BYO Guitar Semi-Hollow: The Impatience Build

I’ve been waiting almost 5 weeks for my first PB guitar and the anticipation is killing me :). Nobody has any idea when it will actually ship but I really want to mess around on an electric, so I just ordered this from the US.

They’re calling it ‘paint grade’ because of a knot in the back. I’d love to avoid painting or doing a burst so I’m trying to think of other creative ways to hide the knot: maybe some fake grain or something? Anyone have ideas/suggestions?

It’s a solid mahogany body, flame veneer over ‘solid’ maple top, 24 fret and 25.5” scale length. I’m assuming it will get all new electronics, wiring, hardware, etc.

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The knot doesn't look that bad to me.

Yeah I was happy when I saw the pic, I was expecting worse for ‘paint grade.’ I figure it’s just an opportunity to learn - maybe I can use tinted grain filler or something to help hide it. No big deal at all if I can’t, but if I can, it seems like a good skill to have for future projects.

20 years ago I was a finish carpenter and became a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to wood.

I am interested to see how you manage it. My kit is basswood with a most uninteresting grain, so I went solid paint thinking it would be easier. I am unsure if it is, but it has it's own challenges.

Depends what finish you are thinking about but if you are going to stain I honestly wouldn't even bother trying to hide that knot because it's very small and it's on the back anyway.

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Depends what finish you are thinking about but if you are going to stain I honestly wouldn't even bother trying to hide that knot because it's very small and it's on the back anyway.

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+1

ignore this bit, I just needed more characters

USPS is showing “Delivered” to an address in the state the guitar was shipped from. Hopefully it’s just a label mistake but it’s starting to seem like the universe really doesn’t want me to have an electric guitar (my PB guitar is now delayed 5-7 weeks.)

I agree +2. Nothing wrong with the knot, it is part of the timber grain. I definitely would not solid colour (Whoops- translate that - color) that kit. Love mahogany.
I'd be Tru-Oil only on the the mahogany but I'm a Tru-Oil lover.
I will be interested in your colour selection on the maple. (Then Tru-Oil again. hihi)

I like that there's some dark grain around the knot. I think it will be fine, I just don't want the grain around the knot to absorb color/stain and the knot end up glaring. I didn't mean to make that big of a deal about it, but thought if there was a creative way to blend it in more I would try it.

BYO Guitar said all the packages they sent that day are being labeled as 'delivered' so it sounds like a scanning mistake. Hopefully the guitar will be here today or Monday.

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It arrived, and it’s beautiful.

Very hollow - the horns are hollow and it’s light. It should resonate nicely. The neck seems like a perfect fit - a slight tap with the palm seats it and it doesn’t fall out at mild angles. Hardware is as to be expected although it comes pre-wired.

It feels narrow at the nut but matches PRS “Pattern” dimensions (width and depth) so I think it should be OK.

I’m very happy with this.

Oh man that's nice. Very cool buy there Joe. I look forward to seeing how this one goes!

I have basically the same guitar from Pit Bull. Adam had some examples in but they didn't have any bridge holes drilled and the pre-wired harness was for a set-up like yours, but the control holes were drilled for master volume + tone and two small toggle switches. People were returning them so I got offered one very cheaply. There were also issues around the neck pocket on mine with big gaps between the ply top and the main body (shades of cheap 70s Japanese copies). A not-great engineered wood fretboard. Drilling the post holes on a curved surface always put me off (no large pillar drill to hand) and the last straw was when I found that the neck was too twisted to use.

I may try taking the top off, putting a flat top on it and turn it into an acousticsonic Strat-style guitar, using a Tele neck I have spare. (I hope to round the horns off if there's enough wood to do so).

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This one is as close to perfect as anyone could expect from a DIY guitar factory. The scale length is also spot on. There are a few blemished around the binding that need to be touched up. That’s really the only thing I can find ‘wrong’ with it. I’m amazed at how little there really is to do, especially if one were to use the stock wiring.

It’s very comfortable on the knee / in playing position. I really like it a lot.

That's good. Looks like they were just practising on my earlier example!

Haha :). I think its more likely a different factory trying to learn a ‘new’ or borrowed design. I actually had this kit in my wish list for several years - BYO’s been doing it quite awhile now.

The inspiration for the guitar came from the band Phish who I used to be really in to. And really his guitar came from a Fender Starcaster inspiration. The maple guitar was back in the mid 1990s and still is my favorite for tone (his later guitars are/were Koa) but the natural maple looks unfinished to me. So I still can’t decide what to do for a color.
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It looks really nice, I like the binding and grain a lot. Curious what you'll do with it =)

I actually have a set of plans for a Starcaster. It's on my future build list.

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Attachment 35184I think I’m leaning towards a natural finish with this one. To me that usually seems ‘unfinished’ but the natural maple guitar this was modeled after was such a big part of my life that it feels wrong to do anything else to it.

I’m not sure what the finish will be - maybe true oil, maybe nitro. I’d like to find something that somehow enhances or adds depth to the grain. The back and neck will get some kind of brown stain - maybe a walnut color. Something like the pic below. Also I’m not sure how I feel about the ‘end grain’ after looking at the above pics- looking at the body in playing position is like looking down at a tree stump with the rings. Maybe I’ll grain fill before staining - any thoughts or ideas? Here’s another pic of what I’m talking about:

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That could work well.

Easiest to mask the binding when staining. You'll only have to mask the sides, which is nice and easy and all straight edges compared to masking binding on the top, which is all curves.

That knot is in the back anyway so I wouldn't even pay attention to it because the most beautiful part here is the guitar. I can tell how excited you are to receive it because you reminded me of myself when I got my first guitar. I read reviews for a very long time, and one day I found an article on https://www.happynewguitarday.com about the best electric guitars. It was very informative and so I decided to buy the ESP LTD EC-256FM Electric Guitar. I was mesmerized when I received it. I still have it, even though I already upgraded to The Gibson Les Paul Studio guitar.

In regards to the finish. Lots of people like tru oil. For me personally after having used it once, I do not intend to ever use it again. I'd rather spray with lacquer with a spray gun, even with my lack of ability.

I’ve been practicing with a rattle can of Watco crystal clear (nitro) lacquer and really like it - it’s a great spraying can and it seems to go on effortlessly with no need for touch-ups. I tried Deft water based acrylic and find it to be too much time fixing imperfections. The local Wood Craft store has Mohawk instrument (nitro) lacquer and also Mohawk vinyl sealer. The lacquer is same ingredients as Watco so I was going to try the Mohawk vinyl with Watco lacquer.

That said, I read about natural finishes in-line last night and a combination of shellac base coat with (nitro) lacquer top coat might give me the depth, ease, and protection I’m after.

LMII has a comment that if you were to go into business, nitro is the wise choice because it’s an industry standard. So even if I’m not in business it seems like a good place to start.

The color for the back will be tricky since I’ve never stained or finished mahogany. Maybe I can find a similar enough test piece locally. The inspiration pic I posted has a much cooler brown (not many reds at all) so trying to match is probably not the right approach. I guess with a natural top pretty much anything should work though.

I really like the grain on the back of the guitar, but not the sides. In the back of my mind I’m kicking around the idea of a binding or natural faux binding and doing something different on the sides to hide the grain. It’s just a thought at this point.

I also am realizing I shouldn’t go to crazy trying to make the guitar into something it isn’t.

Today I ordered black Gotoh bridge hardware. Since the guitar is already drilled for Tunomatic I don’t have the option of using a Benedetto style tailpiece. But I think a black bridge and stop bar will give a similar visual effect to the inspiration guitar. The 2 Knobs will be black and the 3 switches will be nickel hardware with black toggles. Black pickup surrounds and nickel pickup covers. I’ll change the nut for a black Graphtech Tusq nut, and the machine heads will either be light weight black, or mini nickel with ebony buttons.

The inspiration again for reference:
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I”m not a big fan of normal (individual) series/parallel switching low impedance humbuckers, but I do like playing with tone. Entwistle has a diagram for partially phasing individual humbuckers which is supposed to sound better. Also, the Languedoc guitar I’ve been referencing has a ‘master series/parallel switch’ and I found that intriguing. So I came up with a way to implement both. I posted this is a separate thread in the wiring forum (https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ad.php?t=10478) but it’s part of this guitar, so here it is (I might have the pups backwards and IDK if anything else is wrong with it yet.)
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Another thing I’m trying to figure is how to touch up binding gaps without affecting finish options. If I use CA it might show up if I were to stain the guitar. I ordered some PVC binding to make an acetone slurry though I’m not sure that’s the right approach either. Maybe just heat and straight acetone?

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You could stain and then repair the binding. Though acetone/binding slurry applied with a toothpick could work if you are careful and use a magnifying lens. Alternatively some grain filler should fill the gaps and take up any stain applied.

Too many options available!

My next build is going to be binding free if I can help it! Ah, the simplicity :)

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Originally Posted by jugglindan

My next build is going to be binding free if I can help it! Ah, the simplicity :)

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You'd think so, wouldn't you....

I totally missed the thought of fixing the bindings after staining :). That might be the best approach, then I could use almost any adhesive I choose.

The wood is the right shape and the binding should be adjusted to match it, so I ruled out any filler other than more binding (w/ acetone.)

I have an idea for stain but it will be a surprise. I’m now 50/50 stain vs natural.

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I don’t know what to say about this. My OCD gets in the way a lot - what gauge wires to use and where, what needs to be shielded, ground loops vs open ended shielding...and heat shrink color :(
It’s not in the rubbish bin so that’s a good sign. The 4pdt was tedious. I wouldn’t do this layout again. It would be good to finish a guitar and test this out before building a second harness, to see how it works, if it’s noisy, etc.

One mistak is the switches are wired upside down. I didn’t think about the switch contacts being opposite the lever. I can live with that, for now.

I think I’ll make a breadboard wiring jig for the next guitar and test things out before deciding on a schematic. Or maybe I’ll just skip all the fancy BS I’ll probably never use and wire it like a normal human being.

I used shielded wire for all signal wires wherever possible. The shield is tied to ground at one end only. As such, there is also a non-shielded ground wire. Everything is basically grounded as a chain so there are no loops.

Looks quite neat, well done on that front.

Given the difficulty of installing, it would be good to test before installing in the guitar.

Thanks!

Yeah, I was planning on something like that. I just got my first PGB yesterday and am going to switch focus to that. I was thinking I can just test this harness externally on that guitar when it’s ready. (I’ve got 4-wire pups for that guitar.)

I’m really going all out, lol. I ordered a set of Bare Knuckle Pickups Stormy Monday pups for this guitar.

Just plug the harness in and test the pickups and switch positions by giving them a tap with a small screwdriver. Just knowing you get a sound from all the positions is a good start. If some positions give nothing, then you've got some fault-finding to do.

Are you putting connection blocks in the pickup routs, as you seem to have got some multicore Belden cable already running to the switches?

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Are you putting connection blocks in the pickup routs, as you seem to have got some multicore Belden cable already running to the switches?

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That was a consideration, so I could try different pups. At the very least I didn’t want to have to unsolder wires are the pots and switches, so even if I cut back the grey cable I’ll still have a connection point away from the switches. The plan was to decide that after I externally test the electronics and see how I like the sound.

Great suggestion to use the screwdriver, by the way. Thank you.

It's just that you can't install the pickups if they are already wired to the pots. The centre block gets in the way, so you'll have to disconnect them first if they are wired up.

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Originally Posted by Woltz

In regards to the finish. Lots of people like tru oil. For me personally after having used it once, I do not intend to ever use it again. I'd rather spray with lacquer with a spray gun, even with my lack of ability.

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Painting with spray gun you'll get a good finish I always use supercheap paint I swear by it, I have a cupboard full of there clear, black, acrylic lacquer was made to replace nitro, nitro is actually crap
Paint is here