5 Best Electric Guitar Bodies 2024

Sourcing an excellent electric guitar body is often one of the most difficult aspects of a guitar build. The market is flooded with both high-quality bodies as well as cheap knockoffs unworthy of anyone’s time.

If you’re about to build a guitar, you’ve come to the right place. The following is a list of some of the best electric guitar bodies currently available on the market.

Fender Telecaster Body – Best Overall

The Telecaster is the oldest electric guitar design in the Fender catalog. Despite being the company’s introduction to the electric guitar market, this model is still extremely popular.

There is just something timeless in the simplicity of the Telecaster’s single-cutaway design. It is one of the reasons why it is one of the most copied guitar designs amongst other manufacturers.

If you’re interested in building a Telecaster-style guitar, why not get an actual Telecaster body? With the Fender Telecaster Body, you’ll have an authentic body crafted by Fender themselves at their Ensenada, Mexico shop.

This body is made of Alder and comes with the locations for pickups and electronics pre-routed. Even the holes for the string-through vintage bridge design have been pre-drilled for your convenience.

One of the things to mention about this offering is that it comes already colored and finished with gloss polyester. This body comes in the classic candy apple red color.

For pickups, this body is ready to accommodate a configuration of 2 single-coil pickups. This configuration is more in line with the traditional Telecaster offerings.

The Fender Telecaster Body provides a unique opportunity to build a real Telecaster with official parts. This body will have all of the authentic factory stamps and luthier signatures typically found within Fender bodies.

What’s So Great About The Fender Telecaster Body?

Some guitarists might not wish to use a well-known manufacturer’s stock body for a guitar build. Many people wish to build guitars with the intent of creating a unique conception.

However, building guitars typically allows a guitarist to create a guitar on par with the big-name brands. This offering from Fender essentially allows you to build your own Fender guitar with licensed parts.

In a way, this is a throwback to the functionality of the original modular design dreamed up by Leo Fender. These designs truly allow a guitarist to modify and replace parts with relative ease.

For those who are building copy-cat guitars, why not go for the real deal? It seems almost a shame to build a T-style guitar without one, knowing that you can easily acquire one yourself.

Fender has done all of the most difficult work for you. All you need to do is attach a neck, electronics, and hardware, and you’re ready to go.

This body might be a bit more money than many other bodies on this list. Some would attribute it to the fact that it’s made by a well-known name brand.

However, this body is worth every cent, especially if you know you’ll be using a Fender neck. You won’t have to worry about the neck pocket dimensions and whether or not the Fender neck will fit.

Sometimes, the ease and surety of a building process are well worth the additional cost. Leave the guesswork out of the project and use this to create your own signature Telecaster guitar.

Item Weight: 6.5 pounds

Package Dimensions: 19 x 14 x 3.25 inches

Fender Stratocaster Body – Best Premium

When it comes to electric guitars in general, none are more revolutionary than the Stratocaster. Introduced in 1954, the Stratocaster has one of the most easily-recognizable body shapes in modern guitar history.

Like the Telecaster, the Stratocaster is a design that is continually copied while simultaneously inspiring new designs to take shape.

If you’ve ever longed for a Strat, you’ll be pleased to know you can actually build your own. The Fender Stratocaster Body is an officially licensed body crafted in Fender’s Mexico factory. 

You can be sure this guitar will have every detail and curve found on Fender’s Stratocaster guitars. There will even be luthier signatures and factory stamps that will be visible inside the body.

This Alder Stratocaster body comes with everything pre-routed and pre-drilled, including:

• Pickups in an SSS configuration (using single-coils)
• Cavity for electronics
• Cavity for guitar cable
• Bridge mount screw holes
• Cavity for floating tremolo system
• Neck pocket and mounting holes

You won’t even have to worry about applying finish to the body. This Stratocaster body comes pre-colored and finished in a gloss polyester finish.

The colors you can choose from with the Stratocaster Body include:

• Candy apple red
• 3-color sunburst
• Black

What’s So Great About The Fender Stratocaster Body?

The Fender Stratocaster is one of the most iconic guitars to grace the Earth. The chance to build your own with authentically licensed materials is a rare opportunity.

Generally, most guitar companies tend to not provide guitar parts for guitarists to use in builds. However, Fender chooses to cater to a subsection of guitarists that tends to be overlooked for the sake of profit.

Stratocasters are fairly simple guitars in concept but contain a lot of small detail work required for a high-quality product. With this offering, Fender ensures the same quality expected from a Fender guitar on the wall of a guitar shop.

Plus, Fender even gives you multiple color choice options for the body. Sure, it might not be many options, but they are at least classic traditional Stratocaster colors.

All of the hard work has been completed for you which promises to be an easy build process. You can be sure that any components licensed by Fender will fit this guitar without a hitch.

Depending on your budget, the Fender Stratocaster Body is a fairly good value. It runs higher than others on this list but will have some of the best possible craftsmanship.

Plus, it’s an officially licensed Fender Stratocaster body. You really can’t beat that.

Item Weight: 10 pounds

Package Dimensions: 19 x 14 x 3.25 inches

BexGears Flying V – Best Budget

The Flying V is another futuristic guitar design that has withstood the test of time. These guitars have seen their eras of popularity and were used across many genres.

In fact, this is one of the rare guitars that has been played by metal guitarists and blues guitarists. Needless to say, the Flying V has a certain mojo regarding its shape and presence. 

With the BexGears Flying V body, you can essentially build your own version of this iconic guitar. Plus, it's quite affordable compared to other offerings on this list, making it perfect for those on a budget.

This body is made from Okoume and comes with the neck pocket, pickups and electronics pre-routed. All you need to do is paint it (if you wish) and apply your own finish.

The neck pocket has measurements of:

• 2-1/4” wide
• 3” tall
• 3/4” depth

For pickups, this body is able to accommodate 2 humbuckers in a traditional Flying V format.

What’s So Great About The BexGears Flying V?

Amongst budget guitar bodies, the BexGears Flying V has had the most positive reviews. Previous builders have commented that the body is pretty well crafted.

For a budget guitar body, you’re often left to the fate of a company’s reputation. This offering from BexGears seems to provide the most value per dollar spent.

You really cannot ask for much more than that, alone. But, to your benefit, this Flying V body has a few other major plusses.

The first would have to be the fact that you have to color and finish the body yourself. This gives you an opportunity to gain the experience of what is required in a guitar’s building process.

Not only that, but it gives you the ability to customize the color of the guitar how you want it. You could even paint cartoon characters on the body for permanent aesthetic character!

Sure, that may have been an excessive example. The point is, bodies that are already finished do not afford you this kind of opportunistic freedom.

Past builders have also reported that you have the option to use either a bolt-on or set neck joint. Holes have not been drilled for a modular bolt-on neck but could be easily done yourself.

Definitely give the BexGears Flying V a good looking over if you’re looking for an inexpensive project. You’ll come out to the other side with a well-made guitar inspired by a true icon.

Item Weight: 4.14 pounds

Package Dimensions: 22.25 x 17.75 x 2.25 inches

Musiclily Pro SSS/HSS ST 

We’ve already stated the importance of the Fender Stratocaster at length. However, the Musiclily Pro SSS/HSS ST provides an excellent opportunity for the custom builder.

While not an officially licensed Fender body, this offering from Musiclily Pro is essentially a Stratocaster body. However, it gives the guitarist much more freedom in the customization of the guitar itself.

For instance, this Alder body has pickup routing that can accommodate 4 different pickup configurations. These include:

• SSS
• HSS
• HSH
• HH

In addition to this routing, the major hard work has already been completed for you. Cavities for the electronics and neck pocket are simply awaiting their destined components.

The neck pocket has a width of 56mm and has mounting holes pre-drilled to support a modular guitar neck.

As is true with Stratocaster-style guitars, this body supports the installation of a floating tremolo system. Mounting holes have been pre-drilled and will support a 2-point tremolo with no issues.

It gets even better because the body itself is completely unfinished. You’ll be able to apply your own color and finish to create something truly unique.

For the most part, past builders have agreed that this is a fairly decent body for the price. It’s certainly cheaper than the Fender alternative.

Whether the additional work necessary is worth the cheaper price will be left up to you to decide.

Item Weight: 5.32 pounds

Package Dimensions: 21.26 x 16.22 x 2.99 pounds

Musiclily Pro SS/HS TL

With the Musiclily Pro SS/HS TL, you have a budget-friendly chance to build your own T-style guitar. Unlike the Fender version, this body comes ready for you to create a guitar according to your own visions.

This T-style body is crafted from Alder in a nod to Fender’s traditional Telecaster builds. As you’ll soon see, this body’s best features are the number of options inherent in its design.

For instance, this body’s pickup routing supports 2 different pickup configurations. These include:

• SS
• HS

Having this option alone is sometimes worth the price of a purchase to some guitarists. It allows you to really choose the right combination to create your ideal tone.

Routing has also been done for the switch and electronic wires. You’ll have no doubts where everything goes when putting this together.

What’s even better is that all of the holes have been pre-drilled for the bridge. This body supports a string-through-body design in true Telecaster fashion.

The 56mm-wide neck pocket supports a modular neck design with mounting locations pre-drilled. You’ll likely be able to attach a Fender neck without any issues.

Of course, you will have to drill your own pickguard holes. However, because of the pickup configurations, this is actually a major bonus.

You can essentially choose to build a T-style guitar reminiscent of the traditional standard or the Deluxe models.

This body also comes without color or finish, though some have reported it to have a thin layer of lacquer. However, this is probably for preservation purposes and could be removed with light sanding.

The Musiclily Pro SS/HS TL might not be the real thing, but it does give you plenty of options.

Item Weight: 6.53 pounds

Package Dimensions: 21.06 x 16.14 x 3.03 inches

Things To Keep In Mind When Buying An Electric Guitar Body

Buying an electric guitar body is pretty straightforward for the most part. However, you need to take careful steps in ensuring you actually end up with the body that you desire.

Body Style And Options

Be sure to really take the time to research the style of guitar that you wish to have. Also, take a look at the different options available within that category of specific body styles.

Some offerings will provide you with quite a few options, some of which you might not have ever thought about. 

Budget

While it’s usually said for almost everything, you must be mindful of your budget. You certainly don’t want to spend the house just to buy yourself a guitar body that can’t even be played.

With that being said, guitars made in this manner can sometimes have a built-in luxury of time. These projects tend to take more time than going to buy a guitar at a shop.

Because of this, you can essentially save up money over a length of time during the build process. If you do it this way, you’ll be able to save up for the very best components money can buy.

Do be mindful that, while a guitar body can be inexpensive, its practicality tends to be proportionately less so. Middle-of-the-road budget bodies tend to be of pretty decent quality, however.

The most expensive bodies might be worth your time. This is especially true if you are interested in officially licensed components.

Only you know what your budget is. If you’re completely new to building guitars, maybe start with a small budget.

Best Brand For Electric Guitar Bodies

If you’re having issues deciding where to source your guitar body from, have no worries. This overwhelming feeling happens to the best of us.

When you’re in this situation, sometimes it can help to do some research on the most well-known brands. Established brands typically have a stellar reputation built over the course of many years.

With the following company, you can be sure that you’re going to get your money’s worth. 

Fender

Fender is by far one of the most famous and influential names in the guitar industry. Since the 1940s, guitarists have enjoyed Fender instruments and amplifiers to a serious degree.

There likely isn’t a decade since Fender’s inception that doesn’t contain at least one iconic riff played by its guitars. Chances are, you could probably identify the model of guitar used within the songs due to their iconic sounds.

When it comes to electric guitar bodies, Fender is truly one of the best sources. They allow guitarists to buy officially licensed bodies, made from their factory in Mexico.

Putting together a guitar with Fender components will give you an appreciation for their modular designs. These guitars can truly be built quite easily with impressive, inherent efficiency.

Top Electric Guitar Bodies, Final Thoughts

Building a guitar is almost as exciting as writing a song. You get a chance to see your decisions come to life in a tangible form. 

As you can see, there is no shortage of options available surrounding the types of guitar bodies available. Make sure you remember these bodies when you begin to embark on the journey of building your own electric guitar.