Hello Kitty: Guitar #15 is Finished.

Fender released the Hello Kitty Squier as a means of encouraging women, more specifically girls, to play guitar. Well, I'm not a girl (or a woman), and I don't need any encouragement to play guitar.

The guitar is hot pink, with pink fretboard dots and a fixed bridge. Great color, but the neck is too small for my hands.

The Custom Shop version is over US$20,000 and there were only 3 made. Besides, I don't like it.

When in doubt, make your own.

I bought the pickguard from a Squier on eBay and had it shipped from the US. Same for the strap.

I bought a one-piece mahogany stratocaster body from Warmoth. Birdseye maple neck. Locking Gotoh Floyd Rose tremolo, in black. White Seymour Duncan bridge pickup. A neck pickup ishidden under the pickguard. Pink aluminum knob.

Lots of women will love this guitar. Sadly, they'll all be approximately 12 years old, too.

Maybe if I'm really lucky, somewhere out there is a woman who will take one look at this and develop an acute cotton allergy, whipped into a paroxysm of lust and irrational desire.

Then again, if she just laughs, that's okay too.

It's a start.

This guitar sounds really good, and while it is still in its infancy and will need lots of adjustment, it is already a great sounding instrument and I look forward to playing it in front of people.

Go ahead and bust my b@lls; do you have any idea how much this guitar (and/or me) weighs?