“Embrace the DIY spirit and experience the joy of playing a guitar you’ve built yourself”: Harley Benton launches three new ‘build your own guitar’ kits – starting from $117
Thomann’s budget gear firm extends its entry-level guitar-building kits with okoume and basswood six-strings inspired by V and Explorer shapes
(Image credit: Harley Benton)
Budget gear co Harley Benton has launched three new DIY electric guitar kits for aspiring luthiers and hobbyist tinkerers alike to build their own flying V and Explorer-shaped guitars.
The Extreme-76, Extreme-84, and Victory kits deliver all the parts for electric guitars in an Air Fix and Lego-like setup – that is, players will get the joy of piecing their axe together.
As such, there’s a huge scope for personalization; will you keep the natural wood grain finishes they come with, or go wild with the blank canvas to create something more reflective of your personality?
All kits include a body, neck, and all relevant hardware, electronics, and fastenings to get these instruments riff-ready.
The Extreme-76 and Extreme-84 kits deliver Explorer-inspired silhouettes, coming with okoume bodies and necks with a sleek natural finish. They offer 22-fret roseacer fretboards, tune-o-matic fixed bridges, a pair of humbuckers, and die-cast tuners – with hardware chrome in the ’84 kit and black in the ’76.
The ’84 kit comes with own-brand HBZ (bridge) and HBX Active (neck) humbuckers, and nondescript ‘buckers in the ’76.
For those who adore a V-shaped axe, the Victory kit comprises a similar itinerary, save for basswood replacing Okoume for its neck and body. The hardware is chrome and it‘s the ’76's humbuckers here, too.
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(Image credit: Harley Benton)
All three kits are rounded out by two volume controls – one for each pickup – a master tone and a three-way pickup switch.
Strings (.010-.046) are also included – let’s be honest, it would be a travesty if they weren’t – but Harley Benton adds that “some basic skills and tolls are required”.
“These three new Harley Benton electric guitar kits offer musicians the perfect opportunity to build a custom instrument tailored to their style and needs, embracing the DIY spirit and experiencing the joy of playing a guitar you’ve built yourself,” says the Thomann-owned firm.
(Image credit: Harley Benton)
Some may turn their nose up at the concept of, not only a budget axe, but also one you have to assemble yourself. How good could it be?
The truth is that HB has a tidy reputation for quality builds that don't break the bank – hell, they don't even dent the brickwork.
The kits are priced at $117 for the Victory and Extreme-76 sets, and $144 for the '84.
If these new shapes aren't to your liking, there are also HB kits for Strat, Tele, Les Paul, Jaguar, 335 and many more body shapes. It’s fairly exhaustive.
Head to Harley Benton to learn more about its new electric guitar kits.
A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.
