Gr-1sf

Hi all, my name is Caesar, I'm new to this, in fact I got no experience on wood work at all, so any help will be gladly appreciated, my first guitar project and a little nervous about it too.
So long story short, checked that all parts are in the box, hey fox's A+++++ for Pit Bull Guitars, love it, next and hopefully soon pics of the kit and get advises from this forum.
Till then, I'll drop in every day to introduce my self and look forward making friends and share experience with everyone here.
And day 1 arrival day..

welcome Caesar, looks like you scored a nice kit. There is plenty of help and knowledge on the forum so ask any questions you may have. Have a think about the finish you want and start sanding !

Welcome Caesar!

welcome Caesar!
Go slowly, ask all the questions you want, and enjoy

Thanks wokkaboy I will need all the help I can get lol..

Hi Stan thanks I will need as much help as I can get before touching the kit..

Hey Fretworn, thanks and will keep in touch, I'm so glad to find help here..

Welcome, Ceasar! You have definatly come to the right place, these guy's are awesome! Have fun with your build. Cheers!

Thanks Steven..

Ok so sanding started, looking great too, I was reading swining beef post and gave me better view to what I'm heading to, the question is, it looks great to me and I will post a photo before applying any color on it, how do I know that it's really ready for first coat?
If I apply first coat and is not really as good as it should, more sanding is the trick?
Thanks in advance.. :rolleyes:

run your hand over it, and feel for bumps , divots and rougher spots. If it feels smooooth then you are probably there

Also check from all angles in daylight. Often small dents that can be easily sanded out only show up this way.

Hey Ceasar welcome to the Gr1sf club! I built one a few months ago and had great results with the kit. Here is a few tips I picked up that would have been good for me to have in the back of my head as I built mine; one, have a clear plan from the get go. It is fun to take on the kit with a loose idea of what you want and then let it develop as it goes but that method is guaranteed to make it take twice as long. I know we enjoy the process but it can be frustrating to have some momentum going and then have to wait for a upgraded part wires tool etc. this plan should include your wiring schematic, for instance most forum users recommend braided push pull wire to help with the potential buzzing in the long wire runs, thats something you would have to upgrade from whats included with the kit. Also on that note if you are new to soldering try and spend 15 minutes with someone who is experienced just that amount of time could save you hours and help keep your sanity. (It took me a few tries to get my setup all wired correctly!) Two the forum is your guide. There is a ton of experience in here and everyone is helpful so don't hesitate to post questions you will get an answer back guaranteed! My last tip is pinch your output jack a little before you install to make it nice and tight. Mine is a little lose (I use a 90 degree cord and wrap it around the strap button so it stays in). last thing you want is to have it all working and then have to take it apart to tighten the jack! Have fun!
Aloha, Jeff

Welcome Ceasar! Great kit you have there and should be a great build. Keep us all up to date on progress. The forum is a great bunch of folks with friendly advice on tap. Hope to read about all your experiences and hear the final product.

cheers,
Gav.

Looking forward to the build Caeser. Love the GR kits!

Cant wait to see how you go.
I'm hoping to get some time this weekend to put the neck and hardware on.
:D

good stuff Beef always an exciting and rewarding part of the build to see how it looks with bling and neck in place.

One more thing I wanted to mention about the Gr-1sf kit was the intonation and the placement of the bridge. I used the stock location and bridge and it was able to intonate correctly at the 12th fret. Perfect actually, until I put a thicker gage set of strings on. Then I was able to correctly intonate again at the 12th fret but the adjustment is basically maxed out. if you prefer thicker strings you might want to check the lengths or consider a floating bridge, which might mean plugging the existing holes. (just in case you wanted one more thing to sand)
Aloha, Jeff

Hi all, thanks for the feedback and just to keep everyone in the loop, coats done, next a bit disappointed when I ran the first final coat but I'll wait till is completely dry and use the steel wool supplied by Dingotone kit (Fantastic) so I'll try to upload some pics and any Ideas would be great.. So while I'll wait for the neck to dry (since Friday the 31st of last month) I've started with the electrical, and yep again stuck, worked out the tones and volumes pots, little I didn't realized there's a master volume pot, any diagrams that can help?
I'm also waiting for the Intensifying coat to dry and is looking good as far as smooth feels and not many or close to none grain spots, happy about that, I will post some pics soon.
So I hope I can upload those pics and get as much help as possible, both neck final coat and wiring.
Thanks in advance.Attachment 4398Attachment 4399Attachment 4400

Hi again, I meant to say that I've applied the Intensifying coat to the back of the guitar body and happy so far, I haven't applied any to the front of the body yet so the front will be next soon when the back is dry, so here I have some picks, if anyone spots something not right please let me know.
Thanks in advance again everyone.Attachment 4401Attachment 4402Attachment 4403

Hello Swinging Beef, thanks for that actually you and I have lots in common, we both perform Rockabilly and working on my new Rockabilly album too.
One question about gluing the next on those kits (GR-1sf).
Would it be good idea to hold the next by screws? I was told that if we use thick gauge strings and the neck is not properly glued can force it to come out or off set the neck, now that sounds scary, and even if it doesn't for peace on mind, would this be possible and good idea?
Thanks SB..

looks great Caeser, you are doing a nice job

Here are some GR-1SF wiring options.

Good glue will hold it just fine. I would avoid the screws.

The glue I used on my guitar neck, I also use on another instrument I play.
I have faith the guitar neck will never be put under this much stress, so I trust this glue.
Attachment 4416
Attachment 4417

classic pics Beef balancing on the double bass,looks very cool.
Caeser use titebond glue to glue the neck should be fine. Just give it at least 24 hours to dry before putting any string tension on

Hey SB, love the pics, and love that style too, thanks for the info there, so the glue it is only, I'll use the one I've got from Adam.
Thanks wokkaboy, glad to hear is going ok so far, so now gonna try the second final coat to the neck.

Thanks for that, will have a read and work it through tonight while the neck dries up..

In general, thanks to all for the info here..

Hello everyone, ok so the neck is kinda ready, I've bath it today and it's looking more to I wanted, only it's a bit sticky but I was told that will go away as I keep bathing it (Dingotone paste) and I'll add some picks to what it looks like Attachment 4629 Attachment 4630.
Now I started the sides and this is what it looks like,Attachment 4631 Attachment 4632
Now while it's drying I've started with the wiring (slowly of course) and maybe time to put the strings adjusters and then the neck deco (got a personalized one), further bathing the neck..
Question: Should I put the neck deco now before the strings adjusters and bathing?
Can anyone spot something I'm not doing wright (Gatto clean the edges after I put the neck).. Thanks in advance and glad to show this project process...

I'm building the ESB kit myself right now and also a first timer.

Hope you have as much fun building yours as I am with mine.

nice progress Caesar

It sure is Tonyewen, a slow process but worth every bit of it,already thinking my next one straight after this one lol.. I'm hopping to put together like the Gretsch Cliff Gallop played, love the sound of it...Thanks Tonyewen..

Thanks Stan, a slow process but sure it's looking to what I wanted..

Hello SB, have you done the neck and hardware??

She's looking sweet Caesar! Good job so far man, keep at it and keep those pics coming. Cheers!

She's looking really great Caeser. Love the colour you've managed to achieve and the natural neck and sides are a great touch. Will be awesome to see this bad boy all strung up!

cheers,
Gav.

I'm liking the look of this Caesar. Nice balanced colour scheme and rich colour on the guitar face. Also love the photos playing the double bass!

yeah, mate, mine is all finished.
I am still tinkering but it is gig ready.

Whats your question?
I mock installed the headstock hardware to get the measurements correct for the headstock decal. Then removed the headstock hardware to install the decal. And continued with another dozen clear coats over the decal before re installing the hardware.

I have completed the neck, I was very happy that it was no where near as difficult as I expected.
I needed to trim sand a little of the edges to get a straight fit (as shown in the early parts of my build thread) but the fitting of the neck was straight forward... remember to measure twice, and cut once.

My build is detailed here.
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=3857

I love the colour scheme you have gone with... it inspires me for my next build :D

Whoa, I agree with SB, the color scheme is great! Definitely think I want to do a Tele with similar colors and unfinished sides down the track - or maybe one of these.