Jmc fs-1

I've got an FS-1 kit, which appears to be based on the Fender Starcaster. Back in the 1990s I had an opportunity to buy an original 1970s Starcaster for just $600. I was a student back then and $600 was more than I could afford. That same guitar sells for a ridiculous amount of money now... so I still can't afford one. But I could afford the kit!

I'm going for a hand rubbed tobacco burst finish. All I've done so far is make sure all the bits are there and I've started practicing some burst techniques on scrap pine.

Hmmm. Just encountered my first problem with the kit. The nut has been installed backwards. The thicker grooves are where the treble strings will be and vice versa. Any suggestions?

Hi JMC.

I usually knock the nut out using a short length of 4x2, a hammer, and (very) gentle taps down and then up the neck. A couple of taps and it usually falls out! The recess will probably need a small file to clean it out. Then replace the nut with a small amount of wood glue in the join.

I have seen other posts mention using a large flat head screwdriver, from the side, with a hammer. I have tried this but ruined the plastic nut! Maybe the head was not large enough!


NOTE 1: This may be a good time to replace it with a bone nut - which is meant to be a lot better for sound quality.

NOTE 2: The nut does not need to glued in until the very end of the build. Then, if the nut action is way too high, the nut can be sanded from the base.

Additional:
The body wood grain and flame looks great.

I use a sharp knife like a craft knife or a Stanley and a pair of needle nose pliers.

Run the sharp blade down each side of the nut so it doesn't damage the finger board when lifting the nut straight up. You don't have to go very deep. Just below the surface of the wood. Stops the wood lifting when you remove the nut.

Grab the nut using the wire cutting part with the pliers parallel to the top of the finger board and the ends on the board, preferably with a piece of carboard or such so as not to damage the board and lift straight up. Don't have to worry about misguided hammer strikes or damaging the side of the board or neck with the bit you are using to strike the nut.

Have used this method on all my guitars without a worry.

Thanks Trevor and Dikkybee. I now have the nut out. Great tips. The tapping with a block of wood did the trick. And I reckon I might as well upgrade the nut while I'm at it.

I have been curious about these... Are they Fender or Gibson scale length? Such a cool kit!

1+ on upgrading the nut. Totally worth it.

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Originally Posted by fender3x

I have been curious about these... Are they Fender or Gibson scale length? Such a cool kit!

1+ on upgrading the nut. Totally worth it.

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These are Gibson scale length with Fender starcaster body and headstock

That's cool. ES-335 of a different shape. Getting a guitar you can't just go out an buy is one of the coolest things about building.

Absolutely. That's one of the reasons I was attracted to this kit.

I did the test build today and everything worked fine. I could position the neck to get the right scale length, the strings were evenly spaced down the length of the neck, and it was all a tight fit. No adjustments needed. Then it was onto sanding, sanding, sanding.

Here's my attempt at a hand rubbed tobacco burst. I'm reasonably happy with it... perhaps a little darker than I was aiming for. The only other disappointment are the machine marks in the veneer. The instructions say not to sand the top, and I thought it looked pretty good, but then the stain brought out several marks. They're only obvious on close inspection though.

Looking good. Be prepared that the clear coats may darken it a bit more. What top coat are you using?

Since that last photo, I sanded and stained, sanded and stained. The final colour was a lot lighter than what I started with. I then applied about ten coats or Danish Oil, followed by three coats of hand rubbed poly urethane. Although... it still looks dark in the attached photo.

I think it looks great!

Here is the finished guitar. I'm pretty happy with it. It's playing nicely, although I had to go back and revisit my fret levelling. I didn't realise how important this was when I was assembling it. But I guess, this is the point of building a kit... to learn the importance that "little" things contribute to the playability of a guitar!

I have two remaining bug bears. One I'll have to live with, the other I'll fix. The one that I have to live with - I got black stain on the binding and can't remove it. I masked the binding off, but the stain seeped into very fine cracks.

The other issue, is a hum when I'm not touching the strings, which goes away when I touch any metal part of the guitar. I guess it's a grounding issue, but I can't find it where it's coming from... yet.

Thanks to the many people who have posted on these forums. I found lots of helpful hints. A big call out to Gavin1393 for his excellent post on installing the pots into a 335. It saved a lot of frustration.

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Originally Posted by JMC

I have two remaining bug bears. One I'll have to live with, the other I'll fix. The one that I have to live with - I got black stain on the binding and can't remove it. I masked the binding off, but the stain seeped into very fine cracks.

The other issue, is a hum when I'm not touching the strings, which goes away when I touch any metal part of the guitar. I guess it's a grounding issue, but I can't find it where it's coming from..

Thanks to the many people who have posted on these forums. I found lots of helpful hints. A big call out to Gavin1393 for his excellent post on installing the pots into a 335. It saved a lot of frustration.

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That looks so lovely.

On the Binding issue.. Did u try scraping with A razor?

I am building a FS-1 kit too. I have run into problems with mine. Mr. Adam is shipping me a replacement tomorrow hopefully.

Have a few questions, Do u mind answering?

Did your neck have a bump like this on high E side?
https://i.ibb.co/JB1DJMM/IMG20230401105001.jpg

Can you also tell me if you neck fit into the pocket easily or with some force.

Also if there was enough wood on all sides of tail Piece hole? Mine has something like this
https://i.ibb.co/xqzf0XZ/IMG20230407104608.jpg

Can you also tell me what stain did you use? Alcohol based or waterbased? Did u use a spray gun for the Burst or was it hand stained? Did u sand the veneer before applying the stain? What grit sand paper did you use inbetween staining?

Thank you
Drashkum

Sent from my NE2211 using Tapatalk

Hi Drashkum,

Sorry to hear that you're having some troubles. Let me work through your questions.

I don't recall there being a bump in the neck. It fitted snuggly. I need to push firmly to get it into place, but I wouldn't describe it as excessive force.

The holes for the stop bar had wood all around, but it was clearly a bit narrow on one side. That said, I don't see any stability issues.

I hand rubbed the finish, using Feast Watson Proof Tint stains. I then applied several coats of danish oil and three coats of hand rub polyurethane. I gave the veneer a very light sand with 400 grit paper. After applying the danish oil, it became apparent that there were a few glue spots that I'd not noticed earlier. But they add to the character.

I did scrape the binding, but I couldn't move it from the fine cracks in the curves. Maybe I could have tried going deeper, but was nervous about scraping too hard.

John.

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Originally Posted by JMC

Hi Drashkum,

Sorry to hear that you're having some troubles. Let me work through your questions.

I don't recall there being a bump in the neck. It fitted snuggly. I need to push firmly to get it into place, but I wouldn't describe it as excessive force.

The holes for the stop bar had wood all around, but it was clearly a bit narrow on one side. That said, I don't see any stability issues.

I hand rubbed the finish, using Feast Watson Proof Tint stains. I then applied several coats of danish oil and three coats of hand rub polyurethane. I gave the veneer a very light sand with 400 grit paper. After applying the danish oil, it became apparent that there were a few glue spots that I'd not noticed earlier. But they add to the character.

I did scrape the binding, but I couldn't move it from the fine cracks in the curves. Maybe I could have tried going deeper, but was nervous about scraping too hard.

John.

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Thank you.

Did you sand between coats of tobacco stain or before staining? With what grit?

Drashkum

Sent from my NE2211 using Tapatalk

On the top, I sanded with 400 grit between coats of stain. Being a thin veneer, I was nervous about sanding it. The back and sides I sanded with 240 followed by 400. Between each of the first four coats of danish oil, I sanded with 400 grit. After that, I'd only sand between every three or so coats of danish oil.

Thank you so much for your patience and taking time to answer my questions

Drashkum

Sent from my NE2211 using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JMC

Here is the finished guitar. I'm pretty happy with it. It's playing nicely, although I had to go back and revisit my fret levelling. I didn't realise how important this was when I was assembling it. But I guess, this is the point of building a kit... to learn the importance that "little" things contribute to the playability of a guitar!

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It looks great JMC.
As for the little things: In my opinion fret work (levelling, crowning, polishing), and the final string setup (neck bow, string/nut action and intonation) are sooo important for guitar playability. Quite often they will need to be revisited during the final stages of a build!