The new item on the agenda.

I am hamfisted with my playing, and I enjoy building these wonderful instruments.

So I have decided to make an electric guitar for me. To try and make myself learn a little control.

This kit is ordered....

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...hardware-copy/

I really like the look of the flame maple on the fretboard and the neck.

I have ordered a bone nut...first one and the upgrade to Grover locking tuners.

I have ordered a push pull pot for volume...and two mini tone pots....and a paper in oil capacitor which is a first for me. (Real parts.)

I have also ordered the entwistle noiseless pickups x 3...bridge middle and neck. (PBG.)

Now to decide on the finish.....natural is looking good to me....or I could try a burst with the feast Watson prooftint stains I used on my last bass and see if I can do it this time without sucking the colour out.

But, the big question is how to get the grain on the neck and the fingerboard to pop and protect it?

Hey ozzbike. I'll look forward to what you come out with. You have excellent finishing skills!

With my Ash tele, I grain filled with Ebony Timbermate, then used Colortone Cherry Red dye. It really contrasts the grain. Ash is great that way (even if grain filling is a huge PITA) and truly a shame to cover up with a solid colour.

Can't wait to see your first pics!

Cheers,
Mick

Attachment 32987

I wouldn't try too hard with trying to pop the fingerboard and concentrate of the body. But I'd see what you get first before making decisions. You may end up with a fairly plain neck with minimal figuring. Even if it was like the one in the kit photo, I'd be tempted to keep the main part of the neck plain, but maybe try some dark stain popping just on the headstock face.

At least it's solid wood so you can sand it down without fear of veneer break-through; though obviously you don't want to make the headstock too thin.

Hi Ozzie, nice kit.

On the neck & fret board maybe tea or coffee staining might do enough to bring out the darker grain tones.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by wazkelly

Hi Ozzie, nice kit.

On the neck & fret board maybe tea or coffee staining might do enough to bring out the darker grain tones.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

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Now that is a thought. I was considering adding F&W Japan Brown in drops to shellac.

Tea is more amber than coffee. Hmmmm. How dark can you go? You Tube time.

Thanks Waz.

My bad...

I didn't notice you were talking about the grain on the neck. D'oh!!!

Disregard all I said...

I'll pay more attention next time.

Proof tint Japan black stain, sand it with 400 till it's only left in the pulp wood and low spots in the grain then Stan with your desired colour. P.s don't sand prior to Japan black

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Originally Posted by Tassieaxeman

Proof tint Japan black stain, sand it with 400 till it's only left in the pulp wood and low spots in the grain then Stan with your desired colour. P.s don't sand prior to Japan black

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Now that is an idea. No other sanding? So, no timbermate either. hmmmm....perhaps I may err on the side of caution....japan brown in shellac...no prior sanding and 400grit??? Not 240?

Gotta try this...in intrigues me very much...just that black may be too much for me....the brown in the shellac will give a colour to the grain. The finish I use gives a yellow/amber hue that darkens with time.

Thanks for the ideas guys.

She arrives tomorrow...according to aussie post.

I have really not given much thought to body colours etc.....really will just do my norm.

Sand from 80, 120, 180....timber mate...240...two to three coats of shellac.

Stain....then Fine Buffing Oil, cabinet makers wax and carnauba polish.

I am interested in a more defined burst than my last effort on the zebrawood body P Bass...Paddle Pop...I just completed. Think I will do that....golden teak in the middle of the body....jarrah around that...and one of my dark colours around the edge.

My goodies from Real Parts arrived in the mail today.

Has anybody used the Vitamin Q paper in oil capacitors in a build? It does have stiff wire leads....but overall it is still more flexible than an orange drop cap.

Any hints or suggestions as to how I should solder it in will be gratefully received.

Thanks.

I tend to leave the legs long (so I can position it and/or reuse it elsewhere), and cover them with heat shrink or insulation stripped off wires:
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...8&d=1488123864


If you’re going with the single PIO cap with two tone pots just have the ‘out’ from tone 2 link to the ‘out’ of tone 1 and have the cap go from there to a ground point.

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Originally Posted by WeirdBits

I tend to leave the legs long (so I can position it and/or reuse it elsewhere), and cover them with heat shrink or insulation stripped off wires:
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...8&d=1488123864


If you’re going with the single PIO cap with two tone pots just have the ‘out’ from tone 2 link to the ‘out’ of tone 1 and have the cap go from there to a ground point.

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I am using the wiring diagram from Seymour Duncan....3 single coil 2 tone push pull volume for bridge and 5 way crl blade switch.

I can't upload that diagram...too big.....but it is here.

https://docs.google.com/gview?embedd...1VppENB_2T.pdf

I was intending to solder it like the one in this photo. If I understand you, then this is what you meant.

Once again weirdy. Thanks.

Yep, that SD diagram is the way I was suggesting, just run the cap from the tone pot lug to whatever ground point is most convenient. Insulating the legs stops it from shorting so just position where it fits best for the cavity etc.

Dang, I love this kit man. does it have a flamey maple board?

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Originally Posted by Andy40

Dang, I love this kit man. does it have a flamey maple board?

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I love it too.....bloody thing did not arrive before I had to go back to work. Not home until evening of Sunday 29th December now.

Aussie Post still has it in transit....xmas pressies in the way I think.

My neighbour is schooled up to grab it and put it away safe for me. There are some nice people left in the world. :)

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I have really not given much thought to body colours etc.....really will just do my norm.

Sand from 80, 120, 180....timber mate...240...two to three coats of shellac.

Stain....then Fine Buffing Oil, cabinet makers wax and carnauba polish.

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Ozz, are you sanding the shellac before staining? If not, how does the stain penetrate?
Are you using the shellac as an additional grain filler?

Secondly re: your wiring -
Are you considering adding the tone to the bridge pickup? I do it as standard on all my strats. There are a couple of way to do this and all simple as.
And fwiw, you might want to consider a mini-toggle for "7 sound" or "add bridge" (same thing) control. It's way easier to switch on teh fly with a toggle than a push-pull pot. Just my 2 cents on that.

EDIT TO ADD:
I just read your comment in another recent post re: "Shellac under a stain". That answered my question above. Thanks!

Had the chance to duck home for a few hours today. Box tucked away safe out of the weather waiting for me.

Heads up guys.....really check the order...invoice...packing slip and your memory. Some extra and add on things are just tiny and can get lost in the big shipping box. Case in point my first Bone Nut. Neatly tucked away loose in one of the internal divider sections. I then also found a guitar pick as well....nice.

Anyway. The neck and body fit really well. The body is definitely two piece. The neck appears to be maple...not so much flame maple. I found one line of possible flame on the fretboard at the ninth fret. Nothing on the headstock nor the back of the neck at all.

As the ad says it is a natural product. (Insert sad face though.) No time for a sneaky wipe over with metho to see if the flame is hiding....back to work.

But I did get some shots. The locking tuners came in a big envelope.....and the three separate entwistle pickups came in individual foam padded cardboard boxes.

Can't wait to get loose on this one.

I have been thinking about trying a Dragon Burst.....but that would mean water based stains...which have not gone well for me. Perhaps the alcohol prooftint stains from Feast Watson may be a better option. Time for a colour search I think.

The pickups have the NOISELESS extra winding coil mounted underneath....pretty well thought out concept. Be interesting to see how they sound.

Some more neck picks...no flame....more sad face.

...and the pickups with the noiseless coil underneath.

Nice padded with foam cardboard box with springs and mounting screws in a bag tucked underneath for each pick up.

Nonetheless a nice looking kit. What is a dragon burst?

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Originally Posted by DarkMark

Nonetheless a nice looking kit. What is a dragon burst?

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More the realm of a quilted veneer or top....but the grain on Ash screams for a different treatment.

This is a dragon burst.....

Looks like a nice starting point. Grain looks pretty good too.
Interesting the body came with the strap button, jack plate and vibrato cover holes pre-drilled. I've not seen that on kits before. (but tbh, I haven't done a PBG strat kit yet)

I'll be interested in what you think of the tone of the Entwistle Noiseless. I'm a big fan of the Fender Vintage Noiselsess ( I have them in several strats). I used to be able to get them for about $225AU a set if I hunted for them hard & often. Now they seem to be upwards of $300. I haven't found much for reviews or YT demos.

You are probably already aware to check your cavity route depth before you get too far. The Entwistles are 27.5mm deep (top cover to bottom of 2nd coil) significantly more than a standard single coil, and even more than the Fenders @ 19mm.

Look forward to watching this progress. Happy Christmas too!

I've had good results with "natural" stain from minwax on maple fretboards. It seems to grab just enough of the darks to make it really pop against the contrasting pale maple. But like Simon said, you gotta see what you get before you really know how to proceed.

I am home after xmas and thought I would have a dig at the wiring. Took all the old stuff off and then....what the hang is this???

The pickups all seem to be split or something. They do have a noiseless winding underneath. But what do I solder where???

This diagram is the one I am using.

Your kind ideas will gladly be sucked up and soldered in place. Thank you in advance.

Presuming you haven't sorted this out on your own already, based on the leadout for humbuckers (and looking at the Entwistle website) you're on the right track there. The ASN-57's are just a vertically stacked humbucker instead of side by side.

Red/White soldered together, Green & Bare both go to ground and Black is the positive (go to switch).
Entwistle has copied the Seymour Duncan colour codes which helps too.

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Originally Posted by McCreed

Presuming you haven't sorted this out on your own already, based on the leadout for humbuckers (and looking at the Entwistle website) you're on the right track there. The ASN-57's are just a vertically stacked humbucker instead of side by side.

Red/White soldered together, Green & Bare both go to ground and Black is the positive (go to switch).
Entwistle has copied the Seymour Duncan colour codes which helps too.

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Hold the phone here....a vertically stacked Humbucker......so I could fit more push pulls and split to get more sounds?

But would the coils underneath have enough oomph to pickup the strings?

I think that their purpose is to reduce the noise....and maybe I should just wire them for that purpose.

Thank you for the ideas..... :)

Thank You McCreed,

I agree with your decoding of the wiring and have finished the harness with the suggested wiring options.

One push pull pot is enough for now. :)

I have a headstock template of a 50's strat to cut out next.

Cool! Nice tidy wiring. I like it!
I think you need a bigger cap though! :p (just kidding)

re: the two coils, the bottom one is indeed there for hum-cancelling. There are no tonal benefits to splitting them in a stacked configuration that I know of.

Fender Vintage (and Hot) Noiseless are based on the same principle, but they wire them so that there are just two leads coming off the pickup like a traditional single coil. (there's no confusion this way).

Dimarzio Area's, Lace Sensors, Seymour Duncan Classic Stack are also all stacked SC-sized humbuckers with 4 (or 5) leads just like the Entwistles.

Def interested in what you think of the tone of the Entwistles compared to standard single coils.

With reference to the copper screening on the back of the scratchplate, I'd check the continuity between the existing 'silver' foil screen and the copper. My experience is that the silver screening foil often has a non-conductive covering, so that to get the copper tape grounded, you need to run the tape all the way over the silver film area so that it's in contact with the pot bodies. This may not be the case here, but I've found it to be so on two Strat style guitars I've upgraded things on.

The silver foil only makes contact with the pots around the pot hole locations, or via the edges of any shake-proof washers used on the pots, so it's often a good idea just to run the copper over that are anyway, just to be sure that it's well screened.

Good advice from Simon. I noticed that with the shielding tape also, but didn't address it.

I def concur with Simon about that type of factory p/g shielding. On more recent import p/g's the material is more like a "metallic paper" sticker. IME if it has a flat/matte finish to it, it's generally rubbish and poor conductivity. The shiny "foil-like" material is a bit better, but I use quality copper tape with conductive adhesive, and go right over the factory stuff just because.

It's about 2 minutes more work and costs me about 30 cents worth of tape. Good insurance at that rate.

Also worth noting, when you shield the cavities, be sure and run a little bit up over the edge of the route (at least in a 2-3 places) so there's connectivity between the cavity shield and the p/g shield. (sorry if I telling what you already know :o)

I am off to work again tomorrow.....four days away this time and back after work on Sunday.

I have taped up the body and the neck....and decided today to get at the body with sanding.

I have worked my way through 80 grit 120grit 180 grit....then cedar/blackwood timber mate...then sanded off with 240 grit.

I Like the slight amber/tan colour the timber mate has left on the wood.....so no tint in my shellac.

I have put two coats of a new mix of shellac on the body and hung her up to dry.

I looked at the pick guard and yeah....I think Simon and McCreed have a good idea. I will take the switch and pots off and run the tape down over the area covered by the silver paper.

I am aware of making the route copper tape come up and over the edges and touch the pick guard copper tape....thanks for the keen eyes though you guys.

I don't have any piccies...sorry.

I will see her on Sunday.

Packing my gear...grabbed my phone.

The body looks some much more amber than the photos show.....so the last two are taken in a hallway away from light.

I like the grain...it tells many stories about the life of the tree that made this wood.

Home now.....washing on.....showered.....got the pickguard and the copper tape.....all done with copper tape now. Under the switch plate and the pots all nice and shiny copper.

Here she is all nice and taped....conductive adhesive on tape....nice.

I went pretty dark on the three colours this morning as the last build had the steel wool pulling lots of colour out of the stain.

Hopefully this time the Fine Buffing Oil in steel wool will leave me some colour.

Golden Teak in the middle....Jarrah around that and Japan Brown around the edge and along the sides.

One coat of Fine Buffing Oil....I see one place that the steel wool jumped through the stain....bugger.

Looks good ozz!

Is there still some texture to the grain on that body, or is it glass smooth? It's hard to tell from the photos.

I've been seeing some ash bodies lately where the builder has intentionally left the grain unfilled. They've still clear coated it, but it has a real rustic look.

The idea is starting to grow on me and I might try it on my next ash tele or strat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by McCreed

Looks good ozz!

Is there still some texture to the grain on that body, or is it glass smooth? It's hard to tell from the photos.

I've been seeing some ash bodies lately where the builder has intentionally left the grain unfilled. They've still clear coated it, but it has a real rustic look.

The idea is starting to grow on me and I might try it on my next ash tele or strat.

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The timber mate has levelled the grain rather than filled it all. The bumps and groves that were apparent before are gone now. The timber mate was a cedar/blackwood tint and that has coloured the lower featured grain.

I have two guitars with the grain not filled and I have to say that I am not a fan. They don't show marks and bumps....but they also don't appear finished to me.

It will also make that figured grain rather thirsty to any colour and finish you use. Really going to have to try a sanding sealer or shellac if you do that.

I have done two coats on the body now. May have to give it a hit with sandpaper.....some missing colour in places....need to restain.

Thanks for the tips. I get the "unfinished" look. That's what my thoughts were previously. I'm still not 100% sold on it, but never say never I guess.