ES5V first build

[DarkMark]

Hi, first time builder (second build diary-don’t go there!)
ES-5v arrived this morning.
Nice looking grain.
Can anyone spot any problems?
Thanks.

[DarkMark]

More photos....

[DarkMark]

More photos.....

[Sonic Mountain]

The old fret board looks a bit ordinary... is there a join above the fret or something? Can we see some more pics of that area?

The heel and its fitting is pretty typical. The neck heel should clean up pretty well and improve the fit with some judicial sanding. You have no bridge holes drilled so mark them up after you've got the neck sitting in the pocket a bit more nicely.

Is there a veneer around the outside of the body - those gaps in the heel pocket area bit odd... but I haven't done a kit like this before so don't know if its normal.

[Simon Barden]

The neck at least needs to go back, that fretboard is terrible. It doesn't say in the kit description what the fingerboard is supposed to be but it looks like Blackwood Tec. And it shouldn't look like that. The end of the neck heel is angled, not straight. If it was the only issue, you could sand that flat yourself to better fit in the neck pocket. With the floating bridge, you won't have any issues with scale length and intonation as you would if it had pre-drilled bridge holes.

Return the body too whilst you are doing it. The internal neck block should be solidly glued to the outer body front and top. You could live with one very small gap, which you could fill with a bit of veneer and glue, but those gaps are just too large. You're gluing the neck to that block, but if the block isn't properly attached to the body, then the neck isn't properly attached to the guitar.

Sonic - the guitar body is all ply, though the outer ply is a pretty looking one, a bit thicker than a veneer. Supposedly it's all basswood ply, but I suspect the outer ply may be birch or something similar as it's harder than basswood and the figuring on birch is similar.

[wazkelly]

Curve on the back in the 1st shot doesn't look symmetrical and front shot looks a bit weird too.

[Simon Barden]

Well spotted, Waz. I agree.

[DarkMark]

Thanks for the critical appraisal Sonic, Simon and Wazkelly. Another kit will be arriving tomorrow and I’ll be returning this box of disappointment. The wood grain seems to create a kind of rippled optical illusion looking at the curved surface. I thought it was ok.

[DarkMark]

This kit is a big improvement.

[Andyxlh]

That looks better! Weird, everything I have bought through PB has been top notch.