AGD-612L - Doubleneck Left handed !!

Hi there!

Happy to join the "My Built Diary" community!
I received my kit 2 weeks ago but as i have been surfing between work with kids at home home and other "2020 challenges", seem like the pace of my hobby got upstaged :p

Let's get down to it!
First, i am very happy so far with the quality of the wood pieces and work. If it is as sweet to the hear than it is to the eyes, i am in for a lovely ride!
Attachment 35963


Step 1; Apply shielding tape in cavities and covers = Check
Attachment 35964


Next step;
Tru-Oil the whole thing as i decided this will be the only dress she'll wear for now... :D
Basswood is not the most beautiful woodgrain, but this particular piece sure look good enough for me to remain exposed.

I will followup as progress worth posting.
Cheers for now!

Looks like there is some very nice grain detail in those pics.

Good to see another lefty here.
Nice looking kit.
Make sure you sand it smooth before tru-oil. If you want some inspiration with tru-oil check out Wazkelly's swampcaster.

Thank you Colin2121 !!
i already did 2 guitars with Tru-Oil, but only the last one came out quite nice.
It doesn't show much herre but gives an idea.Attachment 36003

will do the homework, thank you for the hint!

Are you sure its basswood? The kit description says it's mahogany, which unlike basswood, will need grain filling. I'm not sure exactly which variety of mahogany the kits use, as it's very light and has a lot more grain pattern than the mahogany I'm used to.

But look closely at it and if you can see open pores, then you really need to grain fill it otherwise you'll never get it smooth without applying several bottles of TruOil and a lot of sanding flat.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Are you sure its basswood? The kit description says it's mahogany

---

The right handed version is Mahogany, but only basswood for the Lefties :p

Hats off to you for trying this monster!:cool:

Thank you Andy40!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wingmike11

The right handed version is Mahogany, but only basswood for the Lefties :p

---

Definitely looks more like basswood than hog.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fretworn

Definitely looks more like basswood than hog.

---

The centre section certainly looks similar to the mahogany used on my GSJ-1 and GSM-1. The two outer wings less so. But if it's basswood, then it's basswood No grain filling required.

Thank you Simon for the confirmation!
i also had a look to Wazzkelly Tru-Oil past work as proposed by colin2121 also wandered around the forum and find that all necessary info and more seem available here, giving me confidence to achieve the axe i dreamed of for so long!;)

Hi !


Happy father's day to those concerns ;)

As it is very humid actually in Montreal (and i dont have climatiser at home) i will need to wait a bit to hit the board with oil until i can have a few days aligned with workable humidity.

Might as well share some of my thoughts in regards of the hardware i selected and also ask some advices on the way!

I already received a "Premium wiring kit for SG" including CTS pots and switchcraft toggle switch, extra single coil hookup & shielded pushback wires. Also received all my Tulip buttons to replace the button that will arrive on the Grover tuners 305 series i ordered.
Now waiting for a second switchcraft toggle switch, 4 top hat bell reflector knobs, and 2 black switch knobs.

First question;
Anyone have a wiring diagram for using only 2 switches ?
i would like to have the middle switch (close to the bridges) to select the neck and the bottom switch (close to the 6 string neck) to select pickups. from what i read aroud the web, it seem Gibson doubleneck are wired this way, anyway this is how i would like it to work.

Second questions;
What pickup would you recommand?
i shot for the classic tone of course.....i read that Seymour Duncan 59' would do the job in the 4 pu slots, or a pair of Jazz on the 12 string and 59's on the 6 strings. I read that Alnico 5 is what i should look for. Would be happy to get your input.


Thankx in advance & looking forward to read you

Alnico 2, 4 or 5 will do. Alnico 5 is the strongest magnet type of the three, so those pickups will have a higher output than the others, given the same number of wire turns of the same thickness wire on the coils. However it's more complicated than just that as a lot of things can influence output and tone.

If you want the 12-string to remain clear, rather tha ever have a driven sound from it, then the SD Jazz are very clear sounding pickups. I had one in the neck position in a LP copy, and it was clearer/brighter than the bridge pickup (a Gibson 57 Classic). The SD '59s are also very clear sounding pickups (for a humbucker), but not quite as bright as the Jazz. I like the SD '59s, they are a very decent PAF style pickup and would happily fit a set on a Les Paul or similar. So 2 x Jazz for the 12-string and 2 x '59 for the 6-string would be one choice for a balanced sound from each guitar.

You could always go for a JB and '59 or Jazz pairing for the 6-string. I'm not a fan of the SD JB pickup for general use. For me, it's just too powerful and not good on cleans. Fine if you are only doing driven or distorted sounds, but I think it lacks subtlety if you play a fair bit of clean sound as well. However with the higher output, it does coil tap better than say a '59 would in terms of output, so you could get a cleaner sound by fitting a coil tap whilst having the ability to have a hotter bridge pickup.

The trouble is that there are so many pickups out there, and none of them are really right or wrong choices (except the very high output models if you are going for a classic sound). Likewise magnet type. Don't get too hung up on the 'correct' magnet type. Original PAF pickups were fitted with Alnico 2, 4 and 5 magnets depending on what Gibson had available at the time. Just concentrate more on the overall sound produced by the pickup.

It's not easy, and you'll always be wondering what the guitar would sound like if you'd gone for different pickups. If you can buy them used, then I'd do it (though you may need to extend the leads if they've been cut a bit short). then if you really don't like the sound, or you want more output or even less output, then you can always sell them for a similar price as you bought them for, and try something else instead.

This page https://guitarelectronics.com/origin...ng-schematics/ has the EDS 1275 wiring diagram with a 2-switch option. You'll need a special pickup selector switch, not a standard one, as you'll need one with two x 2 sets of normally closed contacts. I believe it's this one as each side has two sets of normally closed contacts. http://www.switchcraft.com/Product.aspx?ID=3343 The neck toggle selector is the normal 3-way type.

Thank you very much Simon for such thorough explanation!
I definitely want "clean" cleans as i can get it driven further down the signal chain when needed.
i am a fan of JB and his sound, but for what i do i'd rather remain as clean a possible and built from there.
i want to avoid volume difference when i'll switch from one neck to the other, but you convinced me to go with the jazz for the 12 & 59's for the 6 as far as sonority i am looking for!

i appreciate!

Here's an update of the llast days evolution;

As the wood has no dent or mark whatsoever, i did one round of 240 grit & ended up with 320 grit, blown clean with air and dusted of with tack clothes. (long story short :))
After 3 Tru-Oil coats, i am very happy how the oil darken the wood.
Attachment 36230

Depending on the angle and light, the tint changes wich is just amazing!! I hope this effect remain when TO coats will layers on....
Attachment 36231
Attachment 36232
I am very thankfull to Adam (and/or the team at Pitbull) for sending me such beautifull wood piece!!

On a more uncertain note, i have ordered 3 kits of Grover Mid-Size Rotomatics (305 Series 3+3 Tuners), but i notice after ordering the tuners that came with the kit from Pitbull Guitars are same size as Grover mini-size tuners
If anyone could confirm if the midsize will fit or if they will bump into each other, i would appreciate.

Cheers for now,

Hi There,

I had a problem after the 4th first coats of Tru-Oil applied with my gloves directly.
One of the last coat, I have put too much and didn't wiped even properly so i could see drips once dry....
So i removed (gently) all drip marks with 400 grit and finish with 1500, blown with air and clean with tack cloth.
Applied 4 coats of Tru-Oil with a clean cloth rolled in another cloth that i secure with a tie-wrap.
Attachment 36372

Every 5 coats i wet sand with 1500 grit to even the layers and so far it seem to work fine.
I completed over 10 coats and can definitely see the oil starting to build up.
Attachment 36373
Attachment 36374


The biggest challenge so far have been the headstock decals....
I wanted a custom water decal and did many unsuccessful trials prior to have it right.
It's the "Packing tape over printer paper, bathed into warm water for 20 minutes" that finally got a "ok" result.
Attachment 36375

More to come,

Well that's nice! I was just looking at the ad for the AGD-612L, and lo and behold, somebody has started one.
I started a left-handed standard Stratocaster a couple of years back. I've got it working and it plays really well, but due to family problems beyond my control, my workroom suddenly became somebody's bedroom and my woodworking stuff was buried under a pile of cardboard boxes, so I never got round to the final finishing touches.
I've only just recently gotten to the stage where I can get back to it again, and I'm also looking seriously at a AGD-612L.
Regarding Basswood, I just wanted to share what I did for the final finish.
First of all, I don't agree with the notion that your guitar has to look like something that's been dipped in glucose syrup to be a successful build.
You can see plenty of examples of big-name rock stars who play the most decrepit-looking instruments. Flea of The Red Hot Chili Peppers plays an extremely "distressed"-looking shell pink Fender Jazz Bass, and not only is he clearly not interested in having it restored, Fender actually make a "Flea" Jazz Bass, with all the banged-up paintwork faithfully reproduced!

https://www.fender.com/pages/flea-signature-bass/

Francis Rossi of Status Quo has been playing the same beat-up green Telecaster for over 60 years, and there are places that will custom modify new guitars to look like your particular hero's "vintage" job.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...een-1545256206

He recently decided to sell it; check out how much it sold for!

https://www.gearnews.com/francis-ros...for-over-100k/

I've used Feast Watson fine rubbing oil and cabinet wax on the Strat and an earlier Jazz Bass I built, and I'm more than happy with the finish. The great thing is that you can just apply it with fine steel wool which automatically smooths the surface down, it just smells like furniture polish, not paint thinner, and you don't have to clean anything up between coats.
I originally went for a Sunburst design. To achieve that, I first brushed the body down with a weak solution of yellow inkjet refill dye, and then carefully rubbed the edges with a cotton wool pad dipped in a weak cyan inkjet dye. That produced a nice green-and-gold sunburst effect; but the only problem was that once I'd applied the wax, the join between the two pieces of basswood became painfully obvious!
(Unfortunately I don't seem to have a photo of that).
So then I got some very coarse sandpaper and carefully cut a series of scratches through the wax coating along the grain, and then rubbed over it with the cyan dye pad, producing a what looks like green woodgrain that nicely disguises the joins in the wood! I did a bit more heavy duty rubbing around the edges to enhance the "worn out by love" effect, al la Francis Rossi's Telecaster.
Attachment 36376
I also re-shaped the headstock into an animal claw shape and dyed it with more inkjet ink. The maple grain really takes it up well as you can see.
The only problem with the design is that, unless you're fairly close, it's not obvious what it's supposed to be.
Attachment 36377
The hole where the guitar lead normally plugs in is meant to contain a valve (tube) with an orange LED to make it look like it's actually operating. I'll have to find that, and the mesh cover I made for it.

Looking really good Wingmike.
A lot of area to cover with a twin neck and that is a good solution to the problem of cloth drag.
I have done the multiple tru-oil coats and it give a great finish when it hardens off. And the tru oil also polishes up nicely at the end. I have also discovered that you can patch with tru-oil if you get a ding in the finish later.
It is always nice to have a great looking guitar.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Keith Walters

I don't agree with the notion that your guitar has to look like something that's been dipped in glucose syrup to be a successful build.
You can see plenty of examples of big-name rock stars who play the most decrepit-looking instruments.

---

i agree with you about glucose syrup :) but this particular built i wanted to have clean and neet finish. As basswod is easy to dent, i was aiming for minimum protective finish vs. not going too glossy without going opaq color.
I am very close now to what i was going for initially.

As far as i am concern, an iconic "beaten up" axe i would like to have a built for is definitively the Washburn N4 with this incredible cutaway, but in lefthand version please!
(Santa? God? u'guys listening? just in case i'd been a good boy recently :) )

I like your green Strat and the audacious headstock. For my AGD-612L, i'd rather remain with more standard headstock as double neck can quick look like i have taken a "bad decision" :)

Thank you Colin2121. happy to hear Tru-Oil work for fix as well! i love this product. as i get more experienced with it each time i lke how coats built slowly and make it a really "forgiving" product in case you mess up.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wingmike11

i agree with you about glucose syrup :) but this particular built i wanted to have clean and neet finish. As basswod is easy to dent, i was aiming for minimum protective finish vs. not going too glossy without going opaq color.
I am very close now to what i was going for initially.

---

I don't mean there is anything particularly wrong with the thick high gloss finish you get on commercially-made guitars, it's more that if you want to go down that path, it's extremely difficult to pull off convincingly, unless you have the expertise and facilities to do it.
And definitely, the ability to easily repair scratches is a big plus.
That's actually one of the lesser-known advantages of French Polishing; although the finish is fairly easy to damage, it's also easy to repair.

Anyone knows what wax i should use to keep my necks as close to the wood as possible as on my EVH Wolfgang Standard?

https://reverb.com/p/evh-wolfgang-wg...rd-quilt-maple

I have read that 1 or 2 coats of Tru-oil lightly sanded with 0000 steel wool wopud do the job but, i would rather have no oil at all on the necks.

No finish on necks isn't a good idea as there's nothing to stop them being instantly being affected by changes in humidity, including sweat/moisture from your hands. So you'll get a lot of neck movement as a result and you'll have to constantly adjust the truss rods to compensate. Especially as the kit necks won't use the best quality quarter-sawn timber for the necks.

The EVH has a satin polyurethane finished neck, so you could get a can of that and apply a couple of coats. Or you could use a few applications of TruOil.

I'm assuming the necks are maple. That's a very hard wood with microscopic pores, so it doesn't absorb much of any finish, so two or three applications should be all you need. I'd also thin the TruOil down with turpentine to about 50:50 to get smoother, thinner, coats on the neck. It may wear off over time, but it's easy to apply another coat or two when it looks very worn. Rubbing it down with 0000 wire wool or P2500 sandpaper once it's cured for a month or so will give a satin feel to it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Simon Barden

The EVH has a satin polyurethane finished neck, so you could get a can of that and apply a couple of coats. Or you could use a few applications of TruOil

---

As i am not familiar with Polyurethane, i will follow your advice and continue with TruOil as you proposed.

Again gentlemen, your input is much appreciated!

As an update,

I reveiced few parts including the Grovers Tuner (305 series) and can confirm they will fit the built.
Attachment 36484
Restring session will sure be a bummer but, i'll manage ;)

Also put my hands on more Tru-Oil after few weeks of being held back by this lack of oil. Might sound weird depending on where you guys read this form, but in my area (Montreal, Canada), Tru-Oil is either found over eBay.ca or at big store for camping, outdoor, fishing and hunting. As on all website i know including this store (close to my place and the online same store) were out of stocks for over a month.
Today, i saw online the same store, but an hour drive from my place, had about 12 bottles!!!
"They were all hidden on the same shelf, waiting for me", the vendor wasn't sure looking at me dancing in the aisle...
(i dance like a stone!)

I bought 3 bottless, so i make sure to not be slowed down again but lack of ressources...
The only missing stuff now, is the custom truss rod cover plates and some spare time to finish the layers of oil and start asking about neck position and shim!

bye for now!

Hi Colin2121,

thank you for your interest.
Unfortunately, the built is not moving forward as fast as i would like (spare time is rare ressources this summer), but i manage to built the Tru-Oil layers to a satifying level if i ever want to play on the thing in 2020 :D

I had to sans off some drips along th way again, but Tru-oil being so forgiven, i manage to be almost finished now with applying oil.

Actually in the middle of the "3 weeks" drying time as this extraordinary hot and sunny summer we are having up in Montreal keeps my home a bit humid as mentioned earlier....

some pics of the "forgiving coats";
Attachment 36972
Attachment 36973

Attachment 36974

After about 4 light coats brought me here;
Attachment 36975

3 more lights coats brought it even to the rest like nothing never happened.
I finished with 0000 light sand before the global final coat, that now dries for about 10 days. (more pictures of final product to come)

All hardware is arrived, waiting for the oil to hardened so i can start assembly when drying time is over....

Can someone tell me what this whole is for?
Attachment 36976

That hole is for the drill bit to go through to drill the connecting holes between the pick-up cavities.

Hi Wingmike,
Looking good. Got a great shine on it.
I know what you mean about having time. I'm retired and still cannot find the time I want.
As Blinddrew indicated about the hole, it was to get a long bit through. It gets covered by the neck and the pick-up.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by colin2121

As Blinddrew indicated about the hole, it was to get a long bit through. It gets covered by the neck and the pick-up.

---

Oh man🤦🏻*♂️
it felt like i would feel stupid once i would know. Now it seem obvious, but to my defence i only built 2 guitars so far and they were set-neck so.....😁

thank you very much gentlemen for your reply.

Hi everyone,

Here's an update of the few steps i could go through this weekend...


I installed the tuners to both necks and i confirm 18 tuners completely unbalance the piece as expected....:D
I think it will be difficult to balance the piece without adding more weight, but i'd be interested if anyone have any advice that might help.

Then, i grounded the posts and pulled them in.
Attachment 37103

As soldering training is now 20 years old, it definitely shows but shuold be fine enough.
Since i used all shielded wire i ordered, i had to use the "original" wiring for now.
Attachment 37104
Attachment 37105

Unfortunately, i now figure that the 3 "sg" type switches (switchcraft 90 degree model) i ordered will be kept for a future project as i need ordinary switches, my mistake.....but for now i used the original that came with the kit.

When i installed the bridge and saddles to precisely confirm the scale before i drill the neck pocket holes, i notice the necks could be more angled to help lower the action in the higher fret positions.
Seem like i have enough heel height to sand to perfect fit, but i am not sure how i am suppose to calculate exactly how much to sand and how to angle the sanding.....
I know i could buy a maple shim online but again, i am not sure how to calculate what would be needed....Any advise would be welcome.

It is the reason why i haven't put string on the beauty yet and as you can expect, i would be ready to perform necessary steps anytime soon once i have some advice.

Attachment 37102

thank you in advance,

So your problem is that the neck angle is such that even with the bridges on their lowest settings, the action is still far too high?

A shim is the easiest thing to do here as its a bolt on and the shim is added at the body end of the pocket so won't be seen.

Adjust the neck truss rods until the necks are as straight as they can be. Set the bridges to their lowest height. Then run a fairly long straight edge along the neck to the bridge saddle position. Ideally the straight edge should intersect with the bridge about 2mm maximum below the top of the saddles. But you'll probably have the situation where this intersection is several mm below that, say 4mm below the top of the saddles. So the neck angle needs to be increased so that the intersection is between 1-2mm below the top of the saddles, allowing you to adjust the bridge height upwards slightly. Lets go with 1mm below as the target. So the intersection point needs to come up by 3mm.

The height of the shim you put at the end of the neck pocket can be adjusted empirically i.e. you just fit one and if it's too tall sand it down, or too short then fit another one. But you can get a good idea of what its height needs to be using simple ratios.

The length of the pocket itself (headstock end to body end), compared to the length from the headstock end of the pocket to the bridge position, will give you the necessary ratio. Just using the kit photos on the site, this looks to be roughly 1:3.5 (or 2:7)

If you increase the neck height at one end of the pocket by x, then the height increase at the bridge will then simply be x x 3.5. Working back the other way, if the height needs to increase by 3mm, then the shim needs to be 3mm/3.5 = 0.86mm tall.

This is slightly approximate as the shim isn't infinitely narrow, so the effective length of the pocket is shortened slightly by the depth of the shim - so don't make it too deep (almost as wide as the pocket width, but maybe 1cm deep max). Also, make it out of something hard like an old plastic credit card, or a bit of hard maple veneer, something that won't compress when squeezed. It is better to make it too tall and then sand it down, rather than too short and have to make another one or else use two shims, one on top of another.

Using the straight edge and comparing it to the bridge saddle height means that you don't need to fit the strings whilst making any adjustments, so it's relatively quick to fit and remove the neck to adjust the shim and then fit it again to test.

If the shim had to go at the headstock end of the pocket. then I'd probably look at sanding the heel to change the angle, but as it's at the body end, then a shim is what I'd use.

You could make a full pocket length shim, but its a lot harder with minimal benefit. However, if you want to, the height of one end compared with another is the same as the small shim height would be. However that angle is a lot harder to fine tune once you've made the full-length shim. But you could make a small shim first, then a full length one, once you know the height/angle. Or use the small shim height to work out how much you need to sand off the heel of the neck. But you can make a near-infinite number of shims to get that right, but you can only sand a neck heel so many times before it becomes too thin.

Hi Simon, sorry for the long silence, many things happen in my personnal life that kept me away from moving foward...
But now, i am back on track and ready to complete the missing steps.

Actually, the problem is that i need to raise up the bridge a lot (mostly out of thread in the bridge post) in order to avoid buzzing from fret one to about 9 or so and therefore, gives me quite high action past the 12th fret...
i will take pictures later this week and post it so you can clearly see.

Does it mean a fret job would be necessary?

Again thank you for your appreciated input and thoughrough explanation