Simon B's GPR-1B build

[Simon Barden]

I wasn't planning to get another kit, especially as I have two on the go and my previous two still in the wings waiting for better weather. But a combination of a good friend wanting me to build him a guitar and Adam offering me a really great offer on a GPR-1B (one of the kits that got removed as there was a big mismatch between the electronics supplied and the body control holes), saw me sign-up for one more kit.

So this is it, newly arrived and with the body having been wetted with turps:





No obvious glue spots apart from a white line where the veneers meet. I've already had a go with some glue remover on this and will have a couple more goes once my old electric toothbrush is recharged (easier than brushing the join manually!).

This is definitely the worse condition kit I've yet received. Nothing unsalvageable, just more work to put right.

There's a bit of a mess in the veneer/binding interface in the bottom cutaway:



Hopefully this can be made good with some maple-coloured grain filler.

The binding in general is quite rough and has a lot of machining marks on it, which will have to be rubbed down smooth. Even the F-hole binding is rough, and I've never had that on the three existing kits I've got with F-holes. Still, its only a bit of scraping and sanding.

I was less happy with this dent in the side:



But my first ever go at steaming out a dent worked well (first use of my dedicated for luthiery $15 iron from Amazon) and now you'd never know it was ever there.



Apart from a bit of raised grain (and the body needs sanding anyway) it's now fine.

There's a bit of work that needs doing on the headstock as there's a gouge out of the top on one side of the truss rod dip where the nut meets the headstock. Not quite sure yet what I plan to do with the headstock, so it can wait. But it's going to stop me leaving the headstock with a natural finish. My friend wanted a natural finish for the guitar so it's going to be quite similar to my USA Hamer Studio (which is actually a bit paler than in the photo):



But I'm tempted to do some light popping. I need to discuss this with him.

[Simon Barden]

Obviously it's got no post holes drilled for an Tune-O-Matic bridge or stop tailpiece. The sloping rear means that I can't do the temporary trapeze tailpiece trick to get the TOM position just right, which is pointing me in favour of a different bridge style. Unfortunately the top is gently arched, so a flat-based more Fender hardtail-style bridge won't fit on unless I rout the top flat for it, which is easier said than done!

Also the neck angle will probably mean that the bridge needs to be sat quite high unless that angle is altered. I shall do some testing and have a ponder.

Single string bridge pieces might be the way. Now to find some budget-friendly ones!

[Simon Barden]

Here's the headstock gouge by the nut. I think I'll stick some veneer over the whole of the top of the headstock, then just do an angled scrape of the edge so just a very small part of the cream binding shows.



Then there's a few more items I've just noticed. This took me back to my first electric guitar, an early '70s Columbus LP copy. Its plywood top also didn't touch the body in a lot of places either.



The other side of the pocket is a bit better, but still not perfect.



So those gaps are going to need filling with something solid to provide proper support for the pickups.

The last two sets of fret markers are a bit random in positioning as well.



The neck is a bit loose in the pocket. It's a slightly wedge shaped pocket, so fits tightly when the neck is pushed back from the body by about 15mm from where it should sit. So a bit of veneer on one side of the pocket should sort that out. But I'll give it a week or so anyway before doing anything about that as the gap may get bigger as the wood settles after its flight to the UK (from experience the fit is normally too tight and gets looser with waiting).

The good thing about not having pre-drilled post holes for the bridge is that I can position the neck exactly where I want it and then worry about where to put the bridge for correct intonation.

Apart from the fret markers, there's nothing that cant be fixed. Even the fret markers could be replaced with bigger ones throughout, allowing them all to be centred. But I'm not 100% happy about drilling one of these Blackwood Tek fretboards as they do seem prone to bits splitting off, and I could just make things worse.

[Marcel]

This kit will certainly keep you busy over the Summer Simon...

A little bit of a buggar needing to cover the binding on the headstock, and that gap between the ply and the body is huge....

[king casey]

which is easier said than done!

That's what sets me off on the lemming-like run to disaster.
I'm sure a knowledgeable chap like thee will produce a winner!

cheers, Mark.

[Wayne.Mumford]

Hi Simon, what about glueing and clamping, will that top pull back down or will that warp the shape? It’s a nice looking grain in the top, should be amazing with a light color.

[Adam Barnes]

Hi simon could you put some expanding foam glue in those gaps it looks more like a bit of veneer missing underneath than the ply wood letting go

[Simon Barden]

The treble side looks like it may pull together with a clamp, less sure about the bass side. My experience of the foaming glues is that they are good for small gaps, but where it's been squeezed out of a joint and expanded a lot, the 'glue' is very soft indeed. If I can't manage to clamp the gap tight, then I'll slip some veneer in the gap and glue that in.

[Adam Barnes]

My stair case guy has got one that comes in a silicone cartridge ive used it to put steel bolts into timber to hold a glass handrail and those bolts are never coming out id have to cut the timber to get them out, i cant remember what it was called but it was an expanding glue not foam

[Simon Barden]

Well, expanding glue = foam. It produces a gas as it sets which produce small bubbles in the glue which in turn expand the glue. If it's not constrained from expanding too much by the materials it's sandwiched between, then the gas bubbles will get bigger, reducing the relative amount of glue in the gap and making the bond weaker. So it really needs to be used where gaps are small, and then it is very strong.