First builds: JK-1, MM-1Q

[Spychocyco]

I've been playing guitar for longer than I care to admit, and I've always taken my guitars to someone when they needed repairs, upgrades, etc. I decided a few months ago that I really needed to learn some skills, and I thought building a kit would be just the thing to give me the crash course.

I received these two kits on Friday and was a little nervous about opening them up. I returned the first kit that I ordered (not from PBG) because of some serious flaws (a non-adjustable truss rod being the deal-killer). My first impression of these two kits is that they are of a much better quality than that one. The routs in both bodies are pretty clean, necks are straight and fretwork looks pretty good. I plan to build both with the included parts and then make upgrades to hardware/electronics if I get the feel right and decide they're worth the extra expense when I get through.



Mock build No. 1, the MM1-Q: I ordered this one because I've been a full-fledged member of the cult of Music Man since the first time I held an Axis. I currently own two Axis models, and it was a natural for my first build.

Thoughts from the mock build: The neck pocket on this one seems to be pretty solid, and the alignment seems to be good with the neck in place, which was a relief. The bottom "horn" of the pocket looks a bit fragile, so I'll have to watch that. The neck has only a few high frets, and they're fairly smooth on the sides. It's not an Axis neck by any stretch of the imagination, but I didn't expect that. It is comfortable, though, reminds me of the neck on the OLP Axis copy that I owned before I got a real one. Tuners feel kind of cheap and wobbly, but I expected that, too. There's not a string retainer bar like my Floyded Axis has for the headstock, so that may need to be added.

I'm not too sure about the black binding on the body, but I wanted the quilt top and that was all that was available, so I'll have to work with it. Quilt is nice. It looks like I may have some glue spot issues around the edges near the binding, so I'll have the wire brush handy. Floyd feels loose and flimsy and will definitely need to be upgraded if I go that route. I'm a little worried that the stud holes for the Floyd are a little too big, but we'll see. Pickup rings don't fit well and don't look right to me, so I'll probably go with a direct mount.

Finish plans: Transparent purple stain for the top, likely with a tru-oil finish. With the black binding, I don't want to do the back in black. I really like the look of the PRSes that have a stained top and natural mahogany back. I may try to find a stain to give my basswood more of a mahogany color (suggestions welcome). Oil and wax neck finish.

Potential upgrades: Floyd, tuners, all electronics, DiMarzio Tone Zone bridge/Air Norton neck.



Mock build No. 2, the JK-1: I ordered this one on a whim, really. I saw it shopping for the MM-1. It was a good price, and I was already paying the overseas shipping. As an old metal guy, I have a big pointy-shaped hole in my guitar collection that I've never really filled, so I'm going to try to fill it myself.

Thoughts from the mock build: More concerns with this one. There's a good bit of play in the neck pocket, so I'm going to have to be careful with that to get the neck straight and probably use some shims on the sides. That gives me a little heartburn, as I'm already nervous about drilling the necks on both of these. The neck on this one is also comfortable, but in rougher shape than the MM-1 neck -- lots of uneven frets and sharp edges, so definitely a full fret level and dress needed. I also have some concerns about cutting out the paddle headstock. Don't want to screw it up. Tuners actually feel a little better than the MM-1s, but still not great.

The body is pretty solid. One obvious glue spot along one of the joins that will probably be taken care of in the initial sanding, and is less important since this will be a solid finish. The white pickups will definitely have to go.

Finish plans: Blue/green chameleon rattle can job and finish. Probably a bit ambitious for a first build, but it should be awesome if it works out. If not, I can sand it back and start over. Oil and wax neck finish.

Potential upgrades: All electronics, locking tuners, Duncan Nazgul bridge/Sentient neck.

[wazkelly]

Looks like you will have something to keep you occupied for a while.

The MM quilted top looks gorgeous.

Cheers, Waz

[Spychocyco]

Got most of my initial sanding on the bodies done last night. I didn't touch the quilt on the MM because I'm a little scared to do any sanding there. I guess I'll have to get over that.

I also started playing around with some stain mixes on scrap wood. The results were not what I'd hoped. Having second thoughts about the back of the MM. I don't think I'm going to be able to get the color I'm going for on the basswood. My attempts last night ranged from bright orange to ugly mud on the scrap stuff. Nothing I'd ever apply to the guitar itself. Also a little scared about spraying it, though, because I don't want any overspray on the top. And I still don't want to do black.

[Spychocyco]

The JK-1 is primed and ready. Hindsight being 20/20, I probably should have used some grain filler. I had it pretty smooth, and it being basswood, I thought I could get by without it. There are a couple of spots that could have used it, though. A day or so to dry, some light sanding, and then I get to see if my experiment works or if I sand down and start over.

[Dedman]

Bass wood can be thirsty, sand, paint , sand, paint...eventually it fills

[Spychocyco]

Fun with painting. I got the primer sanded smooth and ready to spray on Sunday, only to discover that the masking tape that I used in the neck pocket had flopped over onto the body, so I had a triangle of bare wood and had to prime again. I couldn't quite get that spot even with the rest of the primer coat, but it's small and under the neck pocket, so hopefully not very noticeable when the guitar is put together.

The paint that I ordered appeared to be a blue-green color shift, but when it arrived, I discovered that it was blue-purple. You can see flashes of green, gold or red in it in the right light. I was very disappointed when I started spraying. You could hardly see anything over the black base coat (required for the paint to work), but I kept spraying on coats. In the end, I'm not unhappy with it, though not completely satisfied either. It's a tough paint to spray, a little too close or a little too far away, and it comes out all wrong. There are still a few rough spots, which are particularly apparent in the flash photo below that I'm going to try to touch up before I spray the clear coat. I still wonder if maybe I shouldn't have sprayed a black with a little gloss over the primer before I put the paint on, but I'm curious what the clear coat will bring out. (Please ignore the messiness of my work bench. I've got several projects going at the same time, and they're all crammed in a small space.)

[Spychocyco]

Trying to fix some problem areas in the paint on the JK-1, and royally messed it up. Was near the end of the paint can and had a big glob shoot out at once along the bottom horn. I tried to wipe it quickly, but you can imagine how that worked out. Looks like I need some sandpaper and another can of paint. Going to have to sand it back a little and do a few more coats. I wasn't really satisfied with it anyway, but dang this paint is not cheap. On the bright side, I may have enough left with the new can to do the back of the MM1, and I should have the technique down by then.

Nothing really going to plan with either guitar at this point. I haven't been able to get the purple that I want for the MM1 top, even though I followed the exact formula with Keda dyes that I saw a guy use online to get it. I've modified several times from there, testing on a piece of veneer and can't get much change. It's more of a dark plum color than the royal purple I envisioned. I think I should have chosen simpler finishes for the first time.

[Sonic Mountain]

Its all a learning curve, especially on first builds, so don't beat yourself up too much. I thought finish was going to be pretty straightforward, but still managed to stuff up the first go at it. Flip or chameleon paint is notoriously difficult to get right. Light coats in multiple directions is the go, waiting a couple of minutes between passes. It also really needs to be out in the sun to get the full colour change effect.

I'm not up on the dyes, but it might change once you start getting some clear on and the different wood tones show through.

[Spychocyco]

More adventures over the weekend. The paint job on the JK-1 is pretty much a disaster. I sanded back to get the blob off, got another can of paint and gave it a few more coats. Had it looking decent until the spray can started throwing out some sort of gray, dusty spray. Not sure exactly what happened. I was shaking the can frequently to keep it mixed, but the paint is so difficult to see going on that I did a couple of passes before I realized what was going on. The stuff was dry and hard almost instantly, so more sanding back, got the paint can working right again, and hit it lightly, afraid to do more. It's OK, but very splotchy. Should have left the first run alone instead of trying to touch it up. I've decided I'm going to clearcoat and see what happens. It may stand as a monument to my utter failure as a painter.



Also cut the headstock for the JK-1. Botched that up, too, as you can see, but I think I can smooth down that hump and make it look decent. I hope I can make it play well because that may be it's only saving grace.

On a happier note, I've made some progress on the MM-1. I got the frets leveled nicely and polished out. I'm pretty happy with the job I did considering it's only the second fret level I've ever done (the first was last week on a cheap guitar I already owned). I've also decided on a hammered pewter color for the back. I originally wanted the hammered copper (I think someone else used that for a build on here), but after comparing them, the pewter looked much better with my purple stain samples. The paint is slightly textured and designed to hide flaws, so it should be much more forgiving than the color change paint that I used on the JK-1. I've got it all masked up and ready to go, and I'll probably start work on the finish tonight.

[Spychocyco]

Finally, something went very right with one of my builds. I did a little happy dance last night when I stained the top on the MM-1. The back, which I painted a hammered pewter color, is a little rough. My painting techniques need a lot of work, and the hammered texture really didn't come through on the guitar the way that it did on my test scraps. But the top came out looking fantastic. There are a few glue spots around the edges that I worked on with a wire brush. I managed to get them down to some fairly small spots. I'm trying to decide if I can live with them because I love the way the top has come out, and I don't want to mess it up. It dried more of the color I was looking for, and I think with the clearcoat, it might be very close to what I hoped for. That's a nice win in what has been a pretty frustrating finishing experience so far.