Marcel's auction win JK2 (PBG build #4)

I put a bid in, watched a movie with the granddaughters, won the auction, waited a few days.... and here it is... Qty 1 x JK2 kit.

While it is vastly different visually to all my other builds, on first close inspection it seems to be one of the easiest kits to assemble. Except for 3 very simple holes all of the other needed holes are pre-drilled. No complicated wiring or switching. No binding or complicated veneers to deal with. It seems that all I'll need is a few minutes with the sand paper, a suitable finish, a #2 phillips screwdriver, and a few moments with a soldering iron to get this build done. But then there is reality.....

good one Marcel what did you pick up the kit for ? what are the stain plans ?

Hi Wokka, I was amazed that I won it at only $122.50 as I certainly 'bid max' quite a bit higher, so it was certainly a cheap kit to win.

With the black hardware I have had ideas of going all out gloss black, or maybe trying for a washed white... As has been the case with most of my recent builds I ask the women in my life what they think it should be and then I go and do something totally opposite... usually it is whatever they shake their head 'No' to is what I go ahead and do .... lol

Nil plans for upgrades yet. Think I'll stick with the kit parts until something annoys me and then make changes from there...

Sounds good Marcel. Think white or black will look good.

Oh man! I want one of those too!! One more LP after the one I'm currently building, then maybe one of these or an SG shape ... or all of the above ... I realise that I actually like building them more than needing to own one. But I'll be happy to own many, don't worry about that. Maybe I'll customise them and pass them to friends and family ... (like that's going to happen!)

You are preaching to the converted Darryl.

In some ways it matters little if the result plays well or not there are so many on this forum that don't necessarily need that extra guitar but simply just enjoy the construction aspect of the hobby. And then there is, like you implied, where your wonderful build spends the rest of its days. For me I often wonder as I'm sanding or polishing who out of all my young grand-kids will find a passion for the axe and if any will ultimately become the proud owner of most if not all of my builds. I will be in wonder for a while as the oldest of the many is still only 7yo.

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Originally Posted by darryl.bellotti

Oh man! I want one of those too!! One more LP after the one I'm currently building, then maybe one of these or an SG shape ... or all of the above ... I realise that I actually like building them more than needing to own one. But I'll be happy to own many, don't worry about that. Maybe I'll customise them and pass them to friends and family ... (like that's going to happen!)

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Oh yeah, I'm with you on that sentiment. If I think they're good enough when I've finished I might offload to friends or family that show an interest. If I'm not happy with them they will get re-worked or cannibalised for other projects.

A quick note at where this kit is at...

I was talking with my brother (who lives in an apartment in Sydney) and the subject of his son coming up to stay with me for a week during the September school holidays was tossed into the conversation. In a moment of brainstorming I suggested that with my help and guidance he (the Nephew) could build the JK-2 in my workshop while he was here, and as it has a bolt on neck he could easily take the build home on the plane in the PBG box it originally came in. My brother thought it was a great idea.

Roll on school holidays....

You've surely got a lock on Favourite Uncle status!

I may be a favourite Uncle however that doesn't stop other events in the rest of the world from interrupting.

Seems the Nephews Grandma on his Mums side has taken ill, so he and his Mum will be jetting off to Spain to visit her. No September school holidays with his favourite Uncle.... and after a chat with my brother I doubt the end of year Summer holiday in tropical Queensland would be that wise for a Sydney based European born kid who is way more comfortable with a set of ski's in knee deep Snow. And Easter is a bit long to wait.

The thought (and the Axe) was there...

I'll probably complete this build after my SGM-1 is done...

As my nephew will not be doing this build I figured that I may as well make a start.

Pulled it all out of the box and did a mock assembly so that I could get a better Idea on how it should look. I'm liking the colour of the natural wood against the Black hardware so I'm very tempted to do a solid colour of Cream on all the Maple and Basswood. The spray cap shows the intended colour. And then somehow try and darken the fretboard to something closer to Black. Thinking that Black stain might get me there but keeping it on the fretboard and not have it come off on my fingers will be the issue.
The original PU's have been replaced with Alnico 5 Belcat's that have a 'blackout' style finish. For the time being sticking with the original hardware everywhere else.

cream solid paint will look great with the black hardware, metal guitars look better with solid paint anyway

Nice score Marcel. great price

1 or 2 coats of TO over stain on a fret board will seal it and not go too shiny :)

Thanks Dedman.

One Black (or very dark) fretboard is now on the plan...

Might try a 50/50 turps/TO mix to seal it up....

That's a better colour for the fretboard...

looks good Marcel, what did you use to darken the fingerboard ?

Used a folded rag Wokka that was lightly moistened with the contents of one of those little sample bottles of FW Japan Black from the Green shed. Didn't need to drown it as it only needed a few drops, and kept rubbing at it (or rubbing it in) until it looked even and dark enough and all dry again.. Applying the stain in this essentially drop by drop manner got a nice even dark colour with just a hint of grain showing through, and took nearly 45mins to get done.

Slightly annoyed that the fret markers are near invisible now, but at least they are not gone completely into the darkness.

Since the photo have also applied a very thin coat of TO purely to seal it in to lessen any rub off onto the fingers. All the pores on the fretboard wood still appear to be wide open, and I gave the spirit based stain at least 6hrs in 32C warmth to dry before the TO....

I wasn't too happy with the darkened fret markers, so got the razor blade out and gave the entire fret board a scape. It took most of the TO that I had applied off and also took off some of the stain, which has left the fret board in a state that I was much happier with. Another light rub with TO applied and to the naked eye only experts would identify that this isn't an Ebony board.

Broke out the files and hack saw and removed some excess bits on the headstock.

Was at the local hardware store on an errand for SWMBO (yes, I got sent there) and spotted rattle cans of "Copper" coloured paint...... Okay...New Plan....That Copper over the Yellow oxide undercoat, and then some poly clear over the top....

Did you see the hammer finish copper coloured Rustoleum? Not sure it if would work on timber as it is mainly supposed to be used on metal outdoor furniture build gives a really cool effect.

Nice touch on headstock tip.

Thanks Waz, it has a slight curve which when the neck is in the correct place gives the guitar an illusion of a bird with a smallish open beak.

The Copper is a simple metalised look out of a rattle can that (says it) is suitable for wood surfaces.

My local hardware is in a railway based community so doesn't stock much Rustoleum. Mostly Boston brand cans with a smattering of Dulux, CRC, Dupont & FW amongst other common Aussie labels. The big green shed outlet is way over the other side of town so visits there are kept to a minimum...

No hammer finish should still look good.

First undercoat layer applied, dried and sanded... 2nd coat of undercoat about to go on...

Two coats of the Copper ... Looks pretty good but there are problems that I wish weren't there... I'm blaming the undercoat not playing well with the copper coat...

That looks wicked. Are you going to give it the Randy Rhoads pin stripes?

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No Darryl.. :) .. Sticking with the Copper and Black theme...

It has been raining for the first time in months so got to spend the whole day in my shed...

Assembled, strung with some throw away strings and tuned..... Mostly just wanted to get to the stage where there is tension on the neck... Had to scavenge some screws from elsewhere as I couldn't find them in the bag of bits.

Still need to adjust the nut and intonation, and maybe some fret work...and then see how it sounds and plays. So far it all seems quite promising...

Both looking good buddy.

I gotta say, I'm not accustomed to such a light guitar.... The SG is heavy compared to this build...

And maybe the basic overall weight of any guitar does affect its tone... or maybe I expected too much from the Belcat Black Alnico 5 PU's... Even though I had adjusted the PU's close enough to almost touch the strings the noise still seems a bit thin.

Haven't adjusted the nut as yet.... maybe things will get better after a more comprehensive set up...

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Originally Posted by Marcel

I gotta say, I'm not accustomed to such a light guitar.... The SG is heavy compared to this build...

And maybe the basic overall weight of any guitar does affect its tone... or maybe I expected too much from the Belcat Black Alnico 5 PU's... Even though I had adjusted the PU's close enough to almost touch the strings the noise still seems a bit thin.

Haven't adjusted the nut as yet.... maybe things will get better after a more comprehensive set up...

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I had an Ibanez V back in the 80's and only kept it for about 6 months as it sounded way too bright and was not an easy thing to play standing up. Have to agree about body density as that is why les pauls have so much more mids than an SG which has only just a smidge more grunt than a V. They do look great but limited in what sounds you can get out of one.

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Are the pickups 2- or 4-wire? No real details about them at all on the Belcat web site. Are they the BH-21s or BH-31s?

BH-21... 2 wire... Completely sealed potted blocks.... If they fail the only option is to throw away.

Well, there's no room for wiring errors then! Have you measured their DC resistance? Neck should be around 9.2k, bridge 16.2k.

Lol... wiring errors are seldom my problem Simon ....

Not yet measured the resistance....Just got them and loaded them in... I did notice the magnetic field wasn't very strong so I'm suspect it may be a field problem over a winding issue.

Just thinking if they were 4-wire with no info as to what the wire colours were, then wiring to one colour scheme (when it was another) could easily have got it wrong. Even if you belled-out the wires to ascertain the two coils, you'd still have to empirically test the pickup connections in order to guarantee a full humbucker sound.

The quoted Henries values for the Belcats seem about right for similar humbuckers. Maybe they cheated and only put one bar magnet inside instead of two? You always have the option of fitting a kit pickup in to see if there's a marked difference in output and tone.

Well, sitting on a rack for two years essentially gathering dust has finally paid off....

Not long after Simon's comment in October 2017 the guitar was finished. The pickups were replaced, the nut was filed to within 1cent and bridge intonation was set, and despite sounding and playing quite decent the guitar build went up on a wall rack for visitors to my home to ogle at and say "Wow"...

Two years and two months later a lady friend visited bringing along with her her two young sons. The next day the lady friend contacted me in regards to this guitar build citing that her 12yo son hadn't shut up about it the entire evening before. To cut a longer story short she has decided to gift this build to her son for Xmas, and she and I negotiated an appropriate price. The son will also get a VOX Pathfinder 10, a lead, a strap, some picks and a clip on tuner to round out the Xmas present.

So in summary, this build has been sold..... Yay !!!,

The funny part for me is the 12yo son calls this guitar the "Star Trek guitar'"..... I guess it does resemble the chest pin communicator emblem when the build is sitting on a stand...lol...

If it has to go at all, it's always nice to see a guitar go to a good home.

So true Simon.

I've known this family for only a few months, yet I know she is keen on her boys maintaining an interest in music. They have an upright piano in their lounge that gets regular use, so I think this build will also get far more use with them than what it has gotten from me....