Frost Axe - The 'bargain' SG build

[cade711]

As discussed with a few forum members yesterday in my JB-4 thread, I made a spontaneous purchase from ebay of a "near new" unfinished SG style kit. I had planning to pick up another PBG bass kit but for a quick $100 this seemed a good buy.
Just picked it up from the post office this morning to see what I have to work with!

Solid white poplar body and neck with a rosewood fingerboard. Very lightweight body! It's a 3/4 size I think. No obvious damage to the wood I can initially see from a quick look over. The neck has been glued to the body and whomever I got it from has also pre-drilled guide holes for the hardware and pickguard.



Came with an almost complete assortment of hardware bits and bobs. KD rising sun pickups? Seem to be a wholesale Chinese stock item from what I can find online. Gotoh style chrome tuners which look good and chrome bridge.
The kit is apparently "ready to build and play" except that it had no strings... so I'll need to choose some which is actually probably a great thing since I can upgrade. The cover plate and pickguard a bit worse for wear but I'll be covering those in custom vinyl anyway.



Seeing as I have no strings I couldn't yet do a build to check the alignment on the pre-set neck properly, but it looks pretty locked in place with glue. Some dried up patches to fix around the body and sockets. Also, I haven't checked out an SG before and noticed this high angle of the neck where it joins the body. Looking online it seems to be normal as the bridge will be higher also? If anyone has feedback on that would be great.



Seeing as I'm already building a bass in Flame theme, I decided to try this as Frost / Ice theme to contrast. Some deep blue and lighter teal which hopefully doesn't turn to greenish under top coat.

[Zandit75]

Good score for $100, but it's a pity the neck was glued in. Looks like the bottom of the neck cavity could have been leveled out better before glueing, but you might be able to do something with some sawdust and glue to cover that if you are not doing a solid colour.
The neck angle looks fine, and perhaps you could run a straight ruler or level along the fret board to see how it lines up with the bridge location.
Hopefully it all works out well for you.

[wokkaboy]

Hey Cade doesn't look too bad, think it is worth $100. Your plans sound interesting. The kits with a TOM (tune o matic) style bridge need the neck to have about 3-4 degree rake angle to compensate for the higher bridge so you are correct.
I'd grab some strings and check the neck alignment when you get time and before you go any further, best sort that before you start sanding and finishing if it's an issue but I doubt it.

[cade711]

Thanks guys. I'll get onto strings asap before fiddling about as I don't want to waste time double handling it as you've said if it happens to need alteration. I might also look at getting a bone nut firstly also as there was an unattached plastic nut floating around in the box that looks pretty average.

[wokkaboy]

good move Cade, the plastic nuts are rubbish, I sometimes keep it for the rough setup of the guitar when it's completed and then fit a bone nut will make it play heaps better.

[Simon Barden]

Run a straight edge along the neck as suggested by Zandit and that should give you a good idea of how much height you've got at the bridge position (the bridge will need to be 2-3mm higher). Ideally there should be just enough space to fit the bridge in. Too much of a gap, and the bridge will be right up in the air, which apart from no=t being great for sustain, also means the bridge pickup might end up some distance from the strings. I think you should be OK though with that neck angle as the body is flat, but it's worth checking before progressing. If it is very high, then you may need to try and unglue the neck.

[cade711]

Haha I would not be keen on an unglue Simon! That thing looks set in stone so fingers crossed she's straight and narrow when I get around to measuring up this weekend. Thanks

[cade711]

Using a straight edge as suggested I'm pretty confident the bridge will end about 2-3ml higher as pointed out so the neck angle looks good. I've ordered some Ernie Ball strings from the Pitbull store on sale so I'm guessing now I'll string it up and check final alignment by late next week at the least.


Zandit did you mean the levelling at the rear of the neck where it sits in the pocket was off? I had a closer look this morning and it turns out the photo is pretty deceptive. It's actually quite well flat, that 'shadowed' line turned out to just be glue staining that looks like a gap in that pic. I'll still need to clean that up though

[Zandit75]

No, I was referring to what will be visible from behind the neck.
I've circled the spot. This gap could have been eliminated completely with some careful sanding prior to gluing the neck in place.

[cade711]

No, I was referring to what will be visible from behind the neck.
I've circled the spot. This gap could have been eliminated completely with some careful sanding prior to gluing the neck in place.

Hi mate, yes that's what I was referring to also, sorry if I explained it badly. In the photo it does look like there is a gap there, however when I went back to look at that it is actually a dark line of glue that has seeped out of the join and gives the illusion that it isn't flush. If I remove that glue the join shouldn't be noticeable.