Zebrawood Tele DIY kit - FINALLY A DECENT KIT! Bad Cat Instruments Telecaster T-style review

[@GunsandGuitars]

Here’s the link to the live giveaway! You won’t want to miss it! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqG4n2iKgM-mgKc

[@moafu]

Whats the price?

[@DrBobBranch]

Besides the fun of a DYI, does it play better then a $225 squire tele from fender?

[@flaviusrotarita6666]

You're back with the old stuff, the videos that made me suscribe

[@drogers5511]

Good review. I like a build that is "out of the box" workable. I too have seen the kit prices jump. I blame you you tubers because you've inspired me to buy and build our instruments too. Supply and demand! Thank you Dan.

[@thewrenchturner1]

Can't wait to see how finishes go down on that wood. I love that your vids keep an eye out for the budget-concious viewers. Great video, keep 'em coming!

[@tissuepaper9962]

Found your channel when I was yanking the frets out of my bass, years ago. Glad to see you coming back to these kits.

[@RubyRoks]

If that thing takes stains/dyes, it'd look fantastic in purple. Glad to hear it's a good kit. I was looking at their "zebra" Les Paul kit and think i'll save up for it

[@shanedougherty1978]

So happy to see you back at it. Missed your videos. Can't wait to see about this guitar, I've been eying it. Thanks brother!

[@panda2907]

Yay!! Finally a new kit video! I now know your reason not to do them. Kind of gone off KZbin for a while, but it's good to be back to this videos!!! I also watch the fretless bass, it turned out beautiful Dan! This kit looks awesome too, I'll recommend it to a friend who's looking to work on a Tele of his own. See you on Wednesday!

[@MrFedoss]

Oh my! I can surely call it the most beautiful Tele-kit I've seen yet. And with an option to make it pickguardless, it is amazingly flexible to customize. Sounds brilliant and I was really surprized with the build quality.

[@bluwng]

That thing sounds good, I wouldn’t waste my time buying pickups.

[@OldStreetDoc]

Man… I wish I had known about this a year ago. I spent much of the lockdown building a Fender Tele Partscaster to keep from going nuts. Loved doing it and it sounds awesome. I’m really proud of it & of how much building it made me learn. But this would’ve been a great first time builders kit! The Zebra wood looks AWESOME! I’ve never seen that type before, but it looks amazing. Awesome video! Guns & guitars… two of my favorite things!

[@GunsandGuitars]

I don’t think this was available last year. It’s a new kit

[@OldStreetDoc]

@@GunsandGuitars I guess that’s what I’m wishing… that it had been. LOL The more I look at that Zebra wood the more I like it!

[@americanoboist]

Love the name of your channel ! Owner of a 1969 Tele since 1969

[@chrisshaw2754]

I built a LP kit like this. It is built nice but the “wood” is really soft and the frets will lift from time to time. I wish they used a different material for the fretboard. I used black dye and it held it well. The stripes are still visible. I did not use any of the electronics or hardware however.

[@thewrenchturner1]

Good info, and I totally agree. Neat look to the body and headstock, but I'm not a fan for the fretboard.

[@ashiz5906]

may be flooding the fretbord part with thin superglue can make it dense enough.. may be

[@DavidHBurkart]

Engineered wood typically is much harder

[@ashiz5906]

@@DavidHBurkart i have seen and repaired some cheaper chinese guitars with engineered wood are pretty bad.. fret board tend to dry out acoustic bridge with these type of woods tend to cracks and wrap.. they are pretty much so soft like pine.. and i am talking about engineered wood that comes in cheap chinese guitars nowadays

[@Kiobo7n7]

With just a gloss poly finish over everything and it'll look awesome

[@jestertx]

Great to hear (and see) a good kit on Amazon! I’ve wanted to build a T-style guitar for a while now but have shy’d away because “good” kits are darn near the price of a Squire. I’m VERY interested in this one! Love your videos, keep them coming!

[@QS-si3cq]

*Squier

[@chrisfrench970]

Dude! I love your channel!!! Beyond unbiased and usefully informative too...and you crack me up. Please keep this up, you help so many of us who love building our guitars.

[@austinknowlton1783]

So I found this video on November 18th, of course. Seems like a relatively high quality kit as far as kits go. I've seen $400-500 guitars in stores that need the frets leveled.

[@MarkMerrick]

Nice video format. Easy to watch, paced well, engaging.

[@GunsandGuitars]

Thanks for the helpful feedback!

[@jsteele113]

Dan! The kit is nice, but I'm more impressed with how much you've improved your playing. Sounding good, dude!

[@nathanmclauchlan5148]

Would love to hear how it turns out with some dye on the zebra wood. If I got one of these kits I would want to do a forearm contour, so wonder how the zebra wood would take that kind of mod.

[@trinacria1956]

Reminds me of Stratabond necks that Martin has used. However, those have parallel lamination.

[@tylerparker501]

Subbed literally because your channel is “guns and guitars”

[@renxeneize]

Always great videos, thanks for the tip on the slight angle when leveling frets on the 12th fret

[@chicopm]

Sounds like a tele. Would like to hear it after the fret job. It is a great base for getting a really good tele built.

[@RJsCave]

S'up Dan. Diggin' the zebrawood. Saw it on FB. Can't wait for the bass to be finished either. See you Wednesday... and Friday. 👍

[@ryanrogers8923]

I'm really looking forward to this one, As a side note, I bought an engineered zebra wood p bass kit from pitbull guitars based out of Australia late summer 2019. The neck was maple, the body like this telle. It turned out great and took some tung oil I had laying around.

[@saulgoodeguitars]

I got the jazz bass from pitbull and did the same thing as you

[@tjsogmc]

I built a Pitbull Jaz bass over the winter and was overall very pleased with the kit. I did have to replace all the screws because every one of them was super soft and broke or stripped very easily (even the pic guard screws). And that was even after drilling pilot holes. And the kit strings were totally crap- but I always use EB Super Slinkies for playing. The kit strings I only use for the build. Other than that, everything else was fine. Turned out to be a really great playing bass.

[@FuzzImp]

I like that you didn’t pull punches on the frets, it’s a great project for someone to learn how to work on frets, but it’s something that does take some doing to learn to do properly. I want to snag one that just looks fun

[@restojon1]

I got a Zebrawood Jazz bass body for my birthday last year, I've not built it yet as I'm finishing other projects but I've seen them with gloss finishes and that wood is utterly glorious with a gloss finish.

[@jlstephe8]

Great video! Bummed I'll miss the live giveaway but will be happy in church! I'll watch the replay to see the lucky winners! Keep up the great work!

[@russellklassen7951]

Hey Dan, love your review. I built a cheap Tele kit and put a set of O.C. DUFF ala Redd Volkeart pickups in it plus other Fender custom parts. One of my favorite guitars now. Keep up the great work bro!

[@WARPapaRouge]

I would use/make a clear pickguard so the grain remains visible. Also, you can test stains/dyes in the pickup cavities before committing.

[@insufferablethrashelitist9305]

Cool, I've been looking at the badcat kits and noticed in the reviews people aren't expecting fake wood with this kit. Btw, I'll be binge watching that rick super build shortly.

[@nadiapaiva8170]

It looks and sounds awesome for a guitar kit! The zebra wood looks super good, I hope it stains well, can't wait to see it finished. I would've put some dark wood on the fretboard instead though, to not overpower with the zebra

[@nadiapaiva8170]

Also, I love the way you explain all the details of guitar building, all the tiny issues, other channels are like "put finish and set up". Thanks man!

[@jeremyb251]

Other than the obvious things like family, I love guns and guitars. I’ve just found your channel and it’s great!

[@wewin_inonog]

I always like that twangy but full sound of a Tele. Cant wait to see how you would tweak this kit up to perfection.

[@jameslewis2635]

And now we just need the upgrade video... I think this wood could look quite good with the right stain and some upgraded pickups is a must for a kit like this. Some stacked pickups would be my kind of choice as well as upgrading the pots/switch combo to allow some different options, maybe using something like the switching on the Ibanez AZ series.

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

YES...an upgrade video PLEASE!

[@stevesoldwedel]

Great to see you making regular guitar content again. I was wondering about the Tele bridge grounding. Since the pickup itself is grounded and the bottom plate is soldered to the ground lead of the pickup, and that plate has screws going through it which contact the "tray" (calling it that because it's often an "ashtray" style saddle / pup-ring) that houses the pickup... wouldn't another ground wire for the tray be redundant?

[@joeyvanostrand3655]

I would LOVE to see the Bad Cats In a King V or Explorer shapes with optional binding and optional Floyd Rose Cavity rout for those that want them.

[@robertr5780]

I'll be looking forward to finding out how the guitar takes stain. It does look pretty good. Might just leave it natural and put oil on it if it will take oil.

[@TennisOnion]

It looks like Suhr and PRS have both done a nice burst on zebrawood, so you should have some options to stain

[@raimondspadaro8211]

Great video Dan.

[@marksvenningsen1662]

Could I suggest getting a polished brass pickguard to complete the brass motiff?

[@thelotec007]

Love your channel. Nicely done 👍✔

[@randyhaney5767]

That's Rockin' Dan'O. About an hour total from pieces in a box to plugged into an amp and making sound. Maybe another hour for the fret job? Then Jam Time, Thanks for the video and heads up on BAD CAT.

[@bryanjschaefer]

Hope I don't forget to tune in! I love telecasters. :)

[@OnTheFritz602]

These kits look really nice! I've been curious about the Zebrawood also. Started checking these kits out last week, good to see somebody who knows what they're doing taking at shot with one. Was contemplating the Zebra LP kit. My thought was just a simple hand rubbed tung oil finish. Figured that would be easy and work pretty well with whatever the hell that engineered stuff is. Leary about that thin veneer on the regular LP kit, but would like to possibly try. Would "tung oil" that as well, and it's less expensive. Looking forward to see how this Tele turns out in the end!

[@jadedshade]

I built a strat kit out of similar Zebra style wood and it took rit dye and stain just fine :)

[@HelterSkelter117]

I just recently did the gold hardware LP zebrawood kit. My list of complaints is too long to list here. But to answer your question about the stains, I did three coats of a clear stain and it took it well. I did a spray clear acrylic top coat. Took it well too, but did not polish to a mirror finish.

[@michaelmccaffety3131]

Great video Dan, as usual. Now PLEASE get back to the Rickenbacker build!! Keep up the good work man.

[@MultiGuitarDave]

Thanks for the tip. Normally buy in all loose parts and then assemble them. I enjoy this a lot and the result is great. I keep these guitars to myself much to my wife's dismay. 🤣

[@cybrunel1016]

@7:35 you said " engineered wood " when talking about stains and dies. So this is not Microberlinia brazzavillensis wood right ? I'm asking for that very reason. Engineered woods don't take stains like natural woods. Thanks, peace.

[@jayteesgear]

2:39 YESS! I always love makin my own Headstocks

[@tts_313]

That engineered zebrawood soaks up Tru Oil perfectly. Nice rich look

[@jaxeman5501]

I used Tru Oil on mine. Worked great. Every thing but the fretboard itself.

[@pmdinaz]

Thanks Dan! Gonna sell those out quick for bad cat!

[@MrGwg11]

Fuzzy Socks! That things looks awesome! I'm really hoping I can find the live stream! 40 mins to assemble, pfft hold my soda and watch me take a half day job and turn it into an all day adventure!

[@MindDezign]

Not bad but Earl slick sells a complete and perfect tele and strat, guitar for about the same price. With better frets, ful pots, Variety of finished and configs. AND BRASS HARDWARE. IN THE SAME PRICE RANGE Right out of Boston Ma,

[@MuncieFamily]

I have zebra wood kit from bad cat, and was wondering if you ever finished this guitar? I'd love to watch that video if so, but haven't been able to find it. Thanks!

[@michaelmessina5341]

Looks good and sounds nice. I would have to sand down the corners on the neck pocket. I can't stand those corners always getting in the way for me.

[@rhykko77]

Interesting build ......if I may suggest .....a yellow dye applied to the body might look cool.

[@JoeTheGuitarGuy96]

I agree with the a tele neck pickup cover surround. But since you have this amazing body, take advantage of it. That would be a Tele pickup surround out of wood, maybe your Birch Plywood, and the same for the control plate. And stained to match. That's what I'd do. But this look is interesting 🤔. I might haft to look at a Les Paul, or another option from them.

[@cz875]

I appreciate your honestly in your reviews. I really like that grain on that zebrawood, purple stain would be insane. Only wish it was H-H configuration. Would you be able to route the current pickup config into an H-H?

[@GunsandGuitars]

I don’t see why not. I’m sure it’ll smell funny as you’re routing though haha

[@GreyMatterStew]

@@GunsandGuitars The Zebra wood called, said to tell you, "You smell funny." 🤭

[@JohnnyGuitaristOfficial]

Such an awesome looking tele!! 🙌🏻🎸

[@DarkoNinja777-li6fz]

Hey loved the video question any idea how much does the Bad cat Explorer kit costs?

[@HangtheTyants]

Yuuuuss another build!

[@mrbesserwisser7447]

No need to change pups, they sound good. What is the neck radius?

[@bluwng]

I don’t know what a true Telecaster sound is but that thing sounds good.

[@JohnnyCashfan0001]

I'll be there! I've never made a guitar but it's on my to do list. Cool kit, sounded like a tele, Zebrawood is such a pretty looking wood too. Awesome channel, thanks for the content!

[@willfowler8540]

Wow! That wood looks amazing I mean for engineered lol

[@MrTom_Songwriter]

When I see any sort of Telecaster video I click on it. I subscribed after I found you support 2A rights. That's a nice looking guitar! If I was working on it... Probably would put in a .047uf capacitor on the tone pot and a dual rail humbucker pickup in the bridge. Have a great upcoming Thanksgiving holiday!

[@FrugalFixerSpike]

Beautiful piece of wood, sure, you will make it great!! Dan!!

[@jaxeman5501]

I put together the Les Paul style of this line of kits. I slapped some EMGs in it and had it set up professionally (because I am lazy). Folks won't believe this, but it sounded better than my Gibson LP Studio. So then I had to upgrade the Gibsons pickups to EMGs last week.

[@shanegrisham179]

Does mad cat offer a lefthanded zebra wood tele kit?

[@ruvimtrofimovich]

Sweet looking grains👌👌👌

[@matthewjohnloren1995]

Wow, i like how the strings seem to disappear into the fingerboard. A nice little illusion!

[@johngill5982]

I bought the LP style. The wood was very nice but everything else was not. The frets were not fully pressed down, they were .006" to .008" off the fret board in the center. No instructions were supplied, I had to contact them through FB and they emailed me some other companies wiring and build instructions! Tuning machines look nice, but they're the cheap Chinese wobbly type. The bridge was of the $12 quality type. I am currently waiting for a different crowning file since my Stew Mac didn't quite fit the way I liked. I will deal with all the other issues as I need to since putting quality tuners and bridge would almost double what I paid for the kit. Don't get me wrong - I knew and expected it to be like this. Every kit I've made from China (7) has been like this. I am retired so there's no rush. It's my hobbie.

[@RayLawrenceJrMUSIC]

I need this guitar.

[@Sylencer1982]

That's so pretty, even right from the box...

[@502deth]

ive been thinking of one of these in strat style on and off for a few years now.

[@johnbotica7136]

Do you think you should have added some shielding tape in all the pockets? Or does it not matter with this kit?

[@GunsandGuitars]

It probably could use some shielding. I’ll do it when I put the finish on

[@scottmorris4914]

I kept looking at the Zebra wood, and thinking it just didn’t look like real wood. Now I know what it reminded me of, laminate wood rifle stocks. I have seen some very nice stocks, but they are manufactured, and the Zebra wood looks manufactured.

[@74dartman13]

Nice looking kit!👍😎🎸🎶

[@ronaldgrim606]

Wow..."I don't know how it's made...I don't know much about it.. " That sums up quite a bit.

[@MrDaveKC]

Nice Dan. I've always been curious about these and it definitely looks good. 5:00 mst is going to be tough on Wednesday. Gotta go to AWANA to hear verses.

[@johnm1874]

Whats the song @ 10:58?

[@leekthomas737]

what was the neck profile like? 9.5 or 12?

[@pumpkinhead6646]

I wonder if you could get a Fender neck on it

[@troythompson1621]

Yeah, I miss the kit vids, modding a Glarry is probably cheaper than most kits though, hint hint. Have you tried replacing the ceramic mags with neodymium yet?

[@joshuawiley7200]

I would totally go with the ring and ditch the guard! It'd be cool if they offered a multi-color like the old Frostwood pocket knives

[@carlos.e.flores]

Thank you. Very interesting.

[@JamieLamb]

Just bought a fender telecaster 52 reissue... might snag this one

[@foujj]

I wondered how that composite deck wood material would work for guitar. See you on Friday.

[@RichardWagner3]

My favorite telecaster has ceramic magnet pick ups which sound better than Fender Vintage Noiseless

[@miguelmontoya1320]

What is the width on the body?

[@RockyMountainBear]

Damn. 3 days ago? So, the price has probably sky-rocketed, which won't matter because they're probably sold out. That's a really cool *assembly* kit.

[@aidancliber4770]

I bought a Jaguar style guitar kit from them and have done some other mods to it I love it

[@mackk123]

I think you got the saline solution one and the one they gave me m8 had the bells palsy coupled with cardiac arrest.

[@GunsandGuitars]

Oh no! Did you get a bad one? If so please contact badcat. They have great customer service and they want to have great quality control. Let them fix it for you.

[@Curtster1962]

My kit came missing at least one part (the sleeve that secures the tuner... whatever they're called) and had no instructions whatsoever. the website has a spot for wiring diagrams and manuals, but it doesn't seem to work. Can you point me in the right direction for wiring help? yeah, it's my first guitar build ;-)

[@rickcontreras4943]

This is really nice kit

[@BeauregardHall]

DUDE I was really hoping you were going to do a live stream on Nov 17th of you building one, so us idiots could follow along. You should consider that. Run a review and then give us a month to buy the kit, and then live stream. Maybe I’m just goofy. Love your channel. Always have.

[@GreyMatterStew]

Not goofy, Beau. That's a great idea.

[@GunsandGuitars]

If that’s what you guys want to see, I’d be happy to do it! As long as it’s not a set neck kit, not sure I’d want to stream for 24hrs while the glue dries 😂

[@GreyMatterStew]

@@GunsandGuitars LOL! Yeah. Nothing like sittin' around watching glue dry. 🤪

[@frankpinn9286]

I love vids like these