Just a tease shot I couldn't resist posting. 1st neck check since doing the finish.
More words and photos on the weekend.
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Just a tease shot I couldn't resist posting. 1st neck check since doing the finish.
More words and photos on the weekend.
Nice one :)
Hi Enikoy welcome to the forum, that ES-3 looks very cool. Please tell us more about the stains/colours
I have a treasured 1975 ES-335 that I have had for many years, I also have two young kids. I wouldn't want the 335 and the kids to interact in an unpleasant way, so a few years ago I bought a used Yamaha Pacifica from Crime Convertors for $150. Incredible value for such a nice playing guitar and I can afford to not be precious with it. It lives on a stand for easy access, for me ….and the kids.
Really had an inkling for semi/hollow body to put on that stand, but these sort of guitars aren’t as plentiful or cheap as Strat/SG/LPjr clones at Cashies. So here we are, building a Gibson ES-175ish ES-3 kit.
Looking to fill the gap between these two.
Attachment 10387
I’ve done so much Googling on DIY guitar building that my head was in a spin. So I though I would jump in and start. Mistakes along the way would be educational and hopefully make me see why some people hold opinions on build schedules, finishes and hardware upgrades.
Please don’t hold back on the comments if you think I could have done something better or done something really stupid. I’m thick skinned and we can all learn ;)
So far:
Got the kit
- Just spent some looking at it and thinking about how to go about things.
- Did a test assembly of the body and neck. Everything seemed to be where it should be, scale length correct to the pre-drilled bridge mounts. Neck angle provided a satisfactory action. The neck did have a bit of a back bow, so I released the truss road and is more or less flat now. Waiting to see what happens when it get some string tension on it.
- I did buy some “Vintage Amber ColorTone” stain from DIY Guitars, but this was just too yellow on my tests. After testing some browner stuff my Dad had, I raided Bunnings finally settled on Feast & Watson spirit stain “Golden Teak”.
Weekend 1
- Shape the headstock. Nothing ambitious for fear of stuffing it. Imagine a Gibson top simplified down to one drill hole, two saw cuts and some sanding. Simple and neat, and a huge change from the blank look.
- Sanded down the neck and stained it directly with Feast & Watson spirit stain “Golden Teak”. This highlighted some grain cut nasties that I didn’t spot when I wiped the timber down with metho to check for blemishes. Only one small glue spot on the heel of the neck.
Attachment 10388
Weekend 2
- Sanded down the body through the grades 120/180/240/320.
- After some research decided to use a sanding sealer to fill the grain, easy first sand and provide a more stable base for the stain to be applied to.
- Applied the stain, turned out perfect in the sides, the rear was good but some light cuts to grain across the body still showed up. Glad I used the sealer first, but based on the this I decided to not stain the front and leave it natural.
Attachment 10389
Attachment 10390
Weekend 3
- Applied coats 1 & 2 of the top coat. Probably controversial, but I used a Cabbots Poly-urethane rattle can. Very happy with the result.
Attachment 10391
Weekend 4
- Lightly sanded back the top coat to smooth things out. A few dust flecks and some grain was still sucking up the lacquer more than the rest.
- Unfortunately I hit the stain in one raised up spot, affecting the darkness of the tint. Re-applied the stain carefully and mostly rescued it. Only I’m going to spot this :rolleyes:
- Applied coats 3 & 4 of the top coat. So glossy, I’m still thinking that satin might have been better.
- After a few days drying the coat appears mainly flat with only a few grain dips/pocks. After much consideration I decided to go with as is. I can live with it, other people think it’s awesome, plus I don’t want to stuff up what’s there currently or weigh the timber down with more coats.
Attachment 10392
looking great, I like the natural top
OK neck now glued in place.
What is the general consensus on glue curing time before stringing up to concert pitch?
I've used Titebond II, about 2.5 days since set, clamped for the first 12 hours, ambient temperature around 23C.
Electrics, done, tested and ready to install.
Attachment 10493
That is looking GLORIOUS in its simplicity Enikoy. Look forward to some shots of body and neck united!
COOL....I bought 'Golden Teak" stain as well, haven't tried it yet..... thanks for showing what it looks like :D
I've tried to get the photos to match the real appearance of the colour. The final shot with the side and front is a very good match to real life, checked on a few screens. It comes out magnificent on the side timber, it gets a lot of wows from people (normal people, not specifically guitarists or woodworkers).Quote:
Originally Posted by Tweaky
I also tried their "xxxxxsomethingxxx Maple" but it was far too rose' red for this project.
Nice loom enikoy!
Those with eagle eyes might note that I have failed to ground the tone pots. Didnt spot it when I plugged my "cardboard" guitar into and amp. Schoolboy error :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by enikoy
http://www.tonerider.com/files/humbu...iring-2014.pdf
Just plugged in. OK an hour ago. This this so sweet :D
Photos and text tommorrow.
Here's the photo at least. Too busy playing with my new toy for much text at the moment. Sounded fantastic straight up. Needs some attention with the nut and tuning of the action & intonation. But yeah, with the hardware upgrades, it would compete with an Gibson at 4-6x the cost :o
Attachment 10571
She looks awesome.
The guitar looks beautiful, I like the natural blonde finish of the body.
Bravo, that looks sweet!
Hey Enikoy, that is just beautiful. Please cut the string ends, take 3 more photos (body close up, back of the guitar and a headstock shot) and then enter it into our May 2016 Guitar of the Month Competition.
Really great result. How does she sounds? I bet she sounds sweet plugged or unplugged!
cheers,
Gav.
Hi Adam, the kit is actually a DIY Guitar refugee, so I assume ineligible. Though your kit ES-3 appears very very similar so imagine the same great result can be achieved with it.Quote:
Originally Posted by adam
Yep, very happy with the sound she produces. Great to have something that I can mess around with and have 75% the volume of an accoustic or plug in and have something that easily rivals my Gibson ES335 (the kit has Tonerider A2s installed).Quote:
Originally Posted by gavinturner
Nice one, she looks great.
Hey buddy, maybe yours could be the first entrant in the Non Pitbull GOTY thread I started......here's the link for you to post your shots for everyone to drool over http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=5621Quote:
Originally Posted by enikoy
Just thought I'd check in a few months later to show that this ended up a great guitar that gets played a lot. Not something that gets hidden in the back of the cupboard ;)
After a few months settling in I noticed why the guitar had tuned up a bit weirdly a few times. The plate on the tailpiece had bent! While the original looked nice, the thin sheet metal just didn't have the strength to hold against a set of 12-54 strings!
So off with that and on with a more sturdy and traditional tail piece. Did this at the same time as a few tweaks and fixes to the set up and electronics. Even more happy now. Sounds great and huge fun to play unplugged. Plugged in takes it to another level, those Tonerider pickups certainly rival the Gibson originals. Definately a few things I'd do differently build wise if I did it all again, but I'm settled for the time being.
Hell, the thought of selling my long term Gibson ES-335 has passed my mind several times. Hard to keep $3.5k parked in the cupboard when my custom $500 is doing the job so well.
Enikoy. Tailpiece looks great. so does the guitar. Interesting point regarding the 335, never owned one myself, but I most certainly understand. I find it hard to see myself wanting to buy/play any of the big name brands over my builds too.
Which Toneriders did you go for?
Tonerider Alnico II Classics, I'd happily put them in my 335.
a nice result, and great to see it gets plenty of use
yeah i got those in my LP-1SS and they are awesome!!Quote:
Originally Posted by enikoy
I think it is worthwhile showing the continued life of these kit guitars. I keep learning from and messing with it in ways I would never on my production guitars.
From the get go the plastic nut on this was a problem that needed attention. Way too high affecting playability and the intonation on open chords. Also the string routes were cut way too deep and the wound strings caught up and it caused tuning problems.
So I finally bought a bone nut that was all pre cut and ready to drop in. All it need was some reduction in the overall height. The original plastic unit knocked out easily enough. I cleaned out the recess and put in the bone nut. Comparing the string height to first fret on my nice playing ES335, I needed to remove 1.25mm on the wound side and 1mm on the other. Using a few grades of sandpaper I reduced the height, re-installing and checking along the way. Once installed, it completely improved the play-ability of the guitar. Open chords now easy and spot on with good intonation. The lower nut height also reduced the action down the fretboard improving play-ability.
Overall a very cheap upgrade that has had a huge positive effect on the guitar. Highly recommended, if not mandatory!
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