Opened the box and did a mock build everything seemed to be there.
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Opened the box and did a mock build everything seemed to be there.
Carved a design in the headstock not as scary as I though it would be. Obligatory picture of my feet.
Checked the neck alignment by attaching both E strings and then decided to glue the neck in place with Titebond original glue. Had to put a caul and clamp on the fretboard as the clamps on the neck foot raised the front of the neck slightly from the body. Was happy when the glue squeezed out from the neck join.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stansby40
Nice work there, when you say you carved it, are we talking chisels? If so, much applause, it looks beaut!
Sorry no chisels but a band saw, bench sander, round file and sandpaper.
Ooooh I have band saw envy....I’m still doing mine with a coping saw....🤬.
not so bad on a headstock, but a penance for body outlines.
wow already glued the neck!:D
Sanded with the random orbital sander and by hand then applied a generous coat of mahogany timbermate. Forgot to tape the fretboard hope it cleans up OK.
Had a disaster on the weekend. Didnt sand enough of the timber mate off so that after I applied the mahagony stain the appearance was very splotchy with many imperfections. Sanded off the stain again which took a lot of time. Then I realised that I hadnt shaped the body to look like an SG. The bevelled sides are way too narrow. Will now draw lines on the body and get the rasp out. Would have been easier to do if I hadnt already glued the neck on. Oh well you learn from your mistakes.
Had most of easter off doing family things but managed some progress and now have the bevelled sides looking more like an SG.
After much sanding to eliminate as many defects as possible have now stained the guitar with mahogany stain and it is looking much better now.
Starting to shine nicely after about 6 coats of Cabots poly gloss spray. Although it doesnt say on the can I found a light sand between coats to be advantageous.
Tried a black stain on the peghead but couldnt get a dark enough colour to make the grain disappear. Got a spray can of black and 5 coats did the trick.
Had all sorts of trouble to get a decent decal that would be visible on the black peghead. I tried a laser printer onto clear waterslide decal paper but the metallic grey colour just disappeared when attached to the peghead. In the end I got a metallic grey sharpie and carefully traced over the letters on the decal paper. It is not perfect but now the colour stands out. Coated with six coats of clear poly and now have to wait a few weeks for all to harden before sanding and polishing the whole guitar.
That's looking really good. Hard to believe it's your first!
Look forward to seeing it finished and getting played.
Agree, looking good and you did really well on the decal. [emoji1303]
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Let the final poly clear finish harden for 3 weeks. Sanded with 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit paper using the random orbital sander. Sanded dry as to not get water into any of the orifices on the guitar. Polished with Meguiars ultimate compound and scratch-x until very smooth and shiny. A few imperfections still but not too bad. Pickups (Toneriders AC-2) and Gotoh bridge and tail piece installed. A bit nervous installing the Gotoh's as I had to drill deeper holes for the bushes but used a drill press where I could and worked OK. The finish is now in sight.
NIce! looking the business now!
Hardware all installed, wired up and everything works. Surprised about how good it sounds even without a full setup. The Toneriders are good pickups. Next thing to do is check the truss rod, set the string heights and I will have to file the nut as I upgraded to a bone nut which is a bit bigger than the supplied plastic nut. Looking forward to playing the setup version. Maybe I can upload a sound demo at a later stage.
Looks good and we look forward to a demo and hearing your Toneriders.
Looking really good there Stansby.