Flame top guitars are overrated
Some guitars take the flame top too far to the point they start looking not-so good, and the Fender Select Stratocaster in Dark Cherry Burst is one of them. Both the body and neck are flamed on it. Flame, flame, flame and more flame.
Oh, there's more.
Does a ready-made Telecaster exist that has this configuration?
The term "build a guitar" is a little bit weird because sometimes it involves actual woodworking and other times it does not, so I'm going to cover several build types here.
I've talked about scale lengths before. Now it's time to talk about neck thickness.
One of the coolest guitars ever is the Fender '70s Stratocaster in Natural finish. It looks like something Ritchie Blackmore would play. Old-style 21-fret neck, 6-screw bridge, big headstock with big Fender logo and "swoop" STRATOCASTER, and of course the bullet truss rod cover...
...but I'd never own one. Why? The big-ass "U" shape neck.
My definition of cheap concerning an electric guitar is under $300, and that's in US dollars. When you go over $300, there's not much left to spend on other things (like amps and effects among other things) if you are on a tight budget.
Before starting this, two things: