AGB-30 First Build

I plan on starting my AGB-30 build this evening. This will be my first instrument build. I can't actually play bass but I figure that isn't a good reason not to build one. I've been abusing ukuleles for a couple years and I figure a Bass has four strings too so how hard could it be ! Actually I owned a Yamaha 504 for a couple of weeks and it was very hard. It also felt like I was hugging an anvil and it made my elbow ache so I returned it and started looking for a short scale bass.

The kit was very well packaged and I've very pleased with the way they tried to match the grain of the two pieces of the body. I really don't like the look of the head stock and wanted to change it but yesterday I realized that the AGB-30 is based on the Epiphone/Gibson EB-0/EB-3 so I'm just going to leave it as it is.

During the mock build I found that the holes for the threaded inserts for the bridge are too large. Also the surround for the front pickup is interfering with the seating of the neck but that shouldn't be too hard to fix.

The fanciest thing I plan on doing for the build is bit more contouring to make it more comfortable and using some black dye for black/bright finish. I would like to use tru-oil for the finish so I'll have to test to see how it reacts to the alchohol based dye (Solar-Lux NGR Dye Stain).

Here's a link to my gallery. I'll try to figure out how to get the photos to post inline later.
https://1drv.ms/a/s!AnXWCJ4NsjaiioQedzY8Z-tTeuQYGQ

-Hugh

Attachment 29160
The initial dyeing.

Attachment 29161
dyeing the front of the neck pocket was a mistake but easily sanded off

Attachment 29162
After sanding with 120, 220, and 320 I started applying spray on satin varnish. Using a rub on oil would of just smeared the dye everywehere.

Attachment 29163
After 4 coats of varnish I decided I could do a better job of cleaning up the edges of the dye. Particularly in the upper hook area which is at the bottom left of the image (does this have a name?). So I stopped spraying and will do more sanding.

Attachment 29164
The back.

So I cleaned up the edges and started varnishing again. Unfortunately after the 5th coat the varnish started turning white!
https://i.imgur.com/huo6Vmr.png

Luckily the hardware store is close so I bought a lot more sandpaper. While I was sanding off all the old varnish and dye I decided I liked the look of the having the edges stained and the rest of the body bright.
https://i.imgur.com/AToFs7H.jpg

So after sanding off all the old dye and varnish I stained the edges with ebony min-wax stain. I've since applied about 6 coats of Danish Oil and sanded it down to 2000 grit. I'm still not 100% satisfied with the stain on the edges but it's getting closer. I've also ordered some mahogany laminate so the headstock will match the body.
https://i.imgur.com/Ju9MFQ0.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/oVFBsie.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/nbioTBa.jpg

fun-fun-fun!

The natural top and black sides look pretty good really!

That milkyness in the varnish is mostly likely due to either too much humidity when applying or too cold a temperature. Given you are in the states I'm going with too cold. If you notice it happening while the finish is still wet a gentle application with a hair dryer can get it out.

Thanks Sonic. I think you'r right about the varnish being too cold. I had started varnishing early in the afternoon and should have quit after the sun went down and the temperature dropped.

That does look nice! I like the black edges too

Thanks Andy.

My mahogany veneer came in.

https://i.imgur.com/47ClL4a.jpg
Took two tries to get it on correctly but in the end ...

https://imgur.com/wPEV8EG.jpg
:D

https://imgur.com/gnz93qk.jpg
I think it has potential.

While everything is very smooth now I would like to apply something on top of the of the danish oil. I'm thinking either war or shelac. Would there be any issues with applying eirther of these finishes over danish oil?

thanks,
Hugh

Looks great; I really like the way the stain has ended up

I’m not sure you should apply war over the oil?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

I’m not sure you should apply war over the oil?

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This could get political.

You can certainly apply wax over the oil, but I'm not sure if it will give you that much benefit. It may give a smoother surface, but you may find the wax just fills the pores in the mahogany leavinn small cloudy grain marks, whilst adding more overall shine.

I'm less sure about shellac. Its one of those things you can put under almost anything, but I'm not quite sure how well it sits on top of other things. Maybe once the DO is given a month or so to fully cure.

As Danish Oil is similar to TruOil (though Danish oil can be either tung oil or linseed oil based), you should be able to keep adding DO coats in the way people do with TruOil, sanding down from time to time until you've got a flat finish on the guitar which can then be polished. I'm not sure if there is any real benefit in changing finishes now, with the risk of some adverse interaction.

As always, the only real way to be certain is to test it out on some scrap wood - say an offcut from your headstock veneer.

"Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here."

I took the general advice and skipped the war on oil. I did some more fine sanding and rubbing and the finish is looking more than acceptable.

I was hoping to get a local guitar shop to set the truss rod level the frets but they weren't interested. So I got a aluminum yard stick from the hardware store and notched it out to accept the fret wires to level the fret board. then I used 11" sanding bar I had to level the frets. That all seems to have gone very well.

I then installed the tuners and that went ok but they aren't perfect. One of the tuner bases just overlaps the edge of the headstock and the E and A tuners are little higher up than the D and G tuners.
https://imgur.com/Hm4FtJP.jpg

I then set up the E and G strings to make sure every thing was straight before gluing in the neck.

https://imgur.com/HLb1MuT.jpg
Hmmm. I know that checking this is usually one of the first steps but the tuner sockets didn't fit in the headstock and at that point I was leery of doing anything permanent to the guitar. This was a mistake.


https://imgur.com/KKFHt6G.jpg
The obvious solution would be to fill the existing holes with epoxy and wood flour and drill new holes. However, the bridge on the eb-0 is pretty fiddly so I was thinking replacing it entirely. Are all bass bridges the same width or do short scale bridges have a different width?

Currently the E string is inset about 3/16" and the G string is closer to 7/16". Centering the stock bridge would have the strings inset about a 1/4" at the last fret. Does this seem extreme?

thanks,
Hugh

Latest progress updates. I just decided to fill and drill new holes for the bridge.
https://imgur.com/JuT90SY.jpg
Holes filled with expoxy and wood flour.

https://imgur.com/gDDbDSx.jpg
New holes drilled. I ended moving the bridge up and to the right.

Good save! I doubt the old holes will be visible under the bridge and it would be a shame to have to cover the nice natural grain that revealed itself.

Thanks G-Axe.

I'm working on the wiring diagram here :
https://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-co...s/pdf/IB-5.pdf

It shows the unused connections on the volume controls bent back to the top of the pots. Does the unused connection on the pots need to be grounded?

thanks,
Hugh

Its always a pain when you've gotten this far and things like this pop up.

Good work on the bridge repositioning. I've done similar using dowels to plug the holes.

IN terms of the tuner position issues, the only real way of taking care of that would be to fill them all with maple plugs and re-drill where they best fit. Given that the plates cover a fairly wide footprint it might be possible to get away without having to veneer to hide the plugs, but you may still have visibility on them from the front, unless you do a solid colour headstock face.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Roam

I'm working on the wiring diagram here :
https://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-co...s/pdf/IB-5.pdf

It shows the unused connections on the volume controls bent back to the top of the pots. Does the unused connection on the pots need to be grounded?

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Yes. You can either bend it back and solder the tag directly to the pot case, or run some wire from the pot case to that tag (not all pots have tabs that can reach back to the casing). But only on the volume pots. The spare tab on the tone pots remains unconnected. The tone pots act as variable resistors so only have two connections, whilst the volume pots act as potential dividers, so all three connections are used.

I normally cut the spare tabs off on the tone pots to help prevent them accidentally touching a signal carrying wire or ground. If you do this, just double check that you are cutting the correct one off!