RC-1 build diary

I thought I'd throw this up to get a build diary started. It'll be a slow build but having a diary up might help me get it done.

The first thing I'd like to say is that this is a beautiful kit. The body is great and should sand up very nicely. It has the area behind the bridge filled, which I knew about and received a great discount for. In fact the discount was the clincher so I'm actually quite grateful for the routing error!

The neck on this thing feels beautiful and fits in the body perfectly. I can actually pick the guitar up by the neck just from having pushed it in.

As with everyone, the first steps will be sanding so there won't be much to show but as I said in my intro thread I'm aiming for a decoupaged comics top on this guitar so I'll be conducting some experiments on scrap wood and will throw pics up as I go.

I'm very much looking forward to having this one in my hands as a finished guitar and have a feeling that it'll be a much better guitar than I am a player.

Attachment 4997

Great start and welcome Mooney.
Some great RCs have been built here, so plenty of help and inspiration, enjoy

ok, so first question (that didn't take long). I started to do a mock build to check everything is all good and have some questions about the bridge. Not having had a guitar with a tune-o-matic before I'm a little unsure of them.
My understanding is that the intonation screws should be at the back, but if i orient the bridge that way the saddles with the bigger slots for wound strings are at the bottom.

Attachment 5025

Like I said I have no experience with these bridges so I could just have it wrong.

Also, is the bridge just supposed to sit loosely on the posts and the string tension holds it down?

2nd question first, cause its easy. Yes.

First question: tune o matic bridges vary from maker to maker. I prefer to have the adjustment screws at the back, some prefer them at the front. The ones that come with these kits face forwards. You can modify them to get the set up you prefer by carefully wiggling the wire that holds the adjustment screws out and rearranging them. I did it on my last build and its not that difficult, just a bit fiddly.

Thanks!
I may just leave it then

The mock build went smoothly and everything seems to line up very nicely. It looks like I'll have to cut the neck pick up surround to accomodate the neck but it's no biggy.

The next step was to do a test run for the comic decoupage. I grabbed a piece of scrap pine and a few bits of a comic and had a crack at it with some cheap craft glue. I routed out a bit of a depression as I really wanted to test how it went with the step down on the face of the guitar.

Initial tests seem positive and showed up a lot to work on next time. It looks like I'll need to seal the pieces of paper first to stop the image rubbing off. I have a few wrinkles and air bubbles and after a little research it seems I may not have used enough glue. I should probably go with something a little better than 2 dollar store craft glue as well. It folded around the step really nicely so that shouldn't be an issue.

My phone takes crappy pics so hopefully it shows well enough. There's a lot of saw dust stuck in it as well so obviously I'll take more care cleaning up on the actual guitar. A few more test runs and I'll hopefully have the technique down.

A sparkle finish was my plan b if the comics thing didn't work but I'm now contemplating doing that on the back and sides. More research is in order!



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Well I did say at the start of this build that it'd take a while, and I've at least proven I'm honest!

This obviously went on the backburner for a few years and to be honest I kind of forgot I even had it. I was trying to clean up my attic the other day and uncovered it, and figured that building it would at least get it out of the attic. I had a busy few years there and woodworking and hobbies took a bit of a back seat, but having gotten some of the big projects on my list done I've now got a bit more time to do the fun ones.

As you can see from the pics, I abandoned both the comic book and sparkle finish ideas in favour of a rattle can paint job. It was just a whole lot less time and hassle to do it that way. The comic book guitar is still something I'd like to do, but might leave it for a different build.

So the painting is done and I now need to clear coat, but I've got a question about assembly I was hoping somebody could help me with. Firstly, I loose fot the neck and bridge so that I could check the scale length, and with the neck pushed right into the slot I get about 313mm either way, which is perfect.

Attachment 26645

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However, with the neck pickup in position, the pickup surround does not allow the neck to be push all the way in, which throws the scale out.

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Am I missing something or do I just need to cut the pickup surround so that it fits around the neck? It seems to me that apart from the scale issue, it would also make for a stronger joint to have it fully seated all the way in. Has anyone else who has built the RC-1 run into this?

24.75" scale = 628.65 mm measured from inner side of nut to mid point of TOM saddle on the high E.

I know most folks just measure nut to 12th, the 12th to bridge but it is the overall length that matters. Had a similar problem on my EX-1 where neck PUP rout must have been just a fraction too far forward as it ended up with no room for a mounting ring and chose to top load them without mounting rings which looks good but a right proper fiddly job to get right. It took me 2 or 3 attempts before I was happy with PUP height as this method doesn't leave you with much scope for height adjustment.

There have been a few other builds where forum members cut the neck mounting ring to slide around end of fret board or custom built their own like this one http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...034#post167034

Cheers, Waz

Well, just sprayed a coat of clear, and it looks like it has made the paint underneath lift and crack. I'll be better able to assess the situation when it's dry but looks like I have a whole lot of sanding in my future.

Whoops. What kind of paint are you using? Is the clear from the same manufacturer?

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Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain

Whoops. What kind of paint are you using? Is the clear from the same manufacturer?

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Yeah it's the rustoleum 2x stuff, paint and clear. I guess it's just the curse of the rattlecan- sometimes you do everything right and the luck of the draw still stuffs it up.

Colour has been on for about a week, wet sanded it to 400 and let it dry completely. Sprayed a light first coat of clear, and another later on. I walked away and I'll go back in a minute to see whether a miracle has happened and it looks ok, but i very much doubt it.

Just went to check it after half an hour and this is what I found:

Attachment 26661

Frustrating but interestingly some of the bits that were initially the worst have settled down and fixed themselves, so maybe it'll all just shrink and look ok.

I should have known better than to trust the rattle cans, but often when you go for quick and easy it ends up being the opposite. I even had a thermometer out there to make sure i was spraying at the right temperatures, and I did a test panel, which came up perfectly :confused:

So the options are to wait and hope that it somehow miraculously fixes itself, sand and refinish, or tell people I was going for a "custom crackle finish".

I don't like Rustoleum.
Been using Belton Molotow for a few paint jobs.
Goes on at a lower pressure and nice and flat. Dries really quick.
Clear goes on with a lot of 'orange peel' but after a few coats, sands back nice and smooth.
Attachment 26662
I get it from Union Heights in Prahran but it's readily available elsewhere methinks.

cheers, Mark.

Yep. Ok well that is a classic 'paint not fully dried' reaction. Rustoleum takes AGES to go off properly, especially if its a bit of a thicker coat. What has happened here is the top of the coat has hardened into a skin - it probably felt fine to to touch. When you've sprayed the clear over it the solvent has penetrated this skin and reactivated the not quite cured paint underneath.

By ages I am talking months. There are guys here who have noticed even well after the build that rustoleum is marking because the solvents coming out of it are reacting with the foam on most guitar stands. I have a guitar complete finished in it and have done a few necks and you need to exercise super human levels of patience unfortunately. Once it is cured it is very very durable though, so I think it it worth while in the long run.

You will now need to let this cure really well before knocking it back and respraying. It will probably settle down a bit, but you will be able to see wrinkling in the finish thats really hard to buff out. Try putting a fan on it for a few days, if you can evacuate the solvent gases from the surface it will speed up the curing.

Temperature problems usually show up as clouding in the finish, greatly extended drying times and occasionally as bubbles.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain

Yep. Ok well that is a classic 'paint not fully dried' reaction. Rustoleum takes AGES to go off properly, especially if its a bit of a thicker coat. What has happened here is the top of the coat has hardened into a skin - it probably felt fine to to touch. When you've sprayed the clear over it the solvent has penetrated this skin and reactivated the not quite cured paint underneath.

By ages I am talking months. There are guys here who have noticed even well after the build that rustoleum is marking because the solvents coming out of it are reacting with the foam on most guitar stands. I have a guitar complete finished in it and have done a few necks and you need to exercise super human levels of patience unfortunately. Once it is cured it is very very durable though, so I think it it worth while in the long run.

You will now need to let this cure really well before knocking it back and respraying. It will probably settle down a bit, but you will be able to see wrinkling in the finish thats really hard to buff out. Try putting a fan on it for a few days, if you can evacuate the solvent gases from the surface it will speed up the curing.

Temperature problems usually show up as clouding in the finish, greatly extended drying times and occasionally as bubbles.

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Interesting. Thanks heaps for the info. TBH the idea of waiting months doesn't really appeal so looks like it'll get sanded back and something different done. Is this just a rustoleum issue or spray cans in general? Most of the paint was laid down about three years ago, and then some light touching up done a week ago after a some light sanding. I actually thought I was playing it safe by waiting a lot longer than what the instructions on the can say to, but now I know better. It's a bit of a motivation killer but you live and learn.

Yeah it is annoying for sure. Rustoleum is different from say automotive lacquers, its got different suspension mediums and solvents.

Automotive stuff drys a lot quicker and is a lot less reactive. The finish is not quite as hard as Rustoleum, but still pretty good. The biggest disadvantage is that it tends to sink back as it cures. So if you were doing clear over wood, it might cut back great and polish up to a mirror finish, but then in a few months time the wood grain will start to reappear if you look at the right angle. This happens on some commercial guitar finishes as well. So long as you've built up a reasonable amount of clear another good cut and polish will often rectify that. If you have a look at Phrozin's thread you can see some very impressive finishes that he has achieved with it. The Black Cherry (in my signature) and the Rellicaster were both done with that as well. I've done a lot of automotive stuff in my time so I'm familiar with it and find it pretty straight forward. Pretty excellent selection of colours and effects available as well.

The only other thing I've use on guitars is polyurethane (Cabots exterior gloss to be exact on the Sonicaster). This is much more resistant to sinking back and a lot more durable once dry. I've had some problems cutting and polishing it, but I've also found that if you do a really good job spraying it settles down to be very flat on it's own and doesn't really need it. Its probably been the easiest overall to get a nice result with.

I should also note that you need to be very careful using another product over an existing one. You can end up with reactions similar to what you've encountered or worse if the paint types are incompatible. I sprayed rustoleum over automotive acrylic primer on the Shoegazer and it was fine. So long as its well cured I think there reverse will work OK - but don't quote me.

I'll sand it all back and then see where I want to go from there. Maybe it is the universe telling me that I should've stayed true to the original plan with the comic book finish :)

Yeah its funny, things can go off the rails despite best efforts. The good news is that there is almost nothing that can't be recovered from and sometimes it ends up better than you originally planned. You just have to keep at it :).

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Originally Posted by Moony

I'll sand it all back and then see where I want to go from there. Maybe it is the universe telling me that I should've stayed true to the original plan with the comic book finish :)

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The comic book idea sounds pretty cool, it will be a pain to get it all flat though. WOuld you do whole pages or simply stitch individual panels or pictures together?

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Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

The comic book idea sounds pretty cool, it will be a pain to get it all flat though. WOuld you do whole pages or simply stitch individual panels or pictures together?

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Someone on here has done it before with a Batman themed strat, but I'm not sure what methods were employed. there's a couple of approaches but I was thinking a collage of different panels. There is a method I've seen where you can print comic panels onto normal paper with an inkjet printer, and then transfer them onto the guitar with mod podge and rub the paper away, leaving the image. The big advantages there would be that I don't need to source and cut up comics (cutting up comics feels sacrilegious to me), and I can do the entire design on the computer and do it all at once, in as flat a layer as possible. The mod podge ends up a bit bumpy but apparently you can get it fairly smooth with a whole lot of clear coats.

not sure if it's still in print but years ago the was a thick ( 2cm) monthly magazine called Previews which ...previewed the following months comics. I decoupaged an entire filing cabinet and only used one issue LOL