First builds: JK-1, MM-1Q

So, quick question folks. My JK-1 has been hanging for just over a month since I sprayed the clear coat, and parts of the back still feel a little "gummy" is the best way that I can describe it. It's smooth, but it feels kind of soft, not really sticky, but just soft. The front seems to be fine -- dry and solid. I've been checking it a couple times a week for the last two weeks or so, and nothing seems to be changing. The paint cured for several weeks before I sprayed the clear coat, mainly because I thought it was trashed and I was deciding what to do with it. The clear coat is the same brand and type as the paint. The front, which seems to be fine, wasn't done any differently from the back. Any ideas?

Does the area that feels 'gummy' smell of solvents? If so than it hasn't cured yet.

I just went through the thread but i haven't got my head around what your actually doing, what type paint are you using proper automotive grade or the shit from bunnings?

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Originally Posted by mbakirov

So is the neck thin there?

Also are the humbacker supplied 2-3 wires or 5 wires one? (I might plan to install a splitting scheme there)

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Sorry I missed this post earlier. The MM-1 neck is certainly not as chunky as a Gibson, but definitely not thin in an Ibanez shredder sort of way, either. If you like a Strat neck, I don't think it would be a massive change for you. The actual Music Man Axis neck (most comfortable in the world for my hands) is narrower than a Strat neck and a little more rounded on the back. The MM-1 is not the same profile as its Music Man counterpart, though. It's more akin to an old OLP Axis knock off, if you can get your hands on one of those.

I'll have to check on the pickup wires, but it's a very simple wiring set up out of the box -- one volume knob and a three-way switch.

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Originally Posted by phrozin

I just went through the thread but i haven't got my head around what your actually doing, what type paint are you using proper automotive grade or the shit from bunnings?

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To be honest, I haven't got my head around what I'm actually doing. First paint job, and all of the videos and articles that made it look so easy didn't really prepare me. I don't have access to proper spraying equipment, so this is a rattle can job. The paint I used was an upper-end rattle can, but still, I guess the American equivalent of the "shit from bunnings." :)

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Originally Posted by Spychocyco

To be honest, I haven't got my head around what I'm actually doing. First paint job, and all of the videos and articles that made it look so easy didn't really prepare me. I don't have access to proper spraying equipment, so this is a rattle can job. The paint I used was an upper-end rattle can, but still, I guess the American equivalent of the "shit from bunnings." :)

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sorry mate didn't realize your from the US, post some pic of the paint your using hard to help if i dont know what your using

Apparently the back just needed a little more time. I had other things going on for the past couple of days, but I returned to the JK-1 last night and the gumminess had cleared up. The back was fully dry, perhaps a little slicker than the front, but ready to go, I think. Just too much impatience on my part.

I can't believe that I almost scrapped this one at one point because I thought it was going to be horrible. It looks great. I can't really capture the color with my flash inside. All of my photos come out looking this turquoise color, but it flips from a deep metallic blue to a dark purple in good light. I'll try to get it out in sunlight at some point and see if I can get better photos. There are definite flaws in the paint, one I'm particularly angry at myself about, but they're not incredibly noticeable without a close inspection. On to the polish.

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I had mixed results with my headstock logos. I'm pretty happy with the way the MM-1 (pictured below) came out, but the JK-1 headstock is giving me some trouble. Since I painted it to match the body, I thought I'd go with a light gray, which looked good on the paper, but when I slid the decal off the backing on to the headstock, you couldn't see it at all. I guess the inking was too faint for the gray to show. I'm going to try with a darker gray, which I'm guessing won't have enough contrast with the blue/purple, and a cream, which I'm guessing will have the same issue as the dark gray. I really don't want to go with a bright color that will clash with an already pretty flashy paint job. Anyone got tips for getting a waterslide that works on a dark background?

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Unless you have an printer that can print opaque ink (ie white) you won't have any luck with waterslides on a dark background. Unfortunately this is limited to pretty high end commercial machines.

I'd suggest getting a decal vinyl cut in white - there are stacks of places online that will print/cut your design in a variety of ways. Thats probably the easiest way to get a pro looking finish.

So it's been a while. I put my builds on the backburner for a while after running into some frustrations and life intrusions, but I've made some pretty good progress on them in the last week or so. The JK-1 has had strings on it, for one, and I'm down to getting the electronics installed on it.

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The finish definitely has some more than slight flaws (you can see one or two pretty clearly on the headstock), but it looks better than it has any right to after all the woes I had with it. The guys here that have a lot of builds under their belts and a lot of finishing experience would have serious issues with it, but overall I'm pretty happy. It looks pretty good from a distance if not as good as I'd hoped up close, but I've got great experience to take into the next one. The paint is a blue-to-purple flip, but unfortunately, the flash only captures the blue, and brightens it a lot. I'm hoping for some sunlight photos once I've finished it that will better show it off.

I sanded the neck to about 2000 grit and applied the oil and wax treatment that I love on my EBMM guitars. It's not quite as nice as those, but it's really smooth and fast, and I'm pleased with the result.

After trying to source a vinyl label of my logo for the headstock, I wasn't really happy with what it was going to cost for such a small piece, so I instead found a vinyl design that I liked to make it look a little less plain, and I did a waterslide of the logo on the back of the headstock. The tuner holes in the headstock were not completely aligned, but it's not off horribly and it didn't bother me enough to refinish the headstock to fix it.

I strung it up with the rusty generic strings that came with it (saving the EBs for final) just to see what it would play like and if I thought I could make it a player before I made the decision on electronics. There are some action and buzz issues that will have to be worked out, but it's not bad. Held tune fairly well even with the cheap strings, though one of those did pop pretty quickly. In the end, I decided it didn't quite warrant shelling out the $200 for the SD Nazgul/Sentient combo I initially planned for it, and instead ordered a set of Dragonfire pickups that came highly recommended in another group I belong to. They should be here next week, and I can get this thing finished.

The MM1, on the other hand, is not going so well. I documented earlier the neck screw holes being off. I've been reluctant to jump into the plugging and re-drilling, so it's pretty much where I left it.

Hi Spychocyco, the Paint on the Jk1 looks sweet as does the headstock artwork

cheers
Guvna

I've always been a fan of the Rhoads shape; the color shift paint suits it perfectly. Nice job!

Its certainly looking the part of the 80's shred machine, Dragonfire pickups certainly sound like they fit the bill for this weapon. Great Job!

Pickups arrived yesterday, and it got even more '80s. :) It's still going to be a few days before I get it wired up. I didn't like the input jack that came in the kit, and it was kind of bent up and flattened, so I'm waiting on a new one. I also finally managed to get an angle that shows a little of the color shift. Wish I'd wiped the finger smudges off first, but, oh well.

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Ooh, very nice with the color shift.

Grumble, grumble, gripe. Got the wiring done on the JK-1 over the weekend, but no sound. Wiggling the hot wire between the jack and the volume pot got me some noisy sound, so I re-soldered both ends, to no effect. When that didn't work, I just completely replaced the wire. Seemed like that did the trick until I screwed in the jack, put the electronics cover on and strung it up. Ready to rock, plugged in ... nothing.

So clearly, I have a bad connection somewhere. Opened it up and went back to wiggling wires again to try to find the problem, but the best I could get was loud hum with maybe just a hint of me hitting the strings every now and then. Busy week this week, but it looks like back to the drawing board next weekend.

Hmm, look for a tiny hair of wire shorting out somewhere, which has caught me before. As the current Is so small, the tiniest earth will mess you up. Sometimes this happens between the pots as they are very close.
Perhaps you can use a multimeter to search out the bad signal path quickly, using the electrical resistance setting.
Either way, it won't be much causing the issue so you are most of the way there!

Sometimes it may need an earth wire added from back of each pot or could be another earth wire issue.

Couldn't figure it out, so I pulled everything and started over. Got the neck pickup working great, but almost no output from the bridge. Drove myself crazy trying to figure out what the problem was and finally settled on it just being a bum pickup. I dropped in another pickup I had laying around, and it works. Sending the bridge pickup back to the company for them to check out and possibly replace. Almost there, though.

The JK-1 was completed this weekend, and has had some good playing time. The issue was with the pickup, but they replaced it, and the new one works great. I still have to drill the strap button holes, but I've got a cliplock strap on the way, so I'm going to wait and drill the holes to match those screws instead of the ones that I have. The guitar is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's comfortable and sounds good. It's better than it has any right to be from a first build. Hopefully I'll have some sunshine later this afternoon to get it out and get photos to post tonight or tomorrow.

Now turning attention back to the MM-1 that I've been stalled on because I was reluctant to re-drill the neck holes. I plugged them and re-drilled last week, and luckily got them pretty straight without a drill press. I've got to buff up the finish on it and do the oil and wax treatment on the neck, then it should be ready for assembly, too. The Floyd install should be fun on that one.

Also working on a third non-PBG build/re-build of a BC Rich Warlock that I picked up for about $50. Looking to turn it into another '80s monster. Currently sanding it down again because of some problems with my first attempt at the paint job. The first sand-down was a nightmare because the original finish on the thing was almost bulletproof. This one's going much easier.

Finally got some sunlight yesterday, so here's the finished product. Not perfect, but way better than it has any right to be. :)

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That looks pretty sweet to me - love the way the colour changes so much.

Thanks. Depending on the lighting, it follows the spectrum from a deep navy blue sparkle to a deep purple. With inside lighting, the shades are darker and not so wild, but when you get it in the sunlight, well, you see. :) Really happy with how it turned out despite using quite a few swear words while working on the finish.

It's come up great in the end.

Turning my full attention to the MM-1, I got a good bit done over the weekend. I got the body polished up and buffed. I'm not entirely happy with it, but it's not bad. Neck is on and tuners installed. I somehow lost one of the black bushings, so I've got a chrome one filling the spot until I can get another one. Also got the Floyd installed and discovered I'm missing the string retainer block for the low E. Not sure if I lost it or it was never there, but I'll be picking up a replacement this afternoon. This build is going to be mostly the stock kit hardware, though I have ordered a new pot, switch and pickups. I put a few stray strings I had laying around on it, and I think I'm looking at a lot of work setup wise. We'll see when I get the electronics in and get a full set of strings on.

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Wowsers! That's quite a finish on that body.

Pickups for the MM-1 came in yesterday. I got them installed and got sound out of it for the first time. Classic PAFs are a little more laid back than the high output PUs I'm used to. That will take some adjustment. Still waiting on a jack plate that will work with the new jack, and I have some finishing touches to add and then a setup, but it looks at this point like I'll have a guitar ready for July GOTM, too.

I should get the second build finished up over the weekend. Found my black bushing for the tuners and got a replacement string block for the Floyd. It's wired, strung and working. I have to sort out out a "wee bit" of an action issue. I think I only need to lower it about a foot and a half. :) Relief is set up correctly, bridge screws are down as far as they'll go. I've got a little play in the trem claw to work with, but I'm probably going to have to end up shimming the neck as well.

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After that, it's just the little things -- cavity covers, etc. I'll definitely be adding a string retainer bar at some point. Most of my Floyd guitars have them, and after stringing this one, I see why. I found it pretty difficult to get a tight wrap as the string kept wanting to slide upward. I'm also 100 percent sure a Floyd upgrade is coming if I decide this one's a regular player. String blocks popped out of this one every time I moved it while stringing it up. I spent a lot of time on the floor trying to find where they bounced. Other than those little issues and the high action, though, it seems pretty solid at this point.

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Originally Posted by Spychocyco

I should get the second build finished up over the weekend. Found my black bushing for the tuners and got a replacement string block for the Floyd. It's wired, strung and working. I have to sort out out a "wee bit" of an action issue. I think I only need to lower it about a foot and a half. :) Relief is set up correctly, bridge screws are down as far as they'll go. I've got a little play in the trem claw to work with, but I'm probably going to have to end up shimming the neck as well.

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After that, it's just the little things -- cavity covers, etc. I'll definitely be adding a string retainer bar at some point. Most of my Floyd guitars have them, and after stringing this one, I see why. I found it pretty difficult to get a tight wrap as the string kept wanting to slide upward. I'm also 100 percent sure a Floyd upgrade is coming if I decide this one's a regular player. String blocks popped out of this one every time I moved it while stringing it up. I spent a lot of time on the floor trying to find where they bounced. Other than those little issues and the high action, though, it seems pretty solid at this point.

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Top job mate despite the setbacks

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Originally Posted by nitroburner1000

Top job mate despite the setbacks

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Thanks. I got the action down last night, but I'm still not quite happy with how it's playing. Tweaks continue. I also seem to have hit the live wire on my bridge pickup with the soldering iron at some point and got it a little melty so it's giving me some static trouble now. I'll need to go in and redo that over the weekend, too. Hopefully pics of the finished project on Monday, though.

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Originally Posted by Spychocyco

Thanks. I got the action down last night, but I'm still not quite happy with how it's playing. Tweaks continue. I also seem to have hit the live wire on my bridge pickup with the soldering iron at some point and got it a little melty so it's giving me some static trouble now. I'll need to go in and redo that over the weekend, too. Hopefully pics of the finished project on Monday, though.

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Yea mate theres always something, but that is what makes us better for the next time.

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Originally Posted by Spychocyco

Turning my full attention to the MM-1, I got a good bit done over the weekend. I got the body polished up and buffed. I'm not entirely happy with it, but it's not bad. Neck is on and tuners installed. I somehow lost one of the black bushings, so I've got a chrome one filling the spot until I can get another one. Also got the Floyd installed and discovered I'm missing the string retainer block for the low E. Not sure if I lost it or it was never there, but I'll be picking up a replacement this afternoon. This build is going to be mostly the stock kit hardware, though I have ordered a new pot, switch and pickups. I put a few stray strings I had laying around on it, and I think I'm looking at a lot of work setup wise. We'll see when I get the electronics in and get a full set of strings on.

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Lovely job you have done there sir 👌

And here it is in final form. It looks like a dark red in the sunlight, but it's actually more of a deep purple. Not quite the royal purple I was going for, but I like it. As you can see there are some flaws -- glue spots and the like. I was afraid to do much sanding on the veneer because I didn't want to cut through it. I've got it playing pretty well, too. They're not perfect, but all in all, I'm pretty happy with my first builds. (Oh, and apologies for my old, junky ATV in the background. I was trying to get the best sun).

I've got a non-PBG project guitar on the table now (another '80s machine), but I think my next build will be an Explorer kit. I really like the stabby headstock on the ESP-style, but prefer the rounded back of the Gibby style. Decisions, decisions. :)

Thanks to everyone for all of the help and advice you gave me on getting these two done, looking forward to doing it again.

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Originally Posted by Spychocyco

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Lovely beastie mate.