New Member - with a Kit to Build

[John W]

Hi All

Just joining up and becoming familiar with how things work, not a great technology user (Social Media / Forum chats ) etc however a keen guitar player. I got a kit TL-1 DIY Electric Guitar Kit to build as a present. I am excited and want to do a good job with it so stepping my way through the Web site and Forums.

[Simon Barden]

Hi and welcome.

[Trevor Davies]

Hello and welcome John W.

Nice present. Do you know how you are going to finish it?

I also have a TL-1 kit on the go - currently waiting for some good spraying weather in Perth!

[John W]

Thanks Trevor

Not yet, this has caught me by surprise (nice one) so just starting to look around to see what I like but it will be some sort of natural stain, I like the wood look. I still have not done my mock build? Any clues on how to see what the options are for finish? Also anything I need to do with mock build ie just fit it together without screwing things in place? All new to me, so plan to go slow

[Trevor Davies]

Thanks Trevor

Not yet, this has caught me by surprise (nice one) so just starting to look around to see what I like but it will be some sort of natural stain, I like the wood look. I still have not done my mock build? Any clues on how to see what the options are for finish? Also anything I need to do with mock build ie just fit it together without screwing things in place? All new to me, so plan to go slow

For the finish, anything goes. It really depends on your skill set, equipment and work area. I really like the Feast Watson stains available from the Big Green Shed (as I also like the wood look and natural colours), but I have used water based dyes and inks. For the clear finish I have mainly used Tru-oil for its ease of use, but have used Feast Watsons wipe on poly, and rattle can SCA acrylic. Lately I have been spraying water-based poly.

I find the Basswood is nice to work with. It does not usually have a huge amount of grain pattern. For basswood bodies, my TB-4 build is FW jarrah stain with Tru-oil, the AG-2 build is red ink with Tru-oil, and the back of the TL-1TB is FW Brown Japan with Tru-oil. The TL-1 I'm working on ATM is Ubeaut Blue water-based dye with Cabot's water-based poly.

For the mock build: yeah, basically fit it together to check to see that all the parts fit. Make sure the neck fits nicely into the pocket. Make sure the bridge (with the pickup) can fit nicely in the bridge cavity, and that you can achieve your scale length of 648 mm. Also that the strings align well along the neck with the bridge.

P.S. Don't forget to start a build diary.

[John W]

Thanks again Trevor, don't have a great skill set so I think I need to keep it simple and not try and get too clever. Will keep looking around and check out your suggestions. I did do a mock up and started a build diary. Looks like have all the parts and everything seems to fit well, I have not checked the scale length, so might need to go back and do that? Do I just check that by measuring the distance between the nut and the bridge, or do I need to put some strings on to get a more accurate result?

[Drashkum]

Yes You need to do a mock build checking the neck alignment by putting high and low E strings. Also temporarily fix the bridge and check the scale length

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[moonreader]

This is awesome. I am just looking for some general advise to start learning different guitar chords. Greetings from HongKong

[Drashkum]

Youtube is the best site for learning basics of music

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[fender3x]

Youtube is the best site for learning basics of music

True. But I am pretty sure that MR is not an actual person and doesn't have actual fingers. A bot or AI in training perhaps?