DK's STA Build

G'day all,

Rather than pollute Gav's thread with pics of a few minor changes I made to mine I decided to start a build thread.

When the kit arrived I did the mandatory dry fit and all was good but I wasn't overly happy with the transitions of the belly and forearm cuts so I attacked then with a bit of 80 grit to smooth them out, I had already done the same to the PBH4 kit.

Heaps of sanding required yet to get it where I want it.

The grain is quite nice and the rosewood fretboard has some interesting shading.

Hopefully I'll have more luck with the Sikens Ebony finish than I had with the FW Black Japan the body will be a translucent finish and hopefully the grain will really pop, neck will be done in citrus oil and the headstock shape will be either 50th Anniversary or Ibanez ( the jury is still out ). Hardware will be stock with the standard white 3 ply guard and if I can find the Seymour Duncans that my grand kids have put away for me they will replace the stock items

Here are some initial pics

great to see another axe in the making. Seymour Duncans - you can hardly go wrong

Nice work Dave. Those cuts are smooth, smooth smooth! Is the Sikens Ebony finish water or oil based? Any chance to dilute it so that the trabslucency can be built up in stages? Looking forward to following your build!

cheers,
Gav.

Here's a couple of pics pf the PBH cuts smoothed out, I have left the Black Japan around the edge and the front and back have Cabotts Maple gloss stain, only two coats so far with a bit of a sand required before the next coat and the I'll hit it with some wax and buff it up.

The cavities are white from the first attempt to replicate my first proper bass ( L series P Bass ).

@ Gav - The Sikens is oil based so turps to thin but will experiment on a few off cuts before throwing it at the STA

Not often that I'm right and I'm wrong again, the Strat type guitar in the clip I referenced above is a Lotus and it's Red on White not Blue on White

Here's the headstock shape

Put a single coat of the Siken's ebony on a piece of meranti today, it's very thin and the grain comes through a treat.

It says 3 coats with 12 hours between so the picture will be clearer in a couple of days.

What do the experts recommend to fill the grain without covering it, on my mongrel Tele there is no filling because I wanted the grain texture as well as the pattern but not so with the strat this time I'm after the same clear glassy finish as my mahogany CV Squier Thinline

watered down timbermate appears to be a favourite for grain filling. Make a slurry, wipe it on, let it dry, sand it smooooth

Thanks Stan, I'll round some up tomorrow

one of the few approved items available at the big green shed

Have a small tub of natural timbermate ( clear tintbase ), watch this space

it should work fine

I looked at the coloured fillers and really didn't want to use something that was going to change the colour of the timber if it wasn't a perfect match, that's my job