ESB-4SC build

[Ian A]

Pickups arrived in the post late last week. One had wrong mounts, so back and forth with supplier getting that sorted. The correct mounts are in the post. Also ordered headstock decal 'Deluxe' epiphone style. It may need trimming to fit. Does include brand name.

[Andy40]

This is looking really good Ian. I am really starting to dig these natural finishes

[Ian A]

Rather, the decal does NOT include the brand name. Built by me and Pitbull and proud of it.

[Chuck]

Beautiful job Ian - looking great!

[Ian A]

Now that the neck is fixed in place, everything now needs to line up with the neck. This will stop strings drifting off towards the edge of the fretboard. A check with straight edges shows the neck is aligned spot on with the join in the sides at the end of the body. Careful measuring and a sharp pencil re-establishes a centre line to locate the pickups. The original holes are too small for the Thunder'Tron pickups and are also slightly off centre. Masking tape gives a clear surface that shows the pencil lines. How to now cut out the holes?

[Ian A]

I cut out the mask with a scalpel to find the bridge pickup would not have room because of the internal bridge post. At this stage I also decided to move the neck pickup closer to the neck rather than centred over the original hole. Removed tape and re-applied then remarked pickup cut out locations. Used purple tape for greater contrast against the timber.

[Ian A]

Used a dremel with small sanding drum. Worked reasonably well. The pickup cavities are now done. Thank goodness the pickup surrounding rings will cover up the asymmetrical blobby looking cavities.

[WeirdBits]

Looking forward to seeing it all buttoned up with the ThunderTrons in place.

[Ian A]

Too hot to do much. This is the third consecutive day of 40+ temperatures. I hear a beer calling my name.

[Ian A]

It's a lot cooler today, 34C. The batteries in the camera are recharged. Shown here are the pup slots still masked and cut to shape. A mock up of the pups and knobs in position ( I dropped one inside the body. ) and a shot of the headstock with tuning machines. Not a lot of room left for the decal.