StewMac Unserviced Steel-string Acoustic Guitar Kit

StewMac Unserviced Steel-string Guitar Kit

Everything you need to build from scratch, with every detail in your hands
When LMI closed in 2024, one of the most common requests we heard from builders and educators was to bring back their Unserviced Guitar Kits.

These kits earned a loyal following because they offered something different. Instead of pre-shaped parts and partially completed components, you get a carefully curated collection of raw materials and hardware, and the opportunity to build every detail yourself.

This is as close as you can get to building from scratch without the time and guesswork of sourcing every piece individually.

Build the entire instrument, your way
Unlike traditional kits where critical steps are done for you, this kit puts the full build in your hands. With this kit, you will:

• Joint and join the top and back plates
• Thickness and tune the plates
• Bend the sides
• Cut and carve your own bracing
• Slot the fingerboard
• Shape the neck
• Inlay the rosette
• And complete every step required to take raw materials to a finished instrument

It is a deeper, more demanding build, and a far more rewarding one.

A complete, curated starting point
Sourcing every component for a guitar build can be time consuming, expensive, and inconsistent. This kit removes that barrier.

Each component has been selected to work together, giving you a reliable foundation for a successful build while still leaving every critical decision in your hands.

You get the freedom of a scratch build with the confidence of a proven material set.

Designed for developing builders and educators
This kit is ideal for builders who are ready to move beyond pre-shaped kits and take on more of the craft.

It is also widely used in teaching environments, where instructors want students to understand every step of the process from raw wood to finished instrument.

Aligned with proven instruction
This kit closely matches the specifications used in Robbie O'Brien's Acoustic Guitar Building course in the Lutherie Academy and is used by many instructors teaching modern lutherie.

If you are following a structured course, this kit provides a seamless starting point.

Complete contents
This kit includes the full set of materials and components needed to build a steel-string acoustic guitar, OM size or smaller:

• Acoustic Indian Rosewood back and side set
• European Spruce soundboard set
• American Mahogany neck blank
• American Mahogany heel and tail block blanks
• Ebony fingerboard blank
• Ebony headplate veneer
• Sycamore veneer overlay
• Ebony bridge blank
• Bone nut blank
• Bleached white bone saddle blanks
• Slotted bridge pins set
• Medium fretwire
• Two-way truss rod
• Nickel tuning machines
• Herringbone rosette
• Flamed Maple binding
• Black maple purfling strips
• Curly maple guitar trim veneer
• Mahogany kerfed lining
• Mahogany bracewood blanks for back bracing
• Spruce bracewood blanks
• Bridge plate material
• White plastic dot inlay material
• Neck mounting hardware and fasteners
• Binding tape
• Adhesive
• Full-size OM guitar plan
• Shop apron