First build - TL1 Ian Rodness

[wazkelly]

Good advice Frankie with the longer piece of timber used as a sanding block on a dead flat deck. I just use a trusty small cork sanding block but your idea has merit if covering vast distances.

[nitroburner1000]

Haha @ frankie, And just to put my 2 cents worth in, or dimes worth, i use an orbital to remove large blemishes and machine marks, then work up the grades to your desired finish. An awesome painters trick is to shine a strong light at a very low angle across the surface you are sanding. It will show up every tiny blemish, even orbital sander swirl marks.. Fantastic for when final finish is high gloss.

[ianrodness]

oh man....I think I've just discovered that my bridge P/U doesn't fit into the cavity. what do I do?

[dave.king1]

oh man....I think I've just discovered that my bridge P/U doesn't fit into the cavity. what do I do?

Sadly this seems to be an issue with all the TL kits, I had to route the cavity about 6mm forward on the Tuff Dog and on the previous one with a 3 saddle bridge I was able to get away with longer saddle screws to get them further forward

http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...l=1#post134425

[FrankenWashie]

Hey Ian,

just to clarify:

Does the pickup itself not fit its routed cavity,

or,

when installed in the bridge plate, the pickup wont sit in its routed cavity?

I know there were issues in some of the TL kits with the cavity sitting too far back in relation to the through holes.

if it is just a case of the PUP not quite fitting into the PUP rout, then a little work with a Dremel and a small sanding cylinder bit should allow you to correct this.
If it is the second case, it may need to have some remedial routing work done, if you have the capability and equipment.

Best bet is to document in photos and the guys who have done a number of TL builds may be able to advise.


EDIT: What Dave.King said!

[ianrodness]

just uploaded a photo...maybe that will answer your question?

[FrankenWashie]

just uploaded a photo...maybe that will answer your question?

Yep, looks like a little sander work, or some careful routing work to adjust that cavity. Is that a vintage Pickup? Looks cool!

Looking at the photo close up, you may just want to try wrapping some 40 or 60 grit paper around a large dowel (16, 20 or 25mm) and just tickling the corners out a fraction and that may be enough to get it in (the photo seems to show it overlapping one side by a fraction).
if its more than a couple of mm out then it may be router time.

If you've some sharp round ended woodworking gouges, they may do the trick in the absence of a router, if not then the safest, but slowest method would be using low number sand paper and adjusting each side of the cavity gradually to get a good fit. once you get your corners sorted out then you can use the same paper on a flat small block to even out the straight sides for a neat fit.

Before you get to that though I'd be tempted just to do a mock up, with PUP in the bridge plate and your neck clamped in place to see if there are any issues similar to Dave King's description. probably best you find these out now if they exist. Hope that helps

[ianrodness]

okay Dave, I've put the bridge up against the plate, and after viewing your post, I think I know what you mean. I'm now thoroughly terrified.....here's mine.
The 2 mounting screws at the bottom won't even hit wood at this point.

[FrankenWashie]

okay Dave, I've put the bridge up against the plate, and after viewing your post, I think I know what you mean. I'm now thoroughly terrified.....here's mine.
The 2 mounting screws at the bottom won't even hit wood at this point.

Whoops. That will be a slight adjustment via a router per Dave's original reply.

Do you have access to a router? even a small palm router would be enough for the job if you did it in stages.

[ianrodness]

I do luckily have a router. Having to route the body of a guitar in my first build - holy shit!!!! But how do I now secure the bridge to the body?? there's no wood underneath 2 of the screw holes?

Whoops. That will be a slight adjustment via a router per Dave's original reply.

Do you have access to a router? even a small palm router would be enough for the job if you did it in stages.