Might need to buy a Capo if you don't have one already as 12's sound great on open root chords but not so good on barre chords higher up the neck. I feel your pain and frustration as we all have had some set backs with at least one or more of our builds. Thankfully this forum has some fantastic contributors who are full of great advice on how to work around or solve almost any issue.

Warmer weather should soon arrive in Melbourne and hopefully that will help speed up the curing process.