Looks the biz with the gold hardware!
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Looks the biz with the gold hardware!
The last few days have been frustrating... designing a logo and getting it onto the headstock!
To start with, I'm not an artist when it comes to drawing or painting! I decided on a theme, and got to work using Paint, Word and GIMP to come up with a logo. Then I had to get it onto the headstock.
I'd decided on a black background on the head, and the logo was to be gold in colour. I got hold of some waterslide decal paper, and first test was a disaster! The ink just disintegrated in the water when I was ready to transfer it. After that, I tried spraying clear lacquer over the decal before I put it in water, and that worked. However the ink wasn't thick enough to show against the black background. I tried printing a colour chart as a decal, stuck that onto a black piece of timber.. and it pretty much disappeared into the black.
Next up, I tried printing onto an adhesive clear PVC sticker sheet, but the ink almost disappeared against the black.
Last option, was to cut out a stencil using the PVC sheet, and spraying the logo... that worked! It's not as exact as I would have liked, but it's not too bad.
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/e...pstw4z1a6s.jpg
Next up... compound and polish the neck, then get ready to glue it to the body!
I think you've done a good job there Swanny. Good idea with the PVC sheet template
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Thanks Andrew!
What Andrew said!
Thanks dude!
classy top shelf build, this will look great finished
Thanks Stan! Appreciate the comments!
A rainy day is a good day for polishing, so I stuck my neck out and got into it. I also got excited and fitted the tuners...
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/e...psrymjz3to.jpg
That's when I noticed that I had put the tuners on the wrong side... :(
Luckily, when I swapped them around, the holes were covered by the body of the tuners...
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/e...psoik3mv6u.jpg
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/e...psattb6tgx.jpg
There's a few grain lines there... but they are just there to remind me it's timber! Honest!
looks awesome Swanny, glad the tuner screw holes wrong way around aren't exposed. Did you get a gold hardware upgrade or is the hardware after market ? With 12 full size tuners does the headstock feel heavy ?
Lovely bit of grain showing there. This axe will be a piece of art when done.
Also love the headstock logo looks very cool, came up good for a template. How thick is the PVC sheet ?
Thanks Wokka!
The gold hardware is the Grover upgrade through Pitbull. It does weigh down the head a little (lot!).
The PVC sheeting is a bit thicker than a piece of paper. I bought it advertised on Ebay as "A4 Clear Self-Adhesive Sticker/ Label for LASER & INKJET Printer" though it didn't work in a laser printer. It has a peel off backing, leaving it as a clear sticker with whatever you printed on it. In my case I cut out the printing to make the stencil, then stuck it to the head.
After a quick string up, everything appears to line up, so I've clamped the neck to the body with a bit of PVA glue.
Good save in getting the tuners back around the right way. Those Grovers are solid as so more than compensate the additional weight
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There were a few tense moments, as the screw heads are made of a fairly soft metal, and three of them stripped out the slots, meaning I had to carefully drill the heads out, and unscrew the screw shaft with a pair of pliers.
The tuning machines that came with the kit - four of them I swapped onto a ukulele that my kids got me for my birthday, and I constantly thank them by learning a few chords to serenade them. Now it stays in tune!
PVA or Titebond?Quote:
Originally Posted by Swanny
I used PVA... I read somewhere that it was suitable... I can't recall ever seeing titebond. .? Have I done a bad thing?
You want to use Titebond, it has a better grip than the wood itself! Also it looks as if the neck heel is painted too, you want wood to wood contact Swanny, the paint will not grip under the many kilos of pressure from the strings.
Crap! The PVA would have mostly set by now...
Also, I left the contact points at the heel and socket as bare timber.
Headstock with all those gold tuning pegs looks fantastic Swanny! She's gonna look amazing with all hardware installed.
cheers,
Gav.
Swanny, this is one of my favorite finishes...that blue coming out of the black is and glod hardware is just eye candy....if we get to organise a Brisbane chapter beers sometime..please bring it along
@Gav - thanks, it's all coming together nicely - I might get the pickups mounted today!
@Andy - I'm glad I found Pitbull guitars, the beauty is that you can make something how you want it - of course my first build was going to be my favourite colour! If there's a meet up, I'll bring her along!
I just did some searching, and found Adam's video guide suggested the use of Selley's PVA glue... so I'm breathing easy. Next build I'll look at Titebond, if it has better bonding. Lucky I didn't break out the Araldite from when I was glueing wings on remote control planes! That's a strong bond!
I did a bit of assembly this afternoon. Soldered in and fitted the pickups, lowered the height of the nut and strung her up!
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/e...pszwvjkzux.jpg
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/e...pslfpgz3en.jpg
Still lots to do... the neck needs some attention, there is fret buzz on the first three frets, and I have to raise the bridge to compensate. I'll leave it under string tension for a few days and see how it sits then.
After that, I'll look at levelling the frets, waxing the fret board, and giving the body a lot of polish. I've only compounded the body so far, and still have to use a finer polish to get it smoother.
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/e...psycs4b3sp.jpg
Oh, and it sounds rather awesome! :cool:
Now, holidays are over, and it's back to work in the morning.
It's so pretty, I just want to pick it up and put grubby fingerprints all over it... Seriously though it looks amazing!
Cheers, Fuzzbeard! Latex gloves will be handed out, unless you find the cotton variety more sensual to touch!
Aye Carrumba! That is just stunning Swanny. I can see we are going to have a rush on these now. Fortunately, I do have some on the late December shipment.
Simply stunning, we'll done! Good idea to let the neck settle for a bit before final tweaking
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Thanks Adam! It was worth the wait for the kit, and I'm pretty stoked at how it turned out for my first build. Even the missus admitted she didn't think it'd turn out this well.
Ta, Andrew, once it's settled I might have to ask the experts for tips on addressing the neck.
I bet she sounds as good as she looks, I like the Blue Sunburst finish on the guitar.
Mate that is georgous! When I get some confidence a 12 string will be on the cards.
Well done
Ben
Stunning has already been used a couple times to describe this so I will just have to say Awesome Dude! I'm with Andy if there is ever a Brisbane Chapter get together would love to see this in the flesh.
That thing is smooth...really smooth...damn work tomorrow!
Looks amazing Swanny!
Good job
Great job Swanny! You completely overtaken me and my 12 String ST, and got a much better finish than I'm going to end up with.
Hey Swanny, Haven't checked in here for a couple of weeks and wow! did i get a surprise.
that looks amazing!!
Hi Swanny I missed the pics you posted Sunday, that is a killer looking build. Sure you will get the neck sorted and a final polish/wax this is a very sexy looking build - well done
Damn that is awesome Swanny!!! I love everything about this one - killer build!
Thanks guys! I was lucky that I had four weeks leave from work, and was able to spend a few hours every day working on it. I gave up household jobs, feeding the kids (they've learned to do it themselves now... win!) and I threw out my plan of cycling 250 kms a week to get fit.
Now I'm back on shift work, I can let it sit and make sure the PVA holds the neck on. At least I rode to work yesterday..
It won't be finished till I put a truss rod cover on!
Stunning guitar well done
Wow Swanny, that looks sooo nice. Well done mate.
Hello all.
I have been looking at various hollow body kits, and came across PBG, and ultimately this forum. PBG appear to be much better construction quality than other kits that I have seen. Your build of the 12 string is beautiful! So beautiful that it has further inspired me to move forward with my own. I'm looking at the 6 strings though. This guitar even persuaded me to join the forum and reply to the post.
In the first few photos you posted of the raw unfinished body it appears as though there is no binding in the F hole cutouts.
Attachment 7395
Attachment 7396
In the finished body there is clearly binding in the F holes.
Attachment 7397
Do all of the PBG hollow bodies have binding in the F holes, or did you add that on your own?
Thank you again for documenting your progress... I will try to do the same.
Thank you, Wisdom! The body does come with binding in the F holes. Its not clearly visible in the first photos because of the lack of contrast between the timber and the binding , and the depth of field I used in that second photo blurred it out .
Pitbull supply a great kit, and joining this forum was a wise move - there is a lot of good advice to be had