Gms-7z

Starting the build diary on my first guitar build; and starting off strong! GMS-7z multiscale 7-string kit.

Believe the veneer is a simulated zebrawood with Zebra Maple as noted on the product page. 2 pc. Mahoghany body and Mahoghany neck.

Looking to make a super light purple-gray stain (wisteria is the inspiration) for the veneer. No plans for color on the back and neck (yet). Stain to be used is Angelus lilac suede dye, diluted with neutral. Would have liked to do black first and sanded back to add depth to the veneer grain, but looks to be too thin to back-sand enough.

Finishing with tru-oil sealer and filler so the stain doesn't lift and mix color, topped with many layers of tru-oil for high gloss finish. Mahoghany will be first stained (whatever the color might be), then filled with Aquacoat clear wood grain filler and finished with tru-oil in the same way.

Looking forward to getting started! Hoping to make a first post over the test build and inspection tonight.

Carson

Hi and welcome Carson.
Great that you have a clear vision of what you want. I'm a big fan of tru-oil! Good luck with the build.

Body Inspection:
Looked over the body and neck for any issues, there is a machining Mark on the face of the body, to the left of where the strap button would be. Also, it looks as if the vaneer is already sanded through at the top of the cutaway, along the binding. Both pictured here: https://imgur.com/a/O0trJie

Frustrating that the vaneer is already messed up before I had the chance to do so myself. Has anyone else experienced this? Am I able to send the body back, Or is there a way to hide? Only thing I could think of is to have a black burst and hope the difference in Zebra Maple and Mahogany's colors don't show.

Hardware:
Hipshot bridge + (4) bridge screws
(7) press-fit string inserts (for back)
(2) 16° angled humbuckers
(4) humbucker screws
(4) humbucker springs
Vol & Tone pots, 3 pos. switch, input all prewired
(2) nuts + (2) washers + (2) knobs for pots
Nut/washer for 3 position switch
Input faceplate + (2) mount screws + nut/washer
(2) strap buttons + (2) rubber washers + (2) screws
Electronics cavity cover + (3) screws
Truss rod cover + (3) screws
(7) tuners + (7) screws

All also came with 2 pieces of foam with a sticky backing and some holes stamped through it. Does anyone know what they're for? Seem like they'd be behind the humbuckers. Plus, I got two additional truss rodd and electronic cavity covers. These are both different shapes than the two that fit correctly on the guitar. Anyone know what's up with that? Foam and extra plates here: https://imgur.com/a/eqCPIOQ

Test fitting:
Most all fit together well, except the most important part - the neck. When putting the heel in the pocket, there is ~1/8" of space on the low B string side that gradually decreases until gone on the high e string side. Also seen with humbucker inserted; does not sit flush with the end of the fretboard. When trying to fit in the neck with the humbucker, the humbucker is wedged in. When test fitting the bottom and top strings, I believe this is also the cause of a marginal difference in space from the neck binding to the string; smaller at the nut and wider the 24th fret. B string is particularly bad, but e string is also noticable. Images of pocket gap; gap between humbucker and fretboard; and margins of strings at nut and 24th fret: https://imgur.com/a/Xe2IjGE

How can I fix this? Seems like the neck pocket is pointing the neck just 1° or so to the right from center. Sand the left side of the pocket until the neck seats fully? Worried about sanding too far and having to shim the neck back into place.

Any help is very much appreciated. Wouldn't love to send anything back, as shipping is expensive and long from Australia to the center of the US...

Also worth noting on the neck pocket issue, the test fit showed that the scale length on the e string side was correct, at 25.5". The B string side was 1/8" longer than supposed to be at 27.125".

Can't wait to see how you go with it mate
I'm on some learning curves on my multi scale build too(first effort).

There's definitely some engineering to do to get the lengths right and properly adjustable at the saddles. I've been comparing several guitars to estimate the positioning for the different string gauges.
Do you have any other multi scale guitars to get an idea of the kind of lengths to expect from 12th fret to saddles? It would really help my setup too.

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Originally Posted by DaveM

Can't wait to see how you go with it mate
I'm on some learning curves on my multi scale build too(first effort).

There's definitely some engineering to do to get the lengths right and properly adjustable at the saddles. I've been comparing several guitars to estimate the positioning for the different string gauges.
Do you have any other multi scale guitars to get an idea of the kind of lengths to expect from 12th fret to saddles? It would really help my setup too.

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Thanks Dave, Saw your build diary post - would have loved to get a flamed maple top if they offered it on the 7-string! Unfortunately, I'm in the boat with you as this is my first build and first multiscale guitar. A kit seemed like a cheaper entry point to start playing on a multiscale 7 and love the idea of making it my own.

Looking at the scale length on the product listings for both of our guitars, it shows that our lowest strings (my B, your E) should be 27" (685.8mm) and our high e string should be 25.5" (647.7mm). Nut to top of the 12th fret should be exactly half of those, but once the saddles are adjusted for intonation, the 12th fret to saddle measurement may be a little different. To be able to adjust in either direction in the future, I'd set your saddles at the middle of their adjustment, then go for exactly half of the scale length at 13.5" (342.9mm) on our lowest string and 12.75" (323.85mm) on the high e.

Hope this helps with your build, and looking forward to learning in parallel with you!

Carson

I've sanded the neck pickup pocket in the bottom right, and the cutouts for the mounting plate screws (top on the left cutout, bottom of the right cutout). Now the pickup is able to twist in the pocket clockwise, allowing the neck tenon to fully seat against the body cutout. The neck pickup angle also now aligns to the angle of the fretboard end.

Test fit 2 seems to be better, with both high and low strings gaining space on the sides of the fretboard equally. Next step will be to level the frets

https://imgur.com/a/f9DoZ72

Looking good Carson

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ad.php?t=12152
Make sure you check out this post where Simon gives a really detailed explanation of scale length relative to the bridge half of the strings. I never bothered to calculate how a guitar was actually set up before starting this build but now I can see there's definitely some estimating and some judgement required in consideration of string tension before setting your neck in position.
Hence why I have longer measurements from 12th to the saddles.

You can see where I've actually pulled the neck out from the pocket to achieve my measurements, and it's created a big gap which I'm trying to establish how to fill!

Thanks for looking out, Dave! So from the post you've linked, sounds like we set the intonation screws with just a few threads visible within the saddle. Measure for the nominal scale length from there because during intonation they will only be adjusted backwards to account for added tension while pressing down on the frets.

Interested in what you will use for the gap-fill because I'll likely have to do the same!

For the fretwork, used a straight edge of cardboard with notches cut out to determine how to adjust the truss rod. A few quarter turns to the left straightened the factory convex bow. Taped the fretboard, marked the frets with a sharpie and used 400 grit taped to an aluminum yard stick to level sand the frets. In the process, managed to tap the nut off... So at the end of the fretwork, used a little wood glue and clamped it back on.

Following the level sanding (once the sharpie was gone) I re-marked the frets and used a medium fret file until there was a thin, even center line on every fret. Then went up and down the fretboard with 600 grit until those lines were removed (to smooth the curve at the top of each fret). I went over each fret individually then with 1000 grit until they had a uniform matte finish.

Finally I polished each with 0000 steel wool. I could have polished with higher grit, but was already happy with the results. The steel wool left a close-to-mirror finish on the frets.

Finished product: https://imgur.com/a/pD0rMFH

Up next, stain!

Staining went well - less glue on the body than others I've seen in this forum, but still a few spots.

Started by lightly sanding the body and neck with 320 grit. I diluted 1 part Angelus Lilac suede dye with 3 parts Angelus Neutral (to lighten). Applied to the face of the body and headstock, first coat went on very splotchy, but a second coat proved to even it out a bit more. I mixed equal parts Angelus Purple leather dye with Neutral as well for the back of the body and neck, as well as feathered in from the sides of the face for a burst look. I then grabbed the original rag from the lilac and blended in the edges of the dark purple on the face to the lilac in the center. All in all, it came out darker than I really wanted, but the burst did cover up a lot of the blotchiness.

I do like how it looks, but may sand back (very lightly) the face to get it a little lighter and go back over with the lilac, and the body to get a more even stain. Also to get a pretty big glue spot off of the top left of the headstock.

Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/zAfVgNu

Lightly sanded down with 400 on the face of the body and headstock, and 240 everywhere else until it looked "weathered". Re-stained the face and headstock with a layer of 2 parts neutral to 1 part lilac and the back of the neck/body with 2parts neutral to 1 part purple. I then took the nearly used-up purple rag and went around the edges and body of the headstock with it to maintain the burst. I think it looks better, more even. Though sanding did expose a bit more glue at the machining mark on the bottom left of the body, and therefore shows up more against the stain. It looks good to me though. Going to try to touch up the glue marks with multiple colors of purple sharpie I have. Then will be time for grain filling the Mahoghany and a month's worth of tru oil layers!

New pics of stain: https://imgur.com/a/oVqNDZn

Long overdue update, touch-ups with sharpie did not match colors, so I took it off and was able to touch up a bit more in later stages.

Put on 1st coat of Birchwood Casey grain filler & sealer heavy, working into the grain in circular motions. Allowed the first coat to dry 24 hours before 2 thinner, subsequent coats with 4 hours in between them. Last coat was allowed another 24 hours to dry before sanding the whole guitar with 600 grit to prep for tru oil.

The 600 grit did take off some color in places where I may have been a little more heavy-handed. So I touched up those spots using a dobber with the respective dyes at the same mix (glad I measured!). With the color dobbed on, I blended with a clean piece of cheesecloth. This worked really well, and it's unnoticeable where some of the color was sanded off. I also packed dye into the glue spots that I was just going to live with. Pleased that it took up more dye than before, maybe it could grip onto the remaining grain filler? Those spots are still noticable, but much less than before.

At this point, I glued in the neck so that the tru oil could fill the seam where the neck meets the neck pocket. Made sure that the neck was pulled out at the right amount to achieve the correct scale length by first clamping the neck in and measuring, adding a few straight lines with a sharpie across the neck tenon and body in the neck pickup pocket. Pulled the neck out, added glue put back in with the lines straight. Clamped for 24 hours, with one quick grip on the fretboard and body, two more on either side of a Mahoghany 2x2, pressing a block onto the neck tenon in the neck pickup pocket.

With sealant coat sanded back to 600 and dye retouched, started to put on layers of tru oil. With cheesecloth, first layer thick, 24+ hours to cure, with subsequent thinner layers added with no less than 4 hours in between (overnight and life getting in the way allowed a few coats more time than others). Somewhere in between layers I picked up some tack cloth because there was still so much lint sticking from just being in my house. So a few of the deep layers may have some lint...

Currently have the 10th layer applied and cured for 24+ hours. Tonight, will sand back with 1000 grit wetted with tru oil unless band practice gets in the way 🙃 This will ideally create a paste that will fill any remaining grain and contribute to a near-mirror finish I'm looking for.

Current state (picture makes the dye look much more splotchy than it is...): https://imgur.com/a/lRcC5Zr

Aside from finishing, found my issue with unequal space from the low B and high e to fretboard edge to be an unequally slotted nut. The high e slot to edge of the nut was ~3/16in and the low B to edge of the nut was ~1/16in. I've bought a Graphtech TUSQ XL blank in black that is supposed to be shaped for 7-string fanned frets (but not pre-slotted). I'm waiting for in the mail to try my hand at slotting... Can't wait to make one pass of the file too deep and have to go pick up another one. Luckily, If it the one I bought doesn't fit or I do mess it up, I now know that guitar center carries unshaped Graphtech TUSQ XL blanks.

The build is done: https://imgur.com/a/bLyzV8V

32 layers of tru oil, sanding back with 1000 grit at 10, 1500 grit at 20 and 0000 fine steel wool after 30. 2 layers on top to bring back the shine from burnishing with the steel wool. Then, let it sit for a week to harden before using automotive polishing compound, a foam disc and a drill to polish

Replaced the stock pots with 2 CTS 500k pots, which required drilling the holes to 3/8". Replaced the stock pickup selector with one a bit beefier and with a metal tip (though the switch is loose and causes a bit of static when switching pickups...). Replaced the jack with a pure tone stereo jack - for ease of potentially adding a kill switch down the line. I also decided to go out on a limb with a greasebucket circuit on the tone knob. Copper taped, soldered, all seems to work well with the electronics.

The pickup screws it came with were too long - almost as if they were ment to mount on pickup rings. A couple of cents at the hardware store got me some shorter screws.

Setup and intonation was a breeze; however there is some buzzing going on especially on the BEAD strings when fretted above the 12th fret. There is also a little buzzing on the B string on the headstock side when fretting the 2nd and 3rd frets. Chalking this up to the preshaped Graphtech nut I ordered is too short. After cutting the slots it's now too low. To compensate, I have a little more now in the neck than I would like and the bridge is hiked up. I'll likely replace the nut with a full blank so I can shape it to an appropriate size. The bit of buzzing though is hardly noticable when playing through an amp.

Had fun with my first build and definitely looking forward to the next!

Looks amazing, I love the purple. I have the same kit waiting for me and this is lighting the fire to get moving on it.

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Originally Posted by DrJackalope

Looks amazing, I love the purple. I have the same kit waiting for me and this is lighting the fire to get moving on it.

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Thanks! Much appreciated. If you have the model with the Korean made pickups and bridge, I was thoroughly surprised with the sound quality! I'm no audiophile, but I think you'll be impressed

I believe I do. I was planning on keeping the bridge, but considering changing up the pickups. I was thinking of buying a set and then removing from that baseplate and adding to the kit baseplate to keep the same angles. Maybe I keep that for a later mod if need be and see how the stock ones go for now. Thanks for the info!

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Originally Posted by altizerc2196

The build is done: https://imgur.com/a/bLyzV8V

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Had fun with my first build and definitely looking forward to the next!

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Looks good. Sooo, what's next?

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Originally Posted by Trevor Davies

Looks good. Sooo, what's next?

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Obviously not too active since completing my first. Currently trying to buy a house so "what's next" has been locked up due to finances and time constraints. Though once I'm set up in the new house, I'd like my next build to be from scratch! I've been noodling around the idea of a "Djazzmaster". A play on "djent" and "Jazzmaster", which would be an 8 string, headless, multiscale guitar with a Jazzmaster body. Here's a quick sketch I've made:

https://imgur.com/a/mb3TCpz

Quote:

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Originally Posted by altizerc2196

Obviously not too active since completing my first. Currently trying to buy a house so "what's next" has been locked up due to finances and time constraints. Though once I'm set up in the new house, I'd like my next build to be from scratch! I've been noodling around the idea of a "Djazzmaster". A play on "djent" and "Jazzmaster", which would be an 8 string, headless, multiscale guitar with a Jazzmaster body. Here's a quick sketch I've made:

https://imgur.com/a/mb3TCpz

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Nice plan! Good luck!