Swtiched to EXA-1

[Hesh]

Thanks guys..

All sorted. Went with the ring cut as it leaves more options for later.

on to the staining!

[Simon Barden]

You really want the standard Gibson spacing for the humbucker poles. However the F-spaced ones are only 2mm wider in total pole spacing (the bobbins are the same size) so it wouldn't be the end of the world on the bridge pickup (if you look at Wazkelly's second EX picture it looks like the bridge could do with being slightly wider whilst the neck is pretty spot-on), and would probably look as much over-sized as a standard humbucker looks slightly undersized in that position. In the neck position one would look a bit out of place, but trembucker spacing is for bridge pickups only, so that shouldn't be an issue. Seymour Duncan say that if the string spacing between the two E strings at the centre of the bridge pickup position is 50mm or less, then use a normal humbucker. If it's greater, use a trembucker.

[Simon Barden]

Nice work with the ring. Tempted to do the same thing when I finally get round to putting my EX kit together later this year.

[FrankenWashie]

Thanks guys..

All sorted. Went with the ring cut as it leaves more options for later.

on to the staining!

Nice neat solution, look forward to seeing some colour on this one.

[JohnH]

Thanks guys..

All sorted. Went with the ring cut as it leaves more options for later.

on to the staining!

Good solution.

[Hesh]

HELP!

I have tried staining the body with Bondi Blue. As you can see, all it has done is bring out the grain of the wood with a darker, slightly blue, stain. This was not was I was expecting at all.

1) will this go more blue as it cures?
2) is it because it is an ash body and so already quite dark?
3) could the stain be faulty? and yes, I did use the stain coat, not the intensifying or final coats..

[FrankenWashie]

Hey Hesh, how many stain coats have you got on that? The colour builds slowly, and the intensifier...well it intensifies. I haven't used the Bondi Blue but I found that the same sort of issue with Black Stump stain.

[Hesh]

Thanks for the reply.

That is really only one coat, but it took the whole bottle! I'm really not happy if it's going to take another few bottles to get any depth of colour...

[FrankenWashie]

Thanks for the reply.

That is really only one coat, but it took the whole bottle! I'm really not happy if it's going to take another few bottles to get any depth of colour...

Oooh. Okay.

The trick with the DT stains is that you have to use really, reeeaally thin coats. Like a 5cm x 5cm square of cotton cloth soaked in it then squeezed out and thinly applied. I got 3-4 coats out of a bottle of Black stump, and that’s not diluting it.

I’m not sure how that’s going to go, and how long it’s going to take to properly dry. I guess all you can do is hang it and give it some time to dry/cure and then hit it with the intensifier (in really REALLY thin coats).

[Hesh]

Beginners mistake hey?

Thanks for the advice. I was using the cotton square but found if I squeezed it out then there was very little actually penetrating the wood. On the YouTube video it looks almost like paint going on so I guess that's what I was expecting... actually, come to think of it, the YouTube video is applying onto a quilted veneer so obviously it would look far more dramatic!

So it looks like I applied a few coats at the same time...

I will let it dry and cure and then re-assess.

Cheers