Roly's ES12G

[Roly]

So I've started. We sort of. I had a mess around last night with the neck fit and had a good look over everything.

Overall I am happy, as there appears to be no glaring issues/defects with the kit. There is a slight delamination of the top at the bottom side of the neck cavity, but this should easily be fixed when I glue the neck in place and in fact may help with reducing the visibility of the join, due to the slight flex now available in this area. Overall the neck fit is pretty good and with a little finessing, I should be able to get a very neat even join line, that will hopefully be almost invisible. Biggest issue is the back of the neck where it meets the body as the veneered layers of wood on the body are visible. If I can find some white/cream plastic sheet that matches the binding and trims, I will simply glue and shape a piece of this on to finish this area before staining and clear coating.

I am still trying to decide on the final colours I will use for the staining. I was going to do a cherry burst, but looking on the web, I haven't found one ES style finished this way. Maybe it doesn't suit the style, being too modern for a vintage style guitar. I will keep thinking about this. I have 4 liters of Nitro-Cellulose lacquer and thinners, which I got for a bargain basement price, as the company I work for provides electrical services to a well known paint manufacturer and I was lucky enough to get it at staff pricing - damn cheap compared to what it was going to cost.

I am undecided on building the kit as it is out of the box. This was my original plan, but now I am not sure. I don't want the cost to run away, but I want a good result, both aesthetically and from a play-ability and sound point of view. Happy to take on board any feedback on this based on your experiences with the kits and the equipment supplied with them.

So while I think about the colours, I will start with the body sanding. The top is ever so very slightly higher than the binding. I haven't tried to measure the difference, but maybe 0.2 - 0.3mm. I assume the veneer on the top is sufficiently thick to rectify this by sanding? When the top/sides/back are sanded, are there any issues sanding the binding at the same time?

Has anyone used a Zero Glide nut? Looks interesting. Not sure it will totally overcome all of the issues with a Gibson style head-stock and the angles in which the strings pass through the nut to the tuners, but maybe it will help. It should also make the final setup a little easier.

Lastly (for now) I would like to put an ebony veneer on the top of the head stock and then put an inlay into it. I haven't been able to come up with any names that I find meaningful or apt so I will find an inlay that I like the look of and go with that. Can any one suggest the best spot to source the ebony? There are a couple of bits on eBay, but without having yet measured the dimensions of the head stock to be sure, I think they will not be long enough for the 12 string head stock.

Next time I will try and remember to grab some pictures.
Cheers and thanks for any input.

[FrankenWashie]

Hey Roly, maybe the way I'm reading your description of the Neck issue, but that sounds like a problem that might need to be referred back to Adam. Post a pic when you get a chance to illustrate the issue.
The veneer is only about 0.6mm so you'd want to be really easy on the sanding, you should be okay but the edges are particularly easy to go through.

[Roly]

It's sounds bad, but I don't think it will be an issue. I will grab a pic tonight when I get home. If I put glue in the split and clamp the neck, I am pretty sure it will all go back to where it should be. You will see what I mean when I post a pic.

[Roly]

This is the de-lamination.



I spent an hour or so and sanded the whole body tonight. It has come up well. Nice smooth transitions from the wood to the binding.

Hopefully tomorrow night I can cut out a trial body from an old table top i have and experiment with the colours.

[stan]

Cool project Roly.
Just me but I'd glue and clamp the delamination before the neck went in, but take care of the top when clamping if you do

[Simon Barden]

It was clamped together before it came apart, so it really needs to be clamped together again. Just remember that the centre block isn't that wide (you may be able to use a torch and a small inspection mirror to check through the f-holes), so keep the clamp near the edge of the cavity. If you move the clamp too far away from the edge and the wood will pivot on the edge of the block and the gap at the cavity edge will open up even more. Definitely protect the top's finish with some soft wood blocks and some cloth first.

It's probably the right time to check the pickup cavities for fit with the pickups before you start with any finish. I fettled an ES-1 (for someone else) that had Tonerider AC-4s, and the end tabs on the pickups fouled the sides of the cut-out, so they needed to be widened.