djb's flying V build diary

Greetings all.

Entry one: Getting started!

My first real guitar was a harmony flying V. A couple summers later, I had traded it to big chief's pawnshop for some other guitar that I thought looked cooler. Since then, really, I have had this nagging desire to have a V again. I even tried a couple of times to buy a harmony just like I had, but I finally decided to build one. I always thought that Albert King's flying V with the LP headstock looked pretty sweet too, so I would start there. Obviously not the same woods, but just the unique look. Aside from King, I cant think of any such Vs. Attachment 32871

So, after much deliberating I decided to do this custom kit here with pitbull. It is not much different than the FV 1 G kit. The differences are, mahogany body and neck, dots no blocks, set neck, LP headstock, and finally ferrules rather than V plate. I didn't want the veneer, but somehow I failed to specify this specifically and got it anyway. Sadly, it is blistering already perhaps due to the tropics. Has anyone ever successfully removed the veneer? If so, I would love to know how it was done. Otherwise I am over the moon. See me go!
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Entry two: Dry build and setting neck

The dry build is important so you understand how things are going to be. You need a couple tuners, the bridge, the two E strings. I put teflon tape around the bridge posts to fill out the drilled hole space. That way I could get them centered and approximate the string height. I didn't want to put the ferrules in yet, nor did I want to gouge the delicate veneer with string pressure. So, I used some electricians tape and cotton to provide some plush protection.
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The glue-in neck is an absolute perfect tight fit. While I have built and rebuilt guitars in the past, this is my first rodeo with a set neck. Now, I experience deep relief when I see how snug and perfect the neck pocket and neck match up. Still, I am hyper paranoid about checking things a thousand times now that I am standing on the verge of gluing it on, brother gluing it on.
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The dry build also reveals that the guitar will likely have great action and the nut will not need to be refiled. The fretwork looks to be pretty great. All the frets are set properly and there are no sharp edges along the sides of the fingerboard. Surely at least a little filing and polishing will be in order, but not today. No, not today.
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Scale length looks spot on, so (gasp) let's glue!! I use the only glue clamp I have, some quarter inch wooden pads and pieces of rubber to cushion the wood and frets. I am using Titebond that a Titefriend brought me from the USA.
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P.S. The guitar has been left with the clamp on for twenty hours now. Overnight the veneer started bubbling in a place along the binding. I will make a new entry later showing this once I take the clamp off. Maybe someone here on the forum has an idea about what to do!?

Entry three: Neck success and dry build two.

The clamp comes off and the neck stays put just as I planned. It looks I got minimal glue seepage. I tried to wipe everything up the best I could with the towel I had. In the photo, the guitar is hanging by the neck which, to me, is a good sign that it is actually glued in there.
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In this photo, you can see the veneer blistering up along the edge where the binding is. Sure, the pick guard will mostly cover this area, but I am concerned that in the tropics I might have more of this in the future on different parts of the guitar. I probably don't have the necessary innards for actually removing the veneer, so I will just have to hope for the best.
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I felt it necessary to do a dry build again now that the neck is set in place. Everything seems to check out just fine. The strings are aligned, the scale is dead-on perfect, and the action is promising.

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Looking good mate. My only thought about the veneer is that, as most of us have found out by mistake, you could just sand through it. The veneer is only 0.6mm. It will also allow you to get the body nice and flat too.

Thanks for your input ILR!

I might just keep the veneer on for the moment. I put the wood clamp and on that specific place and it seemed to stick it down a bit better. Adam wrote me and gave me another idea, if that doesn't work. For the moment, I think I will plan to finish the guitar as-is with the veneer.

They do look much better with the veneer. Love the tribute to Albert too! He doesn't usually get the mention that he should.

So, yeah. I think I may as well give the veneer a shot. I've never had one before. I am concerned about Oaxaca's humidity. I don't have any humidity issues with non veneer guitars except for strings that you can watch rust as you play (especially with sunset beach gigs).
Anyway, yesterday I carefully drilled all 29 screw holes that this flying V needed and I mounted everything up to make sure it was all fine n dandy. I know some people prefer to do all this after sanding and finishing. I figured if I screwed something up badly, I would prefer to do that before I sanded etc. Thankfully, I didn't screw anything up. Just on! Here are a few picks of that.
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Now it is time to take all of these things off and prepare the guitar for finishing. I can do some light sanding and masking, but I am waiting on my pal to drive down from NYC with the Wudtone Columbian Gold I am going to put on this. Supposedly the maple cap isn't wholly suitable for the columbian gold (which is another reason I didn't really want the veneer) so we will just have to see how it works out. The balance with a strap is just perfect. If this guitar turns into the monster shredder it promises to be, then pretty much everything will be upgraded. I am pining for a bareknuckles PG set and all the guards made from local tropical wood species. DAMN! NYC friend is bringing down hotrodded wiring harness and some pretty lil' knobs too.
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DAMN i wish my friend would hurry. just waiting on the wudtone and the wiring harness and pretty knobs and. . . . .

He is in the state I know it! Maybe today!!!

Let's hope so!

Finally my friend showed up with the wudtone. My family from the USA also showed up for the holidaze and, while I managed to work on the guitar between trips to the beach and shuffling them around otherwise, I was unable to update the build diary. So, with that in mind, here are some pictures. This guitar just had to be brown. I had had success with wudtones black magic woman on an ash superstrat in the past, so I decided on their Colombian Gold for this flying V.

In these photos, we have about 5 coats of the product, three with the dye and two with the gold mixed in about 50/50. Honestly, I cant really see where the gold made much difference. I taped off the binding after having sanded it with fine steel wool. . .

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And here is a photo with the tape off exposing the contrast of the binding and the finish. This now has one coat of the wudtone satin top coat and it looks like there will be enough product for at least three total coats.

A couple more showing the nice contrast between the binding and the colombian gold.
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Nice colour. I've got the feeling that the gold layer is only really going to do much if you've got open pores or grain lines for it to fill. With the maple veneer and basswood body, it's all closed-pore wood. But it was worth a try.

Thanks Simon, thanks for saying. Actually, the aside from the maple veneer, it is a mahogany V, so there are parts that look a little gilt. In the photos here, we see its current state. About 5 days of curing after the last satin top coat of wudtone. So, with one order's worth, I managed to get these results. I got three coats of the dye, two coasts of the dye half/half with the gold tint, and three coats of the satin top. The directions say wait at least a week for curing before strapping on and flying, but I think I will wait a little longer. My black magic woman wudtone strat could have used a bit more time before I put her to work for me.
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The back and headstock look really pretty to me. The maple took the wudtone better than I thought it would. Their literature says that maple isn't very suitable, certainly not like ash or mahogany. There are a few glue spots on the top that I did not catch pre finish. Still, imperfect is like so whatever. Ive learned a lot of lessons so far with this build and honestly I am not letting these spots ruin my excitement. Still a ways before we fly, but its looking pretty good to me so far.

Ok. Cured enough for this cowboy. I have started the final assembly which so far is going very well. I put a few random old strings on here just to check the intonation, neck straightness, and all that jazz. I can get a decent action if I put the bridge pretty low. Maybe the neck angle isnt perfect, but the intonation is dead perfect and the action is good enough. Its not difficult to play, but I was hoping for lower in the higher register. I will tweak it some more.

Since it seems like it is going to play well enough, I went ahead and ordered a case from some Chinese factory. Here in Mexico any guitar case is very expensive. I can get one custom made and delivered for 150 US. And since it is custom, I can choose the colors so I chose my favorites. Brown on the outside and pink on the inside.
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What-s holding me up now is the completion of the plastic bits being made into granedillo wood by a carpenter buddy who lives right down the lane. The pick guard is almost perfect, just need to shave a bit off around where the pups go The the jack plate and truss rod cover are coming soon out of the same wood. I figure by my next show I will be flying high on this here flying V.
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Got the guards. Everything fits spectacularly. Aye, but they have just been sprayed, so they-ll have to dry overnight before use!
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Here we see the originals that came with the kit. My buddy used these as templates.
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Friend and neighbor Manuel did an excellent job far surpassing my expectations. Muchas gracias Manuel!

I love Vs but really dislike pickguards. Those replacements are fantastic, though. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Thanks Matthew! I just figured I would keep with the Albert King theme and get a wooden pickguard made, if possible. It won-t be long now. I did a bit of necessary fretwork yesterday. Not much was needed at all, I am happy to say. Very impressed with pit bull!!!

Here is the pickguard with the wiring harness and knobs attached. I decided to invest in a nice wiring harness, because in my experience without good wiring, even the best pickups can be lackluster. Now, I just gotta get her wired up to the pups, stringed up, and it will be time to flying V!

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and. . . .that's all folks!

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That's very nice. Well done.

Thank you very much, Simon!