My first kit and first arch top. I have decided to go with the blonde look. Deciding on a finish was the hardest part so far, so blonde will allow for future changes of mind.
Sanded back with 120 grit, then 180, then 240. I sanded through the veneer at one point on the side. It adds to the 'hand built character'. So please be warned not to sand too far.
Sprayed a coat of sanding sealer then rubbed back with 400.
Today I applied the first coat of clear. I used Feast Watson Weatherproof gloss.
oooooo SHINY!! Yeah the veneers are easy to blow through, but like you say it all adds to the "Hand Built" ethic. That looks like its coming up very nicely. Great job!
FrankenLab
Hand crafting guitars, because Death Rays are expensive.
Hi Ian and welcome. Natural finish all round?
Hi Simon, yes clear coat all round. I thought about a black headstock but so far decided against it. Two coats now on. I think I will glue the neck in before the final coat(s).Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Makes sense. You want the join lines to be nicely covered with finish.
Don't forget that you'll need to run a ground wire to the tailpiece to ground the strings.
What wiring scheme are you planning? The current PBG wiring diagram for the bass shows a standard 2 x vol, 2 x tone control, but the Gretsch style 3 controls + 1 on the lower horn doesn't fit in well with that scheme.
I am going for the Gretsch wiring with TV Jones Thunder'Tron pickups. That means 3 way switch on the upper side, individual volumes for each pup, master volume and master tone. Sounds like a lot of control over individual pups but that's how Gretsch do it. I will ground the bridge through the strap button screw.
Nice pickups. Glad you've already got the wiring design sorted.
Having had another look and a think, I decided to go gloss black headstock. Maybe get some fancy decals for it too. There are a few different types around these days. Here we are masked up and 2 coats of black.
Headstock is now black and rubbed back with 600 ready for gloss top coats.
Today's job was to glue in the neck. I'd tried it for fit before and was nice and snug. Today I checked it for alignment. Carefully transferred centreline from the bridge end of the body onto the top using a very sharp pencil and square. Inserted neck in pocket and checked alignment to the centre using 6oomm long straight edges. Neck was about 5mm out of align. I figured this would be significant with the trapeze bridge and was surprised/disappointed it was so far out. Time for a bit of fettling with sharp chisel and abrasive paper. I will be relying on the glue having reasonable gap filling properties. Neck pocket also needed to be half to one millimeter deeper, this was achieved by light parring with the chisel. Neck checked again for gaps and alignment, then clamped up dry. I used a web clamp around the neck and body to pull it back into the socket, and a G cramp to pull it down. Check for alignment. Get glue, damp cloth and steel rule. Loosen clamps, apply Titebond II to both surfaces, reassemble in clamps and check alignment again. Wipe off excess glue with damp cloth, use steel rule inside cloth to get right into the corners. Stand back and leave undisturbed to dry.
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