GA Pink PRS-1TS Build

My daughter (9) and have both been taking guitar lessons for a year and she is quickly getting bored with her Pink Acoustic. I like to build things when I get into hobbies, in the past I have built R/C planes, Golf Clubs, Rifles,,,, So when my daughter told me she wanted an electric guitar for Christmas, my first instinct was to look into building one.

After months of research and costing I decided on a PRS-1TS and ordered it without hardware so we could put into it what we want to. Having this forum was a huge plus for my decision as well, as I am a voracious forum poster on other boards.

My daughter got the guitar for Christmas and is very excited, I had to clear three rifle projects out and get some reloading done, before cleaning the bench and making way for the guitar project.

So let's start, please excuse my photography I am not a good photographer and I barely get by with pictures taken from my phone.

Unboxing: Guitar arrived in a Pit Bull box no damage which was a fear I had since it made the long trip from Australia to Texas.

Attachment 1305

The body of the Guitar looks great. I can see some clue around the binding on the woo, but I figure than should sand out.

Attachment 1306

But I did find one issue. The binding on the top of the guitar at the neck has pulled away from the wood. Hopefully a little titebond and some tape and I can get this stuck again.

Attachment 1307

The last issue or perhaps it is a non-issue is the neck and the body. It seems really high over the top of the body at almost 12mm. It is however, fairly tight which makes me confident that I won't screw it up. Feedback would be greatly appreciated

Attachment 1308

Plan for this week is fix the binding and do initial sanding of the body using 220 grit paper on my orbital sander.

welcome Flowman, good to have another US builder on board. Kit looks good and that flame cap looks great. What are your plans for the pink, will it be solid or a stain ? Be a shame to cover up that flame maple.
Bit of glue on the binding I'd use superglue and tape it up tight, try and wipe off any excess glue before it dries.
I've attached a pic of a PRS I built a while ago, different model (PRS-1S - spalted maple cap) but it's a set neck and my fingerboard is about that proud from the body so with a tune-o-matic bridge should be ok. Does your neck rake back like a LP guitar does about 3 degrees from memory ?
I think my PRS does.
I'd order your hardware and to a mock build and get a long ruler to see what the string action will roughly be.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with the build. As Wokka said, superglue (CA) is your best bet for the binding fix, ideally a medium/thick variant so it doesn't seep. Also, the 'flame' caps/tops on the kits are usually quite thin so be very careful when you start sanding the top, less is better.

Thanks for the tip on the binding. Due to my years of building R/C planes I have a lot of experience with CA type glues. Some thick should do the trick, be fast, and much easier to clean up.

Regarding the color. As far as I can tell no one makes a pink dye however, I ordered some Transtint Bordeaux and I think I can get I can get pink from that. I was thinking about doing a burst but I don't think I can get really dark and it maintain a pink. I think it would get too purple.

My plan currently is to sand with 220, get as dark a pink from the transtint as I can even a little purple and put a few coats on. Let it dry and then sand back with 400 and dilute the transtint more for a semi hot pink. Poly gloss and steel wool rub several coats for the top coat. Poly satin on the back and neck over a yet to be determined stain.

I was going to go with a really light stain on the neck and rear of the body. But the body is three pieces and I think I am going to have to go darker or paint to hide that.

your plans sound good Flowman.
Wudtone make a pink stain called 'conch girl'. There is a US Wudtone supplier. When Pit Bull Guitars used to supply wudtone think they only sold one ore two conch girl kits, it wasn't popular !

Yeah I saw that, was just too worried it is a more salmon like pink. I can start really light an work up with the transtint. Here is a sample I found that made me think it is the way to go.

Attachment 1312

that's a nice shade of pink, the flames should look excellent

Even a black initial coat, then sanded back would really make those flames pop against the pink, would be a cool contrast.
It's gonna be a great build either way.

I am worried about using black. I think when I sand back if I can't get all of the black off it is going to darken up my pink. I was thinking the dark burgundy after sanding back will let me keep my pink relatively light.

@flowman33, to my eyes, it looks kind of like a strawberry pink, but bear in mind that I happen to suffer from Red-Green colour blindness.


Liking the pink colour, should look nice when the guitar's finished, can't wait to check it out mate.

Sanded, Sanded, Sanded, Did my coat to sand back. I can see some fingerprints. I even used a metal brush around the binding, hoping to avoid glue and fingerprints. Any suggestions.

Attachment 1699

You can see them at the top left of the guitar.

Hey Flowman, that looks amazing that cap, the stain really brings out the lovely flame.
Those finger marks with glue, all I can suggest is to put a darker burst edge on, if you sand any more you risk sanding through the thin cap.