First build, blue widow LP quilted

[ILRGuitars]

Simply stunning mate. Excellent work.

[Denial]

Thank you everybody for your compliments.
I really like on this forum how everybody is very encouraging and willing to dispense their experience and wisdom.

[FrankenWashie]

That’s a magnificent effort Denial, wonderful stuff to see. Standing and Applauding!

[Sonic Mountain]

I used a small round file. I found the clear had built up a fair bit around the opening and was worried about it cracking. That's an awesome result for hand polishing. I use an electric buffer and a couple of different drill attachments to do mine, cause I'm too lazy/impatient.

[Grubsta]

Wow that is just stunning beautiful work there.

[Denial]

This week I have glued the neck in

I have put the shielding tape in all of the cavities of the body and soldered up the electronics

And I have strung up the guitar see pictures
I still need to fine tune the action with the nut, at the moment it feels too high.
I would also like to make a truss rod cover. Any suggestions on how to make a custom cover?
At the moment I only have an old practice bass amp to run it through. When I first plugged it in I was a bit disappointed at the amount of hum from the guitar and I started looking at all of my solder joints and wondered if it was the pots giving problems.
I eventually replaced the guitar cable to the amp and all of the hum disappeared. I will be throwing away the cheap cable that came with the kit.

[Simon Barden]

Looking really good and very nicely polished!

Yes, those cheap/free cables are a waste of time. Just for your own enlightenment, it's worth cutting away the outer sheath on the cable and having a look at how little wire makes up the braid shield. You won't be surprised after seeing all the gaps, as to how RF noise manages to get through.

You can make a truss rod cover from pickguard material. I'd look online for some if you don't fancy re-using the pickguard that probably came with the kit. It's just a question of marking up a shape then cutting it out. A coping saw is best for the round edges if you haven't got a table router, though a small straight-edged saw is easier for cutting straight lines. Then file/sand the edges smooth and give them a bevel.

[wazkelly]

Hi Denial, just caught up on this thread and really impressed with how things turned out.

Interesting to note that Tung Oil did not discolour the blue too much however there is still an aged yellowing around binding on the headstock that gives a hint as to what level of inherent colour it has. If Tru Oil was used I reckon we would be looking at a Peacock Green/Blue finish as it does have a much darker base tint.

For the truss rod cover I bought a couple of Rosewood ones on eBay for both my Explorers and they were as cheap as and also more shaped like a traditional Gibbo one. You can also buy custom engraved 3 ply black/white/black and plenty of Chinese copies with the usual Gibbo names already laser cut.

Cheers, Waz

[Sonic Mountain]

This is a beautiful build. I made a trc cover out of aluminium for the Black Cherry build. You an also get a variety of acrylics from the big green shed which are pretty easy to shape and polish.

Please put this in the GOTM thread once you get it finished.

[Simon Barden]

Please put this in the GOTM thread once you get it finished.

Not a PBG so he can't. A shame, but that's the way it works. Maybe the next one, Denial.