ES-335 kit - Marze build #3

So after finishing the TLA-1 build I really wanted to try a semi-hollow ES build to practice for making a ES-1TL kit that is on order. Thought I would try a kit from Stewmac just to see if there were any differences.

So kit was ordered from Stewmac that was on sale and it arrived in 4 days (Friday night order, Tuesday afternoon delivery) from the US, during COVID lockdown! That part was impressive. It came well packaged in a foam inlay and no damage from the shipping.

I have also ordered some upgrades to tonerider AC2 pickups from Pitbull and black hardware from the cream and gold that came with the kit.

The plan is to pop the flame maple veneer with some black water based dye and then stain red fading to natural in the middle. Leave the back and sides natural mahogany with tru oil finish all over.

Sounds interesting. I like the sound of the tonerider AC2 pickups, and I have always wanted an ES-335. I am looking forward to seeing how this one progresses.

Picture of kit unboxing.
Attachment 35073

Most of the kit looks really good with no bad router marks. There are some glue marks that I will have to deal with (Goof off is the way to go from reading other threads).
One issue is with the head stock. Visually it looked a little wonky, so I dug out the dimensions of Gibson headstocks and tuner hole locations and lightly penciled them on the face. It was a long way out!
Attachment 35074

None of the holes are in the right place <sigh>. None of the holes are in the right line. Left side is wider than the right side. I am thinking is was a headstock drilled and shaped after a long Friday lunch.
Looks like I will have to plug a redrill the holes. The head stock is a little short as well to cut it to a G-Style template, no problem here really as I can adapt it. The plugging is not something I really wanted to do as it is hard to match grain and colour and as the holes are so far out the tuner hardware will not cover the plugs and redrill.
So, Thinking I will put a black veneer on the headstock like a normal Gibson, just to try this as I haven't done it before. That will fix the front. The back which was going to be natural will also need to be veneered. I can't seem to find any mahogany veneer here in Qld or online, just maple or other timbers. I did find a reference that said Gibson used Holly in the 50s as the veneer and then moved to a composite fiber material in the 60s. Can't find Holly veneer here either. So maple it will be, stained black, possibly for both sides.
Any ideas out there on how to hide misdrilled tuner hole plugs?

They'll normally get hidden on the back by the body of the tuner itself.

I've just ordered some fibreboard headstock facings from Rothco and Frost for my two SG kits. I haven't bothered about the slightly-out headstock tuner holes, as the control pot positions are too far out, plus the neck heel arrangements are all wrong, for the kits to be anything near an accurate replica.

That kit looks very similar indeed to a mahogany bodied ES-1 kit. But then I suppose even if the bodies were slightly different, this sort of kit tends to get supplied with the same generic hardware and fittings pack, and the same generic shipping box.

Laid out the kit and did a dry fit. Neck joint is a little loose, so will have to be careful when glueing to get it straight.
Any tips for making the picket tighter or how to make sure it is straight? Was thinking of using a bricklayer line down the centre of the guitar to the middle of the nut. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1e1722e78a.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c9f6466da5.jpg

Now just got to choose between gold knobs and cream pickup mounts or all black.


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You should align the neck by temporarily installing the high and low E tuners and running some ordinary string to the bridge. This will let you see that the neck is running true by checking the gap to the fretboard each side. This is also a good time to ensure the scale length is correct - I normally check to the High E as the rest will need adjustment further back for intonation.

https://i.imgur.com/EIjqmYD.jpg

Sometimes people use a bit of thin veneer to take up any unwanted gaps in the neck pocket, but I'd do the alignment first.

Thanks Sonic. This looks like a much better idea.
Off tonight to start the sanding of the sides and back! I need some good monotonous sanding music now :p

Or you can go OTT bonkers with it....
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...501eab602c.jpg


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marze

Thanks Sonic. This looks like a much better idea.
Off tonight to start the sanding of the sides and back! I need some good monotonous sanding music now :p

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAXYMOgHQI4

Maybe not so OTT ... Ozito 5m Laser Level $29.99 at the BGS :D

Well, after a closer inspection of the neck and realising there was more than one problem, apart from the tuner holes being out, I emailed StewMac and let them know. They replyed pretty quickly and are sending a new neck! No questions, not even a request for photos (I sent them anyway). So, now I wait for the replacement, and I have a neck to practice filling in router holes and scars, plugging and laminating. The chipped binding I might have a go at replacing as well. Got to learn how to do bindings at some point.

Nice result. And it's always good to have something to practice on.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9021a63d9f.jpg
Upgrades, finish and luthier tool kit extensions have arrived from PitBull. Thanks Adam and team.


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Sanding to 240 done - lightly where possible due to the laminate thickness. There were quite a few manufacturing marks and dings around the edges, and a large scrape out of the binding at the bottom of the neck. It also looks like I may have gone through the mahogany veneer in the cut out at the top left.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e9c1d6fcde.jpg

Tried to level out the binding to hide the nick. Hopefully it is not ok thin now.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6bdaff746f.jpg

Sanding to 400 now on back and sides to grain fill with black filler to pop the grain. The back has quite a nice grain to it.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...06cc3e2d32.jpg
Kinda stuck now on whether to go natural with just the tru oil or stain red as well??


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The cutting for the sound holes is a little rough as well, with some splintering and splitting on the under side. Some small chips around the edges of the face of the holes as well. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2fe85c9e18.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0c664677fb.jpg

I will try to sand them smooth and use some wood glue to stick them together. Then some natural wood filler to make the inside edge smooth.

Now, need to find some tiny clamps [emoji1011] to fit inside a sound hole. Any ideas out there?


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If you can’t get a clothespin on it, maybe you can use a bolt and sandwich the wood between a couple fender washers? Or sandwich it with strips of wood above and below?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Joe Garfield

If you can’t get a clothespin on it, maybe you can use a bolt and sandwich the wood between a couple fender washers? Or sandwich it with strips of wood above and below?

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Thanks for the idea Joe, built some bolt clamps and I’m slowly going around the f-holes and gluing up the split laminate.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8852c465bb.jpg


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There has been a delay introduced while I rebuilt and extended the garage workbench and shelf. Work on the guitar restarts this weekend.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a1fd64ae19.jpg


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Nice bench set up!

The grain on the back is very nice, looks like a good kit.

Good thing you took a picture of it now...

'cause it will never look like that again!!!

Also in some not so bright news, the replacement neck arrived and this one has different faults. The is an over saw cut on the top edge of the neck to body cut out, annoying as it will be the corner you see when you look down on the guitar when playing.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...79891cb44d.jpg

and the heel is not flat.
Not sure if it is obvious in the photo but the is about a 1.5 mm gap at the pickup cavity end of the heel. Not sure if clamping and glueing will hold it down flat.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...5c00e23a68.jpg


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