It’s funny how hobbies work. You start with a casual interest, and before you know it, you’re deep in the weeds of technical specs and DIY projects. Since August 2024, I’ve been quietly immersed in the world of guitar—teaching myself through Ultimate Guitar tabs, Yousician, and jamming with friends. It’s been a whirlwind first year plus, and a great creative outlet during these crazy times.

As with most things I dive into, things escalated quickly. I decided it wasn’t enough to just play; I wanted to understand the instrument from the inside out. So, I took the plunge and built an SG-style guitar from a kit.

The Vision and the Build

I started with a kit from Pango (PSG-929) featuring a mahogany body and a beautiful burled maple veneer. Overall, the construction was solid for the price, though I did have to navigate one pre-drilled hole that was off by a millimeter or so.

Before I even touched a sander, I used AI to visualize the potential. I fed it images of the raw parts and asked it to mock up a two-tone natural brown finish with gold hardware. I even toyed with the idea of a punchy “Cherry Red” or a “Purple” dark stain, but seeing the digital renders gave me the confidence to lean into the earthy, chocolatey tones.

Navigating the Finish

The aesthetic journey took a few turns. I originally planned a complex two-stain approach, but as I got into the project, the logistics started to scare me. Creating a razor-sharp line between two different stains on a laminated top is notoriously difficult. Wood is porous by nature; it wants to bleed and pull stain in every direction, which would have made a clean transition nearly impossible on the pre-laminated body.

After testing some Early American stain in the pickup recessed area, I loved the depth so much that I decided to pivot and simplify. I applied it to the neck, then the mahogany body, and finally over that burled maple veneer.

The result reminded me so much of chocolate that I originally dubbed the guitar “Charlie.” However, Kel immediately came up with the much more fitting and obvious name: Willie.

The “Wonka” Details

To truly bring the Wonka theme to life, the guitar needed a top hat. My friend Kristen used her Cricut to create a custom graphic for the truss rod cover. I also added a signature touch that I plan to carry forward on every guitar I build: the “HO” mark on the headstock. I applied it using waterslide transfer paper, which was a bit of a pain in the ass to work with, but I love the slightly weathered, authentic look it settled into.

The hardware was a major part of the transformation. While the kit from Pango came with mostly gold hardware, I’m usually not a fan of gold on instruments. However, for this specific build, it just felt right. I doubled down on that “classy yet functional” look by swapping out the original black plastic pickup covers for some beautiful gold filigree pickup covers from Guyker. They look worlds better than the stock plastic and really elevate the whole aesthetic.

For the controls, I actually considered switching to Gibson-style gold top-hat knobs from StewMac, but I decided to stick with the silver for now. They actually pop unexpectedly well against the silver strings and frets. To tie it all together, I kept a black back cover to provide a clean, professional contrast against the gold and the wood… though, maybe that needs to become a “Golden Ticket.”

Playability and What’s Next

How does it play? It’s a different beast than my PRS SE Custom 24. The neck actually feels a bit more like a Fender than the chunky profile you might expect from a traditional Gibson SG.

It’s still a work in progress. The fretboard needs some love (the ends are still a bit sharp), and I’ll likely swap the electronics for warmer pickups soon. But it’s fully playable, and as you can hear in the video, it sounds alright! Building this has only fueled the fire, I’ve already got the plan in mind for the next build.

Felt it was only fitting to play pure imagination for the first song on it. And if WordPress would have let me, I’d have that first play video right here… but here’s the best I can do, a link to Facebook >