Ian's TLA-1 Build

Well the kit arrived today, fast shipping considering the usual Christmas rush was probably still happening when I ordered it between Christmas and New Years! Cheers Adam!

On opening the box initial impressions were good, nice grain and barely visible joins in the body, I eyeballed the neck and it looks straight and the frets seem reasonably even (but I will go over them to be sure). The pickguard is probably the only part that seems to be not finished as well, but I plan on swapping that out for a black one anyway. I tried the neck in the pocket and it seems a snug fit, i still need to make sure the screws line up but that is easy enough to tidy up anyway. There is one small glue mark just above the neck pocket, but that should sand out easy enough, and there seems to be a small hole on the back that has been filled but shouldn't be too noticable.

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I will get some more pics and make a start in the next day or two (maybe once the temperature drops below the mid 30s!)

Cheers for now,
Ian.

sounds like a winner Ian, enjoy

Well the weather has been very ordinary in Adelaide this week, so I haven't really made a start on it other than a full trial fitup and measuring the scale length for bridge placement (even though I won't be using the stock bridge, I just wanted to get an idea of where it would end up).

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And a pic of the filled hole in the back, it looks like maybe they drilled the first neck hole in the wrong place

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I also noticed a slight blemish in the route along the bottom edge (it's not too bad, I might have to live with it if I want a natural finish, I could fill it if I was going to paint a solid colour)

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I have also ordered some more parts, assuming all goes well I won't need anything else other than finishing materials. On their way are a pair of Seymour Duncan Vintage pickups (STL-1 and STR-1 for those playing at home) and a black pickguard.

Sounds good mate. Where in Adelaide are you? Where I am it has been shocking . Wet and cold - more wintery than actual winter was :p

Yeah no kidding! I'm in the southern suburbs, glad I'm not in the far north, sounds like they have had some serious rain!

Finally we've had some decent weather, so after a few days of sanding, sanding, more sanding, grain filling and more sanding (I didn't bother taking pics, you've seen it all before), I put a coat of stain on the body, and left it overnight. It came out a bit darker than I intended, but I think it still looks good, so I can live with it.

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After leaving that to dry overnight, I put the first coat of clear on. I thought I would try a Feast Watson product called Floorseal Oil, it's tung oil with added Poly to make it more durable, it will probably send me to the Naughty Corner (on my first build, the shame), but looked worth a try. I also shaped the headstock and oiled the neck. I'll leave them for 24 hours, then give a light rub with steel wool and recoat. I'll assess from there as to whether or not it needs any more.

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More pictures...

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Looking like a nice build TC

looks like it's coming up nicely, would like to hear more about the FW product...

Looking good. I'm very envious of your shed space.