So my kit came in this weekend and it was surprisingly (or not really) good quality...
The Good:
-The neck fits the body flush and tight. Better than most major brands’ fully built instruments.
-The neck is straight, the frets are clean, and the headstock is preshaped, thank god.
-No parts were missing, which is nice as something to note.
The Bad:
-The body had 2 imperfections: one ding and kind of a gouge. Pretty sure I can sand them out.
-The pickguard was hot off the press! In that, the shavings hanging off of it weren’t cleaned off, a quick touch of sandpaper will fix it.
-The body was multiple pieces, like 3 or 4. Between that and the imperfections my original plan of staining might have to changed. Time will tell.
So my first impression upon opening it was this thing is SOLID. It has a good weight to it and seems well balanced. We’ll see it IS an RD after all.
Plans/mods/upgrades:
Bridge - going string through, anyone have tips on where to get ferrules? I can’t find top ferrules for the life of me.
Pickups - Dimarzio Model J
Electronics - Going mad scientist on this one. VVT w/Series Parallel switch, onboard OD/boost. Also relocating the input to the side instead of the front because FRONT INPUTS ARE STUPID!!!
Chapter One: SAND, SAND MORE.
150 grit followed by 220. Damn it’s smooth! Need to pick up 320/350 to make the neck smooth, possibly hit the body one last time. Little bit of hole cleaning too.
That was it for day one, as I work a late schedule and I was sanding at 4AM in my apartment and my neighbors/fiancé/cat already think I’m a loud stupid asshole.
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