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Hi everyone,
Delighted and excited to receive my ES-1GT kit a couple of weeks ago. See Photo...
I've been on vacation but just got back and now I'm turning my attention to my summer project of getting the guitar built...
This is my first build so kinda nervous. All help appreciated and this will be my place to ask 1000 questions, starting and finishing with the dumb ones...
More photos to follow.
Sportbilly
Okay, so I've checked over the kit and everything looks good. The body and neck don't seem to have any scratches, cracks or machine marks.
I did a mock build per the forum posts and instructions. A very useful exercise and it threw up a number of questions, being my first build. I'll not comment on all of them now but there is any issue with the neck join I'll go into in a separate post...
Anyway, here is a photo of the mock build. Reckon it'll look pretty cool when I get to the finished product.
I'm using Wudtone Black Magic Woman so should look cool with the chrome kit...
Okay, so i mentioned the neck...
During the mock build I've noticed that the neck is slightly too big for the neck hole at the top. see the photos below/attached.
reading the forum it is clear that the alignment and fit of the next is essential so what is the best solution to get best fit?
I figure I need to have this sorted before I embark on any sanding and finishing of the body and neck...It may be a simple sanding job to get it all snug but I wanted to check to avoid mistakes so early on.
Thx
Hi Friend,Quote:
Originally Posted by Sportbilly
You will need chisel/sand the neck pocket , NOT THE neck heel,tiny amounts, hammer in the neck with a Rubber Mallet to protect the fret board, a glue in neck can be a challege take of too much will wriggle, it should be a very tight fit, go very slow and be patient, even using a sharp razer blade to cut away a little at a time.
Hi Sportbilly, I've just seen your question, don't use a chisel, I'd carefully sand the sides of the neck pocket, checking the fit regularly. You should be able to push the neck heel in by hand, don't use a mallet as you may break/split/chip the neck pocket surrounding timber.
As Honeybadger said try and get a nice snug tight fit.
Sand both sides of the neck pocket so the neck remains centred
yep sand the neck pocket.
also, use a sanding block, not just your fingers - or you will get a wavy result - much flatter with a block.
ideally the neck should be a firm press by hand fit and you should be able to hold the neck only and have the body stay on.
if you did it so tight it was a hammer fit, you risk splitting the neck pocket - also way too tight causes too much glue to be forced out of the joint, resulting in having not enough of it holding your neck on
Thanks guys, appreciate the advice. That's this weekend's job...
Something else has come up while I was reading the forums on finish... So I mentioned I have bought some wed tone Black Magic Woman... I was wanting to paint the body and the neck black BUT I read on one of the threads that BMW doesn't go well on Maple. Also the map,e top and the next look like really nice pieces of timber so I'm going to call Widtone tomorrow for a chat. I might revert to natural neck with one of their neck kits. Might have to rethink the colour and use their Dye only product rather than the Pigment & Dye colours.
Any views on colours welcome. I'm checking out ES 1 pictures here for inspiration. Red would be classic but I'm open to ideas.
Feels like I've not started yet but I've had to consider a lot...
colours are pretty personal, but givien the tightness of grain and hardness of the neck, i dont think they take colour like a body would.
dont go passed looking into Dingo tone, and DB is on site to give you all the help you need - also the DT black stump is way blacker than the wudtone equivalent if you do happen to want black
Thx Stan. I don't have DT as an option I think as I'm in the UK and they can't ship it here. Otherwise would have been glad to...
ah, of course...
i've used artists inks with good results, check my sister's guitar thread in my sig - must finish that one...
Thanks Stan. I checked out your sister's build thread. Looks great.
Reminded my of something I've been reading up on... Binding masking. I was reading a thread about fret board masking and it's very helpful in recommending the blue 3M scotch tape etc so I've ordered that.
If anyone has photos of fully masked up guitars prior to painting that would be very helpful. Or just words of wisdom. Being an ES1-GT I have the binding and the f-holes to mask and fill.
Okay so back to the neck... With a bit of careful sanding we're in better shape with a snug fit. See photos.
One thing I did want to check was the extent to which I need to monitor, measure or worry about the angle of the neck as it sits in the neck pocket once flush with the bottom of the pocket.
When I first got the neck to slot in it appeared the angle looked too much. But then I placed the pickups in their slots and it actually doesn't look bad. I don't think I want to get into indepth messing with the neck pocket as I doubt it'll really go well...
The neck angle looks fine Sports. As long as the bottom of the heel is flush. I'd start sanding the body and get some stain on!
Hi everyone... Okay so I've done some sanding and I'm getting ready now my Wudtone Carmine Gypsy has arrived...
But I have a question on prep: I was readin Andy40's ES1-G thread, which is really useful. He has a great photos of the body all prep'd and masked for painting. Do I need to mask the binding and fill all the holes per Andy40's photos or can I apply Wudtone and scrape the binding after painting (which is what Gavin advises in the "How to Build your pitbull guitar" thread.
I've seen some you tube videos advising getting 1/8" plastic tape so it can bend round on the top through the curves.
I'm ready to paint but I want the prep to be sound... Thanks as always... SB.
SB, if in doubt mask, but you still may need to scrape the binding as Wudtone is quite thin and can get under the tape. Either way sand/polish the binding up to 0000 steelwool first so the stain has no tooth to get into. Also look carefully for any cracks in the binding as occasionally, some builders have had issues with the stain syphoning into cracks which can leave perpendicular lines across the binding. If you are concerned about any flaws in the binding ask Dingobass what to do, there is something involving acetone that can fix them.
Someone a few months back mentioned he used a latex type stuff that was painted on top of the binding and removed after staining which worked successfully. Just can't remember whose build and there are literally hundreds done so far this calendar year.
Latex masking fluid: Vintage-y ES-3.
Hi guys, quick update as I've been busy ordering some stuff and getting on with neck & body finishes...
Neck: see the photo below. I've been applying TruOil, up to about 5 coats now which I think will do. It's come up a treat and really shows up the wood. Happy with it. You'll also notice a bit of a PRS'eque headstock going on... All good.
Body: per photos you're looking at Wudtone Carmine Gypsy. One round of deep colour coat and one round of base Coat. Leaving to dry this week then will do another Base coat perhaps Thursday or Friday. I'm thinking 4-5 rounds of Base coat will do the trick but will see how it looks. No rush...
Also the advice on the latex masking fluid was spot on so thanks for that. I've coated the bindings before painting/staining and it comes off with a bit of elbow grease with a pencil eraser/ cloth. Will give the binding all a proper clean up once all the rounds of colour are done. But a top tip. Thanks...
looks good you have a nice result
Hi Sport billy,
I really like that colour. I wish i had the patience to order some Wudtone products and wait for them and get them through customs....
are you indenting to sand/scrape the binding back in the F holes? It looks like they're stained.
Hi Andy,
Thanks. Yeah I figured I'd need to sand or scrape in the F-holes as the masking fluid painting was looking a bit fiddly there... I've seen some vids of guys using a blade to finish bindings off. Hope it works...
I'm sure it will scrape or sand off easily
Hi everyone,
It's been a while since my last posting but I've been busy applying the finish. Took ages with time between each coat and the gloss etc. See photos. Pretty happy with it if I say so myself... not perfect, but pretty good for my first attempt...
Now I need to clean up the binding of the latex fluid and stray paint so it has a nice contrast to the Wudtone Carmine Gypsy red. Also the f-holes. Any tips welcome. Perhaps a good sanding. Perhaps a bit of a scrape with a blade...
Now I need to turn my attention to next steps... glueing the neck I think and ensuring it's straight and the correct distance for the scale length...
Thx. SB
Coming along nicely, for the binding I would very carefully scrape with a blade (I use a Stanley Knife blade)
Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk
Hi All,
So, neck glued, tuners on (just screws needed to finalise)' pickups on and wires threaded, bridge pins in and grounded.
Starting to swot up on the wiring diagrams, soldering and wiring. Mentally preparing myself for the f-hole instalation checking out various YouTube vids. Any advice welcome.
Still pretty happy so far and no howlers... spoke to my guitar teacher about levelling the frets and will prob borrow some of the specialist tools from him to help...
Thanks,
That's looking very very cool.
I've seen videos where people pre-assemble the wiring harness for a semi-hollow on a sheet of cardboard with cutouts for the pots and stuff. That seems like a great idea, especially if you're a bit unsure if you're going to get it right the first go. Make sure you get or have a desoldering pump or braid or something and fixing any mistakes is very easy if everything's easy to reach.
Looking great man!
cheers,
Gav.
Looks great Sportbilly. love the colour and the flame.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sportbilly
Oh got I just went through this wiring process...twice..... my recommendation is...patience....and lots of it. I followed Gavs guide with the tubing.
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=1826
Hey guys!
So here it is, the finished article! Spent a couple of evenings on the soldering of the rig but the vids were very helpful. In hindsight I think my soldering iron wasn't hot enough but I got there in the end.
I used a large cable tie as the backbone of the rig from a YouTube vid I saw, with the rest of the wiring attached by small cable ties to keep it all neat. This gave a nice rigid horseshoe shaped rig to work with once all the pots and switches were inserted in the f-hole.
I used a shoebox as shown in the same vid to mock up and prepare the rig which worked really well.
I threaded a smaller cable tie through the jack and the bend in the cable tie threaded it nicely through the hole. Then the only pot I couldn't access and position with fingers was the neck tone pot so I tied some thread to that and to another trusty cable tie to thread through and that worked a treat.
Despite putting the high and low E strings on to balance the tension on the tailpiece and give me strings to test the electronics with, it took three goes to get the thing working once wired as the ground wire to the jack came off twice due to my crap soldering. But I got the installation procedure down pretty well in the end so we're done.
I've been playing it today and to sounds cool!
I'm going to take it in to my guitar teacher tomorrow for the full intonation thing and a proper setup.
But delighted with the result. Great fun. Hugely rewarding.
Top effort. Nothing more frustrating than solder joints coming undone but you managed to overcome that.
Wow, you've gotta be happy with that!
And yeah, my first few attempts at soldering were pretty much "Why isn't it sticking? Why isn't it sticking? Why has it come unstuck?" on repeat. I eventually realised that it's more important to heat whatever you're soldering the wire to than it is to heat the wire, and I haven't had a problem with stuff coming unstuck since.
Sweet ES, you've done a great job