Well i did say I was starting after Christmas - but I didn't say which one...LOL.
Looking back, I said hello in December 16 and finally I have started. I have thought lots about changing and upgrading hardware but have decided to build it with the supplied gear and if it is worthy after completion, I will spend some cash on better pickups and other upgrades then.
I tidied up our back room last weekend and looked in the box and decided it was time to start. I had previously sanded the body and so gave it another run over and had a close look at everything to re-acquaint myself with the kit.
My previous experiments didn't really produce the colour results I had in mind. I have since watched a lot of finish applications on YouTube so figured I would give it a go.
I started with a diluted black stain to highlight the grain. Once dry, I sanded well. I then applied a coat of Vintage Amber Colortone, sanded and re-applied. Did this three times. Then I gave the whole top a couple of coats of lemon yellow, sanding in between each time. Then I applied the Cherry Red to the outer edges, blending as I went with the Lemon Yellow to remove the defined edge. More sanding in between coats and re-applying till I was happy with how it looked. Hopefully I will be happy once the clear goes on...time will tell.
I have checked scale lengths on the neck and also center line alignment. I was happy with these and so now the neck and body are one. I will do the frets and neck setup once finished and assembled.
I started staining the back and neck tonight and will post a couple picks when I am happy with the colour. Here are a couple pics of the progress so far. Neck to body fit was pretty good. I transitioned it with a very small amount of filler. It will be Cherry Red at the join so lack of grain because of the filler should not be obvious.
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