BEWARE: The company does not care about their customers or their product.I’m an industry professional of over 10 years and my experience with BYO spans 2 months of poor, intermittent communication and quality issues that have put substantial strain on my business and production schedule. At the time of writing this review there is an open Paypal dispute and I’m owed over $200 that the company previously agreed to reimburse and is now refusing to do so.On Sept. 16 I ordered 10 two-piece Pine Telecaster bodies from the BYO Guitar USA custom shop. Prior to placing the order, I sent in 2 emails via the contact form and phoned in once and left a message, which all went unanswered. I finally got a response via a 3rd, direct email. That should’ve been the cue to look elsewhere but I gave them the benefit of the doubt considering the current situation and the possibility that the contact form was broken. I shouldn’t have.The bodies didn’t arrive until Oct. 26 (website says ships within 14 days). Six of them were one-piece bodies, which is not an issue in and of itself and potentially a bonus provided the wood was properly selected and seasoned. The wood was not properly dried and seasoned. Half of the bodies were warped. Two of them were warped so badly I would’ve had to remove over 1/8” of material on each side to get it flat. The bodies did not have a flat spot on the side for the jack cup to sit, all the jack holes were drilled at slightly different spots, and worst, they were ALL drilled off-center, substantially. Some were so off that the jack cup would’ve intersected the binding. I emailed them immediately, on the afternoon of the 26th.It went unanswered several days and on Oct. 29 I opened a dispute through PayPal requesting a partial refund for the bodies that were unusable and for the cost of having to fix the off centered jack holes. This was followed by 1.5 weeks of emails, often going unanswered days at a time. I received excuses (being sick and unable to tend to emails or the issue at large, new employees etc.), half-baked solutions (I could just use a square jack plate to center the jack, or I could return all the bodies and the “perfectionist, guitar player, engineer and artist” owner could plug the holes and express ship them back), empty promises and wanting to do everything to make it right... except give me the partial refund I requested. It was already 7 weeks on an expected 2 week wait, and there was no reason for me to trust them to deliver a quality replacement on time, especially when they cant answer an email within 24 hours. International shipping back and forth also means added hassle, with possible fees and extra delays, when I could just do the repair myself within a couple days.Ultimately it was agreed upon, twice, that they would refund the order, plus shipping costs. At the time of writing this, the bodies have been returned to BYO (and received). I have been refunded the initial purchase but not for the initial shipping charges or the return chargers AS AGREED UPON. If this is their level of quality control and service on tap for their USA custom shop product, I can’t imagine what their import kits look like. To be avoided.

I have had my order with Nic Delisle at Island Guitars delayed significantly, because of BYOguitar’s incompetence and poor-quality workmanship. Their continued insistance on not honouring the agreed refund to Nic reflects an abysmal lack of integrity and professionalism. There appears to be no reason to trust in this company’s ability to deliver quality work, or to honour its commitments.

UPDATE: Kim has since contacted me and explained the situation as to why the communication fell through the cracks. I appreciate the explanation and have changed my rating to reflect the fact that they did contact me in order to explain.I have ordered from them twice now. Both times they completely fail to respond to anything. They do not provide any info on the status of the order and refuse to answer emails or calls. I ordered a second time hoping the first was just a fluke and the second time I spent 3 times as much money. They still completely refuse to respond in any way at all. I am still waiting on my second order and after 2 weeks have heard nothing from them whatsoever. Ive tried emailing and calling and have gotten no response either way. So at this point I have no idea if or when I will be receiving my order. I dont even know for certain they are working on it. I have never seen such poor customer service. They have most definitely lost a customer here. Ill never order from them again. There are plenty of other companies that sell similar products that actually want and care about your business.

Best make your own guitar store that my son and I have found. The quality of material, electronics, and customability is outstanding

Bought a Telecaster kit for my son. Started finishing the body and noticed a couple spots where the end of the wood is starting to split (completely through the body). I think this must be a - somewhat common issue since most of their “clearance kits” have this issue (per the item descriptions on their website). Emailed the company, they asked for pictures (which I sent)..... now haven’t heard back after my email (and two follow up emails)..... I will adjust my review up or down depending on how they resolve this.

I recently placed an order for a two-piece swamp ash body blank, quartersawn maple neck blank and Gabon ebony fretboard blank. Kim at BYOGuitar provided excellent customer service and ensured my package reached me very quickly! Additionally, the ash body blank came as a one-piece oversized body blank. While I am uncertain that this was intentional, I am immensely thankful!Fantastic quality of products and service, will definitely be ordering from BYOGuitar again.

BYO guitars are fantastic!!! I have been really impressed with their knowledge, craftsmanship, and how accommodating to the customer they are. In fact I purchased another Gorgeous electric guitar from them because of how nice my first electric guitar was. It was a one price solid walnut strat body with a Tiger Wood neck.i put a custom Shellac finish on the body and left the beautiful neck in a natural unfinished state.This company is super busy because they are really good at what they do. There is a high demand for their excellent, quality kit guitars, which quite frankly, no other manufacturer comes even close to in price and quality. What a bargain! Don’t take my word for this either, simply look at YouTube, as one customer after another is awed by the cool, well made guitar they got from BYO Guitars. I believe they even check each neck for fit before they ship the instrument out.I purchased a custom 3 layered wood Super Modern Strat from them. Originally I was going to resale it as an investment. But because of how nice it was, I just could bring myself to part with it, it was just way too nice of an electric to let go of. And I will put it up against any guitar manufacturer, Warmouth, PRS, Fender, Gibson, whatever! Even the fret markers are done in real sterling silver, which is a nice match for the Seamore Duncan Zephyr silver pickups I having put in it. It is finished in a special thin lacquer just for instruments, by another craftsman in my locality, then got shipped back to BYO Guitars for final assembly and set up. My local guitar shop, Bob’s Guitars in Cedar Falls, Iowa will fine tune it in a setup after its received by me to dial it in the way I like it. They are a really great place to shop too. I have bought 2 guitars from them as well.On a side note, dealing with artistic, creative, people is not always easy. We change our minds, have tons of questions and want the build done the next day, because we are so excited to get the ax in our hot hands, but trust me if you are patient with BYO Guitars, you will be amazed at how nice your guitar will be. They are worth the wait and any inconvenience in getting through to them....these people are a family owned and run business and are super busy, really.And why not, their prices are almost too low for what we get from their shop. When I purchased both of my guitars I actually felt it was under priced for how much the other custom shops were selling their guitars for. And I know mine is just as nice or even better than anything out there, and I don’t mean this as a brag, but rather a well made observation, from someone who has really done his homework on what a good electric guitar should be.Joe B-IA

I have 4 guitars from BYOG, and another on the way! Nice people, great products, fair prices. They sell kits that are built in their custom shop, and also some inexpensive kits made elsewhere. You can customize with various types of wood, and they do an excellent job of building the guitar. When I get the kit everything is there, and everything fits perfectly. These arent just playable, they are as good as my Gibson and Fenders, if you know how to adjust a truss rod and bridge. And if you dont, you learn how. Ive learned a great deal about guitars from building these kits, and its a great hobby for anyone of any age, Im almost 60.

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