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
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