Dedmans build 4 ES5-V

[phrozin]

Bursty goodness. There is a few touch ups to do which I'll do when I paint the neck. The patchy areas are where the black has a bit of gloss and picked up the sun. The back needs a little more fade which I'll do when I do the neck. (The wind came up this morning)
Attachment 12811
Attachment 12812

how come some guys do the body finish before fitting the neck i have noticed a few do it is it a advantage to doing it that way i just thought you glue the neck 1st am i doing it wrong??

[Dedman]

I intend attaching the neck before clear coats, mostly so I can fill or do touch ups around the neck pocket before glossing. I don't think there is a right or wrong way, just different. On my GD-1 I attached after all painting staining.

[FrankenWashie]

how come some guys do the body finish before fitting the neck i have noticed a few do it is it a advantage to doing it that way i just thought you glue the neck 1st am i doing it wrong??

There's not really right and wrong Phrozin, I attached my neck to my EXA-1 before i started staining and finish mainly because i had modded this area and wants to sand it in and get the transitions between the two the way i wanted.

Most agree that it is functionally easier to begin the finishing process with things still separate just from a handling point of view.

When you've got the one big lump of wood and you are trying to coat all of it, just moving it around can be a problem, not to mention trying to work at odd angles and so forth to get even coverage on every surface. it all comes down to how much of a challenge you are up for!

[wazkelly]

Well said Frankie. My EX-1 was a right proper PIA to flip once the neck had been set.....all too big, too long, too heavy, too hard to manage.

[FrankenWashie]

Well said Frankie. My EX-1 was a right proper PIA to flip once the neck had been set.....all too big, too long, too heavy, too hard to manage.

Yep, I also firmly believe that it was one of the bigger contributors to the stain fail on the first effort. I have since spent some time building holding jigs to alleviate the same issues.

EDIT: the other major contributing factors being

A. I'm an impatient cuss
B. I have the soft touch, agile dexterity and artistic flair of a true rugby front rower

[Andy40]

I think also the paint can end up cracking in the heel join over time if you spray with the guitar put together. Also if you needed to remove the neck for whatever reason, it definitely will crack the paint. Conversely if you paint them separately the join shows a lot more.

Thats my 2 cents

[wazkelly]

At the end of they day they are hand built and not production line models. Any imperfections just add to the hand built vibe.

To digress briefly, I was reading a book on the history of Rickenbacker Basses last night and for the Lemmy Tribute model it said that due to the intricate carving no two were alike.

I provided this example to remind ourselves that we are indeed building a 'one-off' and not some generic cheap factory spurned oversized tooth pick with wires attached. That being said I too have obsessed with similar finish issues around neck heel joint and made more of a mess of things trying to get it looking perfect which ended up taking way longer to rectify.

[Dedman]

Waz, you hit the nail in the head. Today I decided I was just going to live with it and started sanding and filling and scraping ready for clear coating.

[wazkelly]

Sometimes we can sweat the small stuff just a bit too much and had my wife tell me as much when fluffing around trying to get the finish just right on a couple of builds. She reckoned it wouldn't take me long before they got a few dings and marks on them 'so get over yourself and get on with it' she said.

I reckon that piece of advice/reprimand saved me weeks on those builds.

[FrankenWashie]

At the end of they day they are hand built and not production line models. Any imperfections just add to the hand built vibe.

To digress briefly, I was reading a book on the history of Rickenbacker Basses last night and for the Lemmy Tribute model it said that due to the intricate carving no two were alike.

I provided this example to remind ourselves that we are indeed building a 'one-off' and not some generic cheap factory spurned oversized tooth pick with wires attached. That being said I too have obsessed with similar finish issues around neck heel joint and made more of a mess of things trying to get it looking perfect which ended up taking way longer to rectify.

Yeah, I found that same point trying to make a seamless transition between neck and body. It's either let it consume you, or make your mistakes p, ask questions and learn some stuff from it. You learn nothing if you get everything perfect every time.