Printable View
Hey guys,
Got my LP-1S kit last week. It's going to be slow going, but thought I should start a build diary so I don't forget.
After test fitting everything I've mostly just been thinking about how I'd like it to come out. Decided on a headstock shape, and managed to transfer that on today (though no chance to cut it yet).
Shall try to remember to update as I go!
Nice looking spalt! Should look great when it's finished.
Managed to get some work in on kit over the weekend.
Finally cut the headstock, and then sanded down to the line. First pic is a progress shot as I scraped and sanded down to the line, and the second is of the jig I made in my studio so I could keep my scraping angle straight. I don't seem to have a photo of the headstock finished, so will take one later.
Then, once the headstock was done, lots of sanding! Pretty sure I've taken off all the glue and machining scratches, but will look again in a day or two when I have fresh eyes.
Way to go! I'll be following your build ;)
Thanks Kick!
Got some decal transfer paper in the mail today, so I'll start playing around with a logo design. I have this little finch logo that I made a few years back when I was trying to scratch build a mandolin (sadly still sitting in the shed only 2/3's finished)
Attachment 18990
I might print it out on a bit of acetate and see what it looks like on the headstock.
Current plan for staining is to keep the front natural, and to do the rest in the Red Mahogany Stewmac Colortone. Will do some colour tests over the weekend.
There are a couple of little dings in the front which I'm not entirely sure what to do about - from what I've read it seems the veneer is thin enough that grain filling + sanding is likely to be a problem. Has anyone found a workaround for this? I remember fixing some similar dings in an old acoustic a few years back, which from memory were just filled with CA glue and then scraped smooth. Worth attempting?
Started grain filling the back and sides with some ebony Timbermate. It's the first time I've used it, and I think I had the mix a bit thick the first time (see pic). The second coat I did I made the mix a little thinner, and it went on and sanded off much more easily. I also realised I should probably have masked out the cavities, so have done that now.
Attachment 19059
Also started doing some little stain + finish tests on some scrap timber I had lying around. Unfortunately the only scrap I have is pine, so not ideal, but at least it gives me an idea.
Attachment 19060
Planning on using tru oil for the finish, as I've used it twice before and really love the way it feels. One of the tests I made (in fact, the one that looks most promising so far) was to see if the Colortone stain will go over shellac. I used shellac as a seal coat on the mandolin in my avatar pic, and it gave a really nice glassy effect to the stain (though that stain was oil based). I don't remember who suggested the shellac to me now, and the internet seems pretty divided on the use of shellac to seal wood, but as it looked so good last time I tried I figured it couldn't hurt to test and see if it works with the Colortone.
Printed out a logo test on some acetate to see how it looks and to check the scale. It came out super blurry, as it seems my printer doesn't like printing on plastic. Apart from the blurriness, what do you guys think of the logo/placement/scale? I'm thinking maybe it could be a little smaller?
Attachment 19062Attachment 19061
Looking good John.
I like the first location better for your logo. Once the tuners are in place, it will look like the branch is locked between them.
I agree with Zandit, first position is more aesthetically pleasing. The size seems good to me.
Yep, same for me ;)
Looking great John, are you using waterslide paper for your decal?
Thanks guys. DK, yeah, I got some waterslide decal paper. I did a test print on the copier at work, but don't really like the quality. I think I'll probably end up screenprinting it onto the decal paper.
First position for me as well.
Are there any advanced settings for your printer? There are normally settings for printing different types of material and paper, plus adjustment of DPI resolution.
Oh, sorry Simon, I should have been more specific. I can get a perfectly acceptable print from the printer, but looking at it I know I can get a better print through a screen (I'm a screen printer by day)
A-ha! I know that feeling when you look at something that could be done better and so it has to be replaced.
Mondays are my day at home with the kids, so while the littlest was asleep the little man and I got some more done on the guitar.
I'd glued in some maple shims in the sides of the neck cavity, so he and I (well... I) trimmed and sanded them flush with the body. The neck fits nice and tight now, and so while we were at it we marked up the positions for the neck holes.
Attachment 19226
Attachment 19227
Also got some pickups in the mail today - GFS Fat Pat and GFS Power Rails. I'd heard good things about this combination, at least for the kind of music I'm into. Plus, I'm kinda interested to try their Kwikplug system. The power rails sit quite proud of the body (though the pickup ring still fits comfortably over them. I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to rout the cavities any deeper than they are? Do the pickups need to be deep enough to be flush with the wood? (does it even matter?)
Attachment 19228
I've ordered some rosewood tone/volume knobs, and so when I get another spare moment I'm going to try to make some rosewood pickup rings and a rosewood rhythm/treble washer.
The deepest the rout needs to be is so that the pickups can be are flush with the tops of the pickup rings. There's no point them going lower for if the strings are catching on the pickup rings, there's something very wrong with the neck angle. You'll probably find the pickups sit a couple of mm higher than the rings when everything is finally set up.
If you are making your own pickup rings, then it's important that you make them the right height, so I'd look at the dimensions of replacement ones you can get on-line as a guide. You'll need to incorporate a curve into the base of them to incorporate the arched top of the guitar, so you also don't want to make the neck ring (the thinnest of the two) too thin otherwise it will easily snap in the middle. But it shouldn't be any higher than the top of the adjacent fretboard.
Hi John, plenty of Rosewood looking PUP rings on eBay although the cheaper Chinese ones look like a thin veneer over the top of black plastic. If you look hard enough they are out there in solid wood as I nearly bought some when doing my EX-1 about 18 months ago.
You will tend to find that the Bridge PUP sits quite high and the neck one sits more above the deck than you would think too. Check out some photos of completed Les Pauls as that will give you something to compare with.
Cheers, Waz
Thanks guys, that's really helpful.
I hadn't thought to look for the rosewood pup rings on eBay, thanks Waz. I'll have a trawl on the net and see if I can't get a set.
Got some more done this week. I grabbed some rasps and files from work and bevelled the waist a bit more, then sanded it smooth. Wasn't really sure how far I should go with the bevel, but this feels pretty comfy when I hold it, so I guess it's at least better than it was.
Attachment 19317
Also finished sanding the body, so put a soak/seal coat of tru oil on the front. Hard to get a good pic in full sun, but I think it's looking ok...
Attachment 19318 Attachment 19316
I spent some time this week working on the spalted top. I figured that if I couldn't sand it smooth because of the thinness of the veneer, then it was worth trying to fill the holes instead. For this I made up a maple saw-dust and oil mixture.
It might be hard to see in the pics, but here's some before shots of some of the worst crevices
Attachment 19416Attachment 19417
And here's an after shot - the holes have been filled, allowed to thoroughly dry, lightly sanded flush, and then the whole surface has had a couple of light goes with truoil and 400grit sandpaper
Attachment 19415
Sorry the lighting is so different in the 'after' shot, but hopefully you can see how well it worked
Huge difference! Well done, sir!
It was definitely worth the time! I'm much happier with the surface now
Well done job!
That's a great trick, must remember that one. Nice work JH.
Hi John, looks great.
Handy tip with Tru Oil is that after about 4 thick full strength coats you can then switch to 1200 grit wet & dry and use that to apply/sand/grain fill as you go. It really does a fantastic job with grain & pore filling plus smoothing everything at the same time. Rather than pour straight TO onto the body I dilute it 50/50 with mineral turps and pour a small amount on a 50mm square bit of sand paper, then drain that off back into the 50/50 mixture before wiping grit face down on the body or neck. Need to keep reapplying to the grit paper as things will get dry quickly. Yes it is a bit fiddly but once you get the hang of it you realise that you are effectively wet sanding as you go and after about 4 coats with 1200 switch up to 1500 x 4 more coats and then 2000 for another 4 by which time it will feel super smooth.
Looking great John! That's some good spalt you've scored there, and I'm impressed with the grainfilling trick. Will definitely be following your lead when I finally get a spalted project to work on.
cheers,
Gav.
Thanks guys! The grain filling works a treat, and takes away most of the stress of sanding such a thin veneer.
I'm working on a variation of your advice Waz, applying a few coats of pretty thick tru oil and then wet sanding with tru oil and increasingly fine grades of sandpaper, but working up from 400 (I'm on the 1200 now), and so far I haven't diluted the oil (though I suspect I'll have to start soon). It definitely took a little while to get used to. Works great though - it's feeling pretty silky smooth! I really need better lighting in my studio though - I reckon I'd be about three or four days ahead of where I am if I hadn't kept noticing bits I'd missed due to the dim lighting at night
In fact, I think I'll take the little guy and wander over to the Big Green Shed to look for some better lighting this arvo. I might look for another workbench and some shelving too - this hobby is starting to take up an awful lot of real estate!
Coming along nicely John, I've completely missed this build. Make sure you take a selfie at Bunnings - we have a 'Bunnings selfie thread' on the go somewhere lol
A Bunnings selfie thread! Priceless. I'll make sure I remember next time. I almost took a video of my little man zipping up and down the aisles with one of those kids trolleys - he was trying to help me find shelving, and the only number he recognises is the number 4, so everytime he went past a box that looked like shelves and had a number 4 on it he'd come screaming to a halt and start shouting 'dad! dad! I found you a shelf!'
I totally failed to find any good lighting options (or, rather, ran out of cash), but did get some shelving that will double as a workbench. Will get that up tomorrow and try to sort out a dedicated space for my faux-luthiery
Looking great John.. isn't it funny how you start with one kit kit and say to yourself that you won't need much to finish one and next thing you know you are building a luthier workshop.. my wife wants to kill me... ah but so much fun.. keep up the good work..
Hi John, the BGSFOS has some portable flood lights from around $10.
A few years ago I bought a pair for $30 that come on a telescopic stand and find them a bit too bright plus they generate quite a bit of heat but that may not be so bad this time of year in our nations capital. Generally find working directly under a fluro in my garage works good enough.
Hey Waz,
Yeah those flood lights were what I was looking at. Spent all my money on the benches though, so I'll have to go back next pay.
I'd kill for fluro lights! The previous owners turned the garage into an extra living room, and replaced the fluros with a single bulb. I'm using it as my studio, but my eye-sight isn't great, and even with the brightest bulb I can find I can't see much once the sun sets. I have a few lamps which are ok for the drawings and printing I usually do, but for checking for surface blemishes, or anything that requires real precision, it's sub-optimal.
Years ago when we lived in the nations capital my old man was into building sailing boats and bought a portable 2 tube fluro light setup that had a typical 240v plug attached. Amazing how much light a pair of 40w tubes produces and the thing could be placed anywhere or hung from a ceiling.
If anything the floods are too bright and cast large shadows whereas fluro is softer and more evenly spread.
coming along nicely
Oh, good suggestion, thanks Waz - I'll look for those instead.
Thanks Phrozin!
Nearly done with the 1200 on the front. Pretty happy with how it's going so far. Should be done with the front by next weekend, and can start staining. Going to try the back and neck in the Red Mahogany Stewmac Colortone.
Attachment 19921
I hired a skip this morning and spent the day clearing out the junk we were storing in the sunroom, so now I have somewhere to set up some work space. This may become a very time consuming hobby lol
Nice and already glossy :)
Hope everyone's had a great Christmas/festive season!
Man, I've been a complete slacker on these guitar builds. 2017 got hectic, and somehow these side projects got relegated to the bottom of the to-do list. Anyway, I figure I'm on holidays for a few weeks and I should start off 2018 as I mean to go on (which is to say, building a lot of guitars/guitar effect pedals)
So, I got the kit out from storage and had a reassess. Part of the reason I'd halted work was because I just wasn't happy with the logo, and couldn't come up with one I preferred. Still haven't quite resolved that particular issue, but while I was spending hours staring at the headstock I noticed the veneer was sanded through in the bottom right hand corner. I'm guessing this was from the factory, because I'm 99% sure I haven't touched the headstock veneer (I was too terrified). In any case, I decided to do a little more shaping to remove the affected area, and while I was at it I got a bottle of Goof-off and removed a large glue patch which you can't see in the photo, but which was quite large and covered most of the centre of the veneer.
https://i.imgur.com/HOrlnPF.jpg
Also spent ages trying to get a red stain I was happy with, and in the end decided to go straight black for the body and neck. The hope is it will make the spalted front really pop. Also I couldn't decide on hardware options that would suit the kind of red I was imagining, but now I'm rolling with the idea of black hardware on the front against the spalted top, and gold hardware on the back against the black. Will post some pics of the stain-in-progress in the next few days.
The staining process has been fun. I stained the body with Colortone black after sanding to 320, and then I've been sanding the body in the same way as I did the front - a couple of thick layers of tru-oil over a few days, then wet sanded with tru-oil and increasingly fine grades of sandpaper. It's coming along well - currently on 600 grit. I added some Colortone black to the tru-oil just in case I accidentally sanded through anywhere, and it seems to be working really well.