NKX Build #1 - The LPA-7

[NKX]

Well it's time for a couple more updates, but I'll start with the one I should have posted a month ago (oops).

The first thing I did was remove the nut, then shape the headstock. I also took the opportunity to test fit the Grover locking tuners... but I think I'll need to find some different hardware as they look a little weird.



After that, it was time to shape the nut and file it out for the strings. I used 13 - 56 StewMac nut files for this, but I feel the bottom E will need to be a heavier gauge to tune to where I want to on this scale length. It's nowhere near perfect, but that's okay: I'm using this as a learning experience, as I'll try to transfer the skills here to a replacement Tusq nut down the road a little.



But now onto the newer progress... finishing!

[NKX]

With the bulk of the sanding being done, and while I'm still working on the fret levelling situation, I decided to switch to finishing the top of the guitar. So, armed with my Crimson Guitars Stunning Stains, and a roll of blue painters tape to protect the binding and body... I got to work.

In this first shot, I'm trying to bring out some of the grain with the black stain. The flame isn't as awesome as I was hoping, but I was still optimistic of it looking pretty good when I sand and hit it with the royal blue.



Here's a tip... keep the work surface clean, and consider rubbing back somewhere other than where you are working. Another tip, don't use thick paper roll (like hand towel paper) to apply stains like some recommend... I ended up creating little paper powder lumps, and then accidentally touching the body with that, which slightly stained it and needed some emergency sanding. Oh, and a final tip... don't cheap out and use stamp ink: while I've seen some good results, the Stunning Stains I am using creates perfect blends, and no lines (and I'm sure the DingoTone stains are the same).

So, in this next shot, I lightly sanded the black back with 320 grit, then again with 400 grit, then applied the royal blue stain.



Once I had the "burst" looking how I wanted, and got the royal blue coverage I wanted, I then sanded the centre back again with 400 and 0000 steel wool, then hit it with another coat of blue. This photo doesn't do it justice, as it actually looks more blue in person, and actually came out pretty nice. Scraping the binding to return it to cream was an interesting experience... but a super sharp blade made light work of it in the end.



After that, I moved on to the headstock. I wanted the top to be darker so that I could use my white vinyl logos... so I hit that with a light coat of the black stain... which actually turned out to be a really nice deep brown that showed the wood grain. I then sanded the edges to give it a faux binding look around the edge: And I'm pretty happy with the outcome.



And today's action - with no photos yet - is applying a few coats of the Crimson Guitars Finishing Oil. I'm applying many light coats, lightly rubbed back with 0000 steel wool every few hours (to allow for drying), and it's building up a nice finish. I'll add several coats, and buff to a bit of a semi-gloss finish.

The plan from here (and hopefully before the Xmas break) is:

a) Finish the fret crowning.
b) Finish the nut filing and shaping (and glue it back on)
c) Continue building finishing layers on the headstock and body.
d) Set and glue the neck
e) Apply the finishing oil to the rest of the guitar.

Yeah, I know part (e) seems weird... and I know I could/should do this sooner, but I'm worried about getting finishing oil into the neck joint, so will apply the finish after it is glued and secure. Does anyone see any issue with that? After all this... it's onto the hardware, yay!

[Dedman]

this is coming along really nice NKX. I ,personally don't do any clear coats until after glueing the neck, it gives a more continuous finish that way.

[NKX]

Determined to get this build finished by the end of the year, I spent every spare moment smashing this thing out. Unfortunately, as I was clearly too eager, I also forgot to document the process and/or take photos. Oops.

So, after my previous update, it was time to clean things up and apply my "clear coats". By that, I mean many, many, many, coats of finishing oil that will be hand-buffed to a semi-gloss. As this was my first build, and I'm not a painter (at all), I decided this was the safest route. I already discovered a few things i need to do better, so I recommend stain and oil to any first-time builder (that can't paint).

For the back of the guitar, and neck, I relied on the finish oil only. Initially, I only applied a couple of light coats here, but while it looked okay, I didn't think it was dark or shiny enough... so I added a few more coats. Unfortunately, this process made the colour difference between the body and neck timbers stand out even more than they did before... oops. Next time, if I end up with a mixed timber kit, I'll definitely be staining the back and next, or at least the joins.



The front, however, came up pretty nice. Unfortunately, it's not as smooth as I'd like - especially around the edges - but I was hesitant to keep sanding due to the fear of going through the thin veneer. Oh well, looks pretty cool.



And this is where another few "oops" moments happened:

1) Yeah, I forgot to take photos from this point on. Oh, well.

2) After getting to this point, I decided to apply a couple more coats of oil to the rear of the guitar again... and didn't realise that a run had formed on the top of the guitar. I managed to sand out most of it, and then did a few more coats of oil to try and hide the mistake. I guess I'll know that for next time.

3) I then decided to glue everything together. And while the DingoTone glue worked like a charm, my test fits mustn't have been ideal, and I didn't notice a few small gaps here and there. As such, there is some glue leakage, and gaps, that I'm unhappy with. Again, I'll know for next time, and will either sand every surface to meet perfectly, or will match some timber filler and glue/sawdust to fill everything.

4) Yeah, Make sure you're happy with the tuning peg layout before you shape the headstock, LOL. Seems my LP-style didn't leave enough space for the top tuner (on the side with four) to sit nicely. Luckily, Adam from PBG hooked me up, and replaced my 3+4 tuner setup with a 4+3, and I simply mounted them backwards. It's weird, and feels weird to tune it, but it actually looks much better like this IMO.

And then we're done. Again, I forgot the photos for all of the above, and all of the wiring and soldering. Needless to say, the PBG YouTube videos were excellent, and aside from a weird centr-position issue with a massively dominant bridge pickup (which I don't think is correct), it went perfectly.

Next post... glamour shots

[NKX]

And I'm done. I've put the strings on, set the heights, adjusted the truss rod, and set the intonation... and am now waiting for the guitar to settle. Once the neck is set up and "used to" the standard gauge strings, my Power Slinky set goes on, and I can start playing with gauges to get the string tension I desire: This is my first 24.75" scale length guitar... so this will be interesting.

Without further delay, here it is:









All up, pretty happy with the result for the first build. I learned a lot, and can't wait for the next one.

[Adam Barnes]

Nice job nkx the top looks sweet

[Fretworn]

Looks great. The tuners would be considered to be "upside down" by standard practice. Hopefully this won't lead to any tuning issues.

[Sonic Mountain]

That's come up really nicely.

I agree the grover tuners look odd on the paddle headstocks. I ended up modding some black ones I had using the 'heads' off the kit tuners. Was very straight forward and seems to work fine. The kit tuner shape is just that little bit bigger and more angular so it looks better, and this way you keep the far superior grover moving parts.

[JohnH]

I agree the grover tuners look odd on the paddle headstocks. I ended up modding some black ones I had using the 'heads' off the kit tuners. Was very straight forward and seems to work fine. The kit tuner shape is just that little bit bigger and more angular so it looks better, and this way you keep the far superior grover moving parts.

Nice workaround Sonic, I'll have to keep that in mind.

Also, great job on the kit NKX. That blue is beautiful. What's the next kit going to be?

[NKX]

@Fretworn: I agree, but I didn't really have much of a choice. Unless I wanted a really strangely-shaped headstock, that fourth machine head was looking way out of place. I actually couldn't come up with a design that worked, with the tuners the right way around, as they would hang off the edges... but they do work when mounted "upside down". I did a few tests before deciding to go with it, and tuning/locking was fine, so just went with it. Fingers crossed I don't find any issues with it down the road... but I'm confident it'll be fine.

@Sonic Mountain: Oooh, nice. Yeah, I considered trying to swap the 'heads' over, but assumed it would be too difficult. I'm totally on-board with giving this a shot, and it would improve the overall look a lot.

@JohnH: Thanks. My next kit will be something completely different: An ST-1M I think. While I primarily play rock/metal, my friends all play more melodic and softer "stuff" (think Pink Floyd, etc.)... and I currently have nothing but high gain guitars that sound rubbish trying to play that type of music (clean or mildly-overdriven), so I think an SSS ST will do the job. What I actually need, is a PBG valve head kit that I can plug into my currently-spare Marshall MC212 (English) cab.

Thanks for the kind words. I'll try working on the tuners, continue fine-tuning the setup of this guitar, and look at the next one