Wayno’s ES-12 Mahogany body.

Hi all, I have returned for round three and to try my hand at a semi hollow 12 string this time. I’ve never played or owned a 12 string but I’m in it for the challenge of the build and learn something new. This kit comes with a mahogany back and sides so I don’t know if I’m going to stain . I might go a bit redder, but the neck is maple and don’t know wheather to go natural or try to stain the same as the mahogany. I am also thinking about some radical change to the top and add some mahogany there as well. Early days yet as it’s only just arrived,wish me luck.
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Mahogany is often dyed. I do find it rather boring in its natural state (though different varieties do have different colouring anyway). Cherry or golden are the typical stain colours used by Gibson, though a dark tobacco is also sometimes used by them. But it's your guitar, so do what feels right to you.

Welcome back Wayne. thats a beautiful kit mate. nice score

Thanks for that Simon, a wealth of information as usual. I will probably go with a red or cherry to inhance the reddish color it already is. It also has a killer flame top which I will be also be doing in a reddish stain to highlight the grain. I was also thinking of getting some flame maple veneer for the headstock to match. I have been watching some vids on the interweb to understand the right way to get the best flame finish.
Thanks Andy ,it’s always good to back with you guys and doing another guitar, I love this site but can’t always be on it to catch up on other builds as much as I want .

Yesterday, I got a piece of pink Meranti timber from the hardware,close enough color to the mahogany,so I could try some colours.
Out of these colours I picked the Jarrah.
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Then I stained the back and sides and let it dry overnight. I am really glad I picked this color, it brought the grain up beautifully.
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I couldn’t sleep with this bloody heat we are having,so I was up at six this morning and scraping the binding and giving it it’s first coat of wipe on poly.
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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wayne.Mumford

I couldn’t sleep with this bloody heat we are having,so I was up at six this morning and scraping the binding and giving it it’s first coat of wipe on poly.

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Sometimes that the best time of day to scrape the binding. I was up this morning doing roughly the same thing

I was mucking around with some bits of mahogany left over from a model ship I rebuilt the deck on a couple of years ago and before you know it, it was all glued on. I was going to use the original headstock shape that came with the kit but it was so badly out of shape and the centre line on my pattern didn’t match the cut on the top, so I just cut it straight and rounded the corners. Don’t look too close at it, it’s not as good as I thought it would be.
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I just need to tidy it up a bit.

That’s pretty sick looking mate, really different effect!

Thanks Franky, the timber grain on the neck and headstock was quite blotchy after a coat of stain so I just covered it up.
This is what I first envisioned.The boat deck I rebuilt a few years ago.
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And this is the edges trimmed and an edging added.
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I was also thinking about using some better pups in this one,does any body have any suggestions what is best in a 12 string,I have no idea.

That looks great. Reminds me of the midrib and veins of a leaf.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wayne.Mumford

Thanks Franky, the timber grain on the neck and headstock was quite blotchy after a coat of stain so I just covered it up.
This is what I first envisioned.The boat deck I rebuilt a few years ago.
Attachment 29753
And this is the edges trimmed and an edging added.
Attachment 29754.
I was also thinking about using some better pups in this one,does any body have any suggestions what is best in a 12 string,I have no idea.

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PAF's or lower output HB's would be better, you need the clarity to come through. the higher the output the lower you will need to seat the pup. but its personal taste

Like Andy said you want pickups with a bit of sparkle and clarity. So nothing hi-gain that will and too many extra harmonics when you already have the extra strings and octaves. Maybe something split-able.

Yesterday I put some light coats of stain on the top and it looked pretty darn good. I used color reducer to dilute the Jarrah color that I used.
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And this morning I tried a bit of undiluted color to get a bit of a sunburst happening. And then the glue appeared,like magic.
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I know the veneer is only 0.6 thin so I don’t want to sand it too much. I tried Desolve-it ,but that was useless. Do we have any ideas how to get this glue off, or do I trash it? It’s so disappointing after the work I have already done.

A couple of progress pics.
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Holy Cows! Is that a hand stained burst? Hand stained with coloured lacquer or paint burst? How did you attack the glue spots?

Looks amazing. Great job

That is beautiful! I love the way that the headstock turned out! And the finish on the body is absolutely stunning! Great job

Wow.. that looks unreal.

Also interested to hear how you did the burst.

Very, very nice. Looks beautiful.

rob

Thanks guys, I did the burst with Feast Watson’s timber stain in “Jarrah” . I diluted the color with feast Watson’s color reducer for the main color and tested it on an old bit of pine. I didn’t want to do a burst but the color wouldn’t penetrate the glue spots ,so I went full color around the edges with a cloth a couple of times and blended the edges with the color reducer and it still didn’t cover the glue spots. So I got some varnish that was tinted to the same color and used a small brush to touch up the glue spots before 10 coats of wipe on poly. I also masked up the centre join in the top and gave that a coat of the varnish and it worked a treat.
This kit has been a bit of cow to work on, with glue spots on the top, and it also had some bad ripples in the flame maple veneer and the binding was really badly cracked in places as if it had been knocked, which got stain in and is now a rustic feature. But I loved every moment of it so far. These things add character to it.

I got the wiring buttoned up today. Just waiting for a gold truss rod cover to arrive and then I will put the strings on. I am not using the kit strings as they are not labeled and are in a big knot. I also replaced the output jack with a gold one as it was the only silver piece of hardware in the box.
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Well I finally finished this beauty today, added the last bit of bling, gold truss rod cover and I am over the moon with it. Here are a couple of pics.
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Beautifully finished, love the angular pattern on the headstock it really offsets the length which sometimes looks a bit off with just a bunch of tuners. Nicely done

It’s a Ripper Wayne! Great work!

Awesome job Wayne

That looks bloody awesome well done mate.


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Thanks guys for the positive feedback, I just love making these kits.

That's a work of art.