First Build LP1-SP

[Simon Barden]

Great news!

P90s are awkward to get sitting nice and parallel to the strings - normally because the bottom of the routs are parallel with the back of the body and the neck is angled.

I bought a selection of adhesive backed neoprene foam sheets in different thicknesses from eBay for this purpose on my P90 equipped guitars. They've come in useful for mounting other types of pickups too - P and J bass pickups for example. I think mine were A4 sized, but you can get smaller sizes. They typically come in 2mm stepped thicknesses, so a strip of one at the front and another 2mm thicker at the back of the pickup normally levels it all out nicely.

[chrissyinbkk]

Thanks Simon, will look at getting some of those, It may be at the moment I have them down pretty well in the rout and they are sat on the wires than run through there even though I tried tape them off to one side so I didn't screw through them, might be a laugh taking them back out, not too sure how much spare wire I left in there....

Another first today, first time ever I have strung a guitar, used the cheap strings that came with the kit, not the EB ones, got it in tune, I do have a slight bow on the neck but think I am going to leave it as it is for 24 hours see what happens before I start adjusting

Not massively impressed with the kit tuners and wish I have upgraded those, but can do that soon enough anyway in the UK

[Simon Barden]

You can indeed easily upgrade them. I've just bought some own-brand cheap Sperzel type bottom-locking 19:1 6-a-side machine heads for my EX-1 project from Nortwest Guitars, http://www.northwestguitars.co.uk/knobs-tips/ and they are very good. Maybe not quite as smooth in feel as the real things but very close. Made in the same factory as the Wilkinson machine heads.

They arrived missing the six locating screws, but a quick email and they were in the post and arrived the next day. Very good customer service.

There's a lot to chose from. I prefer the bottom locking ones because they keep the look of the guitar very similar to standard. If you want their own-brand with a tulip head (for a more Gibson vibe) then I think there's only the non-locking ones, but they are still 19:1 gear ratio, so certainly won't slip and it makes it far easier to tune up to a note than with the standard tuners (which I believe are 12:1 units).

I can't remember if the kit ones have the locating screw hole lug off at 45° or in-line. If you don't want to have to fill in holes in the headstock, then I'd choose replacement heads with the same lug arrangement.

[stan]

some nice progress, love looking at this colour combo

[Kick]

Looking very nice indeed!

[chrissyinbkk]

Had a backbow which we have sorted.... nut height seems about right but think the neck angle is too steep, having to raise the saddle too much. Gavin mentions spraying a sheet of paper with epoxy paint in the help files on here.... won't any spray paint do? or some thin plastic sheet?

[Simon Barden]

If the angle is too steep then you'd need to pack out the front of the neck joint. It's more normal that you need to increase the angle, and a small hard shim right at the rear of the pocket will do this. But any kind of shim at the front end of the pocket will leave a visible gap. Also, you only really get the neck making contact with the neck pocket in two places, instead of all over.

Any shim needs to be hard - which is why epoxy paint is suggested, but you can also use hard thin plastic or metal.

But I'd be more tempted to sand the bottom of the neck to get the angle right (it shouldn't take too much time to refinish it). I'd certainly try a shim at the front of the pocket (headstock end) first to see if it solves the issue and also to get an idea of how much needs to be removed (probably not a lot). You then have to try and sand the bottom of the heel at an angle and without taking too much depth off. That's the hard bit.

You could probably draw the angle on the heel, then put the neck in the jaws of a workmate or something similar so that only the bit to be sanded off poked out over the top, and then sand it down using a sanding block or sandpaper stuck to a piece of wood.

BUT - before doing any of that, first check that the neck is fully screwed down and there aren't any wood splinters around the screw holes holding the neck off the pocket. Also check that the end of the neck/pocket is shaped correctly so that the neck is fitting properly in the pocket and not being held high at the corners (which will increase the neck angle).

If the screws are being screwed into the body first before screwing into the neck, then I would enlarge the hole size with a drill (running the drill in reverse is the best way to do it slowly and without risk of splitting the wood) so that the screws fit through the body holes without biting into the wood, which allows them to pull the neck down properly. If the screws are biting through the body and the neck, then there's no guarantee that the screw is puling the neck down as hard as it should. This was the recent cause of a bass neck having a high angle - so it can happen.

Only if you do all that and then still have an issue, would I think about either shimming or reshaping the neck heel.

[OliSam]

BUT - before doing any of that, first check that the neck is fully screwed down and there aren't any wood splinters around the screw holes holding the neck off the pocket. Also check that the end of the neck/pocket is shaped correctly so that the neck is fitting properly in the pocket and not being held high at the corners (which will increase the neck angle).

If the screws are being screwed into the body first before screwing into the neck, then I would enlarge the hole size with a drill (running the drill in reverse is the best way to do it slowly and without risk of splitting the wood) so that the screws fit through the body holes without biting into the wood, which allows them to pull the neck down properly. If the screws are biting through the body and the neck, then there's no guarantee that the screw is puling the neck down as hard as it should. This was the recent cause of a bass neck having a high angle - so it can happen.

YEP! That's gold, Simon.
Ive been baffled in the past because of splinters/sanding dust under the neck heel - or - holes being a little too narrow......
I learnt very fast that you have to clean everything down carefully before putting it all together.

[chrissyinbkk]

Thanks for the info guys, as you know I'm new to all this (but loving every minute) before I go shimming or sanding I thought I would put up a few pics, could it be the frets need dressing?... I have one of those proper string action an set up rulers coming tomorrow. Bridge height ok , too high or what?

[Simon Barden]

It's on the higher side, but I wouldn't say it's excessively high and a problem. I've seen a lot of recently built Gibson LPs with much higher bridges (which in my opinion is an issue).

Action is a personal choice but with a good set-up on the I think you should be able to get it down by up to 1mm lower than it is at the 12th fret, which will also bring the bridge down by a bit more than that. But it's hard to say by how much without actually seeing the guitar in the flesh.

Maybe you can take some pictures looking along the neck to see how much bow you've got in the neck, and also one of the nut - as high slots can raise the action significantly and give a false impression of how playable (or otherwise) the guitar is.

A fret level and dress would almost certainly allow you to lower the action a bit - but it's hard to tell without being there if that would be a significant amount or not (though I find any amount always helps me).

As an aside, your neck P90 looks to be sitting rather high. I wouldn't have the pole pieces of any pickup sitting any higher than level with the top of the frets - use a ruler along them to check this out. As it is, if you did ever play up on the higher frets, there's a danger of a string buzzing or choking on a pole piece (try it now). I don't know how much room you have for adjustment here - if there's foam underneath the pickup then you may need a thinner piece if you can't screw it down any more - or else the rout may need to be deepened. I don't think I've seen a picture of a PBG P90, so don't know how they are constructed; whether like a real P90 or some other method. In this thread post picture, http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...l=1#post145791, the neck pickup looks a lot lower, so it looks like there's some wriggle room.

I'll repeat my plumber's PTFE tape tip here - try wrapping some plumber's joint tape around the bridge post threads. There's often a lot of play here, allowing the bridge to rock a bit, especially when it's sitting on the higher side. The PTFE tape takes up the slack and gives a nice firm base, which I'm convinced helps with tuning stability if nothing else. Just add it to the thread below the line of the top and you won't even know it's there.