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New to the forum and have been curious about doing a guitar build for a while so I took the plunge with the MK-2.The kit was pretty good out of the box done a mock setup and everything was inline, just required a bit of sanding.I done the neck and headstock in linseed oil a few days ago and printed out a design I made in Adobe on some decal paper.I'll clear coat the headstock tomorrow and start spraying the body.Attachment 44499
Hi and welcome.
You've made a good start there.
Thanks mate just taking it one step at a time.
Done the wiring yesterday as well.First time since high school that I've used a soldering iron.Attachment 44500
I'd just be careful with the tone control where the capacitor leg is coming off the middle tab of the potentiometer.
Attachment 44501
It's very close to the back of the pot, and very easy when fitting the top on the guitar to get them pressed together, when you are very likely to get silence. I'd either resolder the capacitor so the exposed length of leg on the 'hot' side of the capacitor is shorter and is in no danger of being able to touch the back of the pot, or put some insulating tape around the leg and on the back of the pot.
It doesn't look like there's a ground wire soldered between the back of the tone pot and the back of the volume pot when you took that picture. There's a black ground wire leading off the tone pot which I assume is the bridge ground wire, but ATM you are relying on the copper tape to carry the pickup signal ground, which I never trust to be a reliable ground path for the signal.
Thnx I'lll definitely take that on board I'll probably just wrap the leg of the capacitor.I had a brain fart when soldering and realised I should have done it the other way around lol.And yes no ground between pot and vol yet I ran out of solder if the copper tape doesn't cut it I'll solder in a ground.both pots had the little lug that stopped them from sitting flush so I used some washers underneath to get them sitting flush so there is definate contact through the copper tape between pots.I plugged it into the amp and there was no ground hum present.
You normally snap those tabs off with pliers.
All it takes is for one of the pots to become loose and you either loose your signal completely, or else it gets noisy due to a high resistance path. If you only solder the grounds to one pot, solder to the volume pot. If you loose a good ground connection to the tone pot via shielding tape, then the worst that happens is the tone control doesn't work well or at all.
And if you'd soldered the capacitor between the tone pot tab and the back of the volume pot (whilst wiring a ground to the volume pot and not the tone pot) then the tape would still provide a ground path for the tone pot metalwork but it wouldn't be the end of the world if that path became a higher resistance one. Shielding works up to quite high resistances.
All stuff that may not appear obvious at first, but comes with experience.
Welcome Troy.
The decals look good.
Please add that to the headstock thread. Very cool!
With the decal paper, do you have to wet them and then slide into position and then seal over? Which sealant did you use?Quote:
Originally Posted by Troy murley
Hey Swartbaard Yes you have to wet them first and wet the location where you intend to set it.The trick is to spray a few coats of clear coat on the decal paper and let it set before you place it in the water,otherwise the inkjet ink will run as soon as you wet it.The clear coat also makes the decal firmer and easier to work with.The next step after the decals dry I'd to spray a few coats of clear coat let those dry and gently work it back with either 1000 and then1200 grit sand paper.Initially the decal lines that stick out like dogs balls but with a bit of light wet sanding blend into the Finish.Oh and I used Rust oluem x2 satin coat.
If you can, it’s best to use laser-printed decals as they don’t run when wet, but a couple of coats of clear coat are still recommended. Never underestimate the propensity for a basic decal to want to stick to itself or crinkle up and trap air bubbles. The stiffness the clear coat provides works wonders in being able to slide the decal off the backing paper and into position.
It also provides immediate mechanical protection for the decal itself. I’ve tried uncoated decals and they are quite vulnerable to being scratched. If you are a guitarist you’ve probably got longish fingernails on your picking hand and it only takes a light scrape to scratch off some ink from the decal and ruin it.
I use MicroSet, and sometimes MicroSol too, to help the decals stick firmly. These are designed to help decals for plastic model kits stick to and follow the contours of the kit and blend into the background. I feel that it helps to hide the edges of the decal, but I’ve never done any proper A/B testing myself.
Nah I'm happy with my results,three coats of clear coat on the decal paper was more than enough to make it a viable route,Inkjet decals dont run or crinkle once clear coated.Use the back of a razor blade to iron out any air bubbles and youre good to go.And the fact that I have a printer at home makes it a no brainer.If I can do it myself I will.Especially if it works
Attachment 44539Attachment 44540Its been a week of priming sanding of spraying and I'm close to the result I was looking for.I decided to go with a silverburst.
Attachment 44560all stock apart from Grover tuners and a hotrail humbucker in the bridge.I wasn't interested in doing a Johnny Ramone white copy,I wanted it to be it's own guitar.Pretty happy with the outcome.