern so the holes didn't line up with the plate. The holes in the neck were four different depths, including one that went all the way to the back of the fret board. Thankfully I had a drill press for this one.
In order to get the action down to near Fender specifications for a Startocaster I had to counter sink the bridge with a router and chisel.
In sum, I'm reasonably happy with the finished guitar but NOT happy with all of the rework. I wonder if these kits are factory rejects from their normal production line?This is the best thing ever
i love guitars since the day i saw it the first time. It was my dad's and i wanted to have one too. However, i have few but the one i bought from here especially for me
My dad gifted me the kit from here and i remember how excited i was, I got this kit two months back. We both worked together and we assembled the guitar. It was a fun and memorable day for me
After that i didn't get chance to meet my dad again, but i have the guitar with me . So i am very thankful for such amazing memories that i could make with him
Review with most votes
DIY Electric Guitar Kit - ST S
My initial impression of a very nice kit soon turned to frustration. The good: It came quickly. In spite of all the rework caused by poor QA/QC at the factory I got a... Read onBy: Tim