ST-1JR Build

Hi Everyone
Received an ST-1JR today and will be building it for my daughters 8th birthday in July. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has built this kit as I can't see any thing on the forums. That being said I will post progress photos as we go.
So for those that don't know the ST-1JR is a 3/4 strat kit mine has a 4pce basswood body maple neck and a rosewood fretboard. I'm impressed with the body has very little routing tearout, only a small 2mm piece at the back which will be no problem. The timber is not grain matched but it will be fully painted so again no problem there. Also got lucky with the fretting on this neck it is the best I've seen on a Chinese kit, have had 2 others in the past one needed 2 frets replaced the other needed a heap of fret dressing to get it playable..Not from you Adam so don't worry!
The guitar will be painted Red and my daughter loves Teen Titans so will have them painted on the front with Posca Art pens, they are a water based paint texta tha'ts used on surfboards and skateboards so should be fun.
Here's a couple of photos today from the box

welcome to the forum Euroa Guitars, sounds like you have building experience and your build plans are already worked out.
Here is a build diary same guitar, similar story a dad Craig built the guitar for his similar aged daughter
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=3400

He lived near me so I helped him do a final setup so I was tinkering with the guitar for a bit so ask any questions you have. They are a pretty cool kit and ideal for a young girl to learn on with the 3/4 scale neck.

Good luck with the build and I'll keep an eye on the diary

great project, welcome and enjoy

Thanks wokkaboy and stan good to be on here. You're right wokkaboy I have made several guitars but mostly custom scratch built ones. The two other kits I've had in the past have either not been finished or I've stolen parts, necks etc for repairs. I do have another one from pitbull which is a strat kit it's about half complete and on the backburner, have to get this one ready one the first week in July.
Did a test fit today all looks fine. Sanded the neck down and cut the headstock shape, it will just have an oil finish (can't mention
t-oil can I?)
Thought the body looked a bit thick for the size of the guitar, so took about 5mm off the back and reshaped and sanded it today.
Thanks for the link to the other build. looks like he did a fab job!

no worries Euroa, sounds like you have plenty of building experience. I agree the body is a bit smaller than a ST-1 kit but still as thick and still quite weighty for an 8yo child.
Look forward to pics of the progress. Don't worry you can use the naughty oil but expect Dingobass head of the Naughty Warehouse to sentence you !
Yes that link I sent ended up being GOTM - Guitar of the Month - was a while ago now maybe early 2015

Awesome pick Euroa. My daughter and I just finished our pink project and had a ball doing it.

Hi Everyone
Apkane your build for your daughter looks awesome, I'm sure she loves it!
My miss 7 going on 17 said she wanted pink fret markers so after looking on the forum (thanks DB) took out the white mots without much problem... then she says she wants white ones! Now we've settled on aqua!
Found some Z**g embossing powder and mixed it with clear epoxy, once its set will scrape it back and see how it looks.
When I took 5mm off the back discovered I only had about 2mm of timber in the control cavity so glued in some veneer for extra strength. We have now chosen sunset orange for the body, so if nothing else it'll be bright!
Photos show all the above with a photo of the back trimmed down 5 mm and sanded

With 5mm off the back you may want to check the length of your neck screws (if you haven't already)... you don't want four spikes through the fretboard.

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Originally Posted by WeirdBits

With 5mm off the back you may want to check the length of your neck screws (if you haven't already)... you don't want four spikes through the fretboard.

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Hi Scott
Thanks mate did check that and will be shortening those also the trem may need to be modified slightly for clearance.
Fun times!:)

And heres a pic of the headstock and fret markers
Chisel and scraper did the trick but took 1 1/2 hrs:)

those glow in the dark fret markers look cool Euroa

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

those glow in the dark fret markers look cool Euroa

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Thanks Wokka, don't know if they glow but they sure are bright should look interesting with an orange body!

Love the shape of the headstock Euroa.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by apkane

Love the shape of the headstock Euroa.

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Thanks Apkane
I use the same headstock shape on all my guitars all be it this ones a bit different, I ordered a kit from China a few years ago and it was supposed to have a paddle headstock, when I recieved it, it had a Tele headstock shape already cut. So I didn't have much timber to work with to reshape, but I'm glad now its sort of grown on me.
The photo below is of that guitar.

PS Anyone thinking of dealing direct with China be warned and buy through Pitbull instead, the kit I purchased through Aliexpress was supposed to be a Thinline Tele with an Ash body Double bound with Standard Tele routing a figured Maple neck with Maple fretboard and MOP inlays. What I got was completely different with the excuse that they were very busy!

Paint time... After several coats of dark grey primer and sanding, it now has its first coats of Venus Orange I think it should be called Triton workbench orange but I'm sure Miss 7yr old would object to that.
So a few more coats required then some sanding after its hardened and then time to paint the Teen Titans on with the Posca Art pens.
Question has anyone painted a pickguard? I'm thinking of sanding it back to a matt finish then using the pens on it then maybe a clear coat over the top... any help would be much appreciated.

Edit... sorry about the upside down photos not sure what happened there they do click the right way up :confused:

defiantly scuff up the surface on the pick guard to give it some key. There is also spray can primer made for automotive plastics that is supposed to bite a bit harder.

Dedman ftw. Spot on advice.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dedman

defiantly scuff up the surface on the pick guard to give it some key. There is also spray can primer made for automotive plastics that is supposed to bite a bit harder.

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Thanks so much I will have a look

Ok the neck is all but finished frets leveled and polished, gotta say impressed with the quality of the fretwork and neck needed very little work to get done,

Still have to put one last coat of topcoat on the back, just not going to happen given all the rain we're having here:mad: most rain we've had since we moved here 5 yrs ago!

So decided to paint the TeenTitans on the front as requested by my little one, here's what I'm up to so far
Blocking in the colours first and then will go back and neaten up and fill in the fine details

Just removed the Teen Titans Logo looked bad in the photos and not much better in real life... looked tacky.

Hi Euroa, just saw your build diary so far. great build. Basswood is nice and light too.

Love the change of mind regarding the fret dot markers.....had a good laugh.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andy40

Hi Euroa, just saw your build diary so far. great build. Basswood is nice and light too.

Love the change of mind regarding the fret dot markers.....had a good laugh.

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Thanks mate, can't say I was too happy with her changing her mind just after I removed them,a young woman's prerogative I guess... but on the bright side I it was good practice for any future builds.:)

Coming along well, looks good, could also be General Lee orange, fun project

So the birthday is on the 5th of July so about 2 weeks away.
Got the final 2 colours today I needed in the Posca pens so the art work is done.
Back has had Krylon acrylic applied so need to do the front and sides, then put it all together.
I was going to rub back and buff but wont have enough time before the big day, so will see might do it later.
Weather here has been extremely wet so not good for spraying:(

coming along well Euroa, hate it when you have to rush a build to meet a deadline ie birthday.
Looks like you are on the home stretch now

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

coming along well Euroa, hate it when you have to rush a build to meet a deadline ie birthday.
Looks like you are on the home stretch now

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Yeah thank god nearly done, don't normally paint cartoons on builds!... just received the coronado kit today so time to start that one:)

Great job with the artwork, it will be a hit for sure

Well, finally assembled the completed guitar, all done bar the setup. My daughters birthday is tomorrow so I will do the setup later, let it sit for a week and then do it.

Nearly didn't make the deadline, last week when I was applying the clearcoat it reacted with the Posca pens and I had to completely sand the entire guitar back to bare wood and redo everything.
Decided not to cut back the clear and buff due to both time and the Posca Pens add texture to the surface which would take a mountain of clear to cover

No other probs with the kit except for the jack wires were shorting out so replaced those.
The kit is stock except for the fret markers, and 5mm taken off the back of the body which I think balances it a little better.
Thanks to everyone for comments and help throughout the build its been fun, look forward to completing the next one at a more leisurely pace!

Pictures show the guitar with a matching amp we found.

Great job! Love the figures you have hand drawn on there.

cheers,
Gav.

great job Euroa bet your daughter will be stoked with it. What a bummer having to sand it all back and redo !

Great build your daughter will love this. You've done a great job with the hand painted cartoons

@gavinturner
@wokka
@andrewdosborne

Thanks guys, my daughter received it this morning and was wrapped.:D

Nice work with the painting and score matching amp!!!

good work on the guitar and being a top class Dad