First of all this isn't about lessening the effort people put into their builds, it's more about getting a better understanding of what has actually been done. I'm not looking to upset anyone, I just think this is a discussion worth having.

I see a lot of posts along the lines of 'built my first guitar' and its clearly been assembled from a kit. I'm in no way knocking this, I've built a heap of kits and they are a really valuable training tool and really satisfying to do. But it's not the same thing as starting from a couple of blocks of wood and doing everything. I also often see people who have made their own bodies but are using a commercial neck. Again, there is nothing wrong with this at all, but I feel like we should have some rules in place about stating what you have and haven't done. There is a lot of skill in making your own necks, I will automatically appreciate the work that's gone into that more than fitting a supplied neck. The same goes with building from already available bodies. To go even further, some people are winding their own pickups, carving their own nuts etc etc.

I guess what I'm saying is, what do people think about introducing a rule whereby you have to state what you did and didn't do to achieve the finished guitar? Perhaps labels such as 'Kit Build' 'Semi Scratch' 'Scratch build' 'Refinish' & 'Partscaster' to give us all a better idea of what we are looking at?