What have I done

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Originally Posted by Olddon

I also bought a plank of Tasmian oak and did my first practice cut of the headstock. I hope to do at least another 3 before trying the real thing.

Attachment 43511

A few questions. Is the tasmanian oak similar to maple (my real neck) in regards to cutting and sanding. And if I do some practice painting on my practice headstocks, can I expect similar results.
Thanks Don

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Hi Don,
about practicing cutting the headstock, that's an excellent idea and that cut looks great.
However I wouldn't just practise cutting the shape of the headstock; get familiar with your tools and with different types of timber. Practise on timber with different thickness as it will respond differently (I might be wrong but the timber in the photo you have attached seems much thicker than a headstock).
Practise also cutting precise 90deg angles, or cut a long straight strip 1cm wide and 20cm long.. cut a circle, cut free hand shapes, cut 90deg angles then try to round the edges, and so on... this will get you familiar with your tools, will make you comfortable with cutting and correcting different shapes, and will give you a sense of how different timber responds and vibrate.

About vibrations, when you eventually will cut your headstock, make sure to clamp the neck as close to the headstock as possible, to avoid excessive and unneeded vibrations that could potentially crack the timber.
I usually use two clamps, I make a sort of sandwich with the neck in the middle, some cardboard and some scrap wood I have around (plywood or anything), to avoid leaving the clamps marks on the neck.
If I am cutting a bass headstock (for example a classic Fender precision headstock for example) I put two clamps slightly apart where the low 'E' and 'A' tuner will be.

I am not sure if Tasmanian oak is similar to maple, however I would proceed in a similar way. Get familiar with sanding and do test painting on as many scraps of wood you can find (without breaking the bank!).

When you will cut the headstock, there will be the parts that you have cut out that you can use for painting and finishing tests.
For the body, I usually do my tests inside the electronics cavities. These are small surfaces compared to the back of a guitar body for example, some tests might not be 100% accurate but they will still give you a very good indication on how that timber will respond and look.

Thank you very much for that feedback, and well picked up on the wood. That is 19mm, which was the closest I could get to what I believe will be 14mm on the real thing. After your comments I will try harder to get something closer to 14mm. I have had my jigsaw for close to 30 years and it hasnt done much in the last 20!. I will certainly be trying different cuts as you suggested.
After my painting trials I have an idea of what I want to do, but trying off cuts and seeing if the paint looks the same is a great idea.
Thanks for the feedback. Cheers Don.

I bought the kit on the 29th of August and it was in the Aust Post warehouse at 2.57am on the 1st of Sept with a delivery expected between the 8th and 12th. I was expecting by now that I would be well under way but unfortunately not. According to the Aust Post tracking website, 17 days after accepting my parcel it is still 'waiting to be processed for delivery'.
Ah well I will just have to keep practicing my painting (I have now realised the difference between sanding with 220 grit and 1200 grit!!),
soldering and jigsawing.

Watch this space ... (but don't hold your breath)

You need to email Pitbull and ask them to chase up the lazy mongrels at Australia Post.

Well 26 days after they accepted my kit from Pit Bull, Australia Post has finally realised that they have lost it. And the first thing they suggest I do …. talk to the sender about compensation !. I emailed Adam, basically asking for a refusal so I could chase Australia Post, and to my complete surprise Adam is sending me another kit by Express Post. Personally I feel that Australia Post should bear all responsibility, but after waiting for a month already I didn’t really want to wait another month trying to get satisfaction from a ‘goverment’ entity. 10 out of 10 for Adam’s customer service. Now where did I leave my jigsaw.

Well 26 days after they accepted my kit from Pit Bull, Australia Post has finally realised that they have lost it. And the first thing they suggest I do …. talk to the sender about compensation !. I emailed Adam, basically asking for a refusal so I could chase Australia Post, and to my complete surprise Adam is sending me another kit by Express Post. Personally I feel that Australia Post should bear all responsibility, but after waiting for a month already I didn’t really want to wait another month trying to get satisfaction from a ‘goverment’ entity. 10 out of 10 for Adam’s customer service. Now where did I leave my jigsaw.

Anyway, after hearing that Aus Post had lost my kit and expecting a long delay before anything happened, I ordered an SG style kit from a supplier on this side of the continent. Hours later Adam advised that he was supplying a replacement and in fact my two kits arrived within a day of each other. The SG seemed an easier build so I decided to do that first.
I have finished that
Attachment 43806
and now moving on to the TL.
I have decided on a solid colour for the body and I have gone for tung oil on the neck.
The SG had all holes predrilled but the TL has none of the smaller holes drilled. Tuner securing screws, pickguard screws, PU screws, but the one that scared me the most was the screws for the Bigsby.
Attachment 43807
Hopefully that will be all square. Fingers crossed. All the other holes will be drilled during assembly.
I am getting close to the end of preparation with the clear coats going on the body and I think I am up to about 15 coats on the neck. At the moment I give it a coat each day whether it needs it or not.
Attachment 43808
The body is presently in the paint booth
Attachment 43809
Next is a week or so for the paint to harden before a polish then assembly.
In the meantime I will be practicing my soldering.

You may need to get some new screws for the Bigsby. In the past they’ve come with long screws with a solid section at the top, right where they need to screw into the wood. Whilst this is more important on the hollow bodied guitars, if this is the case with yours, check how much solid shaft appears below the unit if you drop the screw in. Too much and I’d replace them.

Otherwise it’s just a case of lining things up and getting the trem in line with the strings. Loose fitting the bridge with tape wrapped around the trem posts to hold them in place (without fitting the bushing inserts) so you can fit the bridge and then use string or thread run up to the headstock and back to double check the alignment is a good idea. You don’t want the strings coming off the bigsby at an angle or the extra friction at the bridge will cause tuning problems when the bigsby is used. A straight string run from the bigsby down the neck is what you want.

Thanks Simon,
The screws look ok but I will make sure I recheck that at assembly time.
There seems to be two points of view as to whether holes should be drilled before or after applying the finish and I went for before. I fitted the neck then ran a straight edge down the neck and marked the tape on the body. I then aligned the bigsby with these lines and drilled the holes.
After your comments I will string the neck up before final assembly. I should have enough wriggle room to move the bigsby without the original holes showing.
I really have no experience so all comments and suggestions are very gratefully accepted.

The SG looks nice.

I cannot remember the screws being an issue for the tremolo for my TL-1TB build. Getting the tremolo arm lower was my only issue.

Hopefully when it is all assembled you will not need to shift or redo your screw holes.