Build #3 - FV-1

Hi all. Long time no see.

Received my FV-1 kit from PitBull today. After It taking weeks to get to VIC, like every other package passing through Aus Posts hands.

This is my 3rd build. So a quick history.

First was an IB-7? Ibanez 7 string copy.. I loved that guitar. It was was stock everything, apart from some Dimarzio pickups. Hand stained and oiled. The neck was perfect. Being a beginner, I didn't do any fret work on it. It was near perfect - very playable.. However after around a year or so, the body where the Floyd Rose posts go, collapsed.. Tried to fix, but it was trash.

Second was a Tele build.. I took some time with this one, and spent some fair money upgrading the parts. Wilkinson bridge, tuners, Emerson wiring harness etc etc. Sounded lush. But the neck. It was never great. I tried my hand at leveling and crowing, but seriously I think I just made it worse.

Enter my third build. FV-1.

Being in lock-down i'm having trouble buying stain online.. So I decided I would try some handmade stain.. I'm going to attempt a tobacco burst, with Turmeric and instant coffee :)

That's about it for today. I've sanded her down, check neck pocket, and started with the first coat of yellow (turmeric). I might add another coat of base turmeric I made up, and then maybe do the middle out with coffee.. then keep doing the outer edges with just coffee.

I also found an old ebony stain pen, and took to the fretboard top darken it.. Looks a bit trashy in the photo, but once I stain and oil the neck, it should clean up nice.

Heres some pics.. Until next time :)

Attachment 37245
Attachment 37246
Attachment 37247

Cool, interested to see how the coffee goes.
I'd have gone for very strong black tea over coffee because of the way it can leave a stain on tea cups & even the stainless steel sink but the coffee doesn't.
You are on a winner with the turmeric because it will stain the stainless steel sink & knife blades.

So yeah, the coffee is really hard to get results. It basically disappeared after it dried.

I was concerned about wetting the body too much too. If water penetrated the wood too much, maybe the moisture would stay?

So as I said before, I had assumed I can't buy stain online. Went back on the bunnings site, and now all those products are available for click and collect. So just ordered some stain and oil.

Cool idea with the tumeric. I have successfully stained wood with coffee (even instant coffee), the trick is to use as little water and as much coffee as possible. Either very strong espresso or instant coffee that gets so thick it's almost syrupy. The cheapest stuff works the best. (You know, that stuff you wouldn't even drink for money.)

Nice one. I built an FV-1 as a gift for a friend - https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ad.php?t=10063. Was never really a big fan until I built that. Now I want one for myself.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ThatCluelessGerman

Cool idea with the tumeric. I have successfully stained wood with coffee (even instant coffee), the trick is to use as little water and as much coffee as possible. Either very strong espresso or instant coffee that gets so thick it's almost syrupy. The cheapest stuff works the best. (You know, that stuff you wouldn't even drink for money.)

---

Ended up attempting a few coats.. Made it nice and syrupy this time.. Unfortunately it got a bit sticky. Ended up sanding most off.

I liked the turmeric though. Hoping i can successfully do a burst finish. Picking up some stain and boiled linseed oil tomorrow, so will continue to try the burst with turmeric and actual stain.

Until next time.

To do a burst with stain, you definitely need to work with both colour stains wet at the same time so they can blend at the edges. Always worth practicing on scrap wood first.

What kind of coffee are you using? Sticky sounds like it has either grains or sugar added...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ThatCluelessGerman

What kind of coffee are you using? Sticky sounds like it has either grains or sugar added...

---

Ah it was really cheap.. I think I may have put too much on though.

Anyway, I ended up picking up some stain and oil from Bunnings, and pretty much gave up on the homemade stains.

Im always pretty impatient with these sorts of things. I always say to myself - "Take you time".. But ive put the stain down already, and started with a coat of oil. I decided to go boiled linseed oil and mineral turpentine - 50/50 blend.

Part of the basswood really took the stain. Others didnt. Also the joins are very apparent... Im all good though. It adds to the appeal.

Ive been looking at more photos of Flying Vs.. Found Gibson done a 68 in Walnut. Thing is it has a white guard. Looks so nice... However as I placed the blackguard on the body - Im thinking I should just go my own style, and thought gold hardware might look good.. Ive never really liked gold hardware, but think walnut, black and gold might look nice.

Anyway. Heres some pics.. Will continue to add oil over the coming week.

Attachment 37270
Attachment 37271
Attachment 37272

Yes, looks good so far! I think the gold will be a great choice with the dark stain and black pickguard.

That is a cool looking finish, looks like an old table top.

Morning all... So again I was pretty quick with this build.. and there are a few small issues. IM sure very fixable. Hoping for some help.

Problem 1: Back bow with little to no room to loosen nut more

So after putting the guitar together, I checked the relief, by fretting the first and 15th(ish) fret. The low E was hugging the 12 fret. So I decided to loosen the truss rod.. However I found the nut was pretty much already loose. I decided to tighten it, to make sure the nut was grabbing the thread, then loosened it back down a little... Still quite a back bow.

I then measured the height of the neck/fretboard where it meets the body, and found up front (the nut end) was lower. So im thinking it had a back angle. I then I got some pickup wrapping tape of all things and placed a few strips in the pocket to guide the neck up a bit.

Which leads to problem two.

Problem 2: Bridge is all the way down, but strings are too high.

Is this a simple case of making a shim?

Problem 3: Electronics. A heap of hum - Little to no sound.

I admit Im a pretty average solderer. I also didnt have copper tape to do the whole cavity.. I'll open her up again and git it another go. Is it possible though that maybe one of the hot wires is touching ground somewhere? I also forgot to ground the bridge. But that would cause all the issues would it?

Hope I can get some help in this thread, else I might ask in a separate thread.

Here a quick shot.. Glamour shots will come when all issues are fixed, and im happy with her.

Attachment 37331
Edit. The knobs are off an old strat. Ignore the labels. Knobs should be Vol > Vol > Tone

Quick update

I managed to shim the neck. After around 15 tries, unbolting adding/removing shim, rebolting, checking action.. I got it pretty good. While the action is not as low as I'd like, the break angle and overall relief is pretty close.. I am still left with the truss rod nut all the way loose though. Im relying on string tension to bring the neck relief up.

Re the electronics.. To get the thing going I just wired up the bridge pickup to the volume pot and output.. When I decide to replace the pickups, I'll attempt a batter job at wiring. Or Im even thinking of getting a set of EMGs, so install is easy.