Simon B's GPR-1B build

I wasn't planning to get another kit, especially as I have two on the go and my previous two still in the wings waiting for better weather. But a combination of a good friend wanting me to build him a guitar and Adam offering me a really great offer on a GPR-1B (one of the kits that got removed as there was a big mismatch between the electronics supplied and the body control holes), saw me sign-up for one more kit.

So this is it, newly arrived and with the body having been wetted with turps:

Attachment 25311

Attachment 25312

No obvious glue spots apart from a white line where the veneers meet. I've already had a go with some glue remover on this and will have a couple more goes once my old electric toothbrush is recharged (easier than brushing the join manually!).

This is definitely the worse condition kit I've yet received. Nothing unsalvageable, just more work to put right.

There's a bit of a mess in the veneer/binding interface in the bottom cutaway:

Attachment 25313

Hopefully this can be made good with some maple-coloured grain filler.

The binding in general is quite rough and has a lot of machining marks on it, which will have to be rubbed down smooth. Even the F-hole binding is rough, and I've never had that on the three existing kits I've got with F-holes. Still, its only a bit of scraping and sanding.

I was less happy with this dent in the side:

Attachment 25314

But my first ever go at steaming out a dent worked well (first use of my dedicated for luthiery $15 iron from Amazon) and now you'd never know it was ever there.

Attachment 25315

Apart from a bit of raised grain (and the body needs sanding anyway) it's now fine.

There's a bit of work that needs doing on the headstock as there's a gouge out of the top on one side of the truss rod dip where the nut meets the headstock. Not quite sure yet what I plan to do with the headstock, so it can wait. But it's going to stop me leaving the headstock with a natural finish. My friend wanted a natural finish for the guitar so it's going to be quite similar to my USA Hamer Studio (which is actually a bit paler than in the photo):

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/d9LRBq.jpg

But I'm tempted to do some light popping. I need to discuss this with him.

Obviously it's got no post holes drilled for an Tune-O-Matic bridge or stop tailpiece. The sloping rear means that I can't do the temporary trapeze tailpiece trick to get the TOM position just right, which is pointing me in favour of a different bridge style. Unfortunately the top is gently arched, so a flat-based more Fender hardtail-style bridge won't fit on unless I rout the top flat for it, which is easier said than done!

Also the neck angle will probably mean that the bridge needs to be sat quite high unless that angle is altered. I shall do some testing and have a ponder.

Single string bridge pieces might be the way. Now to find some budget-friendly ones!

Here's the headstock gouge by the nut. I think I'll stick some veneer over the whole of the top of the headstock, then just do an angled scrape of the edge so just a very small part of the cream binding shows.

Attachment 25316

Then there's a few more items I've just noticed. This took me back to my first electric guitar, an early '70s Columbus LP copy. Its plywood top also didn't touch the body in a lot of places either.

Attachment 25317

The other side of the pocket is a bit better, but still not perfect.

Attachment 25318

So those gaps are going to need filling with something solid to provide proper support for the pickups.

The last two sets of fret markers are a bit random in positioning as well.

Attachment 25319

The neck is a bit loose in the pocket. It's a slightly wedge shaped pocket, so fits tightly when the neck is pushed back from the body by about 15mm from where it should sit. So a bit of veneer on one side of the pocket should sort that out. But I'll give it a week or so anyway before doing anything about that as the gap may get bigger as the wood settles after its flight to the UK (from experience the fit is normally too tight and gets looser with waiting).

The good thing about not having pre-drilled post holes for the bridge is that I can position the neck exactly where I want it and then worry about where to put the bridge for correct intonation.

Apart from the fret markers, there's nothing that cant be fixed. Even the fret markers could be replaced with bigger ones throughout, allowing them all to be centred. But I'm not 100% happy about drilling one of these Blackwood Tek fretboards as they do seem prone to bits splitting off, and I could just make things worse.

This kit will certainly keep you busy over the Summer Simon...

A little bit of a buggar needing to cover the binding on the headstock, and that gap between the ply and the body is huge....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Simon Barden

which is easier said than done!

---

That's what sets me off on the lemming-like run to disaster.
I'm sure a knowledgeable chap like thee will produce a winner!

cheers, Mark.

Hi Simon, what about glueing and clamping, will that top pull back down or will that warp the shape? It’s a nice looking grain in the top, should be amazing with a light color.

Hi simon could you put some expanding foam glue in those gaps it looks more like a bit of veneer missing underneath than the ply wood letting go

The treble side looks like it may pull together with a clamp, less sure about the bass side. My experience of the foaming glues is that they are good for small gaps, but where it's been squeezed out of a joint and expanded a lot, the 'glue' is very soft indeed. If I can't manage to clamp the gap tight, then I'll slip some veneer in the gap and glue that in.

My stair case guy has got one that comes in a silicone cartridge ive used it to put steel bolts into timber to hold a glass handrail and those bolts are never coming out id have to cut the timber to get them out, i cant remember what it was called but it was an expanding glue not foam

Well, expanding glue = foam. It produces a gas as it sets which produce small bubbles in the glue which in turn expand the glue. If it's not constrained from expanding too much by the materials it's sandwiched between, then the gas bubbles will get bigger, reducing the relative amount of glue in the gap and making the bond weaker. So it really needs to be used where gaps are small, and then it is very strong.

Well the clamping idea is out. There's no movement at all on the treble side and only a fraction of a mm on the bigger bass side gap. So the gaps will need filling with veneer strips and gluing. I'll try and make them slightly wedged, so I can tape them in and they should hold on their own whilst the glue dries, then I can trim back the ends in the cavities. Something to keep me occupied.

One thing I have just noticed which is nice, is that the veneer on this guitar is getting on for 2mm thick, not the paper thin layer that you normally get.

Attachment 25336

Which is good, as I somehow dropped a bit of concentrated stain on the top of the body as I was giving it a light amber stain wash. So I now need to try and sand it off, otherwise it will end up darker than I wanted though having to stain the rest to match the blob. The wash also showed up some glue spots which I've had little luck removing so far.

This all looks rather 'challenging'.
Will be watching with interest - good luck Simon.

I have a feeling this build thread is going to be the source of answers for a lot people facing similar obstacles in the future.

Eager to see how you tackle some of these issues!

Just to add my 2 cents worth.
Fender did a hardtail on a Starcaster that has a curved top by putting an aluminium block under the bridge which is easy enough to do and seeing as you said that the bridge may need to be set high could be a good packer. There is a video on YouTube on Normans Rare guitars that has an example and seeing as it is ally you can use sand paper to shape it to the contour of the guitar top after roughing it out with a half round file. If you use some double sided tape you can attach the block to a piece of wood and take it down to 1mm thickness if necessary. Just remember to not get the material to hot as it effects the holding ability of the tape and ally is a great heat sink.

As for the gaps I personally would not worry about them as they wont be seen and if you look at the upper picture of the gap there seems to be no material behind the pickup cut-out which is probably part of the hollow body. If this is the case then filling the gap wont give you any more material to attach the pickups. The material looks to be about the same thickness as the body for the ES-3 and that supports pickups and as you said it seems that the body is stiff enough. Just saves some time and headaches.

On the gaps... I wondered about using auto body filler. It cures very strong, not tough to sand. Doesn't expand or contract as it cures.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

Nice looking kit there SB. I liked the starting words too...."I wasn't planning on getting another kit..." :)

geezz Simon that's not to good mate but if theirs someone on the forum who can fix it properly it is you, the guy who said about using bondo on the big gap is right i have used it on similar problems, on my GS2Q build when the veneer near the binding i uses a neutral timber mate and mixed in some of the same colour as i used on the quilt worked pretty good and couldn't see the fix when i did the finish.

Hi Simon, I have one of these which has similar issues to deal with as yours. A couple of things, hope you haven't sanded the top too vigorously yet. If you look closely the veneer on the top layer of ply is as thin as usual, the lower layer of ply acts as the base of the rebate for the purfling.

Also, have a look into the hole for the selector switch, that there is enough clearance to get the switch in place. On mine the hole is partly blocked by the inside edge of the body.
Attachment 25411
Otherwise, happy building.

Grant

A switch like this might fit better...

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F252267874328

A little pricey, but the wiring harness on a semi-hollow is such a pain to install, the last thing you want in it is a cheap component...

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

...and C&K are good quality switches.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

You're right, Neverwas. The staining has shown up the veneer layer (which is very thin), which wasn't obvious to start with. Thanks for the heads up, or I might have gone very wrong!

My switch hole is far enough away from the side to fit my planned switch, a right-angled Switchcraft unit. Just tested it out.

Hey Simon, you have another award one there, but if any one can sort it out mate ,it would be you . I was going to suggest Plastibond ,which is an epoxy filler that hardens like a rock, that can be drilled and screwed if needed. Good luck anyway mate, take care.

I've sorted one side so far, using veneer and glue. Doing the same on the other side with the bigger gap. Yes, I could use filler, but I've got the veneer and glue, and it feels more 'organic' to carry on using the same materials as the guitar was built with.

I really like your use of veneer. I have never used it, but want to give it a try where I got a little aggressive on the sanding. What kind do you get? Where do you get it? Is there any you'd avoid?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

I bought a couple of mixed packs of marquetry veneer from eBay. The pieces aren't big enough to do a guitar top, but are generally around 10" x 4" in size (some a bit bigger, some smaller) but big enough to make wedges for neck pockets etc. These are all the thin 0.6mm veneer, though you can get thicker 1mm and 2mm veneers (often called construction veneers) but the price rises considerably as the thickness increases. They will typically contain maple, mahogany and maybe some ash, as well as other woods that I have no idea what they are, some of them dyed.

You can of course buy single wood veneers, but they tend to come in either long thin strips for woodwork edging pieces, or large pieces for veneering table tops or guitar tops. The marquetry packs give you quite a selection of veneers for useable sizes of wood for maybe US$10 or so.

Ok, great. That's essentially what I ordered. US sites say it's 1/42" thick because we don't use a rational measurement system here.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

It was good enough for us once, so don't worry. Any system is fine if you understand it. Though I find decimal values of mm and cm are far easier to understand than decimal values of inches, where I find a need to change it to standard fractions of an inch.

It is increasingly common here to use inches with decimals as well as with fractions. So I have had to learn that veneer that is .6 mm, 1/42” and .024” is the same. I often convert everything to mm just because it's easier.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

The only decimal inches I'm used to are guitar strings!

Here's an example from pups I put in my Frankenjazz bass...

http://www.emgpickups.com/media/prod...c_11_21_17.pdf

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fender3x

Here's an example from pups I put in my Frankenjazz bass...

http://www.emgpickups.com/media/prod...c_11_21_17.pdf

---

Is this an accidental reply to a post in a different thread?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Is this an accidental reply to a post in a different thread?

---

No it's just unclear. The PDF is an example of inches with decimals .

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

Aha!

jdkldsjglds;lgd;slgkdgkd

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Aha!

jdkldsjglds;lgd;slgkdgkd

---

Hi, Did you finish this build sir?.

Drashkum