Hi, first time builder (second build diary-don’t go there!)
ES-5v arrived this morning.
Nice looking grain.
Can anyone spot any problems?
Thanks.
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Hi, first time builder (second build diary-don’t go there!)
ES-5v arrived this morning.
Nice looking grain.
Can anyone spot any problems?
Thanks.
More photos....
More photos.....
The old fret board looks a bit ordinary... is there a join above the fret or something? Can we see some more pics of that area?
The heel and its fitting is pretty typical. The neck heel should clean up pretty well and improve the fit with some judicial sanding. You have no bridge holes drilled so mark them up after you've got the neck sitting in the pocket a bit more nicely.
Is there a veneer around the outside of the body - those gaps in the heel pocket area bit odd... but I haven't done a kit like this before so don't know if its normal.
The neck at least needs to go back, that fretboard is terrible. It doesn't say in the kit description what the fingerboard is supposed to be but it looks like Blackwood Tec. And it shouldn't look like that. The end of the neck heel is angled, not straight. If it was the only issue, you could sand that flat yourself to better fit in the neck pocket. With the floating bridge, you won't have any issues with scale length and intonation as you would if it had pre-drilled bridge holes.
Return the body too whilst you are doing it. The internal neck block should be solidly glued to the outer body front and top. You could live with one very small gap, which you could fill with a bit of veneer and glue, but those gaps are just too large. You're gluing the neck to that block, but if the block isn't properly attached to the body, then the neck isn't properly attached to the guitar.
Sonic - the guitar body is all ply, though the outer ply is a pretty looking one, a bit thicker than a veneer. Supposedly it's all basswood ply, but I suspect the outer ply may be birch or something similar as it's harder than basswood and the figuring on birch is similar.
Curve on the back in the 1st shot doesn't look symmetrical and front shot looks a bit weird too.
Well spotted, Waz. I agree.
Thanks for the critical appraisal Sonic, Simon and Wazkelly. Another kit will be arriving tomorrow and I’ll be returning this box of disappointment. The wood grain seems to create a kind of rippled optical illusion looking at the curved surface. I thought it was ok.
This kit is a big improvement.
That looks better! Weird, everything I have bought through PB has been top notch.
Ok, so I’ve been reading the manual so I can make a start once my crippling self doubt abides. First of all I plan to address the fret leveling job. I expected the manual to tell me the neck must be straight before I level the frets, but the manual doesn’t actually state this. Can someone confirm the next should be straight, not convex or concurved?
You are correct. ideally you should do this with a notched straight edge - as you can assume the fingerboard was once flat, even if the frets aren't, You can buy them fairly cheaply, or a bit of straight solid aluminium strip and a file will see you with your own home made one in 30-60 minutes. Just mark off the fret positions on the strip, then file a suitable sized notch in each position so that it will sit over the fret without touching it. Always useful in setting up your own guitars. You can do exactly the same thing for a bass (though you obviously need a longer metal strip :) ).
Thank you Simon.
Two quarter turns of the truss rod anti-clockwise and the neck is just about straight. I’ve identified about five frets I’d like to give a tap to ensure they are correctly seated before I run a sanding bar over them. I’ll leave the neck to settle over night and see how it looks tomorrow before I go any further.
Visited the big green shed today and made myself a notched flat edge. A couple more quarter turns of the truss rod and I think I’ve got the neck as straight as I’m going to get it. Tried to make myself a 12” radius sanding block (what a clown!), soon gave up and ordered one online. I wasn’t looking forward to this stage of the build, but the more involved I become the more I’m getting enthusiastic about getting the neck set up as well as I can. I’m sure the effort put in here will be well worth it in the end.
Yes, it’s daunting to start but there’s a satisfying almost meditative aspect to the process. The better you get the job done, the better it will play.Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkMark
Today I fixed the paving.
Rubber mallet in hand... took it as a sign... I’m going to give those frets a tap! Once I attacked the half dozen frets sitting high, I decided all of them would benefit from a little gentle persuasion. Looking at the neck I’m happy I did it. Frets appear to be sitting better and got some practical use out of those old text books. Looking forward to the arrival of my sanding block.
Sanding block arrived this morning. Set up tonight to level and crown the frets. Definitely a job I want to wait until daylight to perform.
Started sanding at 400 grit but after a while I moved down to 240 grit. Back to 400 grit and up through some finer grades. Had I known what I was doing I would of stopped at 400 grit. Eventually got metal shining through my marker pen lines along the high points of all the frets - frets are level, time to crown. Mark the frets with my marker pen again and file the edges over to leave a thin black line down the centre of the fret. Put down the special crowning file pretty quickly, using a flat edge triangular file was working for me...and quite enjoying myself at this stage, not as hard or technical as I had imagined. Started on some frets high up the neck until I worked out some kind of technique, then did the entire neck. When I was happy I gave the frets a light sand with 240, 400, 800, 1200 grit sandpaper and finally 0000 steel wool. WOW! Did I just do this? So low, smooth and shiny! Nobody told me the frets would look and feel so good! Feeling pretty happy with myself at the moment. Also feeling like I’ve accomplished something today. Pat myself on my back. Time will tell if the job is any good. Fingers crossed.
It is now beer o’clock for you sir, job well done!Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkMark
Congrats, those frets look nice and shiny! I think it was really smart of you to do this first.
Thanks FrankenWashie, I think it is beer o’clock. I’m reminded of your earlier post in my diary relating to fret work.
Thanks trv, I’m enjoying your build diary.
Looking good.
I always run a small offcut of top E string along each fret, just to check it glides over the fret and there are no transverse scratches left. Even tiny scratches can cause a string to catch when bending and make it feel rough, and you can feel the E string pulling. If it doesn't feel 'scratchy', then you're fine. Easier to check and fix now (if necessary), than when you've just strung it up with new strings.
Thanks Simon, I’ll give that a go. Once I took the green tape off I found the occasional fret with the slightest amount of overhang, fingers can feel it. I’ll have a think how to address that issue without causing damage to the fret board.
I normally tape either side of the fret and underneath the fret end on the neck, so all the wood is covered, then either use a needle file (if really rough) or 240 grit paper if just a little jagged, and sand parallel to the board but at at a 45° angle to the fret ends. It's often the very bottom corners of the frets that you can feel.
If the frets are very proud, then use a sanding block and sand initially at 90° all along the fret ends until they are level with the board, and then at 45° all along the fret ends so they are no longer proud, then you'll probably need to do the parallel 45° to the fret sanding until the ends don't feel sharp. Then it's up through the grades on the fret ends until they're back to smooth and polished.
I went with the sanding method Simon, because;
1) I have it, and
2) I wanted to give the fret board surface and edge a light sand while I was at it.
I think I might be being a little pedantic, but the edge does feel somewhat better now.
I guess sanding is next, I’ll be staining so I believe I shouldn’t go any higher than about 240 grit for the body, but unsure about the neck. The manual says to cover the binding (I don’t have the 3mm tape, haven’t seen it anywhere when I’ve looked) May I receive some advice please.
...and while I’m asking for advice,
I’ll be using Feast and Watson stain to do a burst, but unsure what I should do from there to clear coat it. Tru Oil seems very popular. I’ve seen people suggest stain can dissolve in it a little bit which makes me think I don’t want to apply it directly to a burst design. I’ve also seen Simon’s advice on adding two coats of sanding sealer before applying Tru Oil. Any thoughts or alternative suggestions? Much appreciated.
The blue tape you will buy from the auto refinishers or smash repairers
Bursting is very hard to do well with stain. It's very hard to blend two colours, so practice on scrap wood first. You really need to get the lighter and the darker colours on wet at the same time so they can blend in the middle where they meet. Otherwise you can try airbrushing the darker stain on.
Tru-Oil will certainly re-absorb some stain, so if you use that on a stained burst, I'd suggest using a brush for the first few coats, brush from the centre to the outside of the guitar so you don't bring dark tinted TO into the middle. I'd even leave gaps between TO brush stroked for the first couple of coats and fill them in with the second coat, again using a brush. Brush once each time, don't go back and forth which will muddy the finish. Once you get a few TO coats on, you can stop worrying about the stain bleeding.
You can of course, spray paint over a stained base, then use Tru-Oil on top. Easier to get a good burst that way.
This is the sort of tape to use for the binding, 3M 471 tape. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fine-Vinyl-.../dp/B00CUPL8BI
It comes in 3mm and 6mm widths. Other makes are available.
This approach worked for me, using an air brush not spray paint though. To me it seemed like an easier way to get an even burst than trying to blend with stain.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
As for tape, I just used 1" painter's tape for everything (and lots of it). It's easy to cut to size and if you get the delicate surface kind it shouldn't leave any adhesive residue behind when you remove it.
Thanks everyone, will check out the local auto refinishing stores today Andyxlh. Previously had a go at hand staining a burst and was happy enough with the result.
Simon, is there a suggested method with the tru oil and brush? Brush with the grain? Brush from a central point directly to the edge (my money is on this approach)? Brush in a expanding spiral pattern moving outwards from the light centre to the darker edge? Forgive my ignorance but rest ashored I’ll test on the scrap wood first.
I’ve seen the great results with the air brush but I’m determined to have a go by hand.
Your test looks good!
I wouldn't over think the tru-oil brushing. A brush is less likely to drag tru-oil with it than a cloth. Or else dab it on in spots so that there's no lateral movement at all. I just know that a few people have achieved a decent stain burst, only to have it spoiled when they applied Tru-Oil. The oil in the Tru-Oil will take up some of the stain the moment it's applied. So if you then wipe that oil to a different location, it's going to take that stain with it. So you just want to apply the TO so it doesn't get moved around.
If you do an all-stained burst, I'd brush from the centre outwards, so creating a star-like pattern of brush strokes so that you are going from a light to a dark stain. You just need to get enough layers of Tru-Oil on without moving the stain around. Which is why I suggest on the first application leaving some gaps between each brush stroke, so that you don't pick up TO that has been sitting on the surface for some time and is loaded with stain. Of course in the all-light centre and all-dark edge areas it doesn't matter and you can rub the TO in with abandon where it's all the same colour. It's those transition areas that really count.
But it all depends on being able to create a good stained burst to start with. I do think you will get a better burst if the burst is sprayed.
Good advice from Simon.
From build #2 through to current # 6 I have brushed on initial 2 coats of Tru Oil before switching to rag application method.
It is quite simple, just pour a small amount in small container, load the brush up with plenty and lightly paint the surface with a 1" to no bigger than 2" brush, in same manner as you would on a door, wall, or any other surface. You will notice on first coat application that the timber is very thirsty and need to resist going back over where you have just applied finish too many times as it can end up disturbing the stain.
Give it least 24 hours and then brush the 2nd coat on which shouldn't need as much delicate care due to a proper thick 1st coat also acting as the sealer.
Cheers, Waz
I know an air brush will give a great result in good hands,but I don’t have access to one and I don’t wish to purchase one. Besides, I have grown to like the hand rubbed result. I’ll give it a go and if I fail...I fail. Bit scared about tru oil over the top, I’ll keep thinking about it and see what other options people are using.
Thanks Waz, I’ll definitely have a test run on the practice bursts first.
By the way, spent half the afternoon driving around the local auto refinishing stores to find no one has the 6mm tape I’m after to mask the binding. Spent some time cutting my green painters tape to fit before giving the body a sand. Remind me never to try that again. 6mm tape ordered online.
On your practice runs also try applying a diluted 50:50 turps to Tru Oil mix whish ends up a bit more watery and you may find easier to apply.
What is the stain, water or oil based?
Feast Watson prooftint ‘traditional spirit based interior stain’. Contains >60% diacetone alcohol, 1-10% trivalent organic chromates. Sounds lovely.
Very much oil based by the sound of that so go easy on any turps diluted coats for a while.
Yes Waz, adding solvents to initial coats sounds risky to me. I’ll take your and Simon advice onboard.