JagMustAster - 1 (or2?)

If you'll excuse the silly thread title, I've had this since Feb and thought it might be time to start a diary for it.

Had a problem straight out of the gate, the bridge post holes wouldn't let the bridge sit square to the centre line of the body. Let Adam know and he offered to replace the body immediately, excellent service as always. Channeled my inner Baldrick and came up with another option (cunning plan possibly). If I used a Mustang trem it would not only replace the stock bridge but also cover up the filling of the stock trem cavity (on the front at least). At the same time decided to use a Jag bridge so the saddles could be set to the same radius as the fretboard, the Mustang ones are set for 7.5" radius from memory.
Attachment 23543Attachment 23544Attachment 23545

cont...

Then had to fill the rear cavity, much in the same way as nitro described in his tutorial, I had a few gaps around the edges.
Attachment 23546Attachment 23547Attachment 23548
The underside of the 'stang trem, and in pieces
Attachment 23549Attachment 23550

cont..

Used a forstener bit in the drill press to make the spring cavities and straightened up the sides with a chisel, not the neatest work but wont be seen.
Attachment 23551Attachment 23552Attachment 23553

cont.

And after months of trying to work out which pups to use, went down a different (pricey) path and bought a set of Klein '58 DuoSonic replicas -that's the (or 2?) part of the thread title. Also picked up a set of switch plates for the full Jag switching options.
Attachment 23554Attachment 23555
So you can see where the plates are in relation to the routs. No holes drilled yet, they may be moved depending on what shape I come up with for the scratch plate.
Attachment 23556
Chromed pup covers seem to look better to me.
Attachment 23557
Just an idea of where this might be heading.
Attachment 23558

Grant

This is rad, great custom work.

What kind of finish are you thinking?

Thanks Sonic.

Plan A is to go for a dark green stain to go with the cream pearloid. How that turns out is entirely dependant on how the repair to the back covers up. If that fails, Plan B is paint.

Grant

The FrankenLab Salutes you Sir! Great custom options, I look forward to seeing how this pans out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by neverwas

Thanks Sonic.

Plan A is to go for a dark green stain to go with the cream pearloid. How that turns out is entirely dependant on how the repair to the back covers up. If that fails, Plan B is paint.

Grant

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Green is nice! Sounds great.

Thou shall Kustomize!
Love where this is going.

Thanks Frankie and Dedman.

Well done, nice fix on the body!

Are you reshaping the body to be more mustang-ish?

Thanks Andxlh. I'll put a link to nitro's tutorial for anyone interested. My approach wasn't identical, but very similar.

http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=7614

Yes Fretty, there will be some massaging of the body shape. You might be able to see on the first pic with the switch plates and black pup covers there are some pencil lines on the high e side, putting more of a curve in the lower horn cutaway, smoothing the curve on that edge and softening the bottom curve. That'll be a starting point and will see what looks 'right' when I get that far. Mustangs have a symmetrical shape across the bottom like a strat, want to keep some of the angle the kit has. As the title suggests, it has a bit of everything thrown in, we'll see where that ends up.

Grant

Quote:

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Originally Posted by neverwas

Thanks Andxlh. I'll put a link to nitro's tutorial for anyone interested. My approach wasn't identical, but very similar.

http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=7614

Yes Fretty, there will be some massaging of the body shape. You might be able to see on the first pic with the switch plates and black pup covers there are some pencil lines on the high e side, putting more of a curve in the lower horn cutaway, smoothing the curve on that edge and softening the bottom curve. That'll be a starting point and will see what looks 'right' when I get that far. Mustangs have a symmetrical shape across the bottom like a strat, want to keep some of the angle the kit has. As the title suggests, it has a bit of everything thrown in, we'll see where that ends up.

Grant

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Hey mate just wanted to say awesome build and thanks heaps for the link, im glad i was able to help someone.

Thanks for the link - I'd been contemplating doing the same for this el-cheapo strat copy I saved from going to the tip, but kind of wasn't really sure where to start.

Ok, first, you're welcome nitro (and thanks).
Second, All good John, thank nitro for the explanation, I'm not always that good at detailing what I've done.

Sadly, no progress to report.

Grant

Well, there is some progress to report.
A bit of trimming on lower curve and upper horn to start with as well as re-sanding/shaping some of the edge curves. Still tinkering with that bit.
Attachment 26349
Also blended the ends of the arm cut to follow body curves instead of a straight line across the body.
Attachment 26350
Then got stuck into the back with 60 grit followed by 120 grit to make sure the patch is level with the rest of the body. What has become obvious is that there is no way I'll get away with using a stain for the colour so onto plan B, spray solid colour. Can picture the dark green I want in my head, will be interesting if can get that across to the guys at the local paint place.
Attachment 26351
And have started drawing up the shape for the pickguard. By the time the shaping of the edges has been finished and the corners rounded over, get the feeling will need to move the lower control plate in towards the bridge or the pickguard will be right up to the edge of the body.
Attachment 26352
One step at a time, getting there (very) slowly.

Grant

Ooo, nice mods.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by neverwas

Well, there is some progress to report.
A bit of trimming on lower curve and upper horn to start with as well as re-sanding/shaping some of the edge curves. Still tinkering with that bit.
Attachment 26349
Also blended the ends of the arm cut to follow body curves instead of a straight line across the body.
Attachment 26350
Then got stuck into the back with 60 grit followed by 120 grit to make sure the patch is level with the rest of the body. What has become obvious is that there is no way I'll get away with using a stain for the colour so onto plan B, spray solid colour. Can picture the dark green I want in my head, will be interesting if can get that across to the guys at the local paint place.
Attachment 26351
And have started drawing up the shape for the pickguard. By the time the shaping of the edges has been finished and the corners rounded over, get the feeling will need to move the lower control plate in towards the bridge or the pickguard will be right up to the edge of the body.
Attachment 26352
One step at a time, getting there (very) slowly.

Grant

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Nice job mate, your doing awesome

Thanks Wayne and nitro.
Have been getting bits done a little at a time, so to catch you all up;
For some reason I don't like the shape of the body under the neck pocket so changed it and plugged the old screw holes then drilled for ferrules in place of a plate.
Attachment 26765
To show how my shaping would compare to a curved neck plate.
Attachment 26766
Also dug out the timbermate from around the patch on the back (got paranoid about it sinking back under the paint) and refilled with 'builders bog', seems to be the same as auto body filler.
Attachment 26767
Next, make the routs to suit the pots and switches and pickup. Used forstner bits in the drill press and tidied the edges up with a chisel. A router would have given a neater end result but this way is much more manageable.
Attachment 26768
Pilot holes for the switchplate cavity.
Attachment 26769
cont..

More pics of the cavities taking shape
Attachment 26770Attachment 26771
Needed to add a relief for the pup base plate
Attachment 26772
Drilled a 10mm hole for the wiring, could have just cut a channel for it but this was quicker.
Attachment 26773
And checking everything fits
Attachment 26774
cont.

Did end up moving the lower control plate closer to the bridge which meant there would be one screw with nothing to screw into. Knew there was a reason I changed the profile under the neck pocket, glued the offcut in so the screw had something to grab onto.
Attachment 26775Attachment 26776
The pre-shaped headstock wasn't working for me so had a bit of a mess around with that as well.
Attachment 26777Attachment 26778
And that's where I'm at, still need to round over the body edges and get it ready for paint.

Grant

looking great Never!

Mmmm moddy mod mod, love your work NW!

Looking very tidy!

Thanks Dedman, FW and Drew

Grant

Quote:

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Originally Posted by neverwas

Did end up moving the lower control plate closer to the bridge which meant there would be one screw with nothing to screw into. Knew there was a reason I changed the profile under the neck pocket, glued the offcut in so the screw had something to grab onto.
Attachment 26775Attachment 26776
The pre-shaped headstock wasn't working for me so had a bit of a mess around with that as well.
Attachment 26777Attachment 26778
And that's where I'm at, still need to round over the body edges and get it ready for paint.

Grant

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Im getting this crazy feeling of dejavu!

Hello from Montreal.
I am attempting my first build of the same model except left handed. I was wondering where can I find the proper measurements for this kit so I can be sure that the bridge is lined up properly and at the right distance.

Cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marc T

Hello from Montreal.
I am attempting my first build of the same model except left handed. I was wondering where can I find the proper measurements for this kit so I can be sure that the bridge is lined up properly and at the right distance.

Cheers

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Marc, all you need to do is measure from the fretboard side of the nut to the middle of the 12th fret. That distance is the same from the middle of the 12th fret to the saddles on the bridge. This is consistent for all guitars, regardless of model.

Hi Marc
pablopepper has described the way to check the right distance, called scale length. I'm assuming you are going to use the bridge that came with the kit? If so, then you will need to sit the posts for the bridge in temporarily into the pre-drilled holes (don't knock the steel bushes in yet, unscrew the posts from their bushings, wrap tape around the threads of the posts until you get a firm fit into the holes for them) and place the bridge in position.
For more information, go to PitBull's website, at the top of the page you will see the heading Guides, click on that and go to Instruction Manual. On page 8 is a more detailed description and on the next page a link to a video for this process.
https://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/Pit%20Bull%20Guitars%20Manual.pdf

Hope that link works and enjoy building your own guitar.
If you're not sure, feel free to ask as many questions as you need.

Grant

After some time, have a bit of progress to show.

Finished sanding the body and rounding over the edges, then applied a few coats of dewaxed shellac with a foam brush to seal the timber.
Attachment 28344Attachment 28345
Let it dry/crosslink for about three weeks and sanded with 240 grit followed by 400. It looked like the shellac had done a good job of helping fill the grain until the first coat of primer went on. Plan to give this at least two weeks to dry and then sand to see how flat it is, or isn't. Fairly sure there will be more rounds of priming then sanding after that. Bringing back memories Nitro?
Attachment 28346Attachment 28347
In the mean time it turns out will need to dowel up and redrill the tuners holes as there are a couple out by just enough that the Gotoh Kluson-type tuners don't sit in place right. Keeps me occupied while the paint dries.
Attachment 28348

Grant

The holes for the machine heads being out is a real pain. I fitted these to theTL51 but the holes were ok.
The shellac as a grain filler is interesting, makes sense.

There has been some very slow progress with this one.
As the underside of the neck pocket had been reshaped, decided to attempt to make the neck heel follow the same shape. Had already started with a rasp before remembered to take the before pic.
Attachment 29198
After rasps, microplanes and sandpaper wrapped around dowel, got a smooth looking transition. Haven't got a pic with neck and body together.
Attachment 29199
Then on to making the template for the pickguard out of 6mm mdf, used a scroll saw for the rough outline and files sandpaper etc to refine the shape. Took a bit too much off on the bass side of the neck cut out and on the same side where it wraps around the bridge plate. Instead of starting all over again, mixed some mdf sawdust and titebond to build up those spots and filed them to get a better fit.
Attachment 29200
The switchplate fits in its cutout but may need to do a test rout on something to see it the router bit bearing will follow well enough or if more fettling is required. Template by itself.
Attachment 29201
The headstock has a new maple veneer, same as kingcasey used.
Attachment 29202
The body has been sanded again and it will need more primer to fill the bits I'm not happy with. It might be finished next year sometime..... maybe.

Grant

So after more priming and sanding, spot priming and sanding, we have colour. Needed four coats to get the green even and then a few coats of clear to seal it.
In the shade it just looks dark
Attachment 29724
Had to take pics in direct sun to show the colour, apologies for the glare.
Attachment 29725Attachment 29726Attachment 29727

And this is the green used (acrylic lacquer). Will let this dry for a while before sanding and applying more clear.
Attachment 29728
Grant

That is looking tasty, great colour!

Looks great neverwas.
Kind of getting a sense of deja-vu also.
Currently putting the clear coat on mine which is now a similar colour.
'Honda Cypress Green' which is also a dark metallic.

cheers, Mark.

Very Nice! :cool:


http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...5&d=1547443082

Thanks very much guys.
king casey, looking forward to seeing pics of the colour you went with.

Grant

Wow, those auto mica colours really good great. I've used a blue and black mica on a couple of builds now and they look superb

That's looking fantastic. Definitely making a note to check out that auto paint for a future build.

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