Sportbilly's ES-1GT First Build

[Sportbilly]

Hi everyone,

Delighted and excited to receive my ES-1GT kit a couple of weeks ago. See Photo...

I've been on vacation but just got back and now I'm turning my attention to my summer project of getting the guitar built...

This is my first build so kinda nervous. All help appreciated and this will be my place to ask 1000 questions, starting and finishing with the dumb ones...

More photos to follow.

Sportbilly

[Sportbilly]

Okay, so I've checked over the kit and everything looks good. The body and neck don't seem to have any scratches, cracks or machine marks.

I did a mock build per the forum posts and instructions. A very useful exercise and it threw up a number of questions, being my first build. I'll not comment on all of them now but there is any issue with the neck join I'll go into in a separate post...

Anyway, here is a photo of the mock build. Reckon it'll look pretty cool when I get to the finished product.

I'm using Wudtone Black Magic Woman so should look cool with the chrome kit...

[Sportbilly]

Okay, so i mentioned the neck...

During the mock build I've noticed that the neck is slightly too big for the neck hole at the top. see the photos below/attached.

reading the forum it is clear that the alignment and fit of the next is essential so what is the best solution to get best fit?

I figure I need to have this sorted before I embark on any sanding and finishing of the body and neck...It may be a simple sanding job to get it all snug but I wanted to check to avoid mistakes so early on.

Thx

[HoneyBadgerJM]

Okay, so i mentioned the neck...

During the mock build I've noticed that the neck is slightly too big for the neck hole at the top. see the photos below/attached.

reading the forum it is clear that the alignment and fit of the next is essential so what is the best solution to get best fit?

I figure I need to have this sorted before I embark on any sanding and finishing of the body and neck...It may be a simple sanding job to get it all snug but I wanted to check to avoid mistakes so early on.

Thx

Hi Friend,
You will need chisel/sand the neck pocket , NOT THE neck heel,tiny amounts, hammer in the neck with a Rubber Mallet to protect the fret board, a glue in neck can be a challege take of too much will wriggle, it should be a very tight fit, go very slow and be patient, even using a sharp razer blade to cut away a little at a time.

[wokkaboy]

Hi Sportbilly, I've just seen your question, don't use a chisel, I'd carefully sand the sides of the neck pocket, checking the fit regularly. You should be able to push the neck heel in by hand, don't use a mallet as you may break/split/chip the neck pocket surrounding timber.
As Honeybadger said try and get a nice snug tight fit.

Sand both sides of the neck pocket so the neck remains centred

[stan]

yep sand the neck pocket.
also, use a sanding block, not just your fingers - or you will get a wavy result - much flatter with a block.
ideally the neck should be a firm press by hand fit and you should be able to hold the neck only and have the body stay on.
if you did it so tight it was a hammer fit, you risk splitting the neck pocket - also way too tight causes too much glue to be forced out of the joint, resulting in having not enough of it holding your neck on

[Sportbilly]

Thanks guys, appreciate the advice. That's this weekend's job...

Something else has come up while I was reading the forums on finish... So I mentioned I have bought some wed tone Black Magic Woman... I was wanting to paint the body and the neck black BUT I read on one of the threads that BMW doesn't go well on Maple. Also the map,e top and the next look like really nice pieces of timber so I'm going to call Widtone tomorrow for a chat. I might revert to natural neck with one of their neck kits. Might have to rethink the colour and use their Dye only product rather than the Pigment & Dye colours.

Any views on colours welcome. I'm checking out ES 1 pictures here for inspiration. Red would be classic but I'm open to ideas.

Feels like I've not started yet but I've had to consider a lot...

[stan]

colours are pretty personal, but givien the tightness of grain and hardness of the neck, i dont think they take colour like a body would.

dont go passed looking into Dingo tone, and DB is on site to give you all the help you need - also the DT black stump is way blacker than the wudtone equivalent if you do happen to want black

[Sportbilly]

Thx Stan. I don't have DT as an option I think as I'm in the UK and they can't ship it here. Otherwise would have been glad to...

[stan]

ah, of course...

i've used artists inks with good results, check my sister's guitar thread in my sig - must finish that one...