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Bass Guy
15-03-2013, 04:43 AM
Well I bit the bullet and secured a lovely TL-1 kit, and immediately got cracking on the neck. To my chagrin I note that DingoBass is offering to shape headstocks. Wish I had known that before I nearly butchered mine with a rogue jigsaw.... :D

Once shaped, I hit the neck with base coats of Wudtone Orig Vint Yellow. The headstock immediately revealed a lovely knurl in the maple, and the finish has accentuated this beautifully. I can't tell you how impressed I am with the Wudtone stuff. So easy and such great results.

Once my Dark Amber pack arrived, I sanded the body and hit it with the first coat. Not too bad, but it will only get better once cured.

Hopefully these photos will load up otherwise I will add them on later.

Cheers,

Bass Guy
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/9u250-image.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/4bn75-image.jpg

Bass Guy
15-03-2013, 04:53 AM
More shots of the body stain and assembly test
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/v247t-Dark-Amber-first-coat.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/7349h-Assembly-test.jpg

keloooe
15-03-2013, 06:13 AM
Hey Bass Guy, lookin good already! Nice to see you have gone the smart way and checked to see what fits where and if it fits!

Cheers,
Callum

Bass Guy
16-03-2013, 08:57 AM
Final coats of Original Vintage Yellow base coat.

(note the cunning product placement decal...)
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/7dc2w-image.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/x94l0-image.jpg

Bass Guy
17-03-2013, 02:45 AM
Second and possibly final base coat of Dark Amber. I will see how this dries/cures before deciding on another coat or not. Gold highlights to follow as well.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/r3lki-image.jpg

Bass Guy
23-03-2013, 07:40 AM
Final coat of Top Coat drying in the pygmy twilight....

Forgive me, I had Zappa on the iPod doing this...

Bass Guy
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/4c102-image.jpg

Gavin1393
23-03-2013, 08:14 AM
Quote from Bass Guy on March 22, 2013, 16:40
Final coat of Top Coat drying in the pygmy twilight....

Forgive me, I had Zappa on the iPod doing this...

Bass Guy
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/4c102-image.jpg

Zappa painted your guitar! Kewl!!

Bass Guy
24-03-2013, 05:07 AM
All done with the finishing. Now to let the body cure like a ham... I will start the wiring up process on Monday evening.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/2nd2y-image.jpg

pablopepper
25-03-2013, 10:06 AM
Quote from Bass Guy on March 22, 2013, 16:40

Forgive me, I had Zappa on the iPod doing this...

Bass Guy


You should never have to apologize for Zappa. Which album is Pygmy twilight on? I have more than 30 Zappa albums, but that name doesn't ring a bell.

Bass Guy
25-03-2013, 05:57 PM
It's on Roxy & Elsewhere... :D

pablopepper
25-03-2013, 09:04 PM
Quote from Bass Guy on March 25, 2013, 02:57
It's on Roxy & Elsewhere... :D

Which I own...

Bass Guy
25-03-2013, 10:22 PM
Yep, second track.

Bass Guy
29-03-2013, 03:15 PM
Shielding and machine heads all done. Tomorrow, we wire!
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/6l42d-image.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/j0x67-image.jpg

keloooe
29-03-2013, 08:51 PM
Looks like we're both shielding our axes!!!
Is that your first shielding job??? Looks neat and tidy!!!

Bass Guy
30-03-2013, 02:28 PM
Quote from keloooe on March 29, 2013, 05:51
Looks like we're both shielding our axes!!!
Is that your first shielding job??? Looks neat and tidy!!!

It is indeed my first shield job, and as with everything on this build it doesn't bear close examination... ;)

Once it's wired up we will see how good the shield job was...stay tuned...

Bass Guy
30-03-2013, 11:04 PM
The (nearly) completed article. Just need to take some meat off the nut to make it playable- at present it's a great slide guitar... :D
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/4y323-image.jpg

Gavin1393
31-03-2013, 12:39 AM
Made a few slide guitars by accident myself! Damn nuts!

You have shielded the holes between the cavities, earthed the bridge and shielded the pickguard? Just checking....

Bass Guy
31-03-2013, 03:43 AM
Quote from Gavin1393 on March 30, 2013, 09:39
Made a few slide guitars by accident myself! Damn nuts!

You have shielded the holes between the cavities, earthed the bridge and shielded the pickguard? Just checking....

Oh yes! I was thought I was getting a little fascist with my shielding, but you can't have a Faraday Cage with only 5 surfaces. I even shielded the routing for the jack plate. That might be going a bit far...

keloooe
31-03-2013, 05:23 AM
Probably is a bit far...

Bass Guy
16-06-2013, 02:40 AM
Nut replacement time! Top: the supplied plastic nut. Middle: a brass blank (to be used as shaping template). Bottom: a bone blank, to be shaped.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/zx8t9-image.jpg

Bass Guy
16-06-2013, 02:49 AM
Slight disaster!

In my attempt to remove the neck two of the neck screw heads broke off, leaving no choice but to wrench the neck off violently. This has caused considerable damage to the heel joint and neck heel. Oops.

Undaunted however, because I want to shim the neck as I wasn't happy with the way it was seated. I will repair the heel joint, add the shim and reattach.

Will this be the first bolt-on set-neck Tele?
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/t1h46-image.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/6ire9-image.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/c8in3-image.jpg

MetalMatt
16-06-2013, 03:14 AM
Oh noes!!

Gavin1393
16-06-2013, 03:24 AM
Ouch. Did you pre-drill the original holes for the screws?

Bass Guy
16-06-2013, 03:57 AM
I did pre-drill, but I am guessing the bit was too small. The big hassle was how the screw heads sheared off... 8O

Ah well, I stand by DB's wise words.... There is always a way around these things.

WeirdBits
16-06-2013, 04:20 AM
Quote from Bass Guy on June 15, 2013, 11:49
Slight [...]

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Ouch... talk about ruin your day. It's amazing how easily the screws can snap if they pinch even the slightest bit in the body holes. I've snapped one, so I know how you feel. In my case I was able to use a fine drill bit to drill around the broken screw in the body and get the neck out undamaged, then just plugged and redrilled the body. Sacrifice the body, save the neck... mine was unfinished, though, so I was lucky. It was my own fault for using different screws and trying to do something clever. Needless to say, I learnt my lesson: make sure the neck screws don't bind in the body.

Good luck with the repair... the bright side is: set neck = a touch more sustain for that tele twang!

Bass Guy
16-06-2013, 04:52 AM
[/quote]

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means..."

[/quote]


Hahahahahaargh! Inconceivable!

dingobass
16-06-2013, 08:51 AM
Wow...... I have seen lots of things go tits up but never seen that one before.
Nothing like a challenge :)

Neck pocket..The way to fix this is to rout out the damaged area and cut a filler block of the same timber, glue it in with Titebond and leave to fully cure overnight.

Neck.. Force Titebond into the crack and clamp it and leave overnight to cure.
Then drill and plug the screw holes and start again.

When drilling neck bolt holes, I drill the body holes the same size as the outside diameter of the screw.
The neck holes should be the diameter of the shank of the screw, measured from the inside pitch of the thread. Easy way to do this is to hold the drill bit and screw together and you will soon find the right size drill bit to use.

Another DB trick is to use a little bit of soap on the end of the screw to help it drive in without snapping.

Gavin1393
16-06-2013, 10:13 AM
Or just measure the screw diameter multiply by 2/3 and use a drill bit that size.....

Bass Guy
18-08-2013, 11:11 AM
Neck pocket filled with Timbermate and neck holes filled and crack packed and clamped. We'll wait for a week to see if it works....
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/nxp8y-image.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/o6c0v-image.jpg

stan
18-08-2013, 11:31 AM
shame to see this happen- such a good looking build too.

hopefully your ingenuity pays off!

I'm going to use a similar method to repair the misplaced holes for my lefty ES and re drill them....

Bass Guy
18-08-2013, 12:03 PM
Yes, best of luck with that one! I had a similar issue with the lefty Explorer just completed. Fortunately I got the intonation to work, but you caught yours before you did the finishing so you're ahead of where I was .

dingobass
18-08-2013, 12:35 PM
Hey Stan,
It would be better to plug the holes with a tight fitting dowel glued in with the glue you got with your kit.