Guitar Kit World
5 min read
Thin, bright and built around a bolt-on neck, the T-style single-cutaway is the shape most builders start with. This guide covers all 28 of our T-style kits, the difference between solid, semi-hollow chambered and acoustic-electric bodies, and how to pick the one that suits your build.
Build a playable electric guitar over a few weekends, and learn how one works while you do it. A T-style kit is a single-cutaway, bolt-on-neck guitar that arrives as unfinished parts: body, neck, hardware and electronics. You sand it, finish it, wire it and set it up.
The bolt-on neck is why this shape is the usual first build. It comes off with four screws, so a mistake is recoverable rather than fatal.
Short version. First build, take a solid body. Want a lighter guitar with more air in the tone, take a semi-hollow chambered. Want acoustic sound through an amp, take the acoustic-electric.
Thin semi-hollow single-cutaways caught on in the late 1960s, when builders started chambering solid bodies to cut weight and add resonance. We build ours the same way: a chambered body, one f-hole, and a bolt-on neck.
| Construction | What is inside | Sound holes | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solid | One solid slab of wood, no chambers | None | Bright, tight, plenty of attack |
| Semi-hollow chambered | A solid body with chambers routed out of it and a top capped over them. No center block | 1 f-hole | Lighter and airier, keeps the bite |
| Acoustic-electric | A hollow body with a wood block under the bridge | 1 round sound hole | Amplified acoustic tone, piezo pickup and onboard EQ |
Two things worth knowing, because they are the questions we get most. A wood block under the bridge is normal in a hollow body and does not make a guitar semi-hollow. And a chambered body is not the same as a hollow one: chambers are routed out of solid wood, whereas a hollow body is built as a box.
We make 17 solid and 7 semi-hollow chambered T-style kits, in different woods, pickup layouts and hand orientations. Here is one of each type. The full range is in the T-style collection.
Solid body
Start here if this is your first build. Basswood is soft and forgiving, so it sands flat without much practice, and the bolt-on neck means you can take it off and try again. You wire two single coils and hear exactly what each one does.
From $189.99 USD · See this kit →
Semi-hollow chambered
A lighter guitar with more air in the tone. We rout chambers into a solid mahogany body and cap it, so you get resonance without the feedback of a full hollow body. Finishing around the f-hole takes a steadier hand than a flat top.
From $279.99 USD · See this kit →
Acoustic-electric
Acoustic tone from an electric body. A piezo pickup under the saddle reads string vibration directly instead of using magnets, and the onboard preamp shapes it. Building one teaches you how a pickup actually converts movement into signal.
From $199.99 USD · See this kit →
Bass
The same outline, scaled up to a 34 inch bass. Longer scale means higher string tension, which is worth feeling for yourself when you set the neck relief.
From $289.99 USD · See this kit →
Custom Shop
Spec your own. Choose the body and neck timber, hand orientation, hardware and pickups, and we build the kit to that spec.
From $399.99 USD · See this kit →
These are T-style kits finished by builders in our community. Every one started as the same box of unfinished parts.
See more builds in the community showcase
Every kit carries a build difficulty rating out of ten on its product page. A bolt-on solid body at 2 or 3 out of 10 is a genuine first build. Ratings climb when the kit adds a blank headstock you have to shape yourself, an f-hole to finish around, or a veneer thin enough to sand through.
Two single coils give you the traditional bright, cutting voice. A pair of humbuckers gives more output and less hum, and suits higher-gain playing. Mixed sets sit between the two.
Almost every T-style kit uses a bolt-on neck, which is the most forgiving joint to build and the easiest to adjust later. That is a large part of why this shape is the usual recommendation for a first kit.
Ash is bright and open-grained, so it needs grain filling before a gloss finish. Alder is balanced and easy to finish. Mahogany is warmer and heavier. Basswood is light, soft and very forgiving to sand, which makes it a good first-build timber.
An unassembled, unfinished single-cutaway electric guitar with a bolt-on neck, supplied as a body, neck, hardware and electronics for you to finish, wire and assemble yourself.
Yes. The bolt-on neck and flat body make it the most forgiving shape to assemble and set up. Look for a build difficulty of 2 to 4 out of 10.
A solid kit is one piece of wood with no chambers. A semi-hollow chambered kit starts as a solid body, has chambers routed out of it, and is capped with a top, with a single f-hole. It is lighter and a little more resonant.
Most do. The wiring is straightforward and we publish diagrams for each pickup configuration.
No. Bodies and necks ship unfinished so you pick the color and finish yourself.
Body-shape and construction names used on this site (TE-shape, ST-shape, LP-style, semi-hollow, offset) are generic descriptions of design categories. They do not indicate the origin of the goods. Guitar Kit World is an independent manufacturer and is not affiliated with, authorized by, endorsed by, or connected to any guitar manufacturer. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Our kits ship unbranded, unfinished, and without any headstock logo or decal.
Christoph and his son Fionn wanted a deep even black on an open-grained mahogany body with the figure still showing through, and the pores kept drying lighter than the surface. Follow the build from the bare kit to the finished bass, and see how they diagnosed it and what you can copy from their approach.
