Travis Dykes has spent 13 years as a full-time studio musician in Nashville, touring with major artists and teaching guitar and bass. In his interactions with students, he saw that price constantly came up as a barrier keeping aspiring musicians from getting started.

So Dykes, now in his 30s, took on a challenge to build a functional bass guitar from affordable parts that anyone could replicate in a day.

He found all the parts he needed on Temu for just $136.

Dykes documented the guitar build in a YouTube tutorial, "We Built a Bass Guitar with Temu Parts," which has drawn more than 155,000 views. He was so impressed with the result, he even took his custom bass on the road, including a European tour with gospel musician Charity Gayle.

Building From Scratch

For the build, he sourced everything on Temu including the body, neck, bridge, pickups, hardware, tuners, strap buttons, and strings. Strings, which can cost $30 to $40 per set at traditional music stores, were available for under $10.

"I was able to customize the pieces beyond their original state to do exactly what I wanted," he said.

The materials held up even after Dykes applied a burn-finishing technique typically used on higher-end woods.

"The quality was surprising," he said.

Taking It on Tour

The success of the bass build led Dykes to source more materials from Temu, including studio equipment and components for other instrument modifications.

"Limitation is the biggest barrier to creativity," Dykes said. "With affordable components, those limitations are fewer than ever before."