koldo2552´s ES-3 (The WorkHorse)

Hi!!
First, apologies for my poor English. I´m from a town next to Bilbao (Basque Country, Spain) and my skills on Shakespeare´s language are low.

I´ll try to make a decent Build Diary full of images and when it comes to life i promise that i´ll make a video demo of the Es-3. There isn´t much information about this kit and i think it could be helpful.

I´ve been playing guitar (not professionally) for the last 18 years in a couple of bands, and i continue doing it. From punk-rock to metal, hard-rock, stoner, classic rock, heavy, alternative... I just enjoy being part of a band. Now I´m in an alternative/indie/pop-rock band.

Searching for an interesting kit and something different to my usual gear i find the ES-3. After a little research i decided to purchase it. It´s been a long wait, 1 month, because of the spanish customs... But here it is and i´m already working on it!!

Fist of all, the unboxing:
http://i63.tinypic.com/4sz628.jpg

It came in a good package. I purchased it with the Groover upgrade option and "no pickups" because im not going to use the stock electronics. Ernie ball slinkys, Ernie ball/Pitbull Guitars pick, an sticker and a decal... Everything perfect except the pick guard, it came with some scratches. Not an important thing, but i have to say it.

First look to the body (Laminated Basswood):
http://i64.tinypic.com/2mmfdpx.jpg
Beautiful wood with nice grain, a good binding... Well... i felt very happy when i finally touched it.

The neck (maple whit rosewood fingerboard):
http://i66.tinypic.com/25am5pk.jpg
http://i68.tinypic.com/5n69zo.jpg

This is an slim 60´s kind of neck, quite similar to my 2003´s Gibson Les Paul Standard DC Plus´s neck profile. Well made, it will need some fret work, but it feels nice, the wood is nice, smooth and the rosewood fingerboard is going to look gorgeous after an oil treatment. It fits fine, once you insert the neck into the body you can lift the guitar and it won't release.

Continues on the next post

I was anxious, so i started working the day it arrived. What goes first?? Sanding... my right arm still hurts but a nice sanding work is required. Sand, wet cloth, sand, wet cloth... I begun with 280 grit sandpaper (about 4 times) continued with 360 grit (another 4/5 times) and ended up with 500 grit.
http://i66.tinypic.com/zmzkv4.jpg
When you clean the guitar with a wet cloth the grain of the wood comes alive... An it also makes you see the remaining sand work.

Once i decided it was enough sanding, i masked the binding:
http://i66.tinypic.com/2lkuszk.jpg

And don´t forget the neck!!
http://i63.tinypic.com/34xjbld.jpg

I masked the neck joint, don´t want any stain or oil or anithing on places that are going to be glued.

I´ll use water base stain, Birchwood Casey´s Filler and Sealer and Birchwood Casey´s try oil. I´ll try some kind of Burst and if it does´n work it will go full black.


It´ll continue,
See you!!:rolleyes:

Looks like you're on track. Good luck with the staining. What colours are you going to use in your burst?

Avoid using water on the guitar as much as possible, as the veneer on the outside is quite thin, and the glue it is stuck on with is soluble in water. So if you wet it too much, it can come loose in patches and you end up with bubbles in the veneer that need to be stuck down again. It is always best to use turpentine or methylated spirit (aguarrás o aguardientes metilados) to check the grain pattern and also to check for glue patches. Stain won't work on glue patches.

There appears to be a vertical mark at the rear of the guitar (see your masked binding picture), which may just be a mark in the wood, or it may be a glue mark. Just be sure to check any similar marks to see if they are glue or not. They should show up when you wet the surface. If they are, you'll need to try and either sand them out (using a wire brush to break up the smooth surface of the glue) or try a glue removal product - in the UK and Australia we can get a product called 'Goof Off' which is very good for doing this. If you can't find it in Spain, then you should be able to find a similar product.


When you use the stain, as it is water based, it is best to avoid applying too much at once. Apply several light coats rather than one big wet coat, and allow the wood to dry thoroughly between coats.

Also, fill up the inside of the guitar with screwed-up newspaper before you start staining the top, otherwise unless you are very careful, you'll get spots of stain dripping through the f-holes and unless you manage to stain all the inside of the guitar as well (which isn't usually done), then a few dark stain spots against the pale wood of the interior are going to be quite noticeable. So just fill the inside with something absorbent to absorb any drips.

Good luck!

Hi!!
Thanks for the replies.
The guitar is stained already, i´ll continue posting today the process.
You are right Simon, i should avoid using water. I´ve used it only to wet a little bit the cloth, applying light coats of stain and waiting between them helped me avoiding spots in the inside of the guitar. Also it lets you see how it really goes, the stain looks different when it dries.
The vertical mark shown on the back of the guitar is the joint of the wood. I found some glue marks, there were some on the neck next to the nut. I tried to fix them sanding and staining again... Maybe not perfect, but it look nice now. Will post pics in a few hours.

Thank you again!!

G-axe, the colors on the burst are yellow and walnut, and in-between mixes... It´s my first time and i feel happy. You´ll see it soon.

Thanks again!

OK, here i go again...

As i said in the previous post, i´m going to try some kind of burst. From yellow to walnut with walnut back, sides and neck.
So here they are, the stains:
http://i66.tinypic.com/33kxk4o.jpg
The yellow one is water base, the walnut and black ones are concentrated stains that will work either with water or solvent.
I decided to go from yellow to walnut and leave the black one. I´ll use it only if something goes wrong and i need to cover the whole thing on black. Something like a "B-plan". I´m not going to dilute the stains with water, just use them as they come making mixes between them.

My right arm was praying for a rest, so i left the sandpaper away and took a pine piece i had lying around from an amp build i did not log ago. I stained it in yellow and put it over the guitar just to see.
http://i67.tinypic.com/a2f87s.jpg

Pine wood is a little bit lighter than the kit´s basswood, but it seemed to be fine. I begun staining guitars top. Thin coats that need only a little bit of stain, and after 2 yellow coats the top was looking this way:
http://i65.tinypic.com/11v45sp.jpg

Beautiful "amberish" yellow look coming from an low cost water base stain (about 2,5 euros/4 AUD the little bottle shown above), i could´t be happier at this point.

It needed time to dry so i begun making some trials on the pine piece...
http://i66.tinypic.com/2j0hw1z.jpg

That wood piece became an important tool, i could try different mixes and try to imagine how it will look on the guitar.

Well, next step... 2/3 drops of walnut stain mixed with the yellow one and i begin with my first burst ever!!!http://i64.tinypic.com/34yr5ep.jpg

All the pics are taken with my smartphone´s camera, no daylight... Well, should be enough for the "step by step" diary, but i´ll try to take better photos when it´s done.

Again, when it dried, i added 3/4 drops of walnut onto the mix and after that another 3/4 drops... this was the result after the 4th mix
http://i63.tinypic.com/24e3vk9.jpg

You can see the different colors on it... I was´t worried, will fix it later. The positive thing i that mixing both colors gradually makes the color change very natural, so it seemed like it´s going to work fine.

The darkest color of the burst, the same that´s going to be used on back, sides and neck, is a mix of 10ml of walnut and 3ml of yellow. at this point the yellow only adds some brightness and consistency to the color. And her you can see how it looked after some work:http://i68.tinypic.com/2mmed8x.jpg

And this 10/3 mix on the back and sides
http://i66.tinypic.com/15cbupz.jpg

When i thought that it was enough staining... i get rid of the binding mask and cleaned it with nail polish cleaner (acetone). very carefully because this solvent will clean also the wood if touched
http://i67.tinypic.com/2wco2up.jpg

And here how the body looks at this point.
http://i65.tinypic.com/21vu6p.jpg

Unless something gets terrible wrong, the "all black B-plan" is not going to be used. I´m very happy at this point.
On the next posts I´ll put pics of the neck. I had "glue mark" issues on it, so it needed a little more sanding work, but it looks almost as god as the body.

And after sanding again the whole neck, i stained it and this is how it looks now
http://i64.tinypic.com/240wv7k.jpg
http://i68.tinypic.com/33ab1ub.jpg

The neck is made of 4 pieces of wood, not the same grain, so it takes the stain in a different way each piece. The good thing is that it looks brighter on the center so it seems like a little relic. Not bad, im not looking for the perfect look.

Once it dried, i put the neck into the body only to see how it looks
http://i64.tinypic.com/2hn7syw.jpg
http://i68.tinypic.com/zx1chj.jpg

I know... pics are terrible... But they are the best i can take right now. I´ll take better ones when my children goes school. My working place is somehow like a bunker without day light.

And now, i only can wait for my other orders to come. The filler&sealer and the tru oil are coming this week (i hope), the same with pickups, pots, push-pulls, humbucker rings... At the moment i don´t know which is going to be the next step, Finish and glue or wiring harness... We´ll see.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the thread.

Bye!!

Wow, great looking burst Koldo!! Excellent work!

This is really getting there, you're doing a great job

That is looking fantastic. An ispiration for a hollow body which is on my build list.

This is looking really nice, great job!

Nice burst man! she's gonna look killer with some clear.

cheers,
Gav.

Thanks for your replies!!:D

More pics;
When you search around the forum trying to read information about this kit, you´ll end up reading (and seeing pics) about the bad neck/body joint. Gaps, height differences between left and right sides of the end of the fingerboard... Well, Don´t know if i´ve been lucky but the joint on my kit seems to be quite nice. It´s not perfect, there is are two little gaps, but seems to be an "aesthetic" problem.http://i63.tinypic.com/2nkm644.jpg
Here the union is perfect
http://i65.tinypic.com/2rlzr5v.jpg
Here one of the title gaps
http://i68.tinypic.com/2ujqxiu.jpg

In the left side of this pic, even if it´s difficult to see there is the other little gap.
Remember that it´s not glued, it´s only fitted in to take some pics.
So, as said before, the joint of the neck seems quite nice. You can lift the guitar and nothing moves.

I´ve been taking some measures and the neck is straight and has the same height on left and right sides. Maybe they are taking a little more care in the factory or maybe i´ve been lucky. As you could imagine, this is the only ES-3 Kit i´ve seen... I´m not needing to "fix" anything, thanks god, because i don't have all the proper tools for fixing a neck joint.

And i leave the thread with the las pics. This time they are a little better i think... Once posted, i´ll dissemble the neck until it gets glued.
http://i68.tinypic.com/24b88ba.jpg
http://i65.tinypic.com/2akab85.jpg

Thanks again for the replies.

See you!!

looking good Koldo. I would really recommend shaping the headstock will improve the look heaps

Great job on the sunburst finish. Can I suggest shaping the headstock before you go any further, it really will make a difference to the way your guitar will look as a whole.

Those gaps are pretty small, and I'd guess that adding the clear will be enough to fill and hide them

Very nice colour selection, an appealing guitar.

Beautiful work Koldo, really nice result.

Love the burst - nice warm, earthy colours. Looks great!

I'm making an ES-3 (as I'm spraying mine with nitro I need the weather to warm up before I can continue) and my neck also fits very well. There were complaints about the neck fit on previous versions of the ES-3 kit and many had big gaps, but they seem to have fixed that problem.

Any small gaps should simply fill with glue when you fit it. If the glue line is obvious, stain won't stick to the glue, so you may have to get a very thin artist's paintbrush and run it along the join line with a bit of paint of a suitable colour.

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

looking good Koldo. I would really recommend shaping the headstock will improve the look heaps

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Originally Posted by Fretworn

Great job on the sunburst finish. Can I suggest shaping the headstock before you go any further, it really will make a difference to the way your guitar will look as a whole.

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It´s not late for headstock shaping... but i have no proper tools and i have to think seriously before doing something that can ruin the whole project... My brother made an LP kit from another website that seems to be from the same factory as the headstock is just the same... and once ended, it just looks a little bit big, not bad at all.... I don´t know what to do.

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Originally Posted by cade711

Very nice colour selection, an appealing guitar.

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Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

Beautiful work Koldo, really nice result.

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Originally Posted by G-Axe

Love the burst - nice warm, earthy colours. Looks great!

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Thank you very much, i´m very happy with it.

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Originally Posted by stan

Those gaps are pretty small, and I'd guess that adding the clear will be enough to fill and hide them

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

I'm making an ES-3 (as I'm spraying mine with nitro I need the weather to warm up before I can continue) and my neck also fits very well. There were complaints about the neck fit on previous versions of the ES-3 kit and many had big gaps, but they seem to have fixed that problem.

Any small gaps should simply fill with glue when you fit it. If the glue line is obvious, stain won't stick to the glue, so you may have to get a very thin artist's paintbrush and run it along the join line with a bit of paint of a suitable colour.

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Simon, i was planning exactly what you are saying. I´ll see how those little gaps look after glueing and try to hide them carefully.
My brother finished his guitar with nitro and had problems with weather and moisture... So be patient.

Thanks again

Quote:

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Originally Posted by koldo2552

It´s not late for headstock shaping... but i have no proper tools and i have to think seriously before doing something that can ruin the whole project... My brother made an LP kit from another website that seems to be from the same factory as the headstock is just the same... and once ended, it just looks a little bit big, not bad at all.... I don´t know what to do.

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Well, being a 3 a side headstock you're just shaping the end therefore there isn't much material to remove. Handtools like rasps and files should be fine for shaping it.

It's a flat or 'paddle' shaped headstock to avoid any legal action from selling the kit. If it was pre-shaped like a Gibson headstock, then Gibson would either want a license fee - or more likely would just simply stop the kits being sold. But with a 'paddle' headstock, the builder is free to shape it as they wish - either like a Gibson or else their own design. The same is true of the Fender-based necks.

Well... Hello again everybody!

Finally i´ve made some headstock shaping... There´s no way back:eek:

I´ve been searching for a different kind of headstock, and i found an interesting alternative... bought some tools... well here it goes:
http://i64.tinypic.com/do54c5.jpg
http://i66.tinypic.com/a4tvgm.jpg
http://i65.tinypic.com/2je2rue.jpg

It´s a variation of the headstocks of the Duisenberg guitars... Here a pic:
http://i68.tinypic.com/290pt2e.jpg

I made a little bigger steps because this kit´s headstock is quite wider than Duesemberg´s.

Not sure if i´ve missed the shot, but it´s done. The good thing is that next time i´ll be easier and i won´t be so afraid.

I´m still waiting for the sealer and the tru oil... Hope they´ll be here soon.

Some other stuff arrived already
http://i67.tinypic.com/2ibfgx5.jpg

Cheers!

Looks great to me. Well done. It's amazing what you can do if you just go for it.

Those Alnico IIs should go well with it. You don't want anything too powerful in that sort of guitar.

Thanks Simon! I´m sure that next time (they´ll come more fore sure) i´m not going to be afraid about cutting a little bit of wood.

And yes, the tonerider set should work as long as they are low-medium output pickups. They seem to be similar to the Gibson 57 classic, PAF-s... at least on the different demos i heard. We´ll see.

Planning on 50´s wiring with coil tap option (love to have the option to play with single coils) and i will install a piezo disk as a contact mic with its own output jack. I put one in one of my acoustic guitars and i like it. Specially when i mix the sound coming from this disk with the one coming from an active shadow acoustic pickup.

You are going to see every step, and i will try to record a good demo of all the sounds in my home studio.

Thanks again.

Where do you plan to put the piezo disk? There's a reasonably thick wooden block under the bridge area (to take the bridge posts) with a wooden support post underneath that. So it's not easy to stick the disk right under the bridge - normally the best spot. Anywhere else and the sound could be very bass-heavy. This may be less of an issue if you want a jazz sound.

I had an ES-1 to set-up that was fitted with the Tonerider Alnico IVs. Supposedly very close to the IIs they were very powerful - couldn't get a clean sound out of a Fender Blues Jr without turning the volume controls down to 4, as both pickups were overdriving the input. But I believe the IIs are a lot cleaner.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Where do you plan to put the piezo disk? There's a reasonably thick wooden block under the bridge area (to take the bridge posts) with a wooden support post underneath that. So it's not easy to stick the disk right under the bridge - normally the best spot. Anywhere else and the sound could be very bass-heavy. This may be less of an issue if you want a jazz sound.

I had an ES-1 to set-up that was fitted with the Tonerider Alnico IVs. Supposedly very close to the IIs they were very powerful - couldn't get a clean sound out of a Fender Blues Jr without turning the volume controls down to 4, as both pickups were overdriving the input. But I believe the IIs are a lot cleaner.

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I have to make some trials, i've got a prebuilded piezo disk with a connector and I use it to put it on diferent places to see how it reacts.
I've been seeing where goes the block, and it lefts space close enough to the bridge.
I really like the sound of piezo disks, they are extremely cheap and they can give a sound pretty close to a mic. But the location is very important and they need a preamp, at least for impedance matching. When i play with my acoustic i mix the sound of the soundhole pickup with the sound of the disk, i cut the bass frequencies of the disk and it gives very beautiful mids, highs and every percussive sound you make on the guitar. Actually as a real mic, a contact mic. Will try the same with this guitar, it worths the effort.

If you want clean sounds coming from a humbucker try the 50's wiring, you can clean the sound with guitars volume without darkening the sound. My brother's LP kit has this wiring and works incredible with my tweed style amp. It's an easy mod, you can try it. Also, coil taping, everything gets cleaner with singles...

That is looking good. A star!!

this is looking great!

Great job on the headstock, it's different anything else I've seen on a PBG before.

Nice head-stock, matches the guitar style perfectly

Yep, loving that head re-shaping. Really does suit that style. Wonderful work Koldo!

That's a very nice looking headstock. I love the asymmetry on it - works surprisingly well with the 3+3.

Thank you all for the feedback!
Tru oil did not arrived yet, so yesterday i made the wiring harness.
First of all, i made a cardboard template of the guitar to measure necessary wiring and avoid seeing wires thru the F—Holes.
http://i63.tinypic.com/2ihpfuh.jpg

Not good looking, but it has the necessary holes and measures.

http://i64.tinypic.com/34shrev.jpg

And here some of the elements.
- Tonerider classic AlnicoII set with Allparts humbucker rings
- DiMarzio pots for tone
- AllParts CTS pots with push pull switches (they are alpha)
- Switchcraft jack connector
- Stock selector switch. Seems to work fine.

I used 2 Mallory 150's .022 caps. I have them lying around, they work fine.
And as this guitar has no electronic cavity witch can be shielded, i used shielded wire for conections. Bare cooper wire for ground.... well here a pic
http://i66.tinypic.com/38041.jpg
Before insertin the harness to the guitar, i have to make the piezo disk and i have to mesure the wire that connects everything to the bridge post.

See you!

Looks neat, but you may have created some installation problems for yourself as you really needed to leave more slack on the pickup cables. Are you planning to fit the electrics before or after you glue the neck on?

If after, then the first thing to do will be to push the wiring harness in through one of the pickup holes, then fit the pickups into their mounting rings and attach them. You'll need to pull the pickups a reasonable distance out of the body to do this - which is where some more slack would have been useful. Fitting the springs over the height adjusting screws and screwing them in isn't the easiest of jobs, even when you have all the free movement you need.

If you fit any of the other controls before the pickups, then you may not have enough slack to fit the pickups. Remember that you'll have to pull one of the pickups back out of the body through the other pickup hole to fit it, so don't forget to feed some string in through the pickup mounting screw holes to allow you to do this.

If before the neck is attached, then you've got easier access through the neck cavity to help push things up from inside - though another pair of hands is always useful here. But i wouldn't fit the neck pickup in securely until the neck is glued on - then you can push it up tight against the end of the neck before screwing it down.

Whatever you do - DON'T forget to fit and solder the bridge earthing wire (you've got it marked on your template but it's easy to forget later). Others have used an in-line bullet connector for this, so it's easier to remove the harness later if necessary. It also allows you to solder one end of the wire on to the harness whilst its out of the body. But leave enough length to fit the two halves together easily.