My last build on the table, and may be last one for some time, life does get in the way.
The kit was a customer return on the sales/seconds list. Maple neck, real rosewood fingerboard, Mahogany body with a thin zebrawood veneer.
The build thread is here....
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ad.php?t=10785
...and she made 36 guitars/basses in my possession.
Issues along the way, as is the norm, and some very helpful ideas and suggestions from the forum. Thank You all.
Highlights for me:-
The veneer has pores and holes all over, and lots and lots of glue squeeze out on the top....showed as white dots and marks all over. (Thank you Simon for the tinted spray poly idea...worked well.)
The neck and fingerboard were super easy using my norm of Feast Watson Fine Buffing Oil and then Gillys cabinetmakers Wax and Carnauba Polish. That went through really easy.
The body finish only came together with the use of C.A. glue. The glue filled the pits, pores and holes. It sanded really well and gave a solid and very smooth, plastic feeling though, finish. Spray poly from both Cabots and Bondall stick to it like glue.
The front has many coats of CA glue and then about 6 coats of spray Cabots gloss poly. It then has one lot of three coats sprayed 10 minutes apart of the Bondall tinted poly gloss....Jarrah colour I think.
The back and sides are stained with Feast Watson Prooftint Maple stain....alcohol based. Then three coats only of the C.A. glue. Then just 3 x lots of 3 spray coats of Cabots poly.
Remaining issues:-
The neck height and the bridge saddles are pretty good now....three different lengths of cut up business card to create a slope is the answer.
The E string, as you can see in one of the pictures, is just too thick to push down on the ZERO fret. I will let it settle and then try again. I don't want to strip out the thread on the light cast string mounts and locks. So, the E string when played open has an annoying rattle...at the Zero Fret. It is therefore an #$@% to tune on that string.
The pickups are the normal low output humbuckers that come in the kits. I just punch the AMP a little and it sounds great.
Overall it is just weird to play with no headstock and no tuners. The weight is ALL down low and it lends itself really well to a strap even sitting down. However, it still remains quite light even with the OVERLORD bridge.
So ladies and gentlemen I present to you the TIGER.
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