Why do your kits cost more than some marketplace kits?Updated an hour ago

The short answer: when you buy a no-name kit from an overseas marketplace seller, you are gambling with your money. The photos may look good and the reviews may not be what they seem, and if a part does not fit, there is usually nobody to ask. You do not know what you will get until it arrives.

We have been doing this since 2013, and we stand behind every kit we sell. You can read our reviews before you buy. If you get stuck during your build, real people on our Builder Success team will help you through it. That is what we do: we make guitar building possible for everyday people, so you do not need to be a luthier to build your own guitar.

And we do not ask you to buy anything first. If you are not sure yet, take our free guitar building course. Watch a kit built end to end, look through our kits, and decide when you are ready.

Who we are

Guitar Kit World is owned and operated by Maker Kit World LLC, a U.S. company. We are independent: no parent company, no sister brands. Our kits are sold in one place: guitarkitworld.com. Every genuine kit is stamped on the neck pocket and the heel. Our kits are made to our own specs in China and checked at our warehouse before they ship.

Over 5,000 builders so far, along with professional luthiers, guitar-building workshops, and school, university and STEM programs. Builders rate us 4.7 on Trustpilot, and you can read hundreds more reviews on our reviews page.

1. The kit professionals choose

Our kits are the kit of choice for people who cannot afford a kit that lets them down:

• University programs. A class only works when every student's kit goes together the same way. Southern Arkansas University runs a guitar-building class with our kits and came back to run it again. Read about the first class and the second.
• Guitar-building workshops. Independent luthiers run hands-on workshops where every attendee builds one of our kits side by side. See the workshops in Fairfax, VA and Baltimore, MD.
• High school programs. Shop, technology and STEM teachers build our kits with whole classes, so every student builds a real electric guitar.
• STEM camps. STEM camps run guitar builds with our kits, giving campers a real instrument to build and play.
• Professional luthiers and musicians. Luthiers around the world choose our kits for their own projects, for their workshops, and for stage-ready guitars that working musicians play live. We are also the quiet partner behind a number of professional luthiers who build fine guitars on our kits. Their clients know their name, not ours, and we keep it that way. Kalimar Maia leads guitar-building workshops with our kits in Fairfax, VA, and Ken Pfalzgraf has featured our kits in dozens of his videos. (Kalimar and Ken are Guitar Kit World partners.)

When a teacher hands out a class set, or a luthier builds a guitar that will be played on stage, every part has to fit and every kit has to go together like the last one. That is the job our kits are chosen for.

2. Start free, and pick the right kit before you pay

• Start Free: Watch the Whole Build Before You Pay. Our free guitar building course shows nine complete kit builds end to end in 296 videos, with wiring diagrams and manuals. No purchase, no card, no trial. Watch it, then decide whether building a guitar is for you and which kit to start with.
• Every Kit Says How Hard It Is. Each product page carries a build difficulty rating and the reasons behind it: whether soldering is required, whether the neck bolts on or is glued in, whether the veneer is thin enough to sand through, which woods want grain filler first. You choose a kit that matches your skill instead of one that fights it.
• Take the Quiz, Get a Shortlist. Answer a few questions about the sound you want, the way you play, and how much building you want to do. We point you at the kits that fit instead of leaving you to guess across hundreds of listings.
• Matched to Your Timeline, Not Just Your Taste. Some kits ship from our US warehouse this week. Some are pre-orders. Custom builds take around 8 months. We tell you which is which up front, so the kit you fall for is one that arrives when you need it.
• A Support Team That Actually Replies. Email us, or call +1 740 530 8646, before you have spent a penny. You get a straight answer about which kit fits your skill, your budget and the time you actually have. Not a catalog link, not a canned reply. The team answering is the same one that writes our build manuals and draws our wiring diagrams, so they know the kit you are asking about.

3. Help that does not end at checkout

• Lifetime Support on Every Kit. However long you own it, you can come back to us. Stuck on a repair, restarting a build you shelved two years ago, or upgrading the pickups. Reach out any time and we will help you work it out. The help is free for life. Parts are separate, and anything missing or damaged in a new kit is covered for 30 days.
• Our Job Does Not End at Delivery. Our Builder Success team has one objective: helping you build the guitar you set out to make. Not just a shipped parcel or a closed ticket, but free lifetime build help at every step.
• A Wiring Diagram for Your Kit. Almost every kit we sell comes with its wiring diagram. If yours is new enough that we have not drawn one yet, send us a photo of your kit. Our in-house wiring specialist draws a diagram for your exact kit and walks you through it.
• Builders Who Answer Builders. Our community forum is open to every customer. Ask mid-build and someone who has already done it answers. We answer 85% of the reviews people leave us, too.

4. More kits to choose from than anywhere we know

• More Than 40 Body Types. Single cutaway, double cutaway, offset, semi-hollow, fully hollow, archtop, headless, violin bass and more. We track every other kit company we can find, and none comes close.
• Left-Handed Is Not an Afterthought. More than 60 left-handed kits, with a selection ready to ship. Not one token model with the parts flipped, but real left-handed bodies, necks and tuners right across the catalog.
• Designs That Exist in Exactly One Place. We design our kits ourselves and every body shape carries its own name. Pair that shape with a tone wood and a wiring layout and you get a kit that is sold in exactly one place: here. New designs arrive regularly.
• Or Design One That Does Not Exist Yet. More than 40 Custom Shop configurations, or bring us a build of your own. Cancel free within 5 days of ordering. Custom kits take around 8 months, and we say so before you order.

5. Everything you need to finish the build

• A Written Manual for Your Kit, Free. More than 40 step-by-step guides in our builder community, covering kit assembly, wiring and finishing. Plus more than 350 free build videos.
• We Tell You How to Finish It. Ask us and we will recommend the finish that suits your kit: which products work on that wood, what to do about open grain, how to treat a veneer thin enough to sand through. Per kit, not generic advice, and backed by finishing tutorials you can follow start to finish.
• No Woodworking Required. Every cavity, hole and channel is pre-cut. And every product page lists the exact tools you need for assembly, for finishing, and for setup, so you find out before you order and not halfway through.
• Don't Want to Solder? We Have Kits for That. If you have never held a soldering iron, you do not need one. On our solderless kits the pickups, the output jack and the ground wire all arrive pre-terminated with plug-in connectors. You connect them by hand, and the electronics are done.
• Buy Only the Hardware You Need. Our stock kits come with standard hardware. If you would rather build with your own pickups and bridge, or you want upgraded parts instead, reach out and we will help you place that order. No paying for parts you already planned to replace.
• Choose the Grain First. Flamed maple, quilted maple, zebrawood, spalted maple. Rosewood, ebony and pau ferro fretboards. Choose the grain first, then choose the color you put over it.

6. No surprises at checkout or after

• Free Shipping, No Minimum. Every order ships free in the contiguous US and to over 100 countries. No minimum to hit. Kits stocked in our US warehouse arrive fastest, with most US orders delivered within one to two weeks.
• We Pay the US Import Tariff. Both warehouses, pre-orders included. The price at checkout is the price you pay. Nothing arrives at your door asking for more.
• Missing or Damaged Parts Are Covered for 30 Days. Tell us what is missing and we send it. We pay return shipping on defective parts. And if you change your mind before you open the box, unopened kits return for a full refund within 14 days.
• Pay Over Time if You Prefer. Buy now and pay later through Affirm at checkout, subject to their approval. The kit you actually want should not come down to what is in your account this week.

Still comparing? Tell us what you play and what you have built before, and we will point you to the kit that fits. See also Warranty Information and our Return Policy.