IC-1 first timer (with a PBG kit)

I'm excited to be starting my own build diary! Woohoooo....

My IC-1 kit is due in tomorrow, so I'm starting this thread in advance, somewhat because I cannot contain my excitement any longer, but also to catalogue where my thinkin's at regarding this build. Maybe to get a little input from the community.

I know I've completely lost my mind, so let me get that out of the way.
The IC-1 is a strange kit, especially for a first timer, but the Iceman has been a dream guitar of mine ever since I was a wee lad.
Much like my impulsive decision to go with a weird kit (on backorder from a different country) I have also decided to go with a couple unorthodox choices for the building process.

I became obsessed with the Nitro finishing process from literally minutes of YouTube surfing, then invested in a Vintage White nitro kit from StewMac. I now know the process will be more difficult than your average rattle-can job, the "curing" process is going to take forever, the finish won't be as hard as the Poly on my Fender. All things I've found out after the fact. Hindsight. 2020.

I've opted for Warman pickups after seeing good reviews on this forum. Not sure what hardware I'm going to update. Probably the nut? Looking into TUSQ or bone. Gotta see the neck first I guess.

I wired up a bass recently (first time) and it went *okay* so to remove any doubt I'm going with a prewired harness. Hope that's not too glaring of a faux pas.

That's all I can think of for now! Once the kit gets to me, I'll learn how to, then proceed to upload many pictures.
I'm looking forward to seeing what y'all folks think of the process almost as much as I'm looking forward to the built itself!

Hi and welcome.
I think there are a couple if IC-1 kits being built at the moment.
Great plans and I hope they go well. I look forward to your diary.

POV: you're me and your kit arrives
http://i.imgur.com/rdUzyx0.jpg

Everything went pretty well! Opened the kit and started parsing stuff out (kit was missing a neck plate and neck attaching bolts, but I spoke with my boy Ben and he's getting a set shipped to me already. GREAT customer service at PBG. Seriously)
The kit comes with a pick guard which is not displayed on the IC-1 product page! That's awesome! Because my Nitro finish is definitely gonna get scratched otherwise!

Neck pocket *appeared* very tapered, but some sanding of the sides of the pocket (and veeeeery light sanding of the neck) got the neck to slip in eventually.
http://i.imgur.com/7ppUEUf.jpg

Here's a pic of the heel to get the opinion of the community, but it looks alright to me. Bit of space between the bottom of the fretboard and the body (4mm), but there's gonna be some finish, let me know what you think though. Looks to be about 1.5-2mm between the heel and the body

http://i.imgur.com/aBzIofY.jpg

Did a test of string fit which looked okay to me, again, let me know what you think

http://i.imgur.com/BKGAtCw.jpg

Tied string to the e and E bridge holes and their corresponding tuners installed in the head.

Let me know if you would like to see any other pics of stuff. I plan on sanding and noodling around until the weekend, when I will attempt THE P A I N T

I had the same issue with the gap between the heel and the body on the LP kit I'm doing. Since the neck is angled to the body I had to file a similar angle on the heel of the neck. It then fit snuggly. I hope this was the right thing to do.

Thanks for the insight Trevor.
I suppose the best thing to do is really mock it up with some actual strings and just give it a looksie.
I found a thread of yore with an IC-1 that had the same issue. I should find that again and see where they netted out.
Here we go
I'm gonna try and take a mm or two off the heel and see where I end up

Bolt-on necks almost always sit parallel to the body, so they sit higher from the body in order to get the string height necessary at the bridge and for pickup clearance. A set neck would be angled and sit lower to the body, as the angling creates the string height at the bridge, so the neck can sit lower.

Whilst there may be some ability to remove a small amount of wood from the neck heel, you first need to fully check out what the affect will be on the string height at the bridge. Lowering the neck could result in the bridge being too high when fully lowered to get a playable string action. You need to take into account that the bridge post bushings sit proud of the body on a lip that adds about 1.5mm of height to the lowest bridge height on the posts. So fit the neck, mock it up with tape around the bridge posts so they fit and get centred in the holes (don’t fit the bushings yet). Run a long straight edge along the neck and see where it hits the bridge at its lowest setting. Report back with photos.

You also need to double check the screw length against body + neck heel thickness. You don’t want to reduce the heel height and then find that the mounting screws poke through the fretboard!

Thank's for checking in, Simon. You helped the last guy!
Despite my best efforts (thankfully?) I wasn't able to get much wood off. The fretboard still sits about 4mm above the body once I mocked it up again.

http://i.imgur.com/EKQZq7q.jpg

I didn't understand what you meant regarding the bridge and tape, and by the time it clicked, I had put some strings back on and took this picture

http://i.imgur.com/upkPQUi.jpg

The strings are snugly *on* the neck when the bridge is at its lowest. The neck is the slightest bit concave out-of-the-box, so I don't believe that has to do with backwards curvature of the neck.
I think I lucked out and have a bit of upwards mobility with the bridge, which is good.
I'm through modifying scary bits like the neck pocket, I measured the scale, 313mm from inside nut edge to middle of 12th fret crown, and between 311(e) and 316ish (E) from 12th fret crown to bridge.
As pictured, the pickups fit comfortably under the strings, and I got the magnet centered.

http://i.imgur.com/hE1CG88.jpg

Loving the look of these Warman pickups

After routing a little extra space for the aftermarket pickup switch (love my Dremel), I called it a night.

http://i.imgur.com/BF3vPbV.jpg

Later tonight I'll maybe raise the basswood grain a little and sand it back to 320 in preparations for T H E P A I N T

You won't be disappointed with those Warman pickups.

That looks pretty good. Once the strings are at tension there will be a bit if bow in the neck so the strings will be higher, and you will most likely be able to raise the bridge a bit. If not, the nice thing about a bolt on neck is that you can shim it to get a tad more height.

One of the many reasons I'm going to stop messing with the neck, at least right now, is that I don't even have the neck backing plate or the screws. Probably arriving sometime next week, as it takes forever to ship anything to the other side of globe.

Fretboard work, truss adjustment, drilling holes in the neck; I'm going to wait to do all that stuff until after the paint dries a little bit.

I have a little room to play with height. What I meant to indicate by previous posts is that everything bottoms out at the lowest bridge settings, meaning the happy Goldilocks zone is somewhere attainable: *above* where everything is currently adjusted to.
I definitely anticipate some neck bow, good point Fender3x.
And I'm glad you like the pickup choice, Mosrite.

Hi,
So jealous that you have got your Iceman kit. Mine is only arriving in November from Pitbull. The Iceman has been a dream guitar for me for years too.
I will be keeping an eye on your progress to pick up any hints that will help me with my build.
Good luck and happy building.

Graham,
Total fluke getting my kit so quickly!
Maybe my lot in life is to meticulously document each and every inevitable error, that my Ice-Man brethren might learn from my mistakes
So far the guitar is everything I dreamt it would be, albeit in many pieces. Very much looking forward to this build.
What I've learned so far:
If you are super anxious to have the axe in your hands, I might suggest not preemptively investing a bunch of money in a Nitro finish kit. I didn't exactly realize I would be stalling myself for a month waiting for my paint to dry.
I chickened out, thinking it would be super easy because everything came in a can. Still looking forward to the process
Definitely use the intervening time to thoroughly research and make your kit into exactly what you want!
Don't be discouraged! All good things will come to pass
Nothing in the kit looks *super* chintzy
I opted to upgrade the wiring harness to something pre-made, and the pickups. The weak points of the kit I guess? But I don't know what I'm talking about, really.
Stay tuned! And I look forward to seeing your progress, buddy!

The humbuckers were the only thing that I was thinking about upgrading. My plan was to install the stock humbuckers and if they sounded terrible to change them out at a later date. I'll be interested to hear how the Warmans sound. They look really good by the way.
I had a look through the forum to see what people thought of the stock pick-ups but it was hard to find anything, there is so much info on here!!
I have been watching a lot of videos on YouTube - some of them are literally about watching paint dry.

Graham: And how!

Spent the weekend watching paint dry.
I work in auto service, and was lucky to have an extra bay available over the weekend.
Here's the girl all strung up in position. I am not sure if I had already put a can of sealer on it by this point

http://i.imgur.com/QOvy3Ab.jpg

The process went well. Some drips, which I waited for a while and sanded down with 400 grit sandpaper.
Overall, about 5 coats of sealer and 5-6 coats of White. The pictures don't do the white any justice. It's perfectly off-white IRL, which I was going for.

http://i.imgur.com/L80i9xb.jpg

I got to the end of the white lacquer can, and I was about to start the long clear-coat process, and I realized I didn't want it shiny! I liked the matte finish.
Does anyone familiar with the painting process think it's a terrible Idea to leave it there, to stop at the color lacquer stage?
I realize this leaves it more open to nicks and bumps and scratches, but I think a little wear might suit this baby well.

Similar question, I opted for black stain on the neck in place of black nitro, as I wasn't going to be able to make it look good. At all.
Here's a couple progress pics. It is currently dry, and I'm waiting a few days to sand it down and give it a smooth surface.

http://i.imgur.com/gBV8DVy.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/JFnZIhO.jpg?2

Can I just let the stain be the top coat? The Guitar looks a lot better than I thought it would without any shiny bits.

No need to put clear coat on top of a paint finish if you don't want to. You'd normally use more paint applications if you were going for a gloss finish, but if you leave it as it is,and satin/matt, then it would be akin to some of Gibson's faded finishes. But if you are adding any decals, then you'd need to have some clear over the top of those to protect them. But yu many only need that on the headstock and you can use a satin or matt clear coat.

If the black is straight stain, then you really would really need some clear over the top to seal the wood from humidity changes and also hand/finger grease and acid. But if it's basically the tinted varnish type of stain, then you should be OK leaving it as it is if you want. In the second neck photo it looks quite shiny, so I'm guessing its probably the latter type.

This is the stain I used.
Appears as though it could be fine leaving well enough alone. The shininess is likely due to the newness of that coat, and the fact that I was liberally slathering the stuff on, probably in violation of the manufacturer's directions.
But like I said, I'm going to give it a few days before I sand anything.
Thank you for the advice on the paint. There is definitely vinyl sealer under the white coat, so the body is sealed (I'm also paying attention to the finishing discourse over on the other build diary)
Now the waiting game. I have to learn patience at this step. Any advice on how to pass the next few weeks? Puzzles? Netflix?

You could start planning your next guitar build??

The guitar is looking great by the way!

Thanks!
Thanks!
Hmmm....next guitar build....
All I know is that I want to put distortion *in* it.
I've been dabbling in these (LINK) making portable amps
I got one of those "Psycho Knobs" in the mail yesterday...gonna try it in an amp first and see how it goes.
Next one though, I want to put it in the guitar.
But that project will likely be a Craigslist beater. Is Craigslist international?
A cheapo guitar to make into a Frankenstein is what I mean.
The next PBG kit....maybe a bass!

Something like this maybe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-16...drewstephenson ?
;)

Duuuuuuuude. Is that yours?
It's masterful! It hadn't occurred to me to put the amp *in* the guitar....
Oh man. I gotta digest this.

It's one of these: https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-an...t-Ash-Body/WT3 (though I think it's a basswood body on mine)
Plus one of these: https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-an...tage-Cream/IEA
I made it a few years ago, at some point, maybe next year, I'm going to pull it apart and finish it properly. It was a proof-of-concept that could actually be a nice guitar if I spend a bit more effort.

Blinddrew, reading up on that little amp (pretty sweet on it's own) did you also wire the aux input and heaphone jack too?
That would be sweet. Either way it's sweet. My favorite bit is the blue light, second favorite bit is the speaker cover. It's great

Nope, I thought about running a couple of extensions for the aux and headphone but didn't see a need for them and therefore couldn't be @rsed... ;)
I might think about it again when I redo it but I still can't really think of a situation where I'd use them. So it's pretty unlikely at the moment.

I'm not going to lie to you folks, I got a little antsy.

BUT! Spoiler alert: It worked out great.

I had the body drying in a closet for the last week. I had a fan on HI pointed right at it the whole time, and the paint was drying splendidly. No orange peel, no wrinkles, I was worried because people say that nitro dries and shrinks, but so far so good.

SoooOoOOoooo
I thought, "What the heck. I gotta cut the pick guard down a little bit, maybe ill fit the pickups in there and measure that"

So I put the pickups in (damn it looks sweet) so I thought, "Eh, what tha hell, I'll throw in the wiring harness and pickup switch and wire this sucker up. But that's as far as I'll go!"

http://i.imgur.com/LBGJsgG.jpg

But, of course, I couldn't stop there. I had tasted blood and I needed to finish what I had started.
Neck fit great (thanks, likeley, to the fact I used stain and didn't try and nitro-lacquer the thing)
Not a lot of bow in the neck at all. Put the strings on and the strings were flush against the fretboard. Raised the bridge to an acceptable height and....Whoops. I had built it

http://i.imgur.com/jEhLyZl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/UGGiGLw.jpg

I'm in love.
Sounds bangin, Mosrite Slab was right, I love these pickups (LINK). I bout a MOJOTone harness (LINK), which seems to be making things extra juicy and grimey with some distortion on it. Really digging the playability, neck isn't as sticky as I thought the stain would make it.
I dunno. I'm glad I jumped the gun. If it turns out I acted wayyyyyy too far in advance, I'll update with the horror show and the shattered dreams in a couple weeks.

Let me know if you have questions or want a pic of something not pictured!

Thanks for reading this far!

Looks great. The black and white combo goes well.

Wow! It looks amazing. The white and black work really well.
Did you need to do any fret levelling or much work on the neck? Fret work is something that I am dreading but hopefully I can avoid.
I'm sure there will be no horror show.
Enjoy the new toy.

I did not have to do much work on the neck at all, thankfully.
Simon had mentioned earlier that that the wood may still be settling, drying and whatnot.
Which may cause me some issues in the coming weeks. But (knocks on wood, not the guitar though) I didn't even have to adjust the truss rod. Clean notes up and down the neck, no warping, no buzzing. Intonation was good, as I had mentioned in a previous post.
But another measuring, and checking with a tuner showed equal notes on 12th fret.
All in all I'm very happy with it.

Thanks for the compliments! I think she looks classy.

Here's a question - there's an electronic buzzing that goes away when I touch the tone/volume knobs or the pickup selector switch.
Doesn't buzz / not buzz in relation to my hands on the strings.
I grounded to the bridge, and the pre-wired harness had instructions and locations to ground pickups / pickup selector switch, etc.
Alto, same buzz on my fender, which I've never opened up or anything, and is only about a year old.

Now that I'm typing it out, I remembered I suspected it may have been my cable, or another link in my signal chain. Can an outside-of-the-guitar piece of the chain cause a buzzing issue like that? Am i even making sense right now? Any help would be greatly appreciated. IT's the only issue with an otherwise wonderful guitar.

All that's happening is that your body is being properly grounded through the guitar when you touch the metal knobs or bare selector switch (no tip being fitted?). This a) stops your body from acting like an aerial and emitting noise that's picked up by the guitar and b) your body acts as a ground plane and absorbs RFI that would otherwise reach the guitar.

This should also happen when you touch the strings. If it's not, then did you fit the ground wire to the bridge post insert? If you did, then the black coating on the hardware may be preventing ground continuity. This normally involves scraping the black off in locations you can't easily see so that there's a ground path all the way to the strings. If you didn't, then you really need to fit one, and do the scratching away as well.

Because of this, black isn't a great hardware colour choice unless you've got low noise low impedance active pickups fitted like EMGs, which don't need the strings grounding.

Looks great, I had an Ibanez one back in the 80's, traded for a late 60's Gibson SG standard.