Hi

G'day, Pat is my real name and I've just received my ST-1 kit and thought I better introduce myself. I'm 53 and live in Melbourne. I've always wanted to play the guitar particularly the blues and with a knee operation coming up in late Feb and 3 months on the sideline I thought this might be a good time to start. I can't fly fish and can't stand at the work bench, so I might as well do something with the brain. I've some basic skills, I make bamboo fly fishing rods and I do wood turning so I know all about the dreaded sanding and patience in the build.

The kit is going to be in Uluru Red with a black pearl guard. I've also just picked up some black pickup covers and dials, they didn't cost much through fleabay but thought they would look better. Maybe that could be an option when ordering?

I've done the mock build and from my trained eye (yeah right) it looks the goods. A mate who has played for about 40 years and recently built a Gibson (different company) had a look and said it looked good. Only prob is a dent on the back which was sort of 'fixed' bit we'll see what it looks like once I get down to 320 grit.

Anyway, off to the shed to get things started. I'll post some photos as I move forward.

Pat

Hi Pat welcome to the forum. Great kit to start on. Plans sound great. There should have been an option to order black hardware with your kit. Please post a photo of the dent in the back. There is a method using an iron and damp cloth that may get it out should be easier than sanding it out. Best of luck with the build!

Welcome Pat, good luck with the build.

Welcome along Pat - great idea - hopefully the knee op goes well and you're tottering around in no time :).

Hi wokkaboy, probably my bad as I thought the black hardware was the machine heads etc not the dial and pickup covers. Anyway what is done is done.

As for the dent, unfortunately they shop patched up the dent with some glue and a bit of dust so the old iron and dam cloth is not going to work. I was hoping that it was just dust so I could try that or even some aquadhere and sanding dust but to get it out was going to cause more damage.

Attachment 16015

welcome Pat, you might find that a bit of a sanding fest lessens the look of the dent, you may still have some luck with steam.
In the end, it's on the back...
Also with some timbermate fill and more sanding, staining may hide it more as well.
Good luck

Welcome Pat.

Hi Pat,

Sorry to here there is no fly fishing on the cards, especially seeing out the trout season in 2017.

Good news though...you've discovered the ST-1 build and it sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun.

Thanks guys. Stan, other than their choice of glue/fill, the did get it smooth. So there's no 'gap' to get any fill in. The sanding is getting it down and I'm hoping I can feather it a bit with the stain to get it to blend in, but the glue line is always going to be there.

Andy, getting as much fishing in now as I can! Storms don't help much. Where are you at?

I think you've done as good as you can then mate, however some "goof off" my get rid of any surface glue, ive not tried it, but others here have had good results when used on excess glue that has been on their kits on arrival