Perhaps you have seen these Children’s DIY electric guitar kits as you searched for your next project. Rest assured, the reference to children is in size only. These are not kits for kids to put together. They will take every bit as much attention, effort, and skill as that Strat, Tele, or other DIY electric guitar kit you’ve been thinking about – maybe even a little more.
And the finished product is not a toy. This is a real, playable electric guitar. It is just a little smaller in size, and has a shorter scale (20.75 inches).
The Children’s DIY LP Description
You may see these children’s DIY guitar kits sold under a variety of different names, but they all come from the same place. These are Muslady DIY guitar kits manufactured in mainland China. A primary distributor is Ali Express, and you can find them easily at Walmart.com as well as other large online distributors (Amazon, eBay).
Do you want to make an electric guitar for your children by yourself? If yes, you shouldn’t miss this unfinished electric guitar specially designed for children. It will let you enjoy the fun of DIY with your children, and make a special musical gift for your children at the same time.
from walmart.com
I bought mine online from Walmart; it can also be purchased from Amazon. The prices vary all over the place, and I kept pretty constant watch on one particular style. This was a single-pickup “Children’s LP,” but the listing clearly showed a neck length from the nut of 460mm (18.125 inches). That’s the same as a regular 24.75-inch scale 22 fret neck. When the price dropped as low as I thought it might go, I ordered it.
It arrived quickly, only a few days after I ordered it. As soon as I saw the box, I knew there was a problem.
Unboxing the Children’s DIY Kit
The box was a standard 3-compartment package, with three interior boxes (all with lids) to hold, respectively, the body, the neck, and the hardware components. I first opened the box with the neck as that was my primary concern. Sure enough, it did not measure 460mm from the nut. This neck was 390mm (15.375 inches) which was the same as many other listings of the same style Muslady guitar. I almost didn’t even unbox the rest. The was eligible for free return to a Walmart store for a full refund.
I decided to go ahead and look at the rest of the kit. Why not? At least it would give me a pretty good idea of what is in Muslady kits, though this wasn’t my first one. All of the components were present, less any instructions, and they appeared to be pretty good quality. The mahogany body looked great, so I decided to keep it. This will be a fun build.
Locating the Bridge Posts
This kit has a standard Les Paul Jr. style wrap-around bridge, however there are no holes for the retaining posts pre-drilled. I’ve mentioned in other posts that I do not own a drill press. So, I decided to just put a fixed hardtail bridge on it instead, and ordered one from Amazon. But before it arrived, I was talking with a friend who was headed to warmer weather for the winter. He had a table-top drill press, and agreed to loan it to me while he was gone. With this new resource, I changed my mind and proceeded with the authentic LP style bridge.
The drill press came in handy because there were also no holes pre-drilled for the bolt-on neck. I aligned the neck with the routed cavity for the single humbucker pickup, marked the screw locations, and went to the drill press. With the neck now installed, I could accurate locate where to drill for the bridge post bushings.
The scale of this Children’s DIY LP kit measured 20.75-inches (10.375 to the 12th fret). I found the dimensions for properly locating the bridge using the StewMac Fret Calculator. Very carefully I marked the locations of the posts, set the depth on the bit, and drilled the holes. Now I’ve decided that my next investment will be a tabletop drill press.
Since the bushing holes had to be drilled, that means I also had to drill a hole for the ground wire. After installing the bushings with the ground wire and the posts, I test-fitted the bridge and ran kite string across the nut up to the holes for the tuning pegs to check alignment. It all looked good.
Finishing and Assembling the Guitar
I removed the neck and then did some sanding. I used Minwax Tung Oil Finish on the body and neck, and as I rubbed in several coats the grain began to fill. The flat tung oil finish on the mahogany is beautiful.
Final assembly of the Muslady Children’s DIY LP kit was pretty straightforward. With only one pickup and one volume control, wiring couldn’t be more simple. Perhaps later I may add a tone control. Somewhere in the process of things, I lost the black plastic piece that covers the cavity in the back for the control, so I fashioned one out of a thin piece of wood and stained it black. Before stringing this guitar, I polished the frets with 0000 steel wool and treated the rosewood fretboard with Dunlop 65 Ultimate Lemon Oil.
Strings, Tuning, and Intonation
Like most kits, this came with a set of strings. I do not know the gauge or anything else about them, but I didn’t put them on. Instead, I put on a set of 10s that I had removed from another guitar since I didn’t really know what to expect from this short scale LP. They didn’t have near enough tension, so I went up to an A tuning. That was a little too much, so I dropped it to G and it felt pretty good.
The 20.75-inch scale was actually used on a Rickenbacker 325 guitar several years ago. I don’t know if it is used today on anything. John Lennon played a Rick 325, and Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles) has played a Rick 325 in the past, although usually she plays a full-sized Rick 350. I contacted Rickenbacker and asked them about the strings used on that model. They graciously replied, and I found the exact gauges in a set of D’Addario EXL-145 heavy gauge strings.
I put the heavy 12-54 gauge strings on, and this guitar feels good with standard E tuning – pretty much the same as a set of 10s on a full scale guitar. These have a steel G string. The Rick 325 used a wound 3rd, but I doubt that would have worked well with this fixed saddle wraparound bridge.
I’ve never set up an all-in-one wraparound bridge before this, but it seems pretty stable. The plastic nut was way high, and maybe just a bit wide. After a little filing the nut slots are now good. String height and pickup height adjustments were all pretty standard. The tuning machines are better than what I expected at this price point.
Final Observations and Recommendations
Like other Muslady kits, there is a mixture of good and not-so-good when it comes to quality. I don’t really have any complaints about the wood or the alignment, and with good strings it turned out well. It is a very good value for such an inexpensive kit, but again, that depends on where you get it and if you are willing to search or wait for a good price. This was a great way to learn how to use the drill press with a guitar kit. Don’t pick this one for your first DIY electric guitar kit, but it is certainly a great one after you’ve done a few.
Overall it weighs five pounds, about half that of a full-sized Les Paul. The finished guitar is well-balanced, the 12-gauge string set feels very comfortable, and the single pickup sounds good. Because of the location it has a nice bright tone. I really don’t care for the short scale, but it was fun to build and a very good learning experience. Maybe after some time I will get used to it.
What is your experience with Muslady DIY electric guitar kits? Have you ever built a short-scale guitar? Share your thoughts for us in a comment below.