SH-1 Build.

[DrNomis_44]

For my first build project, I'm going to try an SH-1 kit which I'll be buying next fortnight.


I've decided on this particular kit as I've always wanted to try Headless Guitars, a year before last year I bought a Headless Guitar kit from an online company based in Ireland, I got as far as finishing the neck, but got put-off finishing the body due to some routing issues, the neck has relative ly few issues apart from some blemishes on the edge of the rosewood fingerboard, but I'm not going to worry too much about it, I'll keep the neck as a spare.


Since this is going to be my first build, and I'm a relative newbie, I'm going to finish the body of my SH-1 in a solid colour, either white, or metallic blue, the neck is going to be clear-lacquered on the back, my local Bunnings store stocks spray-cans of different coloured paint, some are Lacquers, and others are Enamels, was thinking of going with a Lacquer paint, and using some clear-gloss lacquer, Bunnings also stock several different grades of wet/dry sandpaper ranging from 360 Grit, to 1200 Grit, they stock Feast Watson wood sealer too.

Stay tuned for updates.

[wokkaboy]

welcome DrNomis, not sure if there are any other Northern Territory builders so you may be the first !
SH kit plans sound good. Look forward to the build diary once you receive the kit. Metallic blue should look awesome.
Best of luck

[gavinturner]

Welcome! Sounds like a great plan you have. Looking forward to reading all about the build. If you are after finer grades of wet and dry for wet-sanding and polishing, Super-cheap Auto usually stocks 1500 and 2000.

cheers,
Gav.

[DrNomis_44]

Cheers mates, once I get my kit I'll try an document my build as accurately as I can in case other members are interested in building an SH-1 too, will include how I do a setup on it as well.

@ gavinturner, I checked out some of your builds, they look great.

[gavinturner]

Aww shucks, thanks dude. Looking forward to hearing all about yours!

cheers,
Gav.

[Scott J.]

Hey Dr N. ... looking forward to seeing this build come together (can't recall how long ago the last headless appeared in the build diaries) ... and don't forget - LOTS of pics

Considering the humidity you get up in the Top End you might end up having to wait until about June before you can start putting any finish on it (I spent a couple of years in Stuart Park so I know what you're going through! )

... so it might be a good excuse for you to consider getting a number of kits on the go and build during "the wet" and finish during "the dry"!

[DrNomis_44]

Cheers Scott J,


Yeah, we've been getting a lot of rainy weather up here since December so I'll definitely wait till it dries up, in the meantime I'm also interested in building an SV-1 and an IB-7 too, I've never played a 7-string guitar so the IB-7 looks interesting, I have an Ibanez S420WK which I just don't like, the two Infinity pickups are too overbearing for my liking, and the S420WK's ZR Trem system just won't stay in tune for me, so I decided to retire it and get the SV-1 as a replacement.


I've got a good Digital camera so I'll be taking lots of pics for sure, I also have a small home music studio so I'll be able to make a demo clip of the finished guitars I build.

[DrNomis_44]

Thought I would post a pic of the body of the headless guitar kit I bought from that online company based in Ireland so you can see the routing issues which put me off finishing the guitar, also, the guitar kit used a Steinberger style bridge branded Overlord Of Music, while testing the guitar out prior to finishing it, the bridge suffered a failure, basically what happened was that the threading for the master-tuning knob stripped and I was no longer able to tune the guitar up, that's why I had to replace the original bridge, was going to see if I could order a Steinberger R-Trem online as a replacement but found that they were hard to source, I did find one website where I could order one but it was going to cost me $250.00 for a complete bridge, as I said, basically the full cost of the guitar kit.


Okay, so, what are the routing issues with the body (note this is not a Pittbull guitars kit):

Issue 1, The bridge Humbucker rout is off-centre by about 2 to 3 mm (my rough estimate).


Issue 2, If you have a look at the routing for the bridge, you'll notice a screw-hole with a blue asterisk next to it, because the trench-rout for the bridge spring was routed about 5mm too wide, the screw hole is too close to the trench and because of that the screw can't be tightened.


I was considering using a Rat-Tail file to fix issue one, and gluing a piece of wood in place to fix issue two, but I've decided to abandon building the kit and buy a new SH-1 kit from Pittbull Guitars.

[WeirdBits]

Have a look at Wokka's forum title (just above his avatar pic)...

[DrNomis_44]

Have a look at Wokka's forum title (just above his avatar pic)...

I know, I meant no disrespect to him.


@ Wokka, no dis-respect intended.