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Just got email that my kit has been shipped after (im)patiently waiting since start of May.
Love the Jazzmaster/Jaguar guitars and a baritone will be something completely new to me so keen to get stuck into it!
Have done one kit build from another supplier which went fairly well so can't wait to get started. Looking at a fairly standard setup - black gloss finish using aerosols. Well that's the current plan but we'll see!
Welcome aboard, sounds like a good plan, those pearloid pickguards look great on black. Lots of work getting a great finish with black though.
Sounds cool. Might be tempted by one of those baritiones myself in the future, cure vibes.
Looking forward to seeing what you do with it!
Well, as luck would have it the kit just arrived in time for the long weekend. 3 days of sanding!
Did a layout and everything is in the box, although I don't think I got the right strings included ha ha. They fall a bit short for checking the neck so I will have to raid the sewing kit.
https://i.imgur.com/GGOd00x.jpg
The other thing is that the neck fits well, and looks straight but there is a small gap between the end of the neck and the neck hole. I can't imagine this will be a problem or would it need remedying? That is with me pushing the neck in as far as possible
https://i.imgur.com/O5J6Xfq.jpg
Just use normal string for checking neck straightness. Guess you'll need a set of baritone strings given the longer scale length.
Neck pocket gap isn't a problem, it'll be covered by the pick gaurd. If you wanted to sand the heel a bit to get it to sit in perfectly it wouldn't hurt anything.
Thanks,
Will do with the string. I think the kit was meant to have a set but no stress, I upgraded on my previous kit build (non PBG) so will do the same.
Thought as much but just wanted to consult. If the neck screws in right and is straight I won't tempt fate by playing with the neck at all.
Other homework for the weekend is figuring how to reduce the size of the photos!
You probably just need to scrape away at the base of the neck pocket with a sharp knife to get the neck sitting fully against the end of it.
Cheers Simon,
I got the neck on and bolted in and everything looks straight so am reluctant to mess around with the neck. Having placed the pickguard its covered up as Sonic mentioned so if that small gap isn't going to mess the intonation etc. up too much I'll leave as is.
https://i.imgur.com/BGLbwOw.jpg
So after the mock build, I've commenced with the sanding. I am using 360 all over (perhaps a little conservative but at the moment I have nothing but time).
One thing I have seen a lot around is raising the grain prior to commencing with any finishes - at present I am looking at doing a solid colour so wasn't sure if this was only necessary when staining or should be done when using aerosols/spray guns (I'll be using aerosols).
Are you talking about methods to get rid of loose surface wood fibres, or something else?
I had heard about this as well. Just before the first coat of primer, I wiped the body down with a slightly damp rag and let it dry. This raised a bunch of loose wood fibres which I sanded off with a fine paper (maybe 400?) running just off the direction of the grain. Did this help? I don't know. The first coat of primer went a bit fuzzy anyway as more loose fibres popped up. I probably could have skipped the whole wet wipe and sand steps and just sanded very lightly after the first coat of primer dried.
But that first coat got sanded back anyway with a sanding block as I tried to sand off the high spots. The next coat of actual primer still went a little fuzzy, so I very lightly sanded (pretty much just the weight of the paper) before the second coat. After that it stayed quite smooth.
But take all this with a large grain of salt, and see the disclaimer!
DC
Hey DC,
Yeah just after getting the surface as smooth as possible. On a previous kit build i inadvertently used a damp rag to clear off dust and the surface raised. Some googling showed I had stumbled across something I was meant to do. After a sand with 360 it was all good to go then the stain went on really well. I just wasn't sure if it was the same process for solids given I would used primer (and sand most of it off again).
I don't see how it could hurt to do so, I guess a primer aerosol won't soak in as much as a stain but I don't want the grain raising through the paint later on as I am using gloss.
I'm not doing anymore work on it tonight so will see what handy info crops up over night!
If doing a solid colour it might be best to use a grain filler prior to the primer. It will give a smoother surface for the primer.
Get some from the hardware, let it dry and then sand again. You will be surprised at how much smoother the timber surface becomes.
My tele is basswood, so I skipped grain filling and used SCA primer-filler. That filled sufficiently to get a nice finish. A different wood like ash and I would definitely grain fill. If you are using acrylic lacquer, then there are plenty of stories here about water-based grain fillers like Timbermate sinking after a few months under the lacquer.
There are good clear wipe on grain fillers available in hardware timber product areas. These are not water based.
I have not used Timbermate and would probably avoid it after seeing some of the issues on the forum.
Thanks all - my plan was to go with the SCA filler primer given I am using a solid colour for the body.
After a small delay due to work and also trying to find a coping saw within metro Melbourne I've almost finished off the head stock. After reading some posts re. difficulties using coping saws on the head stock, I found it fairly straight forward. I did make sure to leave a decent gap (1-2mm) to ensure I didn't overcut. Resulted in a bit more sanding but worth it for piece of mind.
Still has some minor smoothing to do but almost there!
https://i.imgur.com/oy4b5dP.jpg
Jazz-tastic.
After chatting to a guy from work who builds guitars from scratch he commented on the placement of the pickups and never one to shy away from a challenge, I went looking at the earlier baritone guitars and their pickup placement. The internet with all of its information was helpful but also unhelpful as a lot of articles on the topic cover the science of it all but also seem to often end with ''but whatever you prefer sound wise is OK).
I went looking and picked up a sheet of brown tortoise shell pickguard and have cut and shaped a custom one for the guitar (as well as relocated the pickups). It still needs some cleaning up of the edges to get the proper beveled edges but I am pretty happy with a first go. I initially cut the shape with a coping saw which was straight forward, for the pickups I used a rotary tool and have also used this to accentuate the bevelled edge. Then gradually worked up in grit to smooth it out.
https://i.imgur.com/kJ8vQzH.jpg?1
Next steps will be to expand the routing in the body to allow for the bridge pickup and the jack and knobs moving down.
Once all that is done I can get stuck into spraying the body!
Well progress is slowly happening and I might have some time this weekend.
I used almost an entire can of primer filler on the guitar (that was 6 solid coats sanded back each time to just the grain) and there was still some pores each time so I pressed on. 6 coats of black Duplicolor gloss spread over a week or so still showed up the grain pattern, particularly on the edges so I cut my losses and moved onto the clear coat. I put on 4 coats of SCA clear and it's looking fairly good.
Today I did a wet sand with 1200 and got it almost perfectly smooth, just a few stubborn dips so I gave it another go over and it already looks 100 times better and the gloss and reflection is coming along nicely. I'll re wet sand with 1500 and likely 2000 and then decide whether one more clear coat will get those last few stubborn spots.
I also got an 'aged white' vintage set of pick up and knob covers - the knobs fit well, as did the tremolo arm cover. Even after measuring prior to ordering - the pick up covers didn't line up so I've used the originals. It's not much but the colour difference is noticeable (to me anyway).
I've ordered a decal for this and my PBA-4 from the UK so assembly is a few weeks away sadly but a good lesson in patience!
https://i.imgur.com/DY6nuuO.jpg?2
https://i.imgur.com/ger4aXV.jpg?2
Nice work. I commend your perseverance. I've been having a similar experience on my ES-3 build where despite having multiple coats of lacquer applied over several years (and then sanded flat), I'm still getting grain lines showing up. And that's on basswood that shouldn't be like that.
You could try staining the pickup covers in a tea solution (no milk or sugar). Some will take it, some won't. But you won't have lost anything apart from the cost of a tea bag. It may help to take the shine off the pickup covers first with some P2000 or P2500 or micromesh or 0000 steel wool. You can always polish them up again if you want, but I find it helps the look if they just aren't the standard ultra-glossy.
So after spending my evening wet sanding up to 3200 I had a very smooth surface front and back so got stuck into it with the cutting compound. I used Meguiars Polishing Compound and am pretty happy. There are still some visible swirls - I'm not sure if repeated goes with the compound will resolve or the waxing process might help fill/hide.
Regardless, after trying this process on another build with terrible results actually getting the beginnings of a mirror finish I'm very happy.
And I couldn't help myself and have attached the neck as I wanted to see how it was all going. I'm a week away from any further building as I have forgotten to order Baritone strings and my local guitar store doesn't stock them!
https://i.imgur.com/IoPmVE2.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/WVgwXvR.jpg?1
I've started to assemble so that I can test the pick ups etc. I am getting a huge amount of feedback/hum thru the amp and only when I turn the volume on the guitar up to 10 and am touching the string/bridge etc does the hum stop and the guitar sounds normal (quite good actually).
I've used my multi meter to check the grounding over the guitar and it all seems OK.
The only inconsistency I can find is that some of the pick ups screws are grounded and 2 are not. None of the pick ups are grounding. Is this correct?
Any trouble shooting advice would be appreciated!
The usual reasons for that level of hum are either getting the output jack connections crossed over, or the third (right-hand) tab on the volume pot not being connected to ground/ the back of the pot.
Pictures of the wiring will help. It won't be the screws.
Thanks Simon, I checked the grounding on the jack and it looks correct and the third tab on the volume pot is grounded. I had to replace some of the wires that snapped (from being moved around so much) but didn't alter any of the wiring from the standard. I'd assume if i had the switch wired backwards it would just cause it to be out of whack, not any hum or feedback.
Wiring is below, hope it's clear enough.
https://i.imgur.com/n4DDude.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/HKGvPyJ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/bVeoUAG.jpg
The wiring looks OK to me, though it would be easier to tell with it sat in front of me whilst using a multimeter.
Are you using a decent lead and not the POS lead that ships with the kit that has all the hum-reducing properties of poking a stick into a wasps nest?
Yeah I'm using my Fender lead and amp so no issues on that front. I rechecked the lead and amp on another guitar and it's all good.
BUT i think I solved it! As I moved the pick ups apart I had to reroute some of the cavity, when the pickguard is sitting in place and I play, there is no hum. As soon as I press down on it (like if I had screwed it in) near the jack it hums. The cavity under the jack is not deep enough so the tip is hitting the shielding tape I assume and causing all that drama.
I'm off to get myself a spade bit from the hardware store!
Thanks again as always Simon. It's always so handy to have someone double check your work!
If the tip is hitting the shielding tape and not going silent, then that means there is no proper ground connection to the shielding tape, so the signal is connecting to the tape and the tape is acting as an aerial for noise.
It looks like there's a decent overlap of the body tape onto the top that should make contact with the tape under the pickguard. So check that the copper tape on the pickguard is making contact with the pots and so is being grounded. Also use a multimeter to make sure that you are then getting continuity between ground and all parts of the copper tape. Even with conductive adhesive, I found that I sometimes didn't get continuity across pieces run in parallel with a small overlap until I'd run another piece across them at right-angles.
Well, after some time off to move house and get some decals delivered from the UK (~7 weeks...) I have finally finished the JZ-6.
I left the majority of the hardware as standard, drove across Melbourne (when it was still legal) to find baritone strings and think it sounds really great. I still need to put in some research and practice and I will endeavour to record a sample of how it sounds in the near future.
Some of the key things I learnt with this build...
- I will avoid cutting/shaping custom pickguards whenever possible (caveat on this is of course practice and the right tools)
- Using primer filler still left a grain pattern under solid paint but lesson learnt, I am using it on another build and will try to leave a solid coat on (update this is so far going successfully)
- Truoil for the neck on this and my PB build has been really simple to work with. A few coats, sand back with 0000 steel wool and repeat and it's super smooth and fast
- I think it is worthwhile replacing wiring where you can, after moving pots etc between pickguards some wires broke at the solder. I replaced with higher quality 22AWG wire where i could. It's also nice to get a bit more practice soldering!
Anyway, some pics below (apologies for the quality, I just can't seem to get anything close to high def). It sure is something different for the collection!
Also, there must be a market for Jazzmaster custom guitar stands...it just never sits quite straight...
https://i.imgur.com/kkkJGAH.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/6Az9iY7.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/cdUHdqG.jpg?2
Looks great \m/
'Well, as luck would have it the kit just arrived in time for the long weekend. 3 days of sanding!
Did a layout and everything is in the box, although I don't think I got the right strings included ha ha. They fall a bit short for checking the neck so I will have to raid the sewing kit.'
So, how is it going? I'm not sure what may help me to check the neck, because I always think it not looks straight, but in fact I believe it is.
Got one of these for Xmas (yes I have a cool wife) and really enjoyed putting it together - finding with Ernie ball 20-95 that I get nice tension on E-0 and combination between the round bass sound and a bit of bite. Also took a shot at some graphics on it too - not perfect but near enough for me.Attachment 42518Attachment 42519