Howdy,
last night my son and I finished up a fun project. Back in February we bought my son his first guitar because he'd been talking about taking lessons for a while but I figured it would pass and he'd forget about it. Well he didn't and he started lessons in April. He's progressed pretty quickly and plays very well for a kid of ten. He doesn't spend much time anymore with video games and such. Now a good deal of his time is spent playing with his guitars. Yes plural guitars. The starter set we bought him was a decent quality setup for a beginner. That was a Fender Strat. But a few months into his lessons he was playing very well and said that he really liked the looks and sound of a Les Paul. So one day while out shopping I found a good deal on a nice Les Paul and I bought it. I upgraded his amp too from the basic unit that came with the starter pack. I'm very pleased that he's kept up his interest and continues to get better. I'm amazed at the speed at which he's picking it up and learning songs. For a while he's been asking me if we could make a guitar together. (Brian May of Queen is his idol and he built one with his father) I explained that it took a lot of time and experience to actually fabricate a guitar from scratch but maybe down the road we'll tackle the project. But not long ago I was talking to my brother who has a few guitars and he buys them cheap and restores them. He told me about a place online that sells kits. I checked it out and was surprised that I could buy a Telecaster kit for only $79! Sure, it's not going to be a top quality guitar but decided it was worth $100 (after shipping) to give it a chance. I ordered it and it came in. My son described the design he wanted for the paint scheme and we worked together to refine it. Once I got a good idea of what he wanted I went to my vinyl cutter and cut a stencil. He picked out the color scheme that he wanted and we picked up the paint and got started. It only took us three days and we finished it up last night. It's not perfect but I think it's pretty good for a first attempt. Here are some pics.....