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Well the clamping idea is out. There's no movement at all on the treble side and only a fraction of a mm on the bigger bass side gap. So the gaps will need filling with veneer strips and gluing. I'll try and make them slightly wedged, so I can tape them in and they should hold on their own whilst the glue dries, then I can trim back the ends in the cavities. Something to keep me occupied.
One thing I have just noticed which is nice, is that the veneer on this guitar is getting on for 2mm thick, not the paper thin layer that you normally get.
Attachment 25336
Which is good, as I somehow dropped a bit of concentrated stain on the top of the body as I was giving it a light amber stain wash. So I now need to try and sand it off, otherwise it will end up darker than I wanted though having to stain the rest to match the blob. The wash also showed up some glue spots which I've had little luck removing so far.
This all looks rather 'challenging'.
Will be watching with interest - good luck Simon.
I have a feeling this build thread is going to be the source of answers for a lot people facing similar obstacles in the future.
Eager to see how you tackle some of these issues!
Just to add my 2 cents worth.
Fender did a hardtail on a Starcaster that has a curved top by putting an aluminium block under the bridge which is easy enough to do and seeing as you said that the bridge may need to be set high could be a good packer. There is a video on YouTube on Normans Rare guitars that has an example and seeing as it is ally you can use sand paper to shape it to the contour of the guitar top after roughing it out with a half round file. If you use some double sided tape you can attach the block to a piece of wood and take it down to 1mm thickness if necessary. Just remember to not get the material to hot as it effects the holding ability of the tape and ally is a great heat sink.
As for the gaps I personally would not worry about them as they wont be seen and if you look at the upper picture of the gap there seems to be no material behind the pickup cut-out which is probably part of the hollow body. If this is the case then filling the gap wont give you any more material to attach the pickups. The material looks to be about the same thickness as the body for the ES-3 and that supports pickups and as you said it seems that the body is stiff enough. Just saves some time and headaches.
On the gaps... I wondered about using auto body filler. It cures very strong, not tough to sand. Doesn't expand or contract as it cures.
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Nice looking kit there SB. I liked the starting words too...."I wasn't planning on getting another kit..." :)
geezz Simon that's not to good mate but if theirs someone on the forum who can fix it properly it is you, the guy who said about using bondo on the big gap is right i have used it on similar problems, on my GS2Q build when the veneer near the binding i uses a neutral timber mate and mixed in some of the same colour as i used on the quilt worked pretty good and couldn't see the fix when i did the finish.
Hi Simon, I have one of these which has similar issues to deal with as yours. A couple of things, hope you haven't sanded the top too vigorously yet. If you look closely the veneer on the top layer of ply is as thin as usual, the lower layer of ply acts as the base of the rebate for the purfling.
Also, have a look into the hole for the selector switch, that there is enough clearance to get the switch in place. On mine the hole is partly blocked by the inside edge of the body.
Attachment 25411
Otherwise, happy building.
Grant
A switch like this might fit better...
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F252267874328
A little pricey, but the wiring harness on a semi-hollow is such a pain to install, the last thing you want in it is a cheap component...
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