First Build & Ordering Kit in Canada

[MichaelKnight]

Are there any fellow Canadians that could suggest where to buy a kit from?

Any suggestion for a first build? Almost time to go into winter hibernation, might as well build a guitar!

Thanks!

[tippie53]

We at blues creek guitars send to canada regularly
I am sure you will get some good info here .

[MichaelKnight]

We at blues creek guitars send to canada regularly
I am sure you will get some good info here .

Thanks John. Do you know which, if any, customs/duty/brokerage fees apply in addition to the kit cost? Could you provide a rough estimate of shipping?

I see the '000 12 fret' as a popular build. Could anyone clarify why? I play guitar but don't know much about them. I'm looking for an acoustic kit, preferably a style good for fingerstyle playing and
appropriate to make mistakes on (I suspect many start with woods at the lower end?).

I tried to search the forum before asking these questions but can only access posts within the last year.

Thanks again!

[naccoachbob]

Almost time to go into winter hibernation, might as well build a guitar!

Thanks!

I like that kinda thinking!!!

[tippie53]

USPS is cheaper , don't know what the fees are , but your local Post office may be of help . Shipping is about $40/$50 us
john

[Freeman]

Michael, I think any of the usual US kit suppliers can ship to Canada as long as the particular material (Brazillian rosewood, some other woods, ivories, etc) is not on the CITES list. But the normal stuff that you and I will want to use should be no problem buying from John (who is a great resource), or StewMac, LMI, or many others.

Probably the two most popular size/shapes today are the dreadnaughts, usually prefered by strummers and flatpickers, and the so called "small bodied" guitars of which the 000 and OM are good examples, and which many of us finger style players prefer (I have two beautiful Martin dreads that sit in the closet since I built my 000 and OM 12 string). I won't go into a lot of details, but many feel the smaller guitars are better balanced across the strings, they often have wider necks that finger style players prefer and they sit nicely in your lap...

The second decision is often tone woods - people argue a lot about what they "hear" in different woods. Some folks feel that mahogany is "dryer", "woodier", "more bluesy", or you'll hear the term "cutting", while rosewood is often described as "complex". I think you need to play good examples of each and decide for yourself. Rose is certainly a prettier wood, but mahogany can look pretty nice too.

There are other woods and other shapes, but those are the most common. Go to a good music store, maybe a Martin shop, and play a
D-18 next to a D-28, then try an OM or 000-28, decide what your fingers and ears like. Then call John or LMI or StewMac and have them put together a kit that is close to that.

There are other decisions - one of the most important is the neck joint - and I would suggest a bolt on for your first. I would also suggest reading as much on line as you can find - Bill Corys book is highly recommended, download the free instructional pdf for the StewMac kits, look at the building blogs at KennethMichaelGuitars. I can point you to threads from my first build (which remains my daily player 6 years later).

Lots of great people here who can and will help you, and I promise it will be an interesting journey.

btw - to search the old forum, go to the top panel of this subforum (Kit Guitars) and click the link. When you get there you can do all sorts of search. For example, if you put my name, Freeman, in the search box you can find building threads on my first and second and third....

[Bruce Dow]

Hi Michael.

I, too, am new here. When I bought and built my two kits (ironically, a 000 and a Dreadnaught), I could not find a supplier in Canada, so I had my kits shipped from the US.

The fact that I couldn't find a supplier in Canada does not mean that one does not exist here... I just couldn't find one. I even went as far as calling the Twelfth Fret to see if they had any suggestions for me... they did not.

One thing that I really struggled with was sourcing of quality finishing materials. A lot of that could not be shipped internationally.

I found these guys in Saskatchewan, and they were VERY VERY helpful to me.

https://www.woodessence.com/

When you bump up against questions, let me/us know. I really wish I had known about this forum when I built those two.

Good luck.

[MichaelKnight]

Thanks a lot guys, that's a big help, much appreciated. I ordered the 2 books from Bill Cory and got a bench set up. I'm sure you'll hear from me through the winter!

[Phil]

Michael, I live in Nova Scotia and just purchased from Steven Kovacik (http://www.guitar-repair.com). The only good reputable places I know of to get kits are all in the US, and from what I gathered from all the discussion forums the best places are John at Blues Creek or Steven.

The kit I got wasn't a "boxed Martin kit", but rather were parts Steven got from the Martin factory. Its a 000 cutaway, mahogany back and sides and neck. I got it from Steven off Ebay for what I thought was a very reasonable price. I was seriously going to go with Blues Creek but I managed to get this kit cheap and for my very first build I figured I'd save a few bucks to put towards some tools.

The shipping charges were $42.25 US, and I wasn't charged any duty or brokerage. I'm assuming its because of being US made components and the whole free trade thing, but I think whether or not you pay duty on something from the US all depends on the person at the border. I say this because I've ordered Weber speakers a few times and sometimes I paid duty and other times I didn't, even on the exact same orders! I did get charged Canadian taxes on the purchased value of the kit when it was delivered. Don't know if this helps any.

EDIT: It was late when I posted this and didn't explain myself good enough... I didn't mean to say that Steven and Blues Creek are the only good places to get kits from because obviously the other suppliers that support this forum are also good sources for kits. What I should clarify, is that I found they were the best ones to kit Martin kits from on ebay.... there are others on ebay selling "kits" that are just mismatched parts. I didn't mean to offend any of the other kit suppliers on here. Hopefully that clarifies my comments from last night!

[tippie53]

I send to Norway all the time. Cost is $65 to $70 using Postal Service. Let us know what you need and we will get it to you. I just ain't comfy without glue under my fingernails