I finetuned the fret ends with the rolled-up sandpaper method a la Crimson Guitars and now I am satisfied with the result.
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I finetuned the fret ends with the rolled-up sandpaper method a la Crimson Guitars and now I am satisfied with the result.
Attachment 38997
I applied darker tone pore filler to the body,
Attachment 39440
then I sanded it back to make the grain have more contrast and it turned out like this:
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I like the subtle contrast with the neck:
Attachment 39443
I used water based filler paste and mixed it with a bit of water to thin it and make go into the tiny pores.
Somewhere it worked well, while other places it did not work at all it seems, there are still some of those tiny open pores of ash. Anyway, I decided to put the shellack on it.
My question now: should I apply the shellac separately on the body and the neck or glue them together first and apply the shellack afterwards?
No hard and fast rules here for that. I like to give the neck and body at least a couple of coats before attaching. My thinking is that it makes it easier to clean up glue squeeze out. Just keep the neck join free of finishing product.
Thank you @DarkMark, it does make sense.
Today I prepared the shellac, 300ml alcohol + 70g flakes. I sat down to read about shellac and watch some videos about it, (amazing stuff!) and all the while I was shaking the bottle. After an hour or so, the stuff completely dissolved. :) [a few very tiny filaments remained only] Much faster than I expected...! :)
Initial shellac sealer coat applied.
Attachment 39590
(note to self: wear a rubber glove from the start next time 🤦*♂️😁)
First layer of 2-cut shellac on the back of the body! I am excited!
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...and the front side. Me like!
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Question for shellac-experts: how many layers should I apply on the neck?
Looking good.
Never used that type of finish so cannot provide any meaningful advice.
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Second layer!
Attachment 39754
That is looking very fine, Lappa.
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I made some rookie mistakes with the shellac. I try to list them here for others to follow, do not make my mistakes.
1) rubber gloves are a must
2) the first sealer layer is the easy part, no biggie
3) subsequent layers become more tricky: the main thing to keep in mind is that pressure on the surface can be pretty bad - go lightly againts the wood and only apply force on the application pad to squeeze out the solution!
4) I tried bigger and smaller pads: smaller works much better for me: less wasted material in the drying out pad and I am also less likely to push it against the surface too much to damage the already applied shellac layer. I use now an approx 6x12cm textile, this makes it possible to pinch the whole pad to force out the juice without pushing against the surface.
5) Shellac can fill small pores - but more layers are necessary
6) Buy pumice. It is for minor repairs, so I figured/hoped I will not need it - I do. :)
7) Give time for one side done to cure. When it seems OK for the touch, it can still get damage if you turn it around to work on the other side.
8) waiting for the shellac to cure is frustrating, but well worth it
Third layer of shellac on the back and sides today.
Attachment 39864
3rd shellac layer on the front.
Attachment 39983
I noticed very small bumps here and there - some are visible in the light relflecting area. Any ideas what causes those? Looks like the wood itself protruded somehow? It is not caused by stuff being attached to the surface, it seems to be a bump of the surface itself... I am puzzled. Anyway, I am overall quite satisfied. I am planning more layers still, so will see.
As for the minor scratches on the front due to my being impatient and turning the body over when the new shellac layer was dry to the touch but still soft enough to collect some dents from the weight - they completely dissappeared during the normal padding session without pumice, so actually I am happy I bought pumice for no reason. :)
Anyway - if anyone worked with shellac on ash, do you have any idea about those tiny bumps?!
Looking great Lappa, love the finish. We are just at the stage of measuring/trying out scale length in prep for gluing, having spent lots of time on arctic white nitro and lacquer. But I really need to go and buy a 1m straightedge, dicking around with a normal tape measure is definitely no good (of course, I hear you all say). Current scale length measurement is 625mm with the end of the neck hard up against the pocket and all the saddles screwed forward. Am I right in thinking this is pretty normal for this kit and I should make a temporary 3mm packing piece to push it forward & keep it in the right place for gluing? Also - dumb ass/contentious question I know - did you put your bridge on with screws pointing towards the neck or tail? Tail seems logical
On my EX-1, I positioned the neck so that the end of the fretboard was about 0.5mm back from the neck pickup rout, so that I could rest the edge of the pickup ring on the small lip left and not show a gap into the pocket. The intonation turned out fine, but the neck alignment with the saddle slots is off very slightly. Currently got extra slots cut in the saddles to fix this, but I will probably get another bridge with un-notched saddles and cut my own notches.
ABR-1 T-O-M bridges normally have the screws facing forwards, Nashville T-O-M bridges normally facing backwards, but they work both ways round. on an ABR-1, the screws sit near the top of the saddle and can get in the way of the strings as they leave the saddle, so the screws generally get faced forwards as a result, On a Nashville, the screws are smaller and lower down, so dont get in the way and being lower, are easier to access if facing rearwards.
The main thing to consider is the saddle orientation when you come to intonate. Flat side facing forwards allows more forwards movement; the flat side facing backwards allows more rearwards movement. It used to be that T-O-Ms came with the 3 top saddles facing forwards and the bottom 3 facing backwards, but now they often all have them facing the same way. On ABR-1 bridges, its easy to remove a saddle and rotate it. On a Nashville style TOM, there's a very small circlip to remove to free the saddle which is almost impossible to do. There are YouTube videos on it, but whilst I've once managed to remove a clip, I've never managed to put one back on.
@rudyrudyrudy - The scale length is about the same on mine - so I will have to be careful, not to push it all the way in to achieve the recommended 628mm. And yes, a metal straight edge does help.
I am unsure about the 3mm packing - unless you can make one that gives you the perfect scale length AND neck alignment at the same time.
@Simon Barden, thank you for the clarification about the direction of bridge screws! :)
In the meantime I did a stupid mistake again: shortly after applying a layer of shellac, I tried to use a clean soft cloth to get rid of the oil on the surface. The whole thing went totally matte *facepalm* -
Luckily, the fourth layer brought back the shine...
Attachment 40108
...at this rate, my 2020 Xmas present will turn into my 2021 Xmas present : 😂🤣
But it's lookin good! :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Lappa
Fifth shellac layer on the front.
Attachment 40380
This is a very slow process - but partly due to the 4 week delay because of lack of time, but not this thing really starts to look like an actual instrument...
That is looking nice.
Hopefully the last coat of shellac. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...debd6bbfb8.jpg
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Looking very nice.
How many coats did you finish up with, or did you lose count?
Also were you using a 1-pound cut?
I used 2cut for 5 layers, with the traditional technique: many circular movements, using olive oil too.
(Then I had quite a pause.)
After spiriting off, the 6th layer is 1 cut shellac, but I applied it without oil and I drenched the textile piece in the solution and used long swipes along the grain, as if painting. It created minor long marks, but even those look good so it occured to me that I would leave it like this.
I will leave it to cure for a week and take a look then to decide.
I'm a big fan of shellac, but have actually never used it as top coat. I generally use it to seal timber (I've even grain filled with it) and have used it under polyurethane to get a bit of tint to the timber.
I like that it is such a versatile product. Thanks for the info. Look forward to seeing the guitar once completed.
Some progress today: trying the machine heads in their place and shielding two of the cavities.
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Machine heads in place and fixed with screws.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...389d89229d.jpg
That looks great, a wonderful finish on the timber too
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I glued in the neck today.
Measured a thousand times, this is how it looks now, I hope it is close enough, keep your fingers crossed for me guys!!! :)
How much time should I allow it to cure before I remove the clamp?
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You know those strings won't work with pickups?.......:rolleyes:
Quote:
I glued in the neck today.
Measured a thousand times, this is how it looks now, I hope it is close enough, keep your fingers crossed for me guys!!! :)
How much time should I allow it to cure before I remove the clamp?
Good on ya! I've only built one set neck and I measured/checked/re-measured a thousand times too!
The alignment looks good from the photo, and if the scale is measured from your treble E saddle, should be spot on!
Don't know what glue you used, but there should be clamping/stress details on the label or data sheet.
I used Titebond and just clamped overnight, but didn't stress (with strings) for 48 hours.
Titebond say to keep it clamped 24 hours for stressed joints.
Yes, I did say "overnight" which is a bit vague. In reality it would have been at least 18 hours (possibly more) from the time I clamped it, to the time I got back to doing any other work on the guitar.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Just double checked the Titebond site FAQs and they say" Stressed joints need to be clamped for 24 hours. We recommend not stressing the new joint for at least 24 hours".
So 24 hours clamping and then a further 24 hours left alone.
Simon Barden and McCreed: thank you both!
I used Titebond, but on the container it only says 30min clamped… so I will keep it on for at least a day then.
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Well, the tone is not that great but I have no complaints about them being straight. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Rabbit
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30 minutes is the minimum recommended clamping time for unstressed joints. They really should add more information on the container rather than having to look it up on their website.
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Clamp off after 48+ hours, cavities shielded.
Looking at wiring diagrams now…
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The shielding all needs to be grounded, and you need shielding on the underside of the control covers. It's normal to run the shielding up over the edge of the control cavity onto the rebate for the cover. The control cavity shielding is grounded by contact with the pots, and the shielding on the underside of the cover is grounded by contact with the shielding in the rebate.
The two pickup cavities will need a grounding wire run between them and back to ground in the control cavity.
Use a multimeter to check continuity to all the areas of shielding, and stick some more foil across and gaps or areas with poor continuity.
And a dry test fit just for the looks. :) https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9725189a79.jpg
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Simon Barden, thank you for the tips! I’ll take the multimeter to check for sure. Cable between cavities: wow, OK, I did not think of that…
Whose wiring videos would you recommend on Youtube?
This is the first time I do this. I did soldering before on some electronics, but not guitars, so I have basic questions…
I have two Seymour Duncan humbuckers, 2 push-pull pots (because I would like to do coil splitting) and a 3way toggle, and I got this from the SD site:https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...727561ed7c.jpg
So.. now what? :)
Eg: are there certain parts to be better done while out of the cavity or should I just put everything in there and work in that little space?
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